Camera-mounted weather protection umbrella

Abstract

This patent application is for a camera-mounted umbrella designed to protect a photographic or video camera against unfavorable weather conditions. The invention consists of three primary components—a small, foldable umbrella head; a short umbrella shaft; and a camera attachment bracket. The umbrella shaft again consists of two components—a rigid component to which the umbrella head is attached and a flexible component to which the camera attachment bracket is fixed. The camera attachment bracket is a hot shoe bracket, enabling the umbrella to be mounted onto the camera body via the camera's hot shoe. Thus, the user of the invention is able to protect his/her camera and lens against rain and/or excessive sunlight while retaining full operational control over the equipment.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A weather protection umbrella comprising: 
 a shaft;    a sliding hub slidably mounted on the shaft;    multiple ribs;    a spreader pivotally mounted between the sliding hub and each rib;    a canopy covering all of the ribs; and    a photographic/video camera attachment device mounted to the bottom end of the shaft.    
     
     
         2 . The umbrella as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the camera attachment device is a hot shoe.  
     
     
         3 . The umbrella as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the shaft comprises 
 a rigid shaft which is attached to the canopy; and    a flexible shaft which is connected to the bottom end of the rigid shaft.