Beach Umbrella Shovel Anchor
A combination earth anchor and shovel capable of being used as an earth excavating tool and anchoring device having a particular application to secure an outdoor umbrella in soil.
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/859,258 filed on Aug. 18, 2010 currently pending.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to earth anchors designed to be particularly useful as earth excavating tools. More particularly, it relates to a device that may be used as a shovel and as an anchor to secure a device in the ground. The application further relates to such a device integrated into an outdoor umbrella assembly.
Items typically inserted into the ground such as outdoor umbrellas, posts, and signs are often not adequately supported and at times are difficult to position as desired. These objects are particularly difficult to insert into ground hard enough to adequately support them in an upright position. Ground that is soft enough for easy insertion, however, generally provides little support. Attachments exist to aid the user in inserting such objects into the ground. Common attachments include spikes, screws and flat spades. Spike attachments aid the user by decreasing the force needed to pierce though the soil. Spikes lack the ability, however, to adequately support the object in softer soil. Screw anchors allow the user to secure the object by twisting it into the ground. Screw shaped anchor attachments can be difficult to work into hard ground, and may pullout of soft sand too easily. If of sufficient size to provide adequate purchase, screw attachments will often be large, heavy and cumbersome. Spade type attachments provide a relatively easy method of inserting the object into the ground, provide increased surface area to secure the object in sandy soil and, may double as a shovel-like digging tool to excavate a hole to provide additional purchase. Absent complicated folding mechanisms, these shovel like tools often lack the cross-sectional area needed to resist pullout.
A need exists for an anchorage device which provides a means to easily insert an object, such as a beach umbrella, into the ground while providing additional stability and resistance to pullout. Such an item would desirably be capable of creating a hole in the ground, be relatively simple to use and carry, and provide adequate pull-out resistance when placed in the ground.
One particularly useful application of the present invention is in the area of beach umbrellas. People enjoying outdoor activities commonly find it desirable to rest from the direct sun in a shady area. Such shade offers protection from the sun's heat and skin damaging radiation. Not all locations possess an adequate amount of shaded areas to relax, especially beaches, where beach dwellers often desire to experience the sensations of relaxing on a sandy beach while not succumbing to blistering sun.
Erecting a temporary sun shade, such as a beach umbrella, requires one to secure the umbrella shaft or pole to the ground to prevent movement. Such umbrellas are desirably lightweight for portability and possess a sufficiently large surface so as to adequately shade an individual. Such design criteria means that the slightest breeze can shift, lift and otherwise move the umbrella from its desired location. Fixing the umbrella to the ground generally requires tools or equipment to partially burry the umbrella shaft in soil that may vary from sand to dirt, clay or rock.
Heavy screw devices, complicated folding shovel like attachments, and spiked tips all have been used with limited success to anchor umbrellas into various soil conditions. Each has certain disadvantages. For instance, the screw devices can be awkward to transport and work well only in limited soil conditions, while complicated folding shovel like attachments are prone to breaking and can add unnecessary expense to their own construction, while simple spike attachments may be wholly inadequate in sandy soil conditions often found at the beach.
There remains a need for an attachment that provides a firm anchor in a variety of soil conditions, resists pull-out, lightweight, compact, self contained and preferably attached to the umbrella shaft itself. The attachment should also be relatively easy to manufacture and use no moving parts to assemble, manipulate, wear out or break.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe disclosed anchoring device attaches to an umbrella shaft or pole and provides three general modes of use. Pressed into firm ground the wedge shape provides stability to the attached umbrella. Used as a shovel, the large flat blade allows the user to create a hole in the ground. A curved tip enables the user to easily break firm ground, while the bent shoulder step plates enable the user to comfortably exert the necessary pressure to pierce the soil. The device may then be used as a buried anchor, the device is placed in the hole and the removed soil is replaced, covering the device and enabling it to provide additional anchorage for the umbrella. A wedge shaped protrusion provides additional pull-out resistance and lateral stability.
The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:
The drawings illustrate an invention that enables an individual to secure an object such as a beach umbrella in the ground.
The invention's blade portion 120 increases the surface area upon which pressure exerted by the soil 5, including sand, dirt, gravel, rock, clay, and mixtures thereof, can act upon the umbrella shaft 15 to maintain the desired position of the umbrella 13. A wedge shaped feature 140 extends outward from the rear surface of the blade 120. The wedge shaped feature 140 of the blade 120 provides additional surfaces 145, 150 and 152 against which the soil 5 can act upon. The triangular shaped left lateral wedge surface 150 and corresponding right lateral wedge surface 152, increase the lateral surface area and increase the blades resistance to side to side movement. The upper surface 145 of the wedge feature 140 increases the horizontal surface area thereby increasing the invention's resistance to being pulled vertically out of the ground 5. While these surfaces 145, 150 and 152 are shown in the present embodiment as planar, it should be understood that such surfaces may be curved and blended to form a protrusion in the general shape of a wedge having curved edges and non-planar surfaces.
The rounded tip 125 aids the user in breaking though firm soil. The wedge shaped feature 140 on the rear surface 123 of the blade portion 120 provides additional strength. The present embodiment shows the wedge shaped feature 140 having a corresponding concave depression 143 on the front 121 surface of the blade portion 120. The depression 143 further aids in removal of the dirt by enabling the invention to hold a larger volume of soil 5 that it could without the depression 143. Alternatively, the invention may possess a wedge feature 140, but lack the concave wedge shaped depression 143. In such an embodiment, the blade 120 would have a generally flat front surface 121. Furthermore, regardless whether the invention possesses a wedge shaped depression 143, the invention may have a planar blade 120, or as shown in the present embodiment the blade 120 may have a slight curvature where the right lateral edge 126 and the left lateral edge 128 are slightly curved upward toward the front face 121 of the invention 1.
The blade rear surface 123, surrounds the wedge shaped feature 140 on the sides and top, while the tip portion 125 of the blade rear surface 123, is located below the wedge shaped feature surrounds the wedge 140 on the bottom side. The wedge 140, is thus encircled by the rear surface of the blade on the left, right, top and bottom sides of the wedge 140. The rear surface 123 provides a non-parallel surface to the rear wedge surface, against which the soil may act. The blade and wedge surfaces form a simply connected surface, having no holes in them through which soil could pass, reducing the effectiveness of the device as an anchor.
Claims
1. An anchorage device for securing an umbrella in a generally upright position, said umbrella having a canopy and a shaft, comprising:
- a generally tubular socket portion for receiving said shaft of said umbrella, said tubular socket having an axis centered within said socket;
- a blade, said blade having an upper edge, a lower edge, a right lateral edge and a left lateral edge, a front surface and a rear surface, said blade generally symmetric about a plane perpendicular to said blade and intersecting said axis:
- a wedge shaped feature extending from the rear surface of said blade having a solid upper surface, a right lateral surface, a left lateral surface, a front surface and a rear surface, said wedge shaped protrusion having a width extending from said right lateral surface to said left lateral surface and a depth extending from said protrusion's rear surface to said blade's rear surface, said width greater than said depth, said wedge upper surface having a surface area substantially equivalent to said depth times said width, said upper surface positioned below said upper edge of said blade.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein said blade's lower edge extends downward forming a curved tip centered on said lower edge.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein said wedge shaped protrusion possesses a generally uniform thickness and forms a corresponding wedge shaped concave depression on said front surface of said blade, said concave depression having a front surface, a right lateral surface, a left lateral surface, and an upper surface.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the front surface of said blade has a generally flat surface, wherein said wedge shaped protrusion possesses a non-uniform thickness from the front surface of said blade to the rear surface of said wedge shaped protrusion.
5. The device of claim 1, wherein said blade possesses a shoulder portion attached at said upper edge of said blade having an upper surface generally perpendicular to the surface of said blade.
6. The device of claim 1, wherein said socket portion possesses at least one threaded hole for receiving at least one threaded screw.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein said socket portion possesses an upper opening for receipt of said umbrella shaft, and a closed lower portion.
8. An anchoring device for securing an umbrella shaft in soil comprising:
- a vertically elongated cylindrical neck portion having a vertical bore extending therein adapted for receiving said umbrella shaft, said neck portion having an outer surface at least partially encircling the circumference said bore, said bore forming an inner bore surface at least partially encircling the circumference of said bore;
- a vertically oriented blade portion possessing a front surface, rear surface, a left lateral edge, a right lateral edge, a lower edge and an upper edge, said blade portion attached to said neck portion;
- a wedge shaped feature extending from the rear surface of said blade, said wedge having a front wedge surface, a rear wedge surface, a right lateral surface, a left lateral surface, a closed upper surface, an upper portion and a lower portion, said upper portion protruding farther from said rear blade surface than said lower portion said wedge having a width extending from said right lateral surface to said left lateral surface and a depth extending from said wedge's rear surface to said blade's rear surface, said width being greater than said depth, said wedge upper surface having a surface area substantially equivalent to said depth times said width, said upper wedge surface located below said upper edge of said blade.
9. The device of claim 8, wherein said invention is formed from the bending of a sheet of material, said vertically elongated cylindrical neck portion is formed from the bending of a portion of said sheet into a tubular shape, said blade portion formed from the bending of another portion of said sheet.
10. The device of claim 8, wherein said-right lateral surface and said left lateral surface are generally parallel to one another and generally perpendicular to said blade, said upper wedge surface generally perpendicular to said blade.
11. The device of claim 8, wherein said blade's lower edge extends downward forming a curved tip centered on said lower edge.
12. The device of claim 8, wherein said wedge shaped feature possesses a generally uniform thickness and forms a corresponding wedge shaped concave depression on said front wedge surface.
13. The device of claim 10, wherein said wedge shaped feature possesses a generally uniform thickness and forms a corresponding wedge shaped concave depression on said front wedge surface, said concave depression having a front surface, a right lateral surface, a left lateral surface, and an upper surface.
14. The device of claim 8, wherein the front surface of said blade has a generally flat surface, wherein said wedge shaped feature possesses a non-uniform thickness from the front wedge surface to the rear wedge surface.
15. The device of claim 8, wherein said blade possesses a shoulder portion attached at said upper edge of said blade having an upper surface generally perpendicular to the surface of said blade.
16. The device of claim 8, wherein said neck portion possesses at least one threaded hole extending from said outer surface of said neck portion to said inner bore surface, said threaded hole adapted to receive at least one threaded screw.
17. The device of claim 8, wherein said bore of said neck portion is open at the upper portion of said neck and a closed at the lower portion of said neck.
18. An anchoring device for securing an umbrella shaft in soil comprising:
- a vertically elongated neck portion having a vertical bore extending therein adapted for receiving said umbrella shaft;
- a blade portion possessing a front surface, rear surface, a left lateral edge, a right lateral edge, a lower edge and an upper edge, said blade portion attached to said neck portion;
- a wedge shaped feature extending from the rear surface of said blade, said wedge having a front wedge surface, a rear wedge surface, a right lateral surface, a left lateral surface, a solid upper surface, an upper portion and a lower portion, said upper portion protruding farther from said rear blade surface than said lower portion said wedge having a width extending from said right lateral surface to said left lateral surface and a depth extending from said wedge's rear surface to said blade's rear surface, said width being greater than said depth, said rear surface of said blade encircling the rear wedge surface, said rear wedge surface and said rear surface of said blade forming a simply connected surface, said solid upper surface lying below said upper edge of said blade.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 11, 2012
Publication Date: Feb 14, 2013
Inventor: Walter Dorr (Springville, TN)
Application Number: 13/546,924