Adjustable rib connectors
AssigneeOliver Joen-an Ma
InventorOliver Joen-an Ma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present inventions relate generally to connectors for interconnecting members of shade structures (e.g. umbrellas and pavilions), such as support ribs and hubs. The connectors can be incorporated or attached to support ribs of shade structures to enable the support ribs to extend from the hubs at various angles to accommodate different shaped canopies. The connectors include an adjustable portion that enables the support ribs to extend to desired points on the periphery of the canopy at an angle that deviates from the angle of the hub channels, which are disposed around the periphery of the hubs.
Claims9
An umbrella having an open, in use, position and a closed, stowed, position, the umbrella comprising:
- a pole;
- a hub having a periphery extending around the pole, the hub periphery having formed therein a plurality of radially outwardly oriented hub channels that are spaced at a first angle from one another around the hub periphery, wherein the first angle between each pair of adjacent hub channels is the same around the hub periphery;
- a canopy having a periphery that includes at least some points located at different distances from the pole in the open position;
- a plurality of ribs, each being mounted in a respective hub channel and extending from the respective hub channel to the periphery of the canopy, said ribs comprising a first group extending from the hub along longitudinal axes that are collinear with a radial orientation of the respective hub channels and a second group extending away from the hub along longitudinal axes that deviate from the radial orientation of the respective hub channels to points on the periphery of the canopy, and
- a plurality of connectors comprising a first portion coupled with at least some of the ribs, a second portion coupled with the hub, and a flexible portion disposed between the first and second portions configured to allow the ribs to deviate from the radial orientation of the respective hub channels;
- wherein the flexible portion comprises two channels on opposite sides of the connector, each channel disposed transversely to one side of the connector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.