ES2787217T3 - Shade sail - Google Patents

Abstract

Shade sail (1) comprising two traction ropes (35', 35"); a frame (10) that carries a rod (20) directed in a certain way between a first support (12') and a second support ( 12"), both of which rotate around a common longitudinal axis (A); wherein said frame (10) comprises a post (14), which is provided with an L-shaped end (16) and carries said first support (12') near said end (16); two panels (30, 30') each provided with an edge (32), to be attached to said rod (20), so that it can be wound around this rod (20), and each panel (30, 30') being provided 30') of at least one angular end part (34), of a fixing element (36), which can be hooked by means of a rope (35', 35") of said two ropes (35', 35") tensile, which can extend each of said panels (30, 30') transversally with respect to said rod (20); activation means (40) which are supported by said frame (10) for rotating said rod (20) about said axis (A); wherein said activation means (40) comprise a drum (44) for winding each of said ropes (35', 35") of said two traction ropes (35', 35"), rigidly connected to, and axially carried by said rod (20); wherein said drum (44) is tapered to vary the length of wound rope on each turn of said rod (20), characterized in that said frame (10) comprises a pair of beams (105) extending on opposite sides of said end (16) carried in end position as two wings, said second support (12") is supported by said end (16) by means of a first brace (106) actuated by a strut (107) and by a second brace ( 106'), each of said beams (105) carries, at its own free end (108), a return pulley (114) that can be hooked by a respective one of said traction ropes (35', 35"), and because each of said ropes (35', 35") of said two traction ropes (35', 35") is subdivided into two parts connected to each other by means of a balancing spring (54) contained within said beam ( 105) respective.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Shade sail

The present invention relates to a shade sail. In particular, the present invention relates to a shade sail comprising two covering elements that can be wound around a rotating shaft that can be mechanically activated.

Background of the invention

Shade sails are well known, provided with structures in which a panel, composed of flexible material, textile material or laminated material, is selectively unwound and wound around a rod, to vary the width of the exposed area of the panel and, therefore, from the shade area, or to avoid strong winds endangering the performance of the shade sail or, worse, irreparably damaging the structure. Document US 6,012,505 discloses a prior art shade sail according to the preamble of claim 1.

In this regard, it should be noted that the structure has a shape similar to that used to adjust the sails on boats or ships which, as has long been well known, comprise rotating devices, around which it is possible to reduce the surface exposed to the wind, until the area exposed to the wind is substantially eliminated. Some devices allow the front sails to be wound around the respective room; other devices allow them to be wound around the respective tree; others allow them to be wrapped around or inside the spar.

However, the problem to be solved in the two applications is only apparently similar; Specifically, sails are the engine for boats and boats and, therefore, there are many variables to adjust their profile, on which aerodynamic efficiency depends and, therefore, the power to move the boat, while sails shade does not have this problem. For this reason, operating the sail on a boat or boat is a task only for persons skilled in the art, with proven experience and with a specific authorization, while anyone can use adjustable width shade sails, and is not requires proof of experience in this case. Therefore, the use of adjustable width shade sails should be as easy as possible, in which the aerodynamic efficiency of the same is not significant, while safety is important to prevent (and avoid) even common accidents, which would make that the shade sails did not meet industry standards and therefore were impossible to market.

Considering that, as is well known, the width of the exposed area of the panel, on which the shadow area depends, can be adjusted by means of pull cords, it is advisable that the extension of these cords be as limited as possible, with in order both to minimize the risk of tripping on the free loose segment of it and to prevent children in the vicinity from using this part of the rope for dangerous games. Also, in strong winds, loose strings could cause the panels to shake noisily, thereby disturbing those below them and posing a danger to those in the vicinity.

In view of the above description, the problem of having available adjustable width shade sails that are safe and easy to use has not yet been solved, and represents an interesting challenge for the applicant, aimed at increasing the demand for them.

In view of the above description, it would be desirable to have an adjustable width shade sail which, in addition to limiting and possibly overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art, defines a new reference for this type of shade sail.

Summary of the present invention

The present invention relates to a shade sail according to the preamble of claim 1.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a shade sail that allows to solve the drawbacks illustrated above, that is easy to install and that is not expensive and, therefore, that is suitable to satisfy a plurality of requirements that up to the date has not yet been addressed, and therefore suitable to represent a new and original source of economic interest. According to the present invention, a shade sail is provided, the main features of which will be described in at least one of the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Additional characteristics and advantages of the shade sail of the invention will become more apparent from the description below, set forth with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate some examples of embodiment, where the identical or corresponding parts of the system are identified by means of the Same reference numbers for convenience. In particular:

figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a first shade sail not within the scope of the claims;

Figures 2a), 2b) and 3 show details of Figure 1 on an enlarged scale and with some parts removed for clarity;

figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a second shade sail not within the scope of the claims;

figure 5 shows a detail of figure 4 on an enlarged scale and with some parts removed for clarity;

- figure 6 is a schematic perspective view of a third shade sail not within the scope of the claims;

figure 7 is a schematic perspective view of a detail of figure 6, on an enlarged scale and with some parts removed for clarity;

figure 8 is a schematic perspective view of a fourth shade sail according to the present invention as defined in the appended claims;

Figures 9 and 10 show details of Figure 8 on an enlarged scale and with some parts removed for clarity.

Detailed description of the present invention

In Figure 1, the number 1 indicates, in its entirety, an adjustable width shade sail comprising panels 30.

The shade sail 1 comprises a frame 10 that carries a rod 20 directed in a certain way between a first support 12 'and a second support 12 ", both of which rotate around a common longitudinal axis (A). Therefore, the rod 20 is suitable for axial rotation. The shade sail 1 comprises a panel 30 provided with an edge 32 to be fixed to the rod 20, so that it can be wound around this rod. The panel 30 has a substantially triangular shape, and has an apex portion 34, which is provided with an eye / fixing element 36, which can be hooked by means of a pull cord 35 ', and especially by means of a first end 37 'thereof, which can extend each panel 30 transversely with respect to the rod 20 and assist in the winding and unwinding movement. The shade sail 1 comprises an actuating unit 40 supported by the frame 10 for actuating the rod 20 in rotation about the axis A; the activation unit 40 comprises a drum 44 for winding the rope 35 ', rigidly and axially connected, to the rod 20. Furthermore, the drum 44 is conical, as shown in figure 3, and such as to vary the length of the rope 35 'wound in said turn of the rod 20. Its purpose is to act on the tension of the rope 35' and, therefore, on the tension of the panel 30, when the rope is connected to the panel 30 in correspondence with the eyelet 36.

Referring to Figure 1 again, the conical drum 44 is directed along axis A so that the sides thereof slope upward from the first support 12 'to the second support 12 ". Thus, the winding turns of the rope 35 'around the drum 44 have an increasing radius along the axis A from the first support 12' to the second support 12 "as the panel portion 30 wound around increases. of the rod 20. It is clearly understood that the function of this construction feature is to increase the tension on the string 35 'and on the panel 30 proportionally as the exposed area of the panel 30 increases, in order to better balance the panel 30 stability in case of use in windy areas.

Again referring to Figure 3, the activation unit 40 comprises a rotary actuator 42, which is contained within the rod 20 and whose drive shaft (known and not shown) is rigidly connected to the rod 20 in order to to actuate it in axial rotation and, therefore, to wind the panel 30 around, and / or to unwind it, from the rod, doing the same with the rope 35 'with respect to the respective drum 44, as will be better explained below. Thus, the drum 44 is carried by the rod 20 between the support 12 'and the rotary actuator 42. Obviously, it is possible to adjust the width of the unrolled part of the panel 30 by suitably acting on the actuator 42 by means of a control unit, known and therefore not shown. Drum 44 may advantageously have a surface for winding rope 35 ', wherein the surface has a first helical groove (known and not shown) for rope 35' wound in turns parallel transverse to axis A.

Rope 35 'has a second end 37 "rigidly connected to drum 44, so that rope 35' and the respective panel 30 can be interpreted as parts of a single flexible element 38 'arranged between the rod 20 and the drum 44. To adjust the tension of the flexible element 38', and therefore of each component thereof as described above, provides a balancing device 50, which can be arranged in any segment of the path of the flexible element 38 '. For reasons of practicality, in the attached figures only applications in which the balancing device 50 interacts only with the rope 35 'have been shown; however, solutions not shown are also possible, in which the tension of the flexible element 38 ', and therefore of each component thereof, is adjusted by acting on the panel 30.

Referring again to Figure 1, the first bracket 12 'and the second bracket 12 "are configured to be mounted to the wall, and the frame 10 comprises a first post 11 fixed to the ground and oriented towards the rod 20. The rod 11 It is provided with a first return pulley 110 that can be hooked by the respective rope 35 'in order to activate the panel 30. The balancing device 50 is contained within the first post 11, it comprises a hoist 52 equipped with a pulley for the rope 35 ', and is connected to the frame 10 by means of a torsion spring 54, the purpose of which is to balance the tension acting on the rope 35' in order to keep the panel 30 stretched, regardless of the part of it unwound to give shadow. It should be noted that the rope 35 'enters the first post 11 through a built-in pulley 111 carried by the head of the post 11 to engage a block 56 which, as shown in figure 2a, is carried at one end upper hooked spring 54; then, the rope exits the first post 11 deflected by a further built-in pulley 111 ', arranged on the side of the pulley 111, and engages the eyelet 36 with the respective end 37'. The hoist 52 further comprises (reference should be made to Figure 2b) a winch block 55 which is connected, as shown in Figure 5, to a lower hooked end of the spring 54, to be movable relative to the first post 11. Obviously, a rope 53 is associated with hoist 52, which hooks block 55 and a further winch block 58 carried fixedly by a lower portion of first post 11; by adjusting the tension of the rope 53 it is possible to vary at will the prestressing acting on the rope 35 ', and therefore the tension on the panel 30, in all operating conditions. Rope 53 has one end 53 'coupled indistinctly to winch block 55 (mobile) or winch block 58 (fixed), and has an additional end 53 "which is held outside the first post 11 to be fixed, in a clamp ( known and not shown for the sake of drawing), to an additional functionally similar device which can be activated manually or in any other way.

According to figure 3, the frame 10 further comprises a post 14 provided with an L-shaped end 16 and carries the first support 12 'below the base of the end 16. The end 16 carries a pair of return pulleys 160 for the rope 35 'which are arranged between drum 44 and built-in pulley 111. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the second post 14 is configured so that it mounts to the wall on the side of the first bracket 12 '.

The use of shade sail 1 is clearly evident from the description above and requires no further explanation. However, it might be useful to specify that the frame 10 has been identified by the set of brackets 12 ', 12' mounted on the wall and the first post 11 carried on the ground. It is clearly evident that, according to this embodiment of the shade sail 1, the frame 10 will comprise elements to keep the supports 12 ', 12 "and the first post 11 in fixed positions, independently of the fact that these elements comprise a wall and a soil, of which a given T-part will be considered. Additionally, drum 44 may be carried by rod 20 on the opposite side of rotary actuator 42, although this choice requires modifications to the structure described above. Finally, it is clearly evident that variants and modifications can be made to the shade sail 1 described and illustrated herein without, however, departing from the scope of protection of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

For example, referring to Figure 4, if it is desired to shade a larger area, it might be useful to use the same rod 20 as the base for a pair of substantially identical panels 30 and 30 'that are arranged on opposite sides of each other. rod 20 with its respective mating edge 32 stably coupled to rod 20. Obviously, in this case two flexible elements 38 'and 38 "are provided, each of which comprises a 35' / 35" chord and a 30/30 'panel. Thus, panel 30 can be activated by means of the respective rope 35 ', while panel 30' can be activated by means of an analogous rope 35 ". In this case, the frame 10 comprises a second post 14, which is therefore configured, in this case again, to be mounted on the wall and carrying the support 12 ', and a third substantially vertical post 102, which is devoid of the balancing device 50 and that is suitable to carry the second support 12 ". In view of the above description, the rod 20 can be directed at will, varying the height from the ground of the two supports 12 'and 12 "through the posts 14 and 102.

Considering that two substantially identical panels 30 and 30 'correspond to this structure, each of these panels corresponds to a winding area around the drum 44 that can have, at will, two adjacent conical segments 45' and 45 "(figure 5 ) directed in the same way, each one of which is provided with a respective helical groove or, alternatively, a second double helical groove that allows, in particular, to wind two traction cords 35 'and 35 "on parallel turns. For the sake of economy of the drawings, the two different embodiments of the drum 44 have not been illustrated with the detail of the helical grooves, the shapes of which are known.

With reference to figure 5, the post 14 always carries an end 16 provided with pulleys 160 'for each rope 35' and 35 ". In this case again, each 35 '/ 35 ”rope enters into the second post 14 through a built-in pulley 111 carried by the head of post 14 in order to engage a block 56 which, as shown in the figures 4 and 5, is carried by a hooked upper end of spring 54, and exits post 14 deflected by a further built-in pulley 111 'which is arranged on the side of pulley 111. In this case again, the hoist 52 comprises a winch block 55 which is connected, as in Figure 5, to a lower hooked end of spring 54, so as to be movable relative to post 14. Obviously, a rope 53 is associated with hoist 52, which hooks the winch block 55 'and an additional winch block 58 carried fixedly by a lower part of the post 14. Obviously, in this case, the frame 10 is provided with a pair of fourth posts 103 which are arranged on the side of , and facing, rod 20, and have the mi same function as post 102, on opposite sides with respect to the same rod 20 and devoid of the balancing device 50, which is already contained in post 14. Each fourth post 103 is provided with a second return pulley 112 that can be hooked by means of a rope 35 'or 35 ”, according to the panel 30 considered.

With reference to figure 6, in this case the second post 14 has a floor base 140 at the bottom and extends longitudinally, to mount the shade sail 1 with the rod 20 directed at will, regardless of the presence of other supports for support 12 '.

Obviously, in this case again, the frame 10 is provided with a pair of fourth posts 103.

It should be noted that the solutions described with reference to Figures 4, 5 and 6 allow to have only one balancing device 50, thereby simplifying the handling of the shade sail 1 and limiting the purchase and maintenance costs for the sail 1 of shadow.

In accordance with the present invention, shown with reference to Figures 8-10, frame 10, again provided with post 14 and respective floor base 140, comprises an end 16 which is modified to have a pair of beams 105 , which act as a pole or "jockey-pole", which extend on opposite sides with respect to the end 16 and are carried by the latter in a respective end portion 16 ', similar to two wings. In this case, the second support 12 ", which completes the support given by means of the frame 10 to the rod 20, is carried at the end 16 through a structure comprising a first tie rod 106, actuated by a strut 107 carried upwards by means of the end part 16 '(figure 9), and by a second tie 106', which acts against the action of the first tie 106, pulling down the second support 12 "to have a counterwind 200 of the rod 20. Each beam 105 carries a third return pulley 114 through a free end 108 respective; each third pulley 114 can be hooked by a respective pull cord 35 ', 35 ".

In this case again, the panels 30 and 30 'are kept taut by means of a balancing device. In particular, referring to Figure 9, two balancing devices 50 'are provided, one for each beam 105. In this case again, each balancing device 50' is internal and, in particular, is contained within a beam 105 respective, and pulleys identical to pulleys 111 are carried by each beam 105 by the end 16 in the respective end portion 16 'of the joint at the end in order to drive the rope 35' and obviously also the rope 35 ", since in this embodiment there are two panels 30. On the other hand, each balancing device 50 'is simplified with respect to the one described above and is indicated with 50, since it comprises only one spring 54'. Spring 54 'interrupts chord 35' / 35 "in the intermediate position. Due to the presence of two strings 35 "/ 35", the drum 44 will be provided with a double helical groove, as already described above, or alternatively with two adjacent conical segments.

Claims (7)

i. Shade sail (1) comprising two traction cords (35 ', 35 ”); a frame (10) carrying a rod (20) directed in a certain way between a first support (12 ') and a second support (12 ”), both of which rotate around a common longitudinal axis (A); wherein said frame (10) comprises a post (14), which is provided with an L-shaped end (16) and carries said first support (12 ') near said end (16); two panels (30, 30 ') that are each provided with an edge (32), to be fixed to said rod (20), so that it can be wound around this rod (20), and each panel (30, 30 ') of at least one part (34) of the angular end, of a fixing element (36), which can be hooked by means of a rope (35', 35 ") of said two ropes (35 ', 35") traction, which can extend each of said panels (30, 30 ') transversely with respect to said rod (20); activation means (40) that are supported by said frame (10) to rotate said rod (20) about said axis (A); wherein said activation means (40) comprise a drum (44) for winding each of said cords (35 ', 35 ") of said two traction cords (35', 35"), rigidly connected to, and carried axially by, said rod (20); wherein said drum (44) is conical to vary the length of rope wound in each turn of said rod (20), characterized in that said frame (10) comprises a pair of beams (105) that extend on opposite sides of said end (16) carried in end position as two wings, said second support (12 ") is supported by said end (16) by means of a first tie-rod (106) driven by a strut (107) and by a second tie-rod ( 106 '), each of said beams (105) carries, at its own free end (108), a return pulley (114) that can be hooked by a respective one of said traction cords (35', 35 "), and because each of said cords (35 ', 35 ") of said two traction cords (35', 35") is subdivided into two parts connected to each other by means of a balance spring (54) contained within said beam ( 105) respectively. Shade sail according to claim 1, characterized in that said drum (44) is directed along said axis (A) to have a respective conical shape whose width increases as the part of said panel (30, 30 ') wound around said rod (20). Shade sail according to claim 2, characterized in that said conical drum (44) has a first helical groove. Shade sail according to claim 2, characterized in that said drum (44) has two conical segments (45 ', 45 ”) adjacent to each other and directed in the same way, each one being provided with a respective helical groove. Shade sail according to claim 2, characterized in that said drum (44) has a second double helical groove for winding two said traction cords (35 ', 35 ”) around parallel turns. Shade sail according to claim 1, characterized in that said post (14) is configured to be mounted on the wall on the side of said first support (12 '). Shade sail according to claim 1, characterized in that said post (14) has a ground base (140) at the bottom.