Patent ID: 7246629

Claim:
A beach umbrella comprising: a folding radial frame; a canopy stretched over the frame; a telescopic shank, wherein: the frame includes a hub provided on a top of the shank, a ring slidably provided on the shank below the hub, a plurality of ribs each including a first segment, a second segment, and a hinge made of plastic and pivotably interconnecting the first and the second segments, and a plurality of spreaders each having one end pivotably connected to the first segment and the other end pivotably connected to the ring wherein the first and the second segments are substantially parallel in response to folding the hinges in a folding position of the frame; the shank is made of plastic and includes an upper support tube, a lower sliding tube adapted to slide in the support tube, and a rotatable locking device provided on a top of the sliding tube wherein the sliding tube is adapted to manually raise or lower to a plurality of vertical positions relative to the support tube, and the sliding tube is adapted to be locked in a selected one of the vertical positions; wherein the hinge is made of plastic and includes a first unit and a second unit, the first unit having one end fixedly connected to a free end of the first segment, and the second unit having one end pivotably connected to an other end of the first unit and an other end thereof fixedly connected to one end of the second segment; wherein the first unit is substantially Y-shaped and includes a tunnel having a bifurication extending to opposing one end, a bar across an opening of the bifurication, and a channel defined by the bifurcation and the bar; wherein the bar is not aligned with a center line of the channel and tunnel of the first unit; and wherein the tunnel has a larger opening and a smaller opening each in communication with the tunnel.