Abstract

Umbrella is a useful contrivance used as a screen in hotcountries to keep off the sun and in others to bear off the rain. In India only rain shed umbrellas are manufactured and sold in the market. These umbrellas areused by the consumers both for protection against rain as well as sun butprovide little protection against harmful solar radiations. In the recentyears, the risk posed by UV radiations present in sun's rays has becomedangerous. Thus, a need arises to protect the people from the hazard of UVrays. Hence, the present study is an attempt to develop an umbrella which canprovide high degree of protection against harmful UV radiations.

1. Introduction

1.1 Umbrellas

The word 'umbrella' comes from the Latin root word "umbra"meaning shade or shadow. An umbrella is a device, which is used to keep rainoff a person. It can be made by stretching a fabric or other material over awire. In short, it can be defined as lightweight handheld collapsible canopy.

In today's world, when the environment is changing so fast,ozone depletion is a major concern for mankind. It is mainly due to the increaseduse of certain manufactured substances like chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons. In the past few years, increased awareness among thepeople, about the harmful effects of these solar radiations, has opened a widenew area of research and development in the field of ultraviolet protectiveclothing's. UV resistant umbrella is one such product, which holds thepotential to protect people against the harmful effect of solar radiation, butstill has been overlooked by researchers and umbrella manufacturers.

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About the Authors

The authorsare associated with Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India