Abstract:
A sun shade having an elongated member laterally supported from the end of a pole by a universal joint permitting rotational and angular movement of the member with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pole itself. The pole includes a telescoping arrangement whereby the pole can be lengthened or shortened at the discretion of the user. The end of the pole opposite to its end carrying the member includes a universal mount connected to a firm anchor or support by a suitable clamp.

Description:
Priority claimed on Ser. No. 60/144,207 filed Jul. 19, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of sun shades, and more particularly to a novel sun shade having an extended and elongated panel supported on the end of a pole by a universal joint and which further includes means for detachably connecting or supporting the pole on such items as lawn chairs, window ledges, ground support or the like. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     In the past, it has been the conventional practice to employ sun shades which are of a large area so that a maximum amount of shade is produced beneath an umbrella, stretched membrane or diaphragm or flexible cover material. Such shades, such as umbrellas; usually provide elaborate mechanisms for opening and closing the sheet material serving as a shade and usually such prior umbrellas are supported in cement anchors or are supported through openings in the center of a table or other support mechanisms. 
     Problems and difficulties have been encountered with conventional shade umbrellas and the like which stem from the fact that the shade cover itself is not adjustable throughout a variety of positions so as to be responsive to movement of the sun over the earth&#39;s surface which causes a need for change in shading area. Even if conventional umbrellas include pivots in the supporting pole, the pivots are unidirectional and permit only raising or lowering of the shade in either a vertical direction or at an angle, and such pivots are not of a universal nature. Other difficulties are encountered because the conventional shades, such as umbrellas, are intended to cover a wide shaded area and are not applicable for use in connection with individuals who wish to spot shade portions of their body, such as the face or even solely the eye area. In such situations, the sunbather wishes to have the sun cover as much of his body as possible except for the very small portion to be shaded. 
     Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a sunshade which can readily be used for spot shading on a sunbather&#39;s body and which may include a rigid shade panel which is mounted on a pole by a universal joint means and which may be detachably supported on a variety of furniture, equipment or even on the ground. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above problems and difficulties are avoided by the present invention which provides a novel sun shade having an elongated member or panel which is laterally supported from the end of a pole by means of a universal joint which permits not only rotational movement of the member or panel but permits angular movement with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pole itself. The pole includes a telescoping arrangement so that the pole may be lengthened or shortened at the discretion of the user. The end of the pole opposite to its end carrying the panel includes a universal mount connected to a support means for supporting the sun shade from lawn furniture, window sills, such as the window ledge of an automobile, or which may be supported directly on the ground. Such a means may include a suitable clamp or may include a spike or ground support. A feature of the invention involves providing a storage cavity in the end of the post for storing a spike that may be used as an alternate support to a clamp for ground support purposes. Means are also provided for attaching a clamp support to the arm of furniture such as lawn furniture so that marring of the arm will not occur and scratching as well as damage is avoided. Such means may include rollers whereby the entire assembly can be moved on the arm to a selected position. The clamp and/or universal joint securing the end of the post to the arm of furniture may be detachably connected from the post so as to permit access to the compartment for storing the support spike. The support spike can be removed from the compartment and then threadably attached to the end of the post. 
     Therefore, it is among the primary objects of the present invention to provide a novel sun shade for sunbathing use which will selectively shade a portion of a sunbather&#39;s body while permitting the sun&#39;s rays to be applied against a major portion of a sunbather&#39;s skin. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel sun shade which will selectively shade a portion of a sunbather&#39;s body from the sun&#39;s rays while permitting the major body area to receive the sun rays. 
     Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel sun shade which includes a rigid elongated member or panel which is attached to a post by a universal joint so that the panel may be articulated to a variety of selected positions for selectively shading a portion of a sunbather&#39;s body. 
     A further object resides in providing a portable sun shade which includes an extendable post having a variety of support means for detachably connecting the sun shade to furniture, mobile vehicles such as autos or golf carts, and, alternately, which may be supported directly on the ground. 
     Other objects and features reside in providing an elongated telescoping post for supporting a rigid sun shade by means of a universal joint at one end of the post while employing a second universal joint for supporting a clamp for detachably connecting the post to a variety of supports. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention may be understood with reference to the following drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the novel sun shade; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the sun shade illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another version; and 
     FIGS. 6,  7  and  8  are views of details relating to FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the present invention is illustrated in the general direction of arrow  10  which includes ah elongated post  11  supported in telescoping relationship with respect to a tube  12  which includes a twist retainer  13  adapted to hold the post  11  in any selected position along the length of tube  12 . One end of the post  11  includes an elongated member or panel  14  which is carried on the end of the post by a fitting  15  and a universal joint having a socket portion  16  and a ball portion  17 . A coupling  18  retains the universal joint on the end of the post  11 . Furthermore, it can be seen that the end of the member or panel  14  is attached to the universal joint by means of a second pivoting arrangement of a universal type taking the form of a ball  20  retained in a socket  21 . By means of the double universal joint, the angle of the member or panel  14  may be placed between the broken lines, as indicated by the arrow  22 , as well as being adapted for rotation along an axis  23 . Furthermore, rotation can occur about a longitudinal axis  24  so that full articulation of the member or panel  14  is obtainable. 
     FIG. 2 further illustrates a support means for the member or panel  14  as well as the post and tube  11  and  12  which takes the form of a clamp having a body  25  with an opening into which a support bar or tube  26  is received. Either a screw type clamp can be used in combination with the “C”-shaped clamp or, as illustrated, a pair of rollers such as roller  27  and a roller  28  may be employed for providing an interference type fit over the tube or rod  26 . Preferably, a pair of rollers is provided on one side of the clamp with a single roller on the other side and the rollers are preferably composed of a resilient material such as plastic-like or rubberlike composition so that no marring or marking, scratching or the like will occur on the surface of the supporting rod or tube. The bottom of the clamp is provided with a cushion stop  30 . 
     The clamp body  25  supports a universal joint or fitting carried on a knob  31 . The fitting includes a ball  32  fitted into a socket  33  carried on the end of the tube  12 . Therefore, an additional universal pivot or joint is provided for the post as well as the member or panel  14 . 
     FIG. 2 also illustrates that the tube  12  may be hollow so as to provide a storage space  34  which is internal of the tube. An alternate supporting means, such as a spike  35 , can be stored in the interior compartment when not in use. However, when it is desired to use the spike for ground support rather than use the C-shaped clamp or body  25 , the spike can be removed from the compartment by disassembling the clamp from tube  12  by rotating a knurled threaded fitting  36 . 
     Referring now in detail to FIG. 3, it can be seen that the C-clamp  25  supports the universal joint or fitting comprising ball  32  and socket  33  and that the clamp further supports the tube  12  and post  11 . As illustrated, the ground spike  35  is within the storage compartment  34  and will remain in the compartment until use, as shown in FIG.  4 . When it is desired to use the spike, the threaded fitting  36  is loosened and removed from the threaded connection with the bottom of tube  12  so that the spike  35  can be removed from compartment  34 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, once the spike has been removed from the compartment, the threaded end  40  of the spike  35  constitutes a threaded receptacle which receives the threaded end of tube  12 . When fixedly attached, the spike  35  may then be projected into the ground or buried in the ground, which is represented by numeral  41 . 
     Referring now in detail to FIG. 1, a typical illustration of usage is provided taking. the form of an outdoor lounge or lawn chair or couch  42  having arms such as arm  43 . The clamp  25  is illustrated as being supported on the arm  43  substantially as shown in FIG.  2 . The post  11  supporting the member or panel  14  can be raised or lowered since the post  11  is telescopically carried on the tube  12 . The shade  14  can be rotated about axis  23  and/or pivoted about the universal joint in an angular direction, such as indicated by numeral  22  in FIG.  2 . Sunrays approaching, as indicated by broken lines  44 , are blocked by the member  14  and the shade area is very selective for anyone reclining on the couch or chair  42 . The shade area is indicated broadly by numeral  45 . 
     In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that the fully articulated shade member or panel  14  can be rotated or positioned into several orientations in order to provide a selected area of shading for a sunbather. Universal joints are provided at the connection between the support whether it be a spike or a clamp and further universal connection is provided between the post  11  member or panel  14 . Positioning of the shade member is manually performed by the sunbather and choice of spike or clamp is made by the user. The user can readjust or reposition the shade member or panel periodically to follow sun position changes. 
     Referring to FIGS. 5-8, another version of the present invention is illustrated in the general direction of arrow  50  which includes an elongated, telescoping pole in a major length in tube  51  into which a rod  52  is movably displaced. Rod  52  in tube  51  is in telescoping relationship and the free end of rod  52  mounts a knuckle joint  53 , having a stationary part  54 , which a rotatable moving part  55  is attached and secured in place by means of any suitable fastening means such as a nut  56 . The movable part  55  includes an element  57  which carries an elongated panel  58  thereon so that the panel outwardly projects in cantilevered fashion in a sideways or transverse relationship with respect to the telescoping pole. The opposite edges of the elongated panel  58  include a pair of rails  60  and  61  which are arranged in fixed, spaced-apart relationship and are open-ended so as to slidably and insertably receive a sheet of advertising material. The sheet is identified by numeral  62  and includes an exposed surface  63  on which advertising may be placed. Such a display may take the form of alpha/numeric representations, pictorial illustrations, graphic representations or the like. The rails  60  and  61  are also illustrated in FIG. 8, and it can be seen that the panel  58  is mounted for rotational movement on the element  57 . Element  57  serves as a shaft on which the panel  58  is mounted by means of mount  64 . Mount  64  is secured to the underside of panel  58  and rotates therewith on the shaft element  57 . 
     In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the elements  54  and  57  include an O-Ring  65  and  66 , each of which bear against the internal bore surface of the respective tube  51  and mount  64 . FIG. 7 further illustrates that the lower end of rod  52  includes a seal  68  which is carried on the extreme end thereof and that the seal  68  engages with the surface of the bore of tube  51  when the end of rod  52  is inserted therein. The extreme end is identified by numeral  69 . The rod  52  further includes a stop  70  which engages with the top of the tube  51 . 
     FIG. 5 further illustrates that a clamping means taking the form of a C-Clamp  71  is carried on the end of tube  51  by means of a knuckle joint having a fixed portion  72  and a movable portion  73 . The end of tube  51  is attached to the movable portion  73  in the manner similar to that described with respect to the mounting of fixed knuckle portion  56  to the rod  52 . The C-Clamp  71  includes jaws  74  and  75  which are arranged in fixed, spaced-apart relationship so as to permit an adjustable element  76  to move between the opposite surfaces of the jaw for adjusting to a support structure or construction. The element  76  may move to the jaw  75  by manually turning a thumb screw  77 . 
     Therefore, it can be seen that the panel  58  may be rotated with respect to the support pole and that rotation may be along the horizonal axis of shaft element  57  as shown in FIG.  8  and/or the panel  58  may be rotated along the axis of the knuckle  55  as well. The rod  52  may be raised or lowered with respect to the tube  51  and the tube  51  may be rotated in accordance with the knuckle portion  73  with respect to the fixed portion  72  on the clamp  71 . Therefore, a person using the sun shade incorporating the present invention may adjust the shade as the sun moves during the day. The shade area provided by the panel  58  may be arranged so that only the eyes and face of the user are covered substantially as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.