Hands free umbrella apparatus
A hands free umbrella apparatus includes a harness comprising a shoulder strap and a chest-encircling belt. The shoulder strap is configured to overlap the user's shoulder in a generally vertical configuration. It has slots adjacent its ends for receiving the chest encircling belt. The belt is provided with an adjustable quick-disconnect buckle for securing the belt around the user's lower chest or upper abdominal region and allowing the user to adjust the length of the belt to accommodate different size individuals. An automatically deployable umbrella is secured to the front-facing external surface of the shoulder strap about midway between the belt and the top of the shoulder curve. The umbrella stem is secured to the shoulder strap by an adjustable joint having a full 180° of elevation adjustment so that the umbrella can be moved from a fully vertical upward direction to a fully vertical downward direction by rotating the stem around the joint in a vertical plane.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to an apparatus for hands free support of an umbrella. More specifically, the invention relates to a hands free umbrella apparatus such as for postal carriers and the like wherein an umbrella is supported on a belt system on either shoulder, is easily opened and closed without removal and is readily adjusted to avoid interference with normal activities such as driving a vehicle and using a seat belt.
2. Background Art
There are many issued U.S. Patents with disclosures which relate to supporting an umbrella somewhere on or near the human torso in a hands free configuration. The following patents appear to be the most relevant to such a supporting structure for umbrellas:
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- U.S. Pat. No. 877,802 Shuster
- U.S. Pat. No. 903,682 Cumpston
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,066,205 Henry
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,205,917 Merrill
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,262,402 Stuckey
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,347,540 Godard
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,460,821 Morris
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,466,715 Hart
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,657,263 Lauby
- U.S. Pat. No. 1,704,407 Rice
- U.S. Pat. No. 2,085,984 Kruithof
- U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,332 White
- U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,650 Shinew
- U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,965 Morman
- U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,339 Pearson
- U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,837 Dompe
- U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,977 Schiro, Jr. et al
- U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,786 Drane
Of the foregoing patents, those that disclose a structure for supporting an umbrella on a user's back are clearly distinguishable because a postal carrier or other user would have to remove the supporting structure to open or close the umbrella. This would be an intolerable inconvenience particularly for postal carriers who frequently enter and exit buildings and residences to deliver mail. Others of the above-listed patents describe structures which cannot be worn on either side of the body which thus requires separate configurations for left-handed users as opposed to right-handed users. Still others do not easily allow for folding the umbrella into a stored configuration such as for entering and driving a vehicle. Still others do not have sufficient adjustment to permit opening and closing without interfering with the user's head or shoulders and do not allow automatic opening of the umbrella. Thus, while there are many prior art disclosures of hands free umbrella devices, there is none which appears to be suitable for postal carriers or other users who require the aforementioned convenience features in order to make such devices practical for everyday use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention, in its preferred embodiment, comprises a hands free umbrella apparatus which overcomes the above-noted deficiencies of the prior art. Its principal components include a harness comprising a shoulder strap and a chest-encircling belt. The shoulder strap is configured to overlap the user's shoulder in a generally vertical configuration. It has slots adjacent its ends for receiving the chest encircling belt. The belt is provided with an adjustable quick-disconnect buckle for securing the belt around the user's lower chest or upper abdominal region and allowing the user to adjust the length of the belt to accommodate different size individuals. An automatically deployable umbrella is secured to the front-facing external surface of the shoulder strap about midway between the belt and the top of the shoulder curve. The umbrella stem is secured to the shoulder strap by an adjustable joint having a full 180° of elevation adjustment so that the umbrella can be moved from a fully vertical upward direction to a fully vertical downward direction by rotating the stem around the joint in a vertical plane. While the preferred embodiment uses a single plane joint, it is contemplated that the joint could be fully articulated in all directions (i.e., ball and socket joint) which would provide for tilting the umbrella out of the vertical plane if so desired to provide angle adjustment for inclement weather conditions such as blowing rain, protection of direct sun rays, snow, etc. The specific configuration of the preferred embodiment will be described hereinafter in conjunction with the appended drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe aforementioned objects and advantages of the present invention, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be more fully understood herein after as a result of a detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which:
Referring to the accompanying drawings comprising
Umbrella 12 is preferably the type of umbrella which opens automatically upon release of a latch 22 (see
Shoulder strap 14 preferably has a pair of slotted openings 28 on its front surface 30 and on its rear surface 32 so that belt 18 may be threaded through such openings to support the strap in its nominal vertical position on the user. (See
Opening and closing of the umbrella is preferably made while the umbrella stem is rotated to the zero degree position in elevation (see
It will now be understood that the present invention provides a hands free umbrella apparatus which is particularly advantageous for postal carriers and others who need to have their hands available for other tasks, but who nevertheless need to frequently open and close an umbrella during their daily activities. It will also be understood that although a preferred embodiment has been disclosed herein, numerous modifications may be made without deviating from the advantageous features of the invention. By way of example, the joint 16 as well as the manner in which belt 18 interfaces with shoulder strap 14, may be accomplished in many other ways. Therefore, the scope hereof is limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A hands free umbrella apparatus comprising:
- an umbrella having a stem upon which there is at least one latch for opening and closing the umbrella;
- a shoulder strap having front and rear-facing surfaces and a belt for encircling the torso of a user and securing the shoulder strap in a substantially vertical position over a shoulder of the user; and
- an elevation-adjustable joint affixed to said shoulder strap on the front-facing surface thereof, said umbrella stem affixed to said joint for selective elevational adjustment in at least a substantially vertical plane and anywhere between a substantially upward and a substantially downward position in said plane.
2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said joint has sufficient friction to maintain said umbrella stem in any selected elevation between fully upward and fully downward.
3. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said shoulder strap comprises slots on said front and rear facing surfaces and wherein said belt is threaded through said slots.
4. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said belt comprises a buckle for securing said belt around the torso of a user.
5. The apparatus recited in claim 4 wherein said buckle is configured as a quick-release buckle.
6. The apparatus recited in claim 4 wherein said buckle has an adjustable portion for selectively altering the length of said belt.
7. A hands free umbrella apparatus comprising:
- a shoulder encircling portion having an articulatable joint for receiving an umbrella;
- a belt for encircling the torso of a user and adjustably affixed to said shoulder encircling portion;
- said joint being adjustable in elevation between at least a vertical position and a horizontal position for facilitating the opening and the closing of an umbrella attached to said joint.
8. The apparatus recited in claim 7 wherein said joint has sufficient friction for maintaining said horizontal position of said joint with an umbrella attached thereto.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 8, 2004
Publication Date: Apr 13, 2006
Inventor: Kenneth Jennings (Springfield, MO)
Application Number: 10/961,715
International Classification: A45F 3/02 (20060101);