Umbrella base

Abstract

An umbrella base is comprised of a body portion having a billboard surface for advertising a company, organization, products, service or the like. The billboard surface can be provided on a separate removable billboard plate placed on the top of the body portion, which allows the advertising message to be easily changed. In its preferred construction, the body portion has at least one ballast cavity, and preferably multiple ballast cavities, and is constructed in separable parts to permit a selected ballast to be added to the ballast cavities in order to add a desired ballast weight to the umbrella base. The umbrella base can also be provided with casters, including locking casters, so that the umbrella base and its advertising message can be easily moved across a surface from one location to the another.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60 / 533,737, filed Dec. 29, 2003.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention generally relates to the use of umbrellas, and in particular, to umbrella bases used to hold umbrellas in an upright position. [0003] Outdoor and patio umbrellas (collectively referred to as patio umbrellas) are widely used in personal, recreational and commercial settings. Typical commercial purchasers of patio umbrellas include hotels, resorts, restaurants, cafes, pubs and coffee houses. Because of their widespread use and the visual exposure they provide to users and passers-by, patio umbrella's have been popular as a media for corporate advertising. As more people spend time outside and become more educated about the harmful effect of the sun's direct rays, the demand for patio umbrella's is likely to increase along with the opportunity for providing advertising centered around t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] In a further aspect of the invention, the body portion of the umbrella base is comprised of a ballast housing assembly which includes a lower portion having at least one ballast cavity that can be filled with a ballast material, such as water, sand, steel shot, iron, lead, concrete, cement. The housing assembly further includes a top portion that removably fits onto the lower portion of the housing assembly to cover the at least one ballast cavity. The removable cover portion provides access to the ballast cavity without the need for narrow fill openings for the ballast material, and permits aggregate ballast materials such as sand or cement to be distributed evenly within the cavity. The ballast cavity is optionally divided into smaller cavities such as by partition walls disposed in the cavity. Multiple cavities facilitate even distribution of the ballast material within the lower ballast holding portion of the housing and minimize shifting of the ballast material within the base when the base is moved or tipped. They also facilitate the use of relatively small easy to handle ballast containers sized and shaped to fit within the cavities. Specific cavity volumes can also be provided to predetermine the amount of ballast weight that will be added for a given ballast material.

[0013] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, at least one closable fill opening is provided in the top cover portion of the housing assembly to permit the at least one the ballast cavity in the lower housing portion to be filled with a ballast material without having to remove the top cover of the housing assembly. For bases having multiple ballast cavities, a closable fill opening is provided for each cavity.

[0016] In still another aspect of the invention, the lower portion of the housing assembly is provided with casters to allow the base to be readily moved from one location to another, and with position locking mechanisms for locking the base in a set position when it is not being moved. In one embodiment, at least one of the casters, and suitably two or more casters, has a locking mechanism that is activated by the user. When the base is ready to be moved, the user mechanically unlocks each caster that has a locking mechanism and rolls the base to a new location. After the base is moved the user activates the wheel locks again to prevent any further rolling movement. In the preferred embodiment, the casters are wheel casters and the locking mechanisms engage the caster wheels to prevent rolling of the wheels.

[0017] In another embodiment of the invention, the lower portion of the housing assembly includes casters and deployable support feet. At least three, and suitably more support feet are provided for stability and are attached to the lower portion of the housing assembly so that the feet can be lowered to engage the ground to take the weight of the umbrella base off of the casters, and retracted for lowering the base back onto the casters for rolling. In the preferred embodiment, the deployable support feet are provided in the form of spring-loaded user activated cam devices, and are preferably located at or somewhat beyond the perimeter of the housing assembly for ease of access and maximum stability.

[0018] Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved umbrella base that can be used to advertise products, services, company names, company logos, names and symbols of organizations such as universities, and the like. It is another object of the invention to provide an improved umbrella base having at least one readily accessible ballast cavity that can be easily filled with a suitable ballast material and that facilitates providing variable ballast weights to accommodate different uses and use environments. It is a further object of the invention to provide an umbrella base that can be easily moved from one location to another, and that can be rendered immobile at a set location. It is still another object of the invention to provide an umbrella base which is aesthetically pleasing, that is durable in outdoor weather, yet is relatively inexpensive to manufacture. One or more the foregoing objects may be attained in a particular embodiment of the invention and a particular embodiment of the invention need not attain all of the foregoing objects. Also, other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, the accompany drawings and the appended claims.

Problems solved by technology

Heretofore, such advertising has been limited to imprinting or otherwise incorporating company names, product names, logos and the like directly on the umbrella's fabric covering, where the advertising is within normal sight lines of persons situated at a distance from the umbrella, however, where the advertising cannot be easily viewed by persons close in, such as persons seated under the umbrella.

Weight is an important issue for patio umbrella bases.

Too much weight is undesirable because the base would be excessively heavy and difficult to move.

The added weight may also lead to increased shipping costs.

Insufficient weight would make the umbrella susceptible to being toppled by wind or other forces.

Such weight is adequate to support some patio umbrellas in some environments, however, it may be inadequate depending on weather conditions and the umbrella size.

Also, metal bases are susceptible to corrosion which results not only in the deterioration of its outer appearance, but also creates a problem when rust particles stain the surrounding support surfaces such as wood or concrete.

Protective coatings such as rust resistant paint and even high cost powder coatings have been used to help alleviate this problem, however, in high traffic areas repeated contact with tables and chairs can cause scratches in the surface coatings allowing the metal beneath the protected surface to rust.

Such bases are heavy, unattractive and difficult to move, and not well adapted for many use environments.

This molding process produces low cost, rust resistant parts, however, the parts generally are large and bulky and cosmetically unattractive.

Also, they are produced with a relatively thin and uniform wall thickness making it difficult to attach the necessary structural tubing to hold the umbrella shaft.

Once filled, they are very difficult to move without the draining of the fluid ballast.

The difficulty in moving conventional umbrella bases is a significant drawback.

However, because of the difficulty in moving existing umbrella bases and because the offset angle of the umbrella only offers minimal shade adjustments, users usually need to move their table and chairs to the new shaded area as the day progresses.

Images