Folding Canopy

Abstract

A folding canopy comprises pillars, the two adjacent pillars are connected by an intermediate folding unit, an upper portion of the pillar is hingedly connected with a spoke with flexural elasticity, upper ends of the spokes are converged toward and hingedly connected with a hub to form a top supporting frame, a runner capable of ascending upward and descending downward is disposed below the hub, ribs of a same number as the spokes are disposed between the runner and the spokes, a first end of the rib is hingedly connected with the spoke, a second end of the rib is converged toward and hingedly connected with the runner, a locking structure capable of locking the runner on the hub is disposed between the runner and the hub, and the second end is higher than the first end of the rib when the runner is locked by the snap-on locking structure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A folding canopy comprising:
 at least three pillars;   an intermediate folding unit, two adjacent pillars being connected by the intermediate folding unit to form a lateral supporting frame;   a spoke, connected with an upper portion of each of the pillars being hingedly connected and an upper end of each of the spokes being converged toward a hub and hingedly connected with the hub to form a top supporting frame;   a runner, disposed below the hub and capable of ascending upward and descending downward;   ribs disposed between the runner and the spokes, the ribs being in equal number to the spokes, a first end of each of the ribs being hingedly connected with one of the spokes, a second end of each of the ribs being converged toward the runner and being hingedly connected with the runner;   a locking structure disposed between the runner and the hub and capable of locking the runner on the hub;   wherein the spoke has flexural elasticity and the spoke comprises a first rod, a second rod, and a joint with a U-groove, an opening of the U-groove faces upward, and a second end of the first rod and a first end of the second rod are disposed in the U-groove of the joint and are hingedly connected with the joint; and   wherein the second end of the rib is higher than the first end of the rib when the runner is locked by the locking structure.   
     
     
         2 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the locking structure comprises an insertion hole disposed on a lower end surface of the hub and along an axial direction of the hub, a mounting hole is formed on an inner wall of the insertion hole and along a radial direction of the insertion hole, inside the mounting hole is disposed with a lock pin and a spring capable of causing the lock pin to always have a tendency to move toward the insertion hole, the runner has a pole capable of being plugged into and being connected with the insertion hole, a limit slot is formed on an outer surface of an upper end of the pole, and an upper end portion of the pole has a spherical frontal shape. 
     
     
         3 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein an upper end of the pillar is fixed with a first mount, and a second end of the second rod is hingedly connected on the corresponding first mount. 
     
     
         4 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein each of the pillars is slidably connected with a second mount, the second mount is located below the first mount, a strut is disposed between the second mount and the second rod, a first end of the strut is hingedly connected on the second mount, and a second end of the strut is hingedly connected at a middle portion of the corresponding second rod. 
     
     
         5 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the pillars have four rectangularly configured folding units that are intermediately disposed between the two adjacent pillars respectively and each of the folding units is a parallelogram connecting rod structure, two corners of a first end of the parallelogram connecting rod structure are hingedly connected on the first mount and the second mount of one of the pillars, and two corners of a second end of the parallelogram connecting rod structure are hingedly connected on the first mount and the second mount of the adjacent pillar. 
     
     
         6 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the parallelogram connecting rod structure comprises a first connecting bar, a second connecting bar, a third connecting bar, and a fourth connecting bar, a first end of the first connecting bar is hingedly connected on the first mount of one of the pillars, and a first end of the second connecting bar is hingedly connected on the second mount of the same pillar that the first connecting bar is hingedly connected with;
 wherein a first end of the third connecting bar is hingedly connected on the first mount of another adjacent pillar, and a first end of the fourth connecting bar is hingedly connected on the second mount of the same pillar that the third connecting bar is hingedly connected with; and   wherein a second end of the first connecting bar is hingedly connected with a second end of the third connecting bar, and a second end of the second connecting bar is hingedly connected with a second end of the fourth connecting bar.   
     
     
         7 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein an upper end of the pillar is fixed with a first mount, and a second end of the second rod is hingedly connected on the corresponding first mount. 
     
     
         8 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein each of the pillars is slidably connected with a second mount, the second mount is located below the first mount, a strut is disposed between the second mount and the second rod, a first end of the strut is hingedly connected on the second mount, and a second end of the strut is hingedly connected at a middle portion of the corresponding second rod. 
     
     
         9 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a second end of the rib is hingedly connected on the runner by the eccentric plates arranged in parallel, the second end of the rib is positioned between two eccentric plates. 
     
     
         10 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a pole is fixed with the hub and a lower end portion of the pole has a limit slot, an insertion hole is disposed in the runner and along an axial direction of the runner, a mounting hole is formed on an inner wall of the insertion hole and along a radial direction of the insertion hole, the mounting hole is disposed with a lock pin and a spring capable of causing the lock pin to always have a tendency to move toward the insertion. 
     
     
         11 . The folding canopy as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein a fixing tube is fixed with the hub, a sliding tube is axially slidably coupled to the fixing tube, and a spring is disposed between the sliding tube and the hub, the pole is arranged in the fixing tube and sliding tube and the sliding tube is capable of covering the lower end portion of the pole under a force from the spring.