Safety umbrella

Abstract

A safety umbrella includes a top notch member fixed on an upper end of a central shaft and having a resilient tongue which extends downwardly to form a hook end with an actuated shoulder surface. A runner has a slot for retaining the hook end therein at an upper position. An operating sleeve surrounds and is axially movable relative to the runner and has an actuating friction block which is matingly engaged with the actuated shoulder surface at the upper position such that, when the operating sleeve is moved downwardly, the actuated shoulder surface is pressed to withdraw the hook end inwardly so as to disengage the hook end from the slot.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A safety umbrella comprising:
 a central shaft extending in a direction of an axis to terminate at upper and lower ends;   a top notch member fixed on said upper end of said central shaft, and including a notched wheel, an upper shell which extends from said notched wheel and which has a smaller dimension than that of said notched wheel, and a resilient tongue which has a tongue body that extends downwardly from said upper shell and that terminates at a hook end, said hook end extending radially to cooperate with said tongue body to form an actuated shoulder surface that faces upwardly;   a rib assembly pivotally connected to said notched wheel for mounting a canopy thereon;   a runner sleeved on and movable relative to said central shaft between upper and lower positions, and including a notched disc and a lower shell which extends from said notched disc, which has a smaller dimension than that of said notched disc, and which has a slot that is disposed adjacent to said notched disc and that extends radially therethrough, said slot being configured to permit said hook end to be retainingly engaged therein immediately after an upward movement of said runner to the upper position by thrusting said hook end into said runner;   a stretcher assembly pivotally connected to said notched disc and said rib assembly so as to stretch or retract said rib assembly when said runner is moved to the upper position or the lower position; and   an operating sleeve having an inner sleeve surface which surrounds and is axially movable relative to said lower shell, said operating sleeve including an actuating friction block which is disposed on said inner sleeve surface and adjacent to said slot, said actuating friction block having an actuating friction surface which is configured to face downwardly and to be matingly engaged with said actuated shoulder surface when said hooked end is retained in said slot at the upper position such that, when said operating sleeve is moved axially away from the upper position, said actuated shoulder surface is pressed by said actuating friction surface to withdraw said hook end inwardly and radially so as to disengage said hook end from said slot, thereby allowing said runner to move toward the lower position.   
     
     
         2 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said notched disc has a surrounding passage which surrounds the axis and which is configured for exposing two twisted ends of a lower wire ring, said operating sleeve having a shielding tab which extends upwardly and which is disposed radially and outwardly of said notched disc so as to shield the twisted ends of the lower wire ring. 
     
     
         3 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein said notched wheel has a surrounding groove which surrounds the axis and which is configured for exposing two twisted ends of an upper wire ring, said top notch member having an upper shielding cavity which is disposed on said upper shell and adjacent to said notched wheel for accommodating the twisted ends of the upper wire ring. 
     
     
         4 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein said actuating friction surface is configured to be inclined downwardly, said resilient tongue having a ramp which is disposed on said actuated shoulder surface, and which is inclined from said hook end toward said tongue body so as to be in slidable frictional engagement with said actuating friction surface, thereby facilitating the pressing of said actuated shoulder surface by said actuating friction surface when said operating sleeve is moved axially away from the upper position. 
     
     
         5 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein said runner has a flange extending radially and outwardly from a lower end of said lower shell to define an abutment shoulder surface facing upwardly, said inner sleeve wall surface of said operating sleeve having a small-diameter surface region which is fittingly sleeved on and slidably movable relative to said lower shell, and a large-diameter surface region which extends downwardly from said small-diameter surface region to define a surrounding abutting surface that is brought to abut against said abutment shoulder surface, thereby facilitating movement of said operating sleeve toward the lower position while preventing said operating sleeve from slipping from said runner. 
     
     
         6 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 5 , further comprising a key-and-keyway structure which is disposed between said flange of said runner and said inner sleeve wall surface of said operating sleeve to guide axial movement of said operating sleeve relative to said lower shell. 
     
     
         7 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein said notched disc of said runner has an inner guideway which extends axially to communicate with said slot for facilitating insertion of said hook end when said runner member is moved toward the upper position. 
     
     
         8 . The safety umbrella as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein said runner defines a pair of retaining stays formed between said inner guideway and said slot for abutting against said actuated shoulder surface when said runner is in the upper position.