Umbrella with wooden ribs

Abstract

An umbrella includes a plurality of wooden ribs for supporting a canopy. Each rib has a groove for insertion of a first portion of a corresponding tightening member. A sleeve member is sleeved on each rib and is formed with a through hole registered with the groove. The tightening member further includes a second portion with a shaft which passes through the through holes in the canopy and the sleeve member and which is formed with an externally threaded surface that engages threadedly an internally threaded surface of the first portion to secure the canopy and the sleeve member on the respective rib.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An umbrella comprising: 
 a wooden elongate stem extending along an axis, and having an upper end provided with a ferrule;    a canopy including an annular central portion mounted on said ferrule, and a surrounding portion surrounding said central portion and having a plurality of first through holes which are displaced angularly from one another;    a plurality of ribs made of wooden material, and disposed on said ferrule at an underside of said canopy, said ribs being displaced angularly from one another about the axis, each of said ribs including a proximate end portion pivotally mounted on said ferrule, and a distal end portion extending from said proximate end portion in a first direction radial to the axis, said distal end portion having an inner rib surface abutting against said canopy, an outer rib surface disposed opposite to said inner rib surface, and an annular inner peripheral wall extending from said outer rib surface through said inner rib surface and defining a groove which is registered with a respective one of said first through holes in said canopy in a second direction transverse to the first direction;    a plurality of sleeve members, each having an inner peripheral wall surface which confines an accommodating chamber of such a dimension for mating with said distal end portion of a respective one of said ribs and for sleeving on said distal end portion in the first direction, and an outer surrounding wall surface surrounding said inner peripheral wall surface, said outer surrounding wall surface including an upper portion which defines a second through hole that extends through said inner peripheral wall surface to communicate with said accommodating chamber and that is arranged at such a position so as to register with and be disposed between the respective one of said first through holes and said groove in the second direction when the respective one of said sleeve members is sleeved on said distal end portion; and    a plurality of tightening members made of a material different from that of said ribs, each of said tightening members including 
 a first portion having a shank retained in said groove of a respective one of said ribs, and having an internally threaded surface extending along said groove, and  
 a second portion having a shaft formed with an externally threaded surface which passes through a respective pair of said first through holes and said second through holes, and which engages threadedly said internally threaded surface of said first portion so as to secure said surrounding portion of said canopy and said upper portion of said outer surrounding wall surface of the respective one of said sleeve members to said distal end portion of the respective one of said ribs.  
   
     
     
         2 . The umbrella of  claim 1 , wherein said second portion of each of said tightening members is a screw fastener.  
     
     
         3 . The umbrella of  claim 1 , wherein each of said sleeve members is made from a flexible material, and said upper portion of each of said sleeve members is formed with a slit which is communicated with said accommodating chamber and which extends to surround said second through hole to form a clip on said upper portion such that said surrounding portion of said canopy is insertable into said slit so as to be held between said clip and said distal end portion of the respective one of said ribs.