Three-piece umbrella cover structure

Abstract

A three-piece umbrella cover structure having main rectangular cloth and two side-cloths is provided for use with an umbrella having a plurality of umbrella ribs. The main rectangular cloth has two stitch sides and four vertexes. Each side-cloth has one stitch side and a plurality of raised points corresponding to the stitch side. The stitch side has two ends, each having an indent defined therein. The stitch sides of the side cloths are combined with the stitch sides of the main cloth, respectively, wherein the indents are combined with the stitch sides of the main cloth to form indent seaming portions to provide pulling force for stretching the main rectangular cloth.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to the structure of an umbrella cover and, more particularly, to the structure of an umbrella cover which is formed by combining three pieces cloths and is suitable for being printed with decorative patterns.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Typically, the conventional umbrella is formed by combining a plurality of gores. Such an umbrella cover structure is manufactured by sewing gores one by one, and thus it is difficult to print a decorative pattern on the umbrella cover. One solution is to divide a whole piece of decorative pattern into a plurality of sub-patterns, each being printed on a gore. As a result, the manufacture of umbrella is ineffective due to each individual pattern taking much time and resource to be printed on each gore. In addition, the symmetry and continuity of the printed pattern are difficult to control when sewing gores in mass production operation.

[0005] To overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, a conventional umbrella cover structure 50 is provided as shown in FIG. 1A, wherein the cover is designed as a single piece. With only one single piece of cover, it is much easier to print decorative pattern on the umbrella cover and there is no overlap or discontinuity of printed pattern.

[0006] Although the aforementioned umbrella cover structure can have a perfect pattern printed thereon, there exists a severe drawback in that the umbrella cover is not tightly stretched out, which results from the umbrella cover being made of woven fabric formed by interknitting the warp 502 and the weft 501. When pulling force is asserted, the warp 502 and the weft 501 are not extended to achieve a stretched status, but the umbrella cover in the oblique direction will be stretched and deformed, wherein regions capable of being extended to a maximum extent are in the directions of oblique angle of 45-degree. When using the single piece of umbrella cover 50 to manufacture an umbrella, with reference to FIG. 1B, it is possible to have a loosened portion 51 in the central region of umbrella cover and loosened portions 52 in four oblique sides of the umbrella cover.

[0007] Concerning the symmetry, the umbrella using the aforementioned umbrella cover 50 cannot place ribs in the 45-degree oblique region to have the maximum extending strength, and thus the loosened portion 51 in the central region is not easy to remove. One method to reduce the loosened portions 52 of four oblique sides 52 is to reduce the area of the umbrella cover, and thus, only the small size umbrella can be manufactured.

[0008] Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved umbrella cover structure to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The object of the present invention is to provide a three-piece umbrella cover structure, which includes one main rectangular cloth and two or four side-cloths to allow the decorative pattern to be easily printed on the umbrella with various sizes.

[0010] To achieve the object, there is provided a three-piece umbrella cover structure, which includes: a main rectangular cloth having two stitch sides and four vertexes; and two side-cloths, each having one stitch side and a plurality of raised points corresponding to the stitch side, the stitch side having two ends, each having an indent defined therein, the stitch sides of the side cloths being combined with the stitch sides of the main cloth, respectively.

[0011] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1A is a plan view of a conventional umbrella cover structure;

[0013] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of an opened umbrella shown in FIG. 1A;

[0014] FIG. 2A is an exploded view of the umbrella cover according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 2B is a top view of an opened umbrella shown in FIG. 2A;

[0016] FIG. 2C is a three-dimensional view according to the FIG. 2B;

[0017] FIG. 3A is a top view of an opened umbrella according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] FIG. 3B is a three-dimensional view according to the FIG. 3A;

[0019] FIG. 4A is a top view of an opened umbrella according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] FIG. 4B is a three-dimensional view according to the FIG. 4A;

[0021] FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the umbrella cover in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIGS. 6A and 6B are perspective view of the main rectangular cloth according to the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0023] With reference to FIG. 2A, there is shown a first preferred embodiment of the three-piece umbrella cover structure according to the present invention, which is suitable for umbrella with eight ribs. The umbrella cover comprises a main rectangular cloth 11 and two symmetric side-cloths 21. The main rectangular cloth 11 is a rectangle with four vertexes W, X, Y and Z and two long sides (segments {overscore (WY)}, {overscore (XZ)}) defined as stitch sides 111. Every side-cloth 21 is symmetric with each other and has a segment-shaped stitch side 211 to combine with the stitch side 111 of the main rectangular cloth 11. The stitch side 211 has two vertexes A and F and four turning points B, C, D and E. Furthermore, the stitch side 211 has two raised points H and G and the segment {overscore (BH)}, {overscore (EG)} are both perpendicular to the segment {overscore (HG)}. When the side-cloth 21 is combined with the main rectangular cloth 11, the extending lines of {overscore (CH)}, {overscore (DG)} are passed through the center of the main rectangular cloth 11 and the effects will be described hereinafter.

[0024] Because woven fabric of the umbrella cover is interknitted with yams in the direction of longitude and latitude. The yams of the umbrella cover in the direction of longitude and latitude are known as the warp and the weft. Under external force, the warp and the weft are only slightly deformed without being significantly stretched along the directions of longitude and latitude. Relative to the directions of longitude and latitude of the umbrella cover, the 45-degree oblique regions that pass through the cap or shaft of the umbrella have the maximum extension capability. That is, without external force to appropriately pull these regions, the regions will be in a loosened state. In the present embodiment, lines parallel with the segments {overscore (WX)} or {overscore (XZ)} in the main rectangular cloth 11 are the warp or the weft, and lines parallel with the segment {overscore (HG)} or {overscore (BH)} in the side cloth 21 are also the warp and the weft.

[0025] Because the stitch side 211 of the side-cloth 21 is a segment-shaped line rather than a straight line, the extending line of segment {overscore (CD)} will form two indents of angle &thgr; with respective to segments {overscore (BC)}, {overscore (DE)}. The angle between segment {overscore (AB)} or {overscore (EF)} with respective to extending line of segment {overscore (CD)} is slightly large than &thgr;, wherein &thgr; is preferred to be 5 to 20 degrees. When the stitch side 111 of the main rectangular cloth 11 is sewn with the stitch side 211 of the side-cloth 21, the segment {overscore (CD)} is directly sewn with the warp or the weft which is in parallel with the segment {overscore (XZ)}, and the segments {overscore (AB)}, {overscore (BC)}, {overscore (DE)} and {overscore (EF)} are sewn with the stitch side 111 of the main rectangular cloth 11 to form two indent seaming portions.

[0026] FIG. 2B is a top view of an opened umbrella according to the umbrella cover in FIG. 2A. As shown, the eight terminals, including four vertexes W, X, Y, and Z of the main rectangular cloth 11 and two raised points H and G of each side-cloth 21, can be fixed to the eight umbrella ribs 31, respectively, by tips or the like.

[0027] With effects of the indent seaming, the sewn umbrella cover presents a three-dimensional arc shape. Because the segments {overscore (BH)} and {overscore (EG)} are the warp and the weft, they provide pull forces in B→H and E→G directions respectively to stretch the loosened regions around the center of the umbrella cover. It can completely eliminate the loosened phenomenon, and present a perfect arc shape and smooth the umbrella cover, as shown in FIG. 2C. Furthermore, it has a uniformly distributed tension over the umbrella cover. Therefore, in the top view of an opened umbrella, the eight ribs are all straight lines, wherein four ribs are fixed at the raised points position of the side-cloths 21 along the direction of the extending lines of segments {overscore (CH)} and {overscore (DG)}. The cross point of the extending lines of the segments {overscore (CH)} and {overscore (DG)} is the center O of the main rectangular cloth 11.

[0028] Referencing to FIGS. 3A and 3B, it shows the second embodiment of present invention applied to an umbrella with twelve ribs. The main rectangular cloth 12 has four vertexes and two side-cloths 22, each having four raised points, so as to provide twelve terminals to fix twelve ribs in specific positions, respectively. This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment except that there are four ribs 32 placed substantially along the 45-degree oblique directions with respective to the longitude and latitude of the warp and the weft. That is, the ribs are placed in the maximum extension regions of the main rectangular cloth 12, so as to completely remove the loosened phenomenon in the central region of the main rectangular cloth 12. Thus, the opened umbrella cover is smoother.

[0029] Referencing to FIGS. 4A and 4B, it shows the third embodiment of present invention applying to an umbrella with eight ribs. This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment except that the main rectangular cloth 13 is a square rather than a rectangle. Therefore, any two opposite sides of the main square cloth 13 can be the stitch sides. The main square cloth 13 is combined with two side-cloths 23 and the whole configuration is substantially a rectangle. Such an umbrella cover is suitable for use simultaneously by two persons or one person carrying with a bag in back.

[0030] FIG. 5 shows the fourth embodiment of present invention, it is modified from FIG. 2A. The difference is that the stitch side 241 of the side-cloth 24 is a smooth curve. When the stitch side 241 of the side-cloth 24 is sewn with the stitch side 111 of the main rectangular cloth, it also induces the indent seams such that the warp and the weft in the indent seaming portion will stretch the loosened regions in the center of the main rectangular cloth 11.

[0031] To further strengthen the whole structure of the umbrella, it can use a combined rib to replace the usual ribs. The combined rib is formed by combining two ribs into one to ensure that each combined rib can extend radially from the center point to each specific position when opening the umbrella. Referencing the FIGS. 4A and 4B, there are four combined ribs 332 and four usual ribs 331 in the third embodiment. Similarly, it can use the combined ribs in the first and second embodiment as required.

[0032] Furthermore, in manufacturing a large-size umbrella, such as the golf umbrella, due to the restriction of the printing device, a large pattern can not be printed on the rectangle cloth at a time. Therefore, the main rectangular cloth can be designed as shown in the FIGS. 6A and 6B, in which the patterns are printed on separated rectangle cloths 141 and 142 (or 141′, 142′ and 143′), respectively, and the separated rectangle cloths 141, 142 (or 141′, 142′ and 143′) are combined to from the main rectangular cloth 14 (or 14′).

[0033] In additional to the aforementioned embodiments, the umbrella cover structure using one main rectangular cloth and two side-cloths can apply to umbrella whose number of ribs is even and equal or greater than eight. For example, it can design an umbrella with ten ribs and each stitch side of the side-cloth has three raised points. Of course, the umbrella with eight ribs is more handy and convenient to carry. Because only three pieces of cloths are used, the waste of cloth due to cutting, and the sewing complexity of the cloths can be dramatically decreased. It can also easily print the decorative patterns on the main rectangular cloth and side-cloth.

[0034] Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

1. A three-piece umbrella cover structure for use with an umbrella having a plurality of umbrella ribs, comprising:

a main rectangular cloth having two stitch sides and four vertexes; and

two side-cloths, each having one stitch side and a plurality of raised points corresponding to the stitch side, the stitch side having two ends, each having an indent defined therein, the stitch sides of the side cloths being combined with the stitch sides of the main cloth, respectively, wherein the vertexes of the main cloth and the raised points of the side-cloths fix the ribs in specific positions and the indents are combined with the stitch sides of the main cloth to form indent seaming portions to provide pulling force for stretching the main rectangular cloth.

2. The three-piece umbrella cover structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main rectangular cloth is a rectangle and the stitch sides are the long sides of the rectangle.

3. The three-piece umbrella cover structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main rectangular cloth is a square and the stitch sides are any two opposite sides of the square.

4. The three-piece umbrella cover structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of ribs is even and equal or greater than eight.

5. The three-piece umbrella cover structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stitch side of the side-cloth is a smooth curve.

6. The three-piece umbrella cover structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stitch side of the side cloth is segment-shaped.