AU2007219352A1 - Awning for recreational equipment - Google Patents

Description

AWNING FOR RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvements in an awning for use with recreational equipment.

Background of the Invention Most conventional awnings rely on gravity to provide static tension. Such awnings tend have very little wind resistance. Other conventional awnings rely on peripheral spreader bars and/or ropes and pegs to supply tension to the awning.

The use of such equipment can take upwards of ten minutes to satisfactory tension an awning. Accordingly, there exists a need to provide an improved awning that is more wind resistant and quicker to tension.

The present invention seeks to lessen these problems by providing an awning which exhibits sufficient wind resistance without significant setup delay due to tensioning.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the referenced prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Summary The present invention in one preferred aspect provides for an awning for recreational equipment including a cover having an attachment side with an attachment means for attaching the cover to a wall and a peripheral side adapted to be oriented away from the wall; and a support structure for supporting at least a portion of the peripheral side away from the wall, the support structure being adjustable to create a first tension force directed at least in part away from the wall, the attachment means being configured to create a second tension force directed at least in part toward the wall upon engagement of the attachment side with the wall.

In another preferred aspect, the present invention provides a method for tensioning an awning, including attaching at least a portion of a cover to a wall; attaching a support structure to the wall and the cover; adjusting the support structure to create a first tension force directed at least in part away from the wall; and attaching a second portion of the cover to the wall to create a second tension force directed at least in part toward the wall.

Brief Description of the Fiqures Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an awning in a deployed state in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the awning of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation view of the awning of Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the awning of Fig. 1 in an undeployed state.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of a pair of support bars used to partially tension the awning of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the awning of Fig. 1 with representative main tension vectors.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the awning of Fig. 1 shown attached to a camper.

Fig. 8 is a partial side elevation view of the support bars of Fig. 5 shown in a disengaged position relative to one another and relative to a camper hood bow.

Fig. 9 is a partial side elevation view of the support bars of Fig. 5 shown in an engaged position relative to one another and relative to the camper hood bow Detailed Description of the Drawings Alternative embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the claims which follow.

Figs. 1 to 9 show a preferred embodiment of an awning 10 having a cover 100 and a support means 200. The preferred elements of the awning and their interrelationship are described below.

Figs. 1 to 3 and 7 show cover 100 in a deployed position, fully attached to a camper 300. Fig. 4 shows cover 100 in an undeployed position, for example, completely detached from the camper and lying flat on the ground. As will be described in further detail below, when cover 100 is attached along its length from the undeployed position (Fig. 4) to the deployed position (Fig. a tension force is created toward the camper that together with tension forces supplied by support bars (Fig. provides lateral and peripheral tension to cover 100.

Referring to Fig. 4, cover 100 preferably includes an attachment side 102, a peripheral side 104 and a pair of pole eyelets 106 for engagement with support bars (described below). Cover 100 further includes a first end 108, a second end 110 and a length L between first and second ends 108, 110. In the deployed position (Fig. 1) attachment side 102 preferably includes an attachment means 112 such as a zipper along the length thereof for attaching cover 100 to a portion of camper 300. Other attachment means such as a plurality of snaps, Velcro and/or a rope rail may be used to attach cover 100 to camper 300.

In the undeployed position, attachment side 102 preferably includes an attachment portion 114 that is preferably linear along a majority of the length of attachment side 102 and a tensioning portion 116 that deviates at an angle from attachment portion 114, as shown in Fig. 4. Preferably, attachment means 112 extends along both attachment and tensioning portions 114, 116. The deviation of tensioning portion 116 from the normal direction of attachment portion 114 creates a tensioning force when the zipper engages tensioning portion 116 and continues along attachment side 102 toward second end 110. Preferably, a portion of the zipper extends beyond tensioning portion 116 so that the end of the zipper avoids the tension that would act to unzip the zipper.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, peripheral side 104 preferably includes a left portion 118, a right portion 120 and a centre portion 122. References to "left," "right" and "centre" are for illustrative convenience only as would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art. Eyelets 106 are positioned proximate the intersection of left and right portions 118, 120 with centre portion 122.

Preferably, attachment side 102 is approximately 5.8 m in length between first and second ends 108, 110. Attachment portion 114 is preferably 3.9 m in length.

Preferably, the distance from the intersection of attachment and tensioning portions 114, 116 to second end 110 is approximately 1.9 m along a plane parallel to the length of cover 100. The ratio of the length of the attachment portion to the length of the tensioning portion is preferably approximately 2:1. The distance from the intersection of right and centre portions 120, 122 of peripheral side 104 to second end 110 is approximately 1.9 m along a plane parallel to the length of cover 100. The distance of the deviation of tensioning portion 116 from the normal direction of attachment portion 114 is approximately 0.4 m at second end 110.

The intersection attachment and tensioning portions 114, 116 of attachment side 102 preferably includes an obtuse angle A preferably in the range of 90 to 180 degrees in the undeployed position, more preferably in the range of 135 to 180 degrees, and most preferably approximately 145 to 170 degrees. Second end 110 preferably includes an included angle B between tensioning portion 116 and c right portion 120 of peripheral side 104 in the undeployed position. Angle B is preferably in the range of 30 to 60 degrees, more preferably 45 degrees. The N ranges described above may include a subset of ranges therein without departing

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from the scope of the present invention.

Cover 100 is preferably constructed from conventional materials such as canvass, c 10 nylon or Gortex®. Other materials may be used as desired.

Figs. 5, 8 and 9 show support means 200 for supporting cover 100 relative to the camper. As shown in Fig. 8, support means 200 preferably includes a first support bar 202 and a second support bar 204. First and second support bars 202, 204 are preferably spreader bars that are selectively adjustable along their length. Each support bar preferably includes a locking means such as a spring lock to fix the length of each bar. Other locking means may be used to fix the length such as a C-clip, set screw or removable bolt.

As shown in Fig. 8, first support bar 202 includes a first end 206 and a second end 208. First end 206 preferably includes a hollow tubular portion 210 having a hook 212 at one end thereof configured for engagement with an eyebolt 302 of camper hood bow 304 of camper 300. Tubular portion 210 preferably includes a plurality of side openings 214 proximate the other end of the tubular portion.

Second end 208 preferably includes an inner shaft 216 having an eyelet 218 at one end thereof configured for engagement with a portion of second support bar 204 (described below) and a spring lock spaced apart from eyelet 218 along the length of inner shaft 216 for engagement with one of openings 214 of tubular portion 210.

Referring to Fig. 8, second support bar 204 preferably includes a first end 220 and a second end 222. First end 220 preferably includes an inner shaft 224 having an engagement projection 226 at one end thereof configured for engagement with a hole 306 of camper hood bow 304 of camper 300. Second end 222 preferably includes a hollow tubular portion 228 having a spigot 230 at one end thereof configured for engagement with eyelet 218 of first support bar 202 and a plurality of side openings 232 proximate the other end of the tubular portion. Inner shaft 224 preferably includes a spring lock spaced apart from engagement projection 226 along the length of inner shaft 224 for engagement with one of openings 232 of tubular portion 228.

A third support bar 303 (see, Fig. 7) may be included for attachment to camper 300 and one of eyelets 106 proximate the intersection between left and centre portions 118, 122 of peripheral side 104. Additional support bars, whether adjustable or fixed length, may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Fig. 8 shows first and second support bars 202, 204 being preferably attachable to a portion of the camper such as hood bow 304. The support bars may be attachable to a separate pole if desired. The support bars may be hingedly attached to the camper for easy fold-away storage.

Support bars 202 and 204 are preferably constructed of a metallic material such as aluminium or an alloy thereof. Bars 202, 204 may be constructed from other materials such as plastic without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The support bars preferably have a square transverse cross section. The bars may have other cross sections such as circular, oval and rectangular as desired.

Having described the preferred components of the awning, a preferred method of use will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 9. Cover 100 is preferably attached to camper 300 by zipping attachment portion 114 of attachment side 102 to a portion of a top cover 308 (Fig. 7) of camper 300. First and second support bars 202, 204 are engaged with hood bow 304 of camper 300 preferably by inserting hook 212 of first support bar 202 into eyelet 302 of hood bow 304 and inserting engagement projection 226 of second support bar 204 into opening 306 of hood bow 304. Second ends 208 and 222 of first and second support bars 202, 204, respectively, are preferably engaged to one another by inserting spigot 230 into eyelet 218 of first support bar 202. When first and second support bars 202, 204 are engaged to camper hood bow 304 and to each other, a locking triangle is formed. Spigot 230 is inserted into one of eyelets 106 of cover 100 to complete the attachment of the cover to the support means.

As shown in Figs. 5 to 7 and 9, once first and second support bars 202, 204 are engaged to camper 300 and cover 100, first support bar 202 may be adjusted along its length to create a lateral tension of cover 100 with respect to camper 300. Second support bar 204 may be adjusted along its length to create peripheral tension of cover 100 relative to camper 300. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the adjustment of first and second support bars 202, 204 create a combined first tension force directed at least in part away from the wall of camper 300.

Tensioning portion 116 of attachment side 102 is then preferably zipped to the cover of camper 300. Zipping tensioning portion 116 along the same linear path as attachment portion 114 creates a second tension force directed at least in part toward the camper wall and contributes to the peripheral tension created by second support bar 204. As shown in Figs. 4 and 7, zipping tensioning portion 116 to camper 300 also preferably changes the shape of cover 100 from a fivesided polygon to a trapezoid.

It will be appreciated that the steps described above may be performed in a different order, varied, or certain steps omitted entirely without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, support bars 202, 204 may be attached to camper 300 before cover 100. Alternatively, cover 100 may be integrally formed with top cover portion 308 of camper 300, thereby eliminating the need to engage attachment portion 114 of attachment side 102 to the camper.

The lateral and peripheral tensioning may be performed in any desired order to tension cover 100. For example, tensioning portion 116 of cover 100 may be zipped to camper 300, followed by adjustment of support bars 202, 204.

Adjustment of the support bars and attachment of tensioning portion 116 may be incremental and staggered relative to one another without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The size, shape, material, number and orientation of components may be varied without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, referring to Fig. 4, cover 100 is preferably shaped as a five-sided polygon. Cover 100 may be otherwise shaped and include one or more curved sides.

The foregoing description is by way of example only, and may be varied considerably without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example only, cover 100 may include more than one tensioning section to provide a tensioning force at multiple locations along the cover. For example, a second tensioning section may be located at end 108. Additional tensioning sections may be included according to the layout of the wall against which the cover is to be attached. The attachment side may form a uniform curve or be linear between the ends. The tensioning section may be curved or a combination of curved and linear portions.

The attachment side need not include any tensioning section. For example, if the camper has a cover with a compatible attachment means, the cover of the camper may include a tensioning section so that as the awning cover is attached along its length to the camper, a deviation associated with the compatible attachment means on the camper supplies a tensioning force. The cover need not include any tensioning portions along the sides. For example, a portion of cover 100 may include a stitched pleat in an arc around one of pole eyelets 106.

The support bars need not be adjustable. For example, a set of support bars of different lengths or angels may be used as desired to create tension or only support the cover depending upon the intended application.

The present invention in a preferred form provides the advantages of providing sufficient tension while taking as little as one-tenth the normal setup time. A preferred form of the present invention does not require ropes, pegs and poles in contact with the ground in order to tension the awning, saving considerable setup time.

The present invention may be configured for use in a variety of applications. For example, the present invention may be configured for use with recreational equipment such as a camper (fold-away or fixed height) or caravan, or against a wall of a dwelling or other building, whether temporary or permanent.

It will of course be realised that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims (15)

1. An awning for recreational equipment, said awning including: a cover having an attachment side with an attachment means for attaching said cover to a wall and a peripheral side adapted to be oriented away from the wall; and a support structure for supporting at least a portion of said peripheral side away from the wall, said support structure being adjustable to create a first tension force directed at least in part away from the wall, said attachment means being configured to create a second tension force directed at least in part toward the wall upon engagement of said attachment side with the wall.

2. The awning of claim 1, wherein said attachment means includes a zipper.

3. The awning of claim 1, wherein said attachment means includes a plurality of snaps.

4. The awning of claim 1, wherein said attachment means includes a rope rail.

The awning of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said support structure includes at least two bars.

6. The awning of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said attachment side has a linear portion with a length and a portion deviating from the length of the linear portion.

7. The awning of claim 6, wherein the deviating portion is a second linear portion oriented at an angle relative to said linear portion.

8. The awning of either claim 6 or 7, wherein said attachment means extends along said linear portion and said deviating portion.

9. The awning of any one of the preceding claims, further including a camper to which said cover is adapted to attach.

10. A method of tensioning an awning against a wall, the method including: attaching at least a portion of a cover to a wall; attaching a support structure to the wall and the cover; adjusting the support structure to create a first tension force directed at least in part away from the wall; and attaching a second portion of the cover to the wall to create a second tension force directed at least in part toward the wall.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of attaching the second portion includes zipping the second portion.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of attaching the second portion includes snapping the second portion.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of attaching the second portion includes utilising a rope rail.

14. The method of any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the first and second tension forces are created without using a support bar therebetween.

15. The method of any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the awning is tensioned without using lines pegged to the ground.