Collapsible umbrella capable of automatic opening

Claim 1

An automatically opening collapsible umbrella, comprising: collapsible center rod means movable between a collapsed storage position and an extended use position, said collapsible rod means including at least upper and lower rod portions slidably mounted for slidable longitudinal movement relative to one another; a collapsible rib assembly interconnected to said upper rod portion and movable between a collapsed storage position and an extended use position, said rib assembly including a support rib connected to said upper rod portion, a receiving rib connected to said rod means at a location below said support rib, said receiving rib being connected intermediate its ends to said support rib, an end rib carried by said receiving rib and spaced from said support rib, a connecting rib connected between said end rib and said support rib, whereby the support, receiving, end and connecting ribs form a quadrilateral when the rib assembly is in the open position, said quadrilateral having at least one pair of opposed sides which are nonparallel, said receiving rib extending at a substantially right angle from the longitudinal direction of said center rod means when the rib assembly is in the open position, and slide means associated with at least one of said ribs for enabling the length of at least one side of said quadrilateral to be varied during collapsing of the rib assembly into the closed storage position; opening means coating between said rib assembly and said rod means for causing (1) said rib assembly to be automatically moved from its storage to its use position and (2) said center rod means to be automatically extended from its storage to its use position; and engagement means coacting between the lower rod portion and said opening means for simultaneously holding both said rod means and said rib assembly in their storage positions, manual release of said engagement means permitting said rib assembly and said rod means to be automatically and substantially simultaneously moved to their use positions; said opening means including a first rib-holder slidably mounted on said rod means and having one end of said receiving rib connected thereto, a second rib-holder slidably mounted on said rod means and slidably movable relative to said first ribholder, a tension rib connected between said receiving rib and said second rib-holder, said tension rib being connected to said receiving rib at a location spaced from the end thereof connected to said first rib-holder, first spring means coacting between said first and second rib-holders for normally resiliently urging same in opposite directions, second spring means coacting between said upper and lower rod portions for normally resiliently urging said rod means toward its use poSition, and said second rib-holder having means thereon adapted to be engaged by said engaging means when said rib assembly and said rod means are in their storage positions for securely maintaining the umbrella in a closed and collapsed position, manual operation of said engaging means causing same to release said second rib-holder whereby said first and second spring means cause said rib assembly and said rod means to be automatically and substantially simultaneously moved to their respective use positions.