Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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UMBRELLA CENTERPOST LATCH SYSTEM
This invention relates to umbrellasO More
particularly, this invention relates to a centerpost
latch system for a collapsible umbrella~
There are two basic types of umbrellas in
use today, to wit: the stick umbrella, and the
collapsible umbrella. The collapsible umbrella has a
centerpost that is collapsible or shortenable when use
of the umbrella is not desired, so the collapsible
umbrella can be easily stored in, e.g., a briefcase or
a handbag or a car's glove compartment. The center-
post of the stick umbrella cannot be collapsed or
shortened, on the other hand, so the stick umbrella
cannot be stored as easily as the collapsible
umbrella.
In a centerpost collapsible umbrella, the
centerpost is comprised of two or more tubular
sections that telescope one within the other. When
use of the umbrella is desired, i.e., when the center-
post is extended, the umbrella's centerpost latch
system must be effective to hold those tubular
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sections in the extended or use position. In one
commercially used prior art centerpost latch system
(described in detail below), it i5 known to pin a
latch finger to a plug inserted in one of the center-
post's tubular sections so the latch finger can pivotbetween latch and unlatch positions when those tubular
sections are extended and rPtracted. But this prior
art system is relatively difficult and time consuming
to manufacture, and therefore materially increases the
cost of manufacture for the centerpost collapsible
type of manufacture.
Therefore, the primary objective of this
invention is to provide an improved centerpost latch
system for a collapsible umbrella in which the struc-
ture, and the assembly procedures therefor, aresimplified relative to the prior art. In accord with
this objective, the centerpost latch system of this
invention includes a latch finger that floats free in
a closed end guide seat of a plug received in an inner
telescoping tubular section of a centerpost, the guide
seat being accessible only through a side wall of the
plug so that the latch finger can move in one or both
of a direction transverse to and a direction parallel
to the longitudinal axis of the centerpost. A pin for
fixing the latch finger at one end of the guide seat,
therefor, is not needed in the umbrella centerpost
latch system according to the present invention.
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Othe~ objectiveg, features and advantages of
the present invention will become apparent to those
skilled in the art upon reviewing the following
dètailed description of the preferred embodiment in
conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which:
Fig. 1 is an exploded view showing a center-
post latch system for a collapsible umbrella according
to the present invantion;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view
showing the assembled centerpost latch system of Fig.
l;
Fig. 3 is an exploded view showing a prior
art centerpost latch system for a collapsible
umbrella; and
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view
showing the assembled centerpost latch system of FigO
3.
A centerpost latch system 10 for a col-
lapsible umbrella is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The
centerpost latch system 10 connects upper centerpost
tubular section 10a and lower centerpost tubular
section 10b that telescope one with the other. Each
tubular section 10a, 10b includes a latch slot 10a',
10b' adapted to overlie one another when those tubular
sections are extended into the centerpost use posi-
tion, see Fig. 2.
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The centerpost latch system 10 includes a
movable latch finger 11 with head section lla, a
comprPssion spring 12 applying a spring ~orce to the
latch finger 11 to allow movement of the latch finger
upon extension and retxaction of the tubular sections
lOa, lOb, and a plug 13. The plug 13 is provided with
a guide seat 14 for receiving the latch finger 11, see
Fig. 1. The middle portion of the guide seat 14 is
wider than both end portions thereof so as to receive
and position the spring 12. Note the guide seat 14
according to the present invention is a closed groove
which is closed at the ends thereof by end walls 14a,
14b, at the sides by side walls 14c, 14d, and at the
bottom by floor 14e. Hence, the latch finger 11 is
adapted to float free in the guide seat 14, and is not
fixedly connected to the plug 13.
In use, and as shown in Fig. 4, the latch
finger 11 is depressed by the umbrella's runner (not
shown) when the cover (not shown) of the umbrella is
collapsed, and thus it is moved into the guide seat 14
so that the centerpost lOa, lOh also can collapse. In
this regard, the guide seat 14 and the latch finger 11
are sized so that the latch finger can move to a
Iimited extent in on~ or both of a direction 15
transverse to, and a direction ~6 parallel to, the
longitudinal axis 17 of the cen~erpost sections lOa,
lOb. Note also the latch finger 11 includes a nose
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llb at one end that cooperates with the guide seat's
floor 14e and one guide seat end wall 14a to allow the
latch finger to pivot between its extended (see Fig.
2) and retracted (not shown) positions. Note also the
latch finger 11 includes a toe llc at the other end
with the spring 12 being engaged with the latch finger
closer to the toe than the nose llb so as to promote
the pivot movement.
A prior art centerpost latch system 20 over
which this invention constitutes an improvement is
shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The prior art latch system 20
for a collapsible umbrella centerpost 21a, 21b com-
prises a movable latch finger member 1, a spring 2, a
plug 3 provided with a groove 4, and a pin 5. The
middle portion of the groove 4 is wider than both end
portions thereof so as to receive and hold the spring
2. The groove 4 is closed at only one end 4a, and is
open at the other end 4b, so as to form a U snape in
cross section. Holes 6, 6 to receive pin 5 are formed
through the two side walls of the U-shaped groove 4.
A hole 7 is also formed at the top portion of the
latch finger 1. The pin 5 is inserted into the holes
6, 6 and the hole 7 to pivotably fix the latch finger
` 1 to the plug 3.
In us~, the prior art latch finger 1 is
pivoted on pin 5 as the umbrella's runner (not shown)
passes over it on the centerpost 21 as the umbrella is
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opened and closed. However, such a latch system 20 is
complicated and hard to manufacture relative to the
latch system 10 of this invention. Since the prior
art latch finger 1 is fixed at the top portion thereof
by the pin 5, it can only pivot about that pln 5. If
the latch finger 1 must be short to meet certain
spatial requirements due to the size of the umbrella,
then its swing distance i5 small, and thus the opening
and closing of the umbrella may not be smooth.
Having specifically described a preferred
embodiment of the invention, what we desire to claim
and protect by Letters Patent is:
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