Patent Publication Number: US-9851050-B1

Title: Umbrella mounting system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIE THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to umbrella devices and more particularly pertains to a new umbrella device for attaching an umbrella to a cart. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a cart that may be urged along a support surface. The cart has a plurality of horizontal members. An umbrella is provided that has a shaft and a canopy. A mounting unit is removably coupled to the cart. The mounting unit insertably receives the shaft such that the canopy is positioned over the cart. Thus, the umbrella shades an area around the cart. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a mounting unit of an umbrella mounting system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a mounting unit of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a right side view of a mounting unit of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a back perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective in-use view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 6  thereof, a new umbrella device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 6 , the umbrella mounting system  10  generally comprises a cart  12  that may be urged along a support surface  14 . The support surface  14  may be ground or the like. The cart  12  has a plurality of horizontal members  16  and the cart  12  may be a beach cart or the like. An umbrella  18  is provided that has a shaft  20  and a canopy  22 . 
     A mounting unit  24  is provided and the mounting unit  24  is removably coupled to the cart  12 . The mounting unit  24  insertably receives the shaft  20  such that the canopy  22  is positioned over the cart  12 . Thus, the umbrella  18  shades an area around the cart  12 . 
     The mounting unit  24  comprises a sleeve  26  that has a first end  28 , a second end  30  and an outer surface  32  extending therebetween. Each of the first end  28  and the second end  30  is open and the sleeve  26  insertably receives the shaft  20  on the umbrella  18 . A pair of saddles  34  is provided and each of the saddles  34  has a central panel  36  extending between a pair of end panels  38 . The end panels  38  are spaced apart from each other to define a space  40  between each of the end panels  38 . 
     Each of the saddles  34  is coupled to the outer surface  32  of the sleeve  26 . Each of the saddles is oriented perpendicular to the sleeve  26  having each of the end panels  38  corresponding to each of the saddles  34  being directed downwardly. Each of the saddles  34  engages an associated one of the horizontal members  16  having the associated horizontal member  16  being positioned in the space  40  in associated saddle  34 . The pair of saddles  34  includes a first saddle  42  and a second saddle  44 . The first saddle  42  is positioned closer to the first end  28  than the second end  30 . The second saddle  44  is positioned closer to the second end  30  than the first end  28 . 
     A pair of fasteners  46  is provided and each of the fasteners  46  is movably coupled to an associated one of the end panels  38  corresponding to the first saddle  42 . Each of the fasteners  46  is selectively manipulated. Each of the fasteners  46  engages the cart  12  when the first saddle  42  is positioned on the cart  12  such that the first saddle  42  is retained on the cart  12 . Each of the fasteners  46  may comprise a thumb screw or the like. 
     In an alternative embodiment  50  as shown in  FIG. 6 , only one saddle  34  may be coupled to the sleeve  26 . The saddle  34  may be oriented at an angle with respect to the sleeve  26 . The saddle  34  may engage a support member  52  on a lawn chair  54 . Thus, the canopy  22  of the umbrella  18  may be positioned above the lawn chair  54  when the shaft  20  of the umbrella  18  is positioned in the sleeve  26 . In an alternative embodiment  56  as shown in  FIG. 5 , each of the fasteners  46  may be positioned on an associated one of the first  42  and second  44  saddles. 
     In use, each of the first  42  and second  44  saddles is positioned on an associated one of the horizontal members  16 . Each of the fasteners  46  are manipulated to retain the sleeve  26  on the cart  12 . The shaft  20  of the umbrella  18  is inserted into the sleeve  26 . Thus, the canopy  22  is positioned over the cart  12  to shade the area around the cart  12 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, system and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.