Large, robust umbrellas for professional use in hotels and restaurants are able to withstand wind speeds of up to 100 km/h. These umbrellas are popular in coastal areas where the air can be salt-laden, and either dry or damp, hot or cold. When opening and closing these XXL systems which provide shelter from the sun or rain, ease of operation is important. The Speedy cold-rolled, corrosion resistant, high-helix lead spindles made in Burg, Switzerland manage this feat with ease. Eichenberger has succeeded in implementing pitch ratios of 19/30 and 20/12 (19 and 20 mm diameter, 30 and 12 mm pitch). As its name implies, the principal feature of the Speedy high-helix lead spindle is its speed. Thanks to the two exceptional pitch ratios: 19/30 with a high efficiency factor of η 0.51, and 20/12 with an astonishing efficiency factor of η 0.68, a very slow and efficient rotation of the spindle can be obtained, and the small number of turns of the handle that are needed (either by hand or motorized) can be done easily, requiring only little effort, and free of vibrations. In order to reach this high rate of speed, a standard trapeze spindle (with a pitch ratio of 19:30) would need to be wound 8x faster or (with a ratio of 20/12) 3x faster. With the Speedy spindle, the shape of the nut pushes any contaminating dirt away, acting almost like a dirt scraper and allowing only a minimum of contamination. The decisive factor is the perfect pairing of the steel material of the spindle with the plastic material of the nut. As well as being highly resistant to wear from mechanical stress, it also enables low noise when opening and closing the parasol.
