UMBRELLA WITH FLEXIBLE STAFF

PARAPLUIE AVEC MANCHE FLEXIBLE

English Abstract

TITLE: UMBRELLA WITH FLEXIBLE STAFF
INVENTOR: GORDON SCHRODER
ABSTRACT
An umbrella is provided with a flexible staff
and a clamp for attaching the umbrella to an object, such as
a golf bag. The flexible staff is made sufficiently stiff to
hold the umbrella canopy in a relatively stable position, yet
is manipulable by hand. The shaft is made from a flexible
part and a rigid part. The flexible part is formed from a
flexible wire encased in flexible plastic.

Claims

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I CLAIM:
1. A foldable umbrella comprising:
a staff including a rigid end and at least one
substantially continuously flexible portion;
a foldable canopy attached to the rigid end; and
a clamp including means for gripping an object,
the clamp being attached to the flexible portion of the staff.
2. The foldable umbrella of claim 1 in which the
flexible portion of the staff is made from a plastic encased
flexible wire.

Description

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FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to foldable umbrellas. -;
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION :
Umbrellas are known that include articulated
staffs to enable the umbrella canopy to be located over a ` ~
position offset from the thing to which the umbrella is
attached. Examples of articulated staffs are shown in Riggs,
United States Patent Number 3,765,434 and Shinew, United
States Patent Number 3,204,650.
However, the inventor is unaware of a previous
umbrella that uses a flexible staff in combination with a
rigid staff to offset the umbrella canopy. The inventor
believes that it was not previously considered possible to
provide such an umbrella whose staff would have sufficient
strength to hold the umbrella canopy in the desired position,
while being sufficiently light to be usable.
~UNMARY OF THE INVENTION
The inventor has provided an umbrella with a staff
having a portion that is stiffly flexible, which in one aspect
may be described as including a clamp, a foldable umbrella ~ -
canopy, a staff having first and second ends, the first end ~ -
being flexible and attached to the clamp, and the second end
being rigid and attached to the foldable umbrella canopy.
Further summary of the invention may be found in ; ~
the claims. - -
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
There will now be described a preferred embodiment
of the invention, with reference to the drawings, by way of
example, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective of an umbrella according

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to the invention having a staff having a flexible end and a
rigid end, and a clamp attached to the flexible end;
Figure 2 is a cross-section of the flexible end
of the staff; and
Figure 3 is a cross-section of the clamp for an
umbrella according to the invention.
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DETAILED DE~CRIPTION OF THE PREPERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown an umbrella
10 including a foldable umbrella canopy 12 of standard
construction with safety tips 13 on the ribs 15 (available for
example from British Promotional Umbrella of Vancouver,
Canada), a staff having a rigid steel end 14 attached to the
canopy 12, and flexible end or portion 18 attached to a clamp
16. The canopy 12 may be attached to the rigid end 14 of the
staff by any of various known ways.
Referring to Figure 2, the flexible end 18 of the
staff may be made from a stiff wire 20 encased within a
plastic casing 22. Pins or ri~ets 24 may be used to secure the -
flexible end 18 to the rigid end 14 which fits withln goose
neck throat 26. The flexible end 18 of the staff should be
chosen to have a stiffness such that it does not move under
its own weight or from the force of a light breeze, and should
be made with sufficient flexibility that it may be readily
manipulated by hand, to any of a variety of positions.
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The clamp 16 is preferably constructed as shown
in Figure 3. Referring to Figure 3, clamp 16 includes means
for gripping an object such as a stamped two piece steel -~
assembly with corresponding jaws 30 and 32, each including a
bight portion 34 and 36 respectively for gripping an object

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such as a stroller, golf bag or deck chair. The jaws 30 and
32 are secured to each other by bolt 38 and wing nut 40. The
clamp 16 attaches to the flexible end 18 of the staff and may
be fastened by screw 42.
A fastener such as VELCROtm tab 44 with corresponding mating
tab (not shown) may be use to secure the umbrella canopy.
The staff may be provided with other rigid
sections, but this increases the difficulty of manufacturing
it, and it is preferable that the staff include just one
substantially continuously flexible portion.
It will be understood that immaterial
modifications may be made to the invention described, without
departing from the scope of the claims that follow.
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Representative Drawing