Umbrella with hologram

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to an umbrella with a hologram.

BACKGROUND

An umbrella includes a shaft that supports a canopy, e.g., for protecting a user from rain or sunshine. The shaft may be composed of, e.g., metal or wood. The canopy is composed of a transparent, translucent, or opaque fabric, e.g., a polymer, and is supported by a plurality of spokes coupled to the shaft. The canopy can come in a wide variety of colors and can be printed with various designs.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, an umbrella may include a shaft, a canopy coupled to the shaft, and a hologram coupled to the canopy. Implementations may include one or more of the following features. The hologram may include a reflective hologram or a transmissive hologram. The hologram can be viewed from underneath the canopy or from above the canopy. The umbrella may include a light source for illuminating the hologram. The light source may be located inside of the shaft. The shaft may include a reflector for reflecting light from the light source to illuminate the hologram. The reflector may include a reflective cone. The light source may include an incoherent light source, e.g., an LED and/or a coherent light source, e.g., a laser. The hologram may include a reflective hologram that is viewable from underneath the canopy and/or a transmissive hologram that is viewable from above or beneath the canopy. The umbrella may include a microprocessor control system form controlling the light source, such as timing or color of the light source.

In another aspect, an umbrella may include a shaft, a canopy coupled the shaft, a hologram coupled to the canopy, and a light source coupled to the shaft. A reflector may be coupled to the shaft for transmitting light from the light source to illuminate the hologram. The reflector may be coupled to a portion of the shaft underneath the canopy or a portion of the shaft above the canopy.

In another aspect, an umbrella may include a hollow shaft, a canopy coupled the shaft, and a transmissive hologram woven into the canopy. The umbrella also may include a coherent light source inside of the shaft configured to transmit coherent light through the inside of the shaft, and a reflector coupled to a portion of the shaft beneath the canopy to transmit the coherent light from the shaft to the hologram to illuminate the hologram.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an umbrella with a hologram.

FIG. 2 is a side view of another implementation of an umbrella with a hologram.

FIG. 3 is a side view of another implementation of an umbrella with a hologram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an umbrella 100 includes a handle 110 and a hollow shaft 105 that supports a canopy 120 fabricated from transparent or translucent material. Coupled to canopy 120 is a reflective hologram 190 that can be illuminated from in front of the hologram by an incoherent light source 140, e.g., an LED, coupled to shaft 105. Reflective hologram 190 can be, e.g., any hologram known in the art that is viewable under incoherent light, such as white light. As shown in FIG. 1, hologram 190 is attached to an underside surface 125 of canopy 120, e.g., by an adhesive, by stitching, or by being printed on canopy 120. However, hologram 190 also can be formed in canopy 120, e.g. by being woven into canopy 120, or by being printed on canopy 120.

Shaft 105 is composed, e.g., of a transparent, translucent, opaque, or metallic material. Light source 140 is located inside of shaft 105 so that light travels along the interior of shaft 105. At a top end portion 107 of shaft 105 is a transparent or translucent cylinder 160 and a reflector, e.g., a reflective cone 180, that redirects the light external to cylinder 160 to illuminate hologram 190. Alternatively, reflector could be a prism or a lens. Thus, from a viewpoint 195 underneath canopy 120, hologram 190 will appear as a three-dimensional object underneath canopy 120 of umbrella 100.

A battery 130 powers a commercially available microprocessor control system 135 which controls the timing and color of illumination of LEDs 140, which can be, e.g., red, green, and blue. Light source 140 is turned on and off by a switch 150, which also may be linked to a traditional umbrella unfolding mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 2, another implementation of an umbrella 200 has a transmissive hologram 210 coupled to canopy 120, such that hologram 210 is formed in canopy 120, e.g., by being sewn into, printed or glued on canopy 120. Transmissive hologram 210 can be, e.g., any hologram known in the art that can be illuminated from behind by a coherent light source, such as a laser. A coherent light source, e.g., laser 220 is located inside shaft 105. A laser beam 230 from laser 220 is transmitted inside shaft 105 until it reaches reflective cone 180 (or a prism or lens) that redirects laser beam 230 external to cylinder 160 to illuminate transmissive hologram 210. In this implementation, hologram 210 is visible from a viewpoint 230 above canopy 120.

Referring to FIG. 3, another implementation of umbrella 300 has a reflective cone 380 and transparent cylinder 360 located on shaft 105 above canopy 120, so that beam 230 from laser 220 is redirected to illuminate transmissive hologram 210 from above canopy 120. In this implementation the transmissive hologram 210 can be viewed from a viewpoint 330 underneath canopy 120. In an alternate implementation (not shown), a reflective hologram can be attached to an external surface of canopy 120 and an incoherent light can be reflected by reflective cone 380 located above canopy 120 such that the reflective hologram is viewable from a viewpoint above canopy 120.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example a mirror, prism, or other reflective surface can be used as the reflector instead of or in addition to the reflective cone. Other incoherent or coherent light sources such as a cold cathode, an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent bulb, or a plasma light source can be used. More than one transparent or transmissive hologram can be used on the canopy. The light source can be split into two or more beams, e.g., by a prism, or more than one light source can be used. The light source can be located on the portion of the shaft above the canopy or on a portion of the shaft just below the canopy so that the light does not need to be reflected to illuminate the hologram. The light source can be set to turn on and off at predetermined time intervals or to change colors. These and other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.