CA1131540A - Collapsible canopy - Google Patents

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
This invention is a collapsible canopy, made of a soft waterproof material, and supported on a framework made of rods which are held together by corner sockets into which the ends of these rods fit and are held, and from which the rods can be removed for storage and transportation purposes. Four of these rods serve as the corner posts of the framework; two of the rods join the tops of each opposite pair of posts; and four of the rods, one extending from the top of each of the posts, form a gable type roof support for the canopy. From the rectangular bottom edge of the canopy extends downwardly a short wall, which holds the canopy in place. The bottom ends of the posts are provided with pointed attachments by means of which the posts are inserted into and held by the ground. A wall for enclosing the entire structure, is provided where total privacy is required, and a plurality of pockets are provided at the edge and on the inside of one of the short walls.

Description

1~.3154 This invention consists of a canopy which can be assembled rapidly for use at beaches and around the home for protection against rain and over exposure to the sun. It can be assembled rapidly, and folded into a comparatively small package for storage and transportation.
Before the discovery of the above invention, large size beach umbrellas were used to provide protection against the actions of the sun, rain, and wind. The large size and heavy weight of this type of umbrellas, made it unwieldy; its position had to be constantly changed to be effective; its single, central, supporting rod, which was stuck into the ground or sand, was never capable of holding the umbrella in the required position for any appreciabie length of time. In its folded form, the umbrella still presents a formidable package which is often difficult to store or carry.
The above difficulties are overcome by the use of this invention which has the following advantages,-~a) Larger shade area. This eliminates the need for frequent relocation, (b) Greater stability, because of the four leg sup-port instead of a single central shaft, (c) Can be easily srected, or folded into a light compact package.
In describing the invention, reference will be made to the attached drawings in which,-Figure 1 shows the canopy framework, Figure 2 shows the canopy located upon the framework, Figure 3 shows a variation in the construction of the canopy, and Figure 4 shows one of the framework components.
The canopy 5, as shown in the drawings, consists of ~1315~0 a soft waterproof cloth or plastic material, which is formedinto a gable shaped roof, having a rectangular base from the perimeter of which extends downwardly a short wall 6. The canopy is made of a soft material so that it can be folded into a small package for storage or transportation.
The framework which supports the canopy is made up of rods or pipes of a rigid but light material, such as plastic rods of a small diameter, or of a light metal tubing. It con-sists of four equal and upright posts 1, the bottom ehds of which are each fitted with a sharp pointed attachment 1~, by means of which each of said posts can be inserted into soft ground or sand, and held therein. The posts 1, are positioned so that each one of them is located on the corner of a rectangle of the same dimension as the rectangular edge of the canopy.
Each pair of posts 1, at each end of the rectangle, is joined at its top with a horizontal tie 2; and extending at an upward angle from the top of each of the joined posts, is a rod 3, which meets and joins the upward angular extensions from the opposite posts, to form a gable roof support for the canopy.
All the rods which make up the canopy supporting framework are joined together at their ends by means of specially designed corner sockets 4, into which fit the ends of the posts 1, the ends of ties 2, and the ends of the gable roof support 3.
Along one edge of the short wall 6, and on the in-terior thereof, is provided a plurality of pockets 7, in which various articles, such as cosmetics, lotions, and other toiletries can be kept for convenient use.
A variation in the inYention is shown in Figure 3.
This consists of adding extensions 8 to the short walls 6, which are normally kept rolled up and tied to the walls 6, by means of ties 9. The wall extensions 8 can be lowered by unrolling them to~their full length for the purpose of prividing privacy 1131S~O

when changing into bathing or street clothes.
The various rods used in the construction of the framework for the canopy, can be made in required lengths to provide the required results; thus all the posts 1 would be equal in length; all ties would be of equal lengths and the roof rods 3, would be equal in length. However, to provide further simplification, all the above named rods can be made of equal length, thereby becoming interchangeable.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows,-

1. A canopy, which is collapsible for storage purposes comprising a framework consisting of four upright corner rods, each one of which is provided with a sharp point, by means of which these rods are inserted and held in the ground; two hori-zontal rods; each of which ties together the upper ends of each pair of corner rods; two angularly inclined rods, which, at-tached to the upper ends of the corner rods, and attached to each other, form the front gable of the canopy; another pair of similar rods, similarly attached to the rear pair of corner rods, to form the rear gable of the cahopy; a single horizontal rod which joins the front gable peak to the rear gable peak, forms the central ridge of the roof; a plurality of three-socket corner fittings which tie the said rods together; a canopy of waterproof and weatherproof material which encloses the entire roof and only part way down the walls of the struc-ture; and a row of pockets at the bottom of and on the inside of the canopy walls, in combination with said canopy.