Lower nest structure of collapsible umbrella

Abstract

A lower nest structure for a collapsible umbrella is provided, which contains a tubular member and a body member. The tubular member is sleeved over the central shaft and contains a tubular section and an operation knob. A pair of guiding holes and a pair of wedges located below the guiding holes are interleaved around the tubular section. The body member has a ring section to sleeve over the tubular section of the tubular member. The ring section is confined by the bottom surfaces of the wedges and the operation knob. A pair of opposing hook elements is configured on top of the ring section which could be flexibly expanded outward, causing a force to clasp inward. On the top ends of the hook elements, reversed hooks are configured to penetrate through the guiding holes of the tubular member and into the positioning holes of the central shaft for fixedly positioning the lower nest. When the tubular member is pulled downward, the reversed hooks would be relieved from the positioning holes so that the lower nest could slide downward to close the umbrella.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Technical Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention generally relates to collapsible umbrellas and, more particularly, to the lower nest structure of collapsible umbrellas for opening and closing collapsible umbrellas. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] Conventionally, a collapsible umbrella contains a central shaft, an upper nest fixedly attached to a top end of the central shaft, a lower nest sliding along the central shaft, and a rib structure whose ribs are connected to both the upper and lower nests. As such, pushing or pulling the lower nest up or down would force the ribs of the rib structure to expand or retract and the collapsible umbrella is thereby opened or closed. [0005] To maintain the umbrella in an open configuration, a positioning mechanism must be supplied to prevent the lower nest from sliding downward. [0006] A conventional positioning mechanism is a resilient stopper extended from the inside of the centr...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a collapsible umbrella, which allows the user to operate the lower nest easily and quickly. When the lower nest is pushed upward to an appropriate position, the umbrella is locked in an open configuration. In addition, when the lower nest is pulled downward, the locking is relieved and the umbrella is closed simultaneously.

[0009] The lower nest structure of the present invention contains a tubular member and a body member. The tubular member is sleeved over the central shaft of an umbrella and is able to move up and down along the central shaft. The tubular member contains a tubular section and an operation knob attached to the bottom of the tubular section. A pair of guiding holes and a pair of wedges located below the guiding holes are interleaved around the tubular section to that the two pairs are orthogonal to each other. The guiding holes have a sloped upper edge slanting downward towards the central shaft. The wedges have a protruding bottom surface. The operation knob has a larger diameter and forms a flange. The body member has a ring section to sleeve over the tubular section of the tubular member. The ring section is confined by the bottom surfaces of the wedges and the flange of the operation knob. The height or thickness of the ring section is substantially smaller than the distance between the bottom surfaces of the wedges and the flange of the operation knob, leaving a gap therebetween. A pair of opposing hook elements is configured on top of the ring section which could be flexibly expanded outward, causing a force to clasp inward. On the top ends of the hook elements, reversed hooks are configured to penetrate through the guiding holes of the tubular member and into the positioning holes of the central shaft. The reversed hooks have a sloped surface slanting downward towards the central shaft. When the tubular member along with the body member is pushed upward to an appropriate position, the reversed hooks would penetrate through the guiding holes and into the positioning holes of central shaft and, thereby, the lower nest is fixedly locked to the position. When the tubular member is pulled downward, the sloped upper edges of the guiding holes would lift the reversed hooks out of the positioning holes so that the lower nest could slide downward to close the umbrella. As such, during the umbrella opening and closing operations, a user wouldn't get hurt as the user's fingers never touch the locking mechanism provided by the present invention.

Problems solved by technology

The installation of the resilient stopper is not quite convenient.

It is quite uncomfortable for a user to operate the resilient stopper to close the umbrella.

Thirdly and most importantly, when the resilient stopper is pressed to make way for the lower nest, the lower nest would drop very quickly due to the retraction force of the rib structure, a user could easily get hurt if his or her finger is trapped between the resilient stopper and the lower nest.

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