Learn about the different components of an outdoor umbrella and how it operates.

Outdoor Patio Umbrellas, also known as market umbrellas or garden umbrellas, have had a long history. In every civilization, there has been the need for outdoor shading; from early man on to the backyard patio of today’s people. The term Umbrella comes from the Latin word Umbra, which means shadow.

Today’s shade structures, with improved technology, are much more than early man’s use of banana leaves and a stick. Feature rich outdoor shades now can include a crank lift system, pulley or manual lift, a push button, collar or auto-tilt mechanism (as seen on an Auto-Tilt Patio Umbrella), built-in lights and even a convenient integrated stereo system.

Because so much is put into a this product these days, it is important to know what makes up today’s shading and how to use it.

In this article, we will be discussing the crank lift auto-tilt version of this type of shading.

The components that make up this Auto-Tilt Patio Umbrella are:

• The center pole, which is comprised of a top and bottom pole
• A crank housing
• The tilt mechanism
• The rib assembly, which is actually two connected ribs of a long rib and a short rib (support rib)
• The runner hub and top hub
• The finial – ornamental top of the umbrella that also holds the fabric in center of the frame
• The canopy, also know as the shade fabric.

Unless of the offset variety, almost all of these products will have a center pole. Some will have a one-piece center pole, which is perfect for commercial grade applications. But most have a bottom and top pole, that connect together via a slip, and held in position with a push button. The auto-tilt product mentioned above, uses a threaded connection, which keeps the patio umbrella in a more sturdy position with less connection sway. The top pole contains the crank housing, that, when the crank is turned, it will either close or open, depending on the clockwise or counter clockwise rotation of the crank. The crank is connected to a nylon cable or, (as with Galtech) a steel cable. Once the crank is rotated, the cable wraps around the crank shaft and begins to lift the runner hub upwards, via a pulley inside the upper portion of the top pole. The long rib, which is connected to the stationary top hub and the short rib, which is connected to the runner hub, begin to push the patio umbrella upward and out away from the center pole. (Note: Before cranking open, make sure to slightly pull the ribs away from the center pole, out of “dead-lock” position.)

At this point the fabric begins to become taut within the pockets sewn into the exterior of the cover. Continuing to rotate the crank, will put the shade in the complete open position. Once completely open, the market umbrella is now ready to be tilted. On our Auto-Tilt example above, continuing to crank the umbrella (in the same opening rotation) will begin to tilt the umbrella. The tilt mechanism is variable, so you may crank to a desired tilt position. Please note when tilting, that it does not obstruct the traffic of people walking under the structure. This is usually not a concern when the patio umbrella is placed through a table. Rotating the crank counter to opening and tilting the patio umbrella will return the it to normal non-tilt position and further cranking will close it. Once the outdoor umbrella is completely closed, via the crank, it is a good idea to push in the ribs to “dead-lock” position. This will prevent it from accidentally opening in any gusty conditions.

In our next article, we will discussing the proper usage of an Umbrella Base (Umbrella Stand) and the protective qualities of a Patio Umbrella Cover.