Patent ID: 6964277

Claim:
A shading apparatus comprising in combination: a folding umbrella providing an elongated structural supporting shaft having a lower end thereof adapted for securement relative to a supporting surface for holding the umbrella in an upright attitude, an upper end thereof supporting a canopy; the canopy providing a fabric panel stretched over a plurality of folding ribs hingably engaged with the support shaft, each of the ribs movable between a position adjacent to the supporting shaft and a position extending radially therefrom, the ribs each terminating with a rib tip, the canopy forming a convex upfacing surface with the ribs in the radially extending position; and a means for securing the umbrella including an elongate flexible strap having, at one end thereof, an adjustable loop fitted over, and thereby secured on, the upper end of the supporting shaft, and at the other end an eyelet engaged with one of the rib tips, the flexible strap further providing a means for length adjustment for tensioning the flexible strap between the upper end of the supporting shaft and the one of the rib tips; the securing means further comprising a securing line removably fixed at a proximal end thereof to the flexible strap and at a distal end thereof to the supporting surface.