Self opening umbrella

April 12, 1955 r. zimmermann etal 2,705,967

SELF OPENING UMBRELLA Filed Jan. 8, 1952

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United States Patent Office

2,705,967

Patented Apr. 12, 1955

2,705,967

SELF OPENING UMBRELLA

Richard Zimmermann, Langenfeld, and Alois Volker, Leichlingen, Germany, assignors to Rosenkaimer G. m. b. H., Leichlingen, Germany, a firm

Application January 8, 1952, Serial No. 265,374

Claims. (Cl. 135—22)

This invention relates to an umbrella capable of being shortened by the provision of telescopic stick and rib members and one that is automatically opened upon the release of a spring latch when the stick and rib members are extended.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatically opening umbrella capable of being shortened and one that has been designed for use without a spring retainer or holder at the outer end of an upper stick portion with the spring element associated with telescopic stick and rib members in a manner to maintain the umbrella in an opened condition.

By way of example, an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows the automatically opening umbrella capable of being shortened in the initial position of the opening operation;

Fig. 2 shows the umbrella frame in opened position, and

Fig. 3 shows the position of the two slides in an enlarged scale, when the umbrella is opened.

The umbrella capable of being shortened according to the invention comprises inner and outer stick portions 1 and 2 adapted to be telescoped one into another and inner and outer rib members 3 and 4 likewise adapted to be telescoped one into another, said inner rib member 3 being hinged to the umbrella-tip 5 fixedly secured to the outer stick portion 2. A main slide 6 is mounted on the inner stick portion 1, surrounds and is fastened to the inner end of a sleeve 7 upon which slides an auxiliary slide 8 that carries an upwardly extending sleeve 9. A compression spring 10 disposed intermediate said main slide 6 and said auxiliary slide 8 tends to urge said slides into opposite directions. Main struts 11 connect said auxiliary slide 8 to the rib members 3 and 4, said main struts being hinged to the inner ends of the outer rib members 4 in a known manner. Auxiliary struts 12, the inner ends of which are connected to the main slide 6 are fastened at their outer ends intermediate the ends of said main struts 11. In the closed position of the umbrella the main slide 6 is held by a usual stick or umbrella spring 13.

In accordance with the invention the auxiliary slide 8 placed upon the sleeve 7 of the main slide 6 is mounted to be freely moved in longitudinal direction so as to be adapted to be shifted or displaced along the sleeve 7 without any restriction. The auxiliary slide 8 in conjunction with the sleeve 9 as well as the auxiliary struts 12 are so dimensioned with respect to their lengths that if the umbrella is opened (Figs. 2 and 3) the auxiliary slide sleeve 9 will slide outwardly on the sleeve 7 and directly engage the umbrella-tip 5 and be stopped thereby. An elastic bumper 14, consisting for instance of rubber, is 5 preferably provided for dampening the impacts or shocks.

The opened umbrella is permanently spring-loaded, while said slides are driven by means of said spring up to the finishing stage of the opening operation, i. e. up to the stop at the tip 5, resulting in a complete automatic opening 10 of the umbrella.

The outer stick 2 consists of a simple tube free of internal or external locking springs serving to hold said main slide. Thus it is possible to dimension the inner stick portion 1 capable of being telescoped so long that if 15 the stick portions are telescoped one into another it will engage said umbrella-tip.

The sleeve 7 for enabling it to slide freely over the stick portion 2 has a diameter greater than the diameter of the stick portion 2 and, is provided with a circum20 ferential bead 15 at its outer end, by means of which the sleeve may slide over edges 16 of said outer stick portion without any engaging or seizing effect.

it will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range with25 out departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.