Patent Publication Number: US-6908067-B2

Title: Ground anchoring sunshade umbrella stand

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   “Not Applicable” 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   “Not Applicable” 
   REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING 
   “Not Applicable” 
   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a stand which can be firmly anchored into the ground for means of supporting a sunshade umbrella or the like. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art. 
   Often a stand is needed which can be firmly placed into the ground onto which a sunshade umbrella can be mounted. However, most umbrella stands, even though, they have a rounded end or a pointed end cannot be thrust firmly enough into the ground to keep them from falling over. Often only a small hole is made in loose ground which is not deep enough to maintain the weight of an umbrella, and if the ground is not loose and is compacted then it is virtually impossible to thrust an umbrella stand into it. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 2,211,283 Mercer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,304 Morgulis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,495 Jacinto, describe umbrella stands where the bottom end is a drill and in the middle of the stand there is a handle with which the drill can be rotated and turned into the ground. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,369 Tizzoni, describes a hollow cylinder to which there is an umbrella attached where in the middle of the cylinder there is a shaft and the lower portion of the shaft is a drill. The other end of the shaft is attached to a handle and when the handle is turned it turns the shaft causing the drill to turn, screwing itself into the ground and anchoring the hollow cylinder upon the earth. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,386 Samuel Jr., describes a self-supporting golf umbrella stand with the bottom end being a spike which can be anchored into the ground by thrusting upon a pivotal foot pedal causing the spike to penetrate the ground. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,910 Lucchesi, describes a stand with a vertical pipe which has a spike on the bottom and can be thrust into the ground with a telescoping thrusting mechanism. Afterwards, the thrusting mechanism can be removed and a sign, such as real estate sign can be fixed on top of the stand. 
   U.S. Pat No. 4,524,533 Still, describes a pole with a disk mounted on the upper portion over which a pipe with a weight is placed to be used as a thrusting mechanism to force the stand securely into the ground. Once the stand is firmly anchored in the earth the thrusting pipe and weight can be removed and a sign can be fixed on top of the stand, such as a real estate sign. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,748 Girard, describes a stand with a spike on the bottom end and a fixed foot pedal protruding from the middle onto which can be thrust upon forcing the stand to penetrate the ground. A strapping mechanism can then be placed around the stand and a beach umbrella pole to hold the umbrella in place. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is the prospect of this invention to provide a secure stand which can be thrust into the ground for a sunshade umbrella. This invention will also comprise a holder which will securely hold different variations of a sunshade umbrella post to the stand, and a pointed spike which can be removed from the stand when the stand is not in use and needs to be stored. The stand itself is comprised of two hollow pipes welded together at their ends and the bottom pipe having a larger diameter than the upper pipe. Inside the pipes there is a spring attached to the upper pipe which comes down to the lower pipe and is attached to a hammer with a foot pedal protruding to the outside; this serves as the hammering mechanism. On the lower end of the bottom pipe a threaded sleeve is inserted into which the elongated spike can be attached to. The spike is comprised not only of the spike, but also of two handles protruding from the sides of the upper portion of the spike and a bolt on the top so that the spike can be screwed into the sleeve on the bottom pipe of the stand. The two handles protruding from the sides of the head of the bolt on the upper portion of the spike serve two purposes. The first is for handles so the spike can turned or screwed into the sleeve in the bottom pipe of the stand. The second purpose is that the handles act as a guide when the spike is thrust into the ground; when the handles are resting on the surface of the ground, then the spike has reached the depth within the earth to securely anchor the stand to the ground. The third purpose is that the handles act as stabilizers so that when the spike is thrust all the way into the ground and the handles are resting upon the surface of the ground, then the stand cannot tilt or fall in case of wind or some other natural effect exerting its force upon the stand. 
   Once the spike is firmly screwed into the bottom pipe of the stand one can then thrust upon the foot pedal which is attached to a hammer with their foot. The foot pedal hammer and weight from the force exerted by ones foot will slide down the inside of the bottom hollow pipe comprising the stand and hammer upon the spike. Once the foot pedal hammer has reached the spike one can remove their foot from the foot pedal and the pedal and hammer will automatically slide back upward due to the spring which is attached to the hammer and the upper pipe of the stand; pulling the hammer back to its resting place in the bottom pipe of the stand. One can then place their foot again upon the foot pedal and continue the same routine until the spike is driven into the earth so that its handles are resting upon the surface of the ground. 
   Finally, we come to the third article of this invention which is the umbrella holder. The umbrella holder is comprised of two hollow pipes welded together at their ends with the upper pipe having a larger diameter than the lower pipe. The lower pipe of the umbrella holder will slide securely into the upper pipe of the stand with the upper pipe of the umbrella holder being wider than the upper pipe of the stand; thus acting as a stop. An umbrella post can then be lowered into the upper pipe of the umbrella holder securely holding the umbrella post and not allowing any tipping or falling. The upper pipe of the umbrella holder is made to fit most standard umbrella posts or can be used to fit any other means. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevation view showing the umbrella holder, the stand, and the spike, and how the three pieces fit together with the umbrella holder sliding into place on the top portion of the stand and the spike which can be screwed into the bottom portion of the stand. 
       FIG. 2  mainly shows the bottom portion of the stand so that the foot pedal and the cut away in the stand in which the foot pedal slides up and down can be seen from the front. 
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the stand so that the internal components of the stand can be viewed and how they make the stand operate. 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the spike in larger detail than the view given in FIG.  1 . 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the umbrella holder so that it can viewed internally. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In giving reference to  FIG. 1  a ground anchoring stand  14  is shown for a sunshade umbrella. In cases of wind or other natural occurrences an umbrella can act as a sail or parachute exerting tremendous force upon its stand causing it to tilt or even fall. This stand will prevent that from occurring because this stand is able to anchor itself firmly into the ground using a spike  25  which will be attached to the bottom portion of the stand  17  by being screwed into place on the bottom of  17 . A foot pedal  18  attached to a hammer can be driven down onto the attached spike  25  using the force exerted by ones foot. An umbrella holder  11  can be slid into the top portion of the stand  13  to hold a sunshade umbrella. This stand once driven into the ground holding an umbrella will prevent an umbrella from tilting or falling from natural occurrences; such as wind. 
   The upper portion of the stand  13  is comprised of a steel pipe with an outside diameter of 1{fraction (3/16)} inch. The bottom portion of  13  is welded securely to the upper portion of the bottom stand  17  and the upper portion  13  comprises a total length of 1 foot and 10 inches. The bottom portion  17  of the stand is also a steel pipe with an outside diameter of 1½ inch and has a length of 1 foot and 4¾ inches. The total length of the stand the upper steel pipe  13  combined with bottom steel pipe  17  is 3 feet and 2¾ inches. The length of the entire stand both  13  and  17  combined with the umbrella holder  11  and spike  25  attached will be 4 feet and 7{fraction (6/16)} inches. The foot pedal  18  is situated 4¼ inches down from the upper area of the bottom pipe  19  of the stand. The foot pedal  18  is a flat piece of steel 3½ inches long, ¾ inch wide and {fraction (1/16)} inch thick welded upon a steel rod  19  with a diameter of ½ inch for firm support. 
   The umbrella holder  11  is also comprised of two steel pipes welded together, the upper pipe  10  has an outside diameter of 1½ inch and a length of 4 inches. The bottom pipe  12  of the holder is a pipe with an outside recessed diameter of 1 inch (the original diameter was 1¼ inch) and a length of 2 inches welded to the bottom inside of the upper pipe  10  of the umbrella holder. The entire length of the umbrella holder with the upper pipe  10  combined with the bottom pipe  12  is 6 inches. 
   The spike  25  is comprised of several different pieces for it to function, the first is  22  which is a 1 inch steel bolt with an 8 pitch thread. The top portion of the bolt  20  has been resurfaced for impaction from the  18  foot pedal hammer. The head of the bolt  22  has the shape of a hexagon and there are steel rods  21  welded onto two of its sides. The steel rods  21  have a diameter of {fraction (5/16)} inch and a length of 3 inches which serve two purposes. The first is for handles so that the spike  25  can be turned firmly into the bottom pipe  17  of the stand  14 . The second purpose is that the handles  21  act as a guide when the spike  25  is thrust into the surface of the earth and the handles  21  are resting upon the ground, then the spike has reached the depth within the earth to firmly anchor the stand  14  to the ground. The third purpose is for the handles  21  to act as stabilizers to stabilize the stand  14  once anchored in the ground against wind or any other natural occurrence which could cause the stand  14  to tilt or fall. Welded on top of the head of the bolt  22  there is the hardened steel rod  23  which will serve as the tip  24  of the spike. The length of the rod  23  together with the tip  24  is 1 foot, having an upper portion  23  diameter of {fraction (6/16)} inch. The tip  24  will began to angle in 11 inches down from the top of the rod  23  and come to a point. 
   In  FIG. 2  the opening  27  in which the foot pedal  18  slides up and down with the attached weight  26  is shown. The upper pipe  13  of the stand  14  has been cut away because only the bottom pipe  17  of the stand  14  is to be used for explanations in FIG.  2 . The bottom pipe  17  of the stand will have a 1 foot and ¾ inch long and ½ inch wide portion  27  cut out of it starting at the bottom of the pipe  17 . This opening  27  is necessary to make the foot pedal  18  slide up and down. On the inside bottom  17  of the stand  14  there will be a steel threaded sleeve  28  inserted by means of welding with the thread having an 8 pitch to serve as a nut; so that the spike FIG.  1  and  FIG. 4 ,  25  can be screwed into place on the bottom pipe  FIG. 2 ,  17  of the stand  14 . The bottom half of the hammer  26  which is attached to the foot pedal  18  will be visible through the opening  27 . The hammer  26  is solid piece of steel with a diameter of 1¼ inch and a length of 4¾ inches which will make contact upon the resurfaced portion  20  of the bolt  22  attached to the spike  25  shown in FIG.  1  and  FIG. 4 , once the spike  25  is screwed into the sleeve  28  in the bottom pipe of the stand  17  in FIG.  2 . 
   A sectional view of the stand is given in  FIG. 3  to the internal components and workings of the stand  14 . The upper portion of the stand  13  has an inside diameter  29  of 1 inch and situated 7½ inches down from the top of the upper pipe  13  of the stand  14  is a steel bolt  16  which is a ¼ inch. The bolt  16  is tightened with a steel nut  15  which is also a ¼ inch. A soft steel spring  30  is attached to the bolt  16  and also to an eyebolt  32  which is attached to the hammer  26  which allows the hammer with the foot pedal  18  to slide back upwards after the hammer  26  has made contact with the spike  25  in FIG.  1  and FIG.  4 . The spring  30  is a soft steel spring which has a measurement of {fraction (7/16)} inch by 10¼ inches by 0.041 inch. The steel eyebolt  32  measures {fraction (3/16)} inch and is attached to the hammer  26  by being screwed into the top by thread. The steel rod  19  upon which the foot pedal  18  is welded is inserted through the hammer  26  and is attached to the hammer  26  by means of welding; and the rod  19  has a length of 5¼ inches. In the top of the bottom pipe  17  of the stand  14  there is a hollow steel sleeve  31  inserted and attached by welding; upon which the upper pipe  13  of the stand  14  is welded to serve as a reinforcement and also to attach the upper pipe  13  of the stand  14  to the bottom pipe  17  of the stand  14 . The bottom pipe  17  of the stand  14  has an inside diameter  34  of 1¼ inch. 
   A larger view of the spike  25  is given in  FIG. 4 , however, all the measurements have already been given for the spike  25  and all it components  24 ,  23 ,  22 ,  21 , and  20  above and how they relate with the workings of the stand  14  shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , and FIG.  3 . 
   A sectional view of the umbrella holder  11  is given in  FIG. 5  with the upper pipe  10  of the umbrella holder  11  having an inside diameter  35  of 1¼ inch. The bottom portion  12  has an inside diameter  37  of ¾ inch and is attached to the bottom  36  of the upper pipe  10  of the holder  11  by being press fitted. The top  36  of the bottom pipe  12  of the holder was left to the original outside diameter of 1¼ inch and a length of ¼ inch to be press fitted into the bottom  36  of the upper pipe  10  of the holder  11 . The rest of the bottom pipe  12  of the holder  11  has a length of 2 inches and an outside diameter of 1 inch which was recessed down from its original diameter of 1¼ inch giving the bottom pipe  12  of the holder  11  a total length of 2¼ inches.