Patent ID: 7438077

Claim:
An umbrella selectively configurable to an open position and a closed position, the umbrella comprising: a tubular mast having an interior and an exterior, the tubular mast defines a sidewall aperture; a shaft telescopically coupled to the tubular mast; a plurality of ribs pivotally coupled to the shaft; a plurality of spokes pivotally coupled to the tubular mast and pivotally coupled to the plurality of ribs; a canopy supported by the plurality of ribs; an actuator sleeve slidingly disposed on the exterior of the tubular mast; and an elongate member that is resiliently flexible and substantially incompressible, the elongate member extends through the sidewall aperture and couples the actuator sleeve to the shaft such that: a) in response to the actuator sleeve being slid upward along the tubular mast, the elongate member feeds further into the interior of the tubular mast and pushes the shaft upward to move the umbrella to the closed position; and b) in response to the actuator sleeve being slid downward along the tubular mast, the elongate member retracts from within the interior of the tubular mast and pulls the shaft downward to move the umbrella to the open position, thus more of the elongate member is within the interior of the tubular mast when the umbrella is in the closed position than when the umbrella is in the open position.