US 5,033,528 · Granted 1991-07-23
The Pop-Bead Sunshade That Clamps to Your Lounge Chair
Imagine a flexible disco-ball-like connector made of interlocking beads—like pop beads you might have played with as a kid—that holds up a disc to shade your face while you're lying on a beach chair. You can twist, bend, and stretch it any way you want, then clamp the whole thing to the chair's edge.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a portable sunshade disc that mounts to a chair or other support using a two-part extension: a rigid base section connected to a clamp, plus a flexible "gooseneck" made of interconnected bead-like units that can rotate, bend, lengthen, and shorten. What's protected here is the specific combination of the pop-bead flexible connector, the rigid extension, and the clamping mechanism that lets you position the shade over your face without holding it.
Why it matters
This patent solves a real comfort problem for beachgoers and outdoor loungers: holding an umbrella or sunshade gets tiring, and existing solutions either block your view or require your hands. By combining a bendable pop-bead connector with a chair clamp, it lets users position shade exactly where they need it—face, chest, legs—without effort or sacrifice. The design is mechanically clever because it uses cheap, familiar materials (pop beads) to create adjustable positioning that would otherwise require expensive hinges or joints.
Real-world use
Next time you're at the beach or pool, you'd clamp this to the armrest of your lounge chair, bend the pop-bead neck however you want, and position the disc to shade your face while you read or nap.
Original USPTO abstract
A portable sunshade comprising a disc having a surface area sufficient for shading a particular portion of a user's body, which disc is supported at its edge by a flexible extension that is connected to a rigid extension that in turn is connected to a lamp or suitable supporting device. The flexible section of the extension comprises innerconnecting, individual units; similar to pop beads, that provide a rotating, bendable gooseneck connection that may be lengthened and/or shortened, or that may be connected directly to the clamp. The clamp, clamps the sunshade to a lounge chair or the like, allowing the disc to be positioned to shade the user's face.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,033,528
- Filing date
- 1990-01-11
- Grant date
- 1991-07-23
- Assignee
- Yanon Volcani
- Inventor(s)
- VOLCANI; YANON
- CPC class
- G11B11/08
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