Patent Publication Number: US-4920897-A

Title: Beach and lawn table with umbrella holder

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Our invention relates to a table for outdoor use and particularly for use on beaches, in camping areas and on lawns where the surface of the ground is uneven and the table is subject to exposure to wind, rain and bright sun. 
     Outdoor leisure furniture used on beaches, in camping areas and on lawns beside swimming pools, patios and tennis courts is traditionally unstable in use due to the uneven surface and soft texture of the beach, ground or lawn on which the furniture rests, making the furniture likely to tip or blow over in even moderate breezes or storms. 
     Responding to the need for a table for use outdoors which will not rust or deteriorate due to continued exposure to bright sun, rain, wind and salt spray and which will be affixed to the ground on which it rests so that it will not tip or blow over due to winds and storms, we have invented a unique beach and lawn table which can easily and firmly be affixed to the ground on which the table rests. Moreover, our table is made almost entirely of thermoplastic material and thus is practically impervious to sun, wind, rain and salt spray, making our table ideally suited for outdoor use. 
     In addition, our table serves as a holder for an umbrella shielding the table from the sun or the holder for a flag, pennant, tiki torch or other accessory. 
     Simply put, our beach and lawn table is made mainly of injection molded plastic components except for a helical auger made of steel attached to the base of the table. In the interest of economy, the table consists of four separate molded plastic parts, namely, a separate removable table top, a single hollow cylindrical leg, a table base, and a leg cap. 
     The base is permanently mounted on the lower end of the cylindrical leg of the table by an epoxy glue or other bonding means. Similarly the leg cap is bonded onto the upper end of the table leg. The cap has a cubical extension or lug on its upper face with a cylindrical hole in the upper horizontal face of the cubical extension. 
     The cubical extension serves two purposes. First, the cylindrical axial hole permits the vertical shaft of an umbrella to be inserted into and held by the cap and leg as a holder for the umbrella or other accessory positioned above the table top. 
     Secondly, the cubical extension is designed to receive the removable table top and lock the table top into fixed position about the table leg as the table top is used as a wrench to twist the table&#39;s auger into the ground as hereinafter more fully described. 
     In addition to the four plastic components just described, the table also includes a finger-operable set screw mounted on the side of the table&#39;s leg to lock the shaft of the umbrella or other accessory into place within the table leg. 
     The table also includes a helical auger preferably made of cadmium coated steel and having at its lower end a rather sharp point. The upper end of the shaft is welded to a circular steel plate and the steel plate is securely fastened to the underside of the table base with pop rivets or other appropriate fastening means. 
     When a suitable location for the table has been found, the table top is placed over the cubical lug of the leg cap and the sharpened tip of the auger pushed vertically in to the ground, beach or lawn. Then, using the table top as a wrench, the auger is screwed into the ground until the underside of the table&#39;s base is firmly pressed into the surface of the ground. The combination of the resistance of the auger to any movement of the table and the resistance of the ground beneath the table base to any lateral movement of the table provides remarkable stability to the table despite physical blows, strong winds or storms. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The attached drawings illustrate the essential features of a preferred embodiment of our invention in which: 
     FIG. 1 a perspective view partially broken away showing my beach and lawn table holding a beach umbrella. The umbrella as such forms no part of my invention. 
     FIG. 2 a detailed view illustrating how the beach and lawn table shown in FIG. 1 is affixed to the ground on which it rests. 
     FIG. 3 exploded view showing the assembly of the auger the base of the table shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 4 a cross-sectional side view of the base of the table in FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 5 perspective view of the leg cap of the table shown in FIG. 1 and 2. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of the leg cap shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. 
     FIG. 7 a plan view taken from above and partially broken away of the table top shown in FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 of the drawings illustrates a preferred embodiment of our beach and lawn table 10 holding an umbrella 18 which forms no part of our invention. 
     Table 10 includes a single hollow cylindrical table leg 11, a flanged table base 12, a leg cap 16 and a circular table top 17, all made of similar thermoplastic material. The table base 12 is permanently bonded to the lower end of leg 11 and the leg cap 16 is likewise permanently bonded to the upper end of leg 11 as best shown in FIG. 2. 
     The table base shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 includes a cylindrical upper portion 12a, a disc-shaped bottom portion 12b which contains a plurality of vertical holes 12c, a downwardly projecting flange 12d and a cup-shaped axial extension 12e designed to receive the lower end 18c of umbrella shaft 18a or similar accessory. 
     Auger 15 consists of at least three helical turns of steel rod with a sharpened lower end 15a and cadminum plated to resist rusting. The upper end of auger 15 is securely welded to the underside of circular plate 13 made of galvanized steel. Plate 13 contains a plurality of circular holes 13a positioned to align with holes 12a in table base 12. The steel plate is sized to fit against the lower face of the table base surrounded by flange 12d  and plate and base are joined together by pop rivets 14 as best shown in FIG. 3. 
     Leg cap 16 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a leg encircling downwardly projecting cylindrical cap portion 16a, a cubically shaped lug 16b extending upwardly from the upper face of cap portion 16a, and a cylindrical axially disposed hole 16c in the upper face of lug 16b. 
     Table top 17 shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 includes a square axially disposed flange 17a sized to fit snugly over lug 16b of the leg cap, a table encircling upstanding circular edge 17b, four radially disposed upstanding flanges 17c and a flat horizontal circular face 17d which contains a plurality of unnumbered drain holes. 
     In order to secure the shaft 18a of umbrella 18 (or the shaft of any other accessory used with table 10) a finger-operable set screw 19 is threadedly set into the wall of table leg 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     Other or alternate forms of table tops than table top 17 may be used with our beach and lawn table and a wider smooth topped alternate top is shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1. Other changes in design and arrangement of the components of our beach and lawn table will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. The illustration and description of the preferred embodiment herein by no means limits our invention whose scope is defined only in the appended claims.