EP1310616A2

EP1310616A2 - A tent or canopy frame

Info

Publication number: EP1310616A2
Application number: EP02257562A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Clifford Royston Fox
Original assignee: Fox Design International Ltd
Current assignee: Fox Design International Ltd
Priority date: 2001-11-09
Filing date: 2002-10-31
Publication date: 2003-05-14
Also published as: EP1310616A3; GB0126961D0

Abstract

A tent or canopy frame (14) which supports sheet material (12) when in use and which comprises two hubs (16, 18), from which ribs (22) of the frame (14) radiate, the hubs (16, 18) being joined by a crossbar (20). The crossbar (20) is breakable to facilitate collapse of the tent or canopy for storage thereof. The ribs (22) are pivotally attached to the hubs (16, 18) in a permanent fashion which prevents accidental detachment between a rib (22) and a hub (16, 18) of the frame (14) when the tent or canopy is erected or dismantled.

Description

The present invention relates to a tent or canopy frame which supports sheet material when in use and which comprises two hubs, from which ribs for the frame radiate, the hubs being joined by a crossbar.
One such tent or canopy frame has already been proposed having such a construction in which ends of the crossbar and the inner ends of the ribs are insertable into respective bores formed in the hubs, those ends of the ribs being retained in those bores by virtue of the tension in the sheet material when the frame is in use and when the tent or canopy is erected.
Such a construction is relatively difficult and clumsy to erect and dismantle.
The present invention seeks to provide a remedy.
A first- aspect of the present invention is accordingly directed to a tent or canopy frame having the construction set out in the opening paragraph of the present specification, in which the crossbar is breakable to facilitate collapse of the tent or canopy for storage thereof.
Preferably, the crossbar is breakable by virtue of it being in two parts attached to one another at respective inner ends of those parts by way of a pivotal connection. This enables the tent to be erected and collapsed without disconnecting parts of the frame.
Such erection and dismantling is made easier if the crossbar is breakable such that the pivotal connection can be raised above the level of the hubs or can be raised further above the level of the hubs.
In one embodiment of the pivotal connection, an outer portion on an inner end of one of the parts of the crossbar engages an inner portion of an inner end of the other part to resist relative movement of the parts about the pivotal connection that would put these portions on the reflex angle side of the crossbar, movement of one of those portions enabling the parts of the crossbar to be moved about the pivotal connection in such a manner that the said portions are on the reflex angle side of the crossbar.
Advantageously, the said outer and inner portions are on an intended upper side of the crossbar. One of the said portions may be slideable relative to the other, preferably the inner portion being slideable relative to the outer portion.
Preferably, the crossbar is pivotally connected at its outer ends to the hubs respectively.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tent or canopy frame having the construction set out in the opening paragraph of the present specification, in which the ribs are pivotally attached to the hubs in a permanent fashion which prevents accidental detachment between a rib and a hub of the frame when the tent or canopy is erected or dismantled.
Advantageously, the pivotal connection between the ribs and the hubs each comprises a pin about which the rib rotates, the pin being held by the hub.
One relatively simple construction of hub is one in which it is in two halves, both defining respective recesses for the rib ends and each half being provided with further recesses to accommodate the pin ends on opposite sides of the rib end recess.
Each pivotal connection between a rib end and a hub may comprise a single pin extending through a portion of the rib end.
The pins are advantageously made of stainless steel so that they will not readily deteriorate in outdoor conditions. Each hub is preferably made of a synthetic plastics injection-moulded material.
The inner rib ends are preferably provided with an end cap which is the part pivoted to the hub. The end cap may also be made of synthetic plastics injection-moulded material.
The present invention extends to a tent or canopy comprising sheet material supported by a frame made in accordance with the present invention.
An example of a tent or canopy embodying the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1: is a front elevational view of a tent;
Figure 2: shows on an enlarged scale, and partly diagrammatically, part of the upper portions of the frame of the tent shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3: shows a view from above of a hub of the frame shown in Figure 2 in greater detail with rib ends connected thereto;
Figure 4: shows a view from above of an upper half of the hub shown in Figure 3;
Figure 5: shows an underneath view of the hub half shown in Figure 4;
Figure 6: shows an underneath view of a lower half of the hub shown in Figure 3;
Figure 7: shows a view from above of the lower half shown in Figure 6;
Figure 8: shows a side view of the hub shown in Figure 3;
Figure 9: shows a plan view of a joint of the frame of the tent shown in Figure 1;
Figure 10: shows a side view of the joint shown in Figure 9;
Figure 11: shows an underneath view of the joint shown in Figures 9 and 10;
Figure 12: shows an end view of the- joint shown in Figures 9 and 10;
Figure 13: shows an axial sectional view through the joint shown in Figures 9 and 10;
Figure 14: shows a cross-section through the device shown in Figures 9 to 13 in the plane indicated by the line XIV-XIV of Figure 13;
Figure 15: shows a further cross-section of the device shown in Figures 9 to 13 in the plane indicated by the line XV-XV of Figure 13;
Figure 16: shows a further cross-section of the joint shown in Figures 9 to 13 in the plane indicated by the line XVI-XVI of Figure 13; and
Figure 17: shows the device shown in Figures 9 to 13, in a folded condition.

The tent 10 shown in Figure 1 comprises a canopy sheeting 12 held up by a frame 14 arranged around the outside of the canopy sheeting 12.
The frame 14 comprises two synthetic plastics injection-moulded hubs 16 and 18 joined together by a crossbar 20 which passes over the roof of the sheeting 12. A plurality of ribs 22 radiate outwardly from the hubs 16 and 18, which ribs, in the erected form of the tent, arc downwardly to the ground so that the inner end of each rib 22 is attached to one of the hubs 16 and 18 and the outer end of each rib 22 is in contact with or is adjacent to the ground. A forwardly extending rib 24 extends from each hub 16 and 18 to provide support for an upper flap 26 of the canopy sheeting 12.
Each of the ribs 22 comprises two flexible elongate fibre-glass rod sections and is pivotally attached to one of the hubs 16 and 18. Each rib 22 is also provided at its centre with a breakable pivotal connection 28 connecting its two halves together. Similarly, the crossbar 20 is provided with a breakable pivotal connection 28 at its centre connecting respective inner ends of two parts of the crossbar 20. The outer ends of the crossbar 20 are pivotally connected to the hub 16 and 18 respectively.
As can be seen very clearly in Figure 2, the canopy sheeting 12 is held adjacent to the frame 14 by means of fabric sleeves 30 stitched or fused to the canopy material and through which are threaded the ribs 22. These sleeves 30 are made of the same fabric as the canopy sheeting 12.
The construction of each hub 16 and 18 is shown in greater detail in Figures 3 to 8. Whilst these Figures actually show details of the right-hand hub 18, the lefthand hub 16 is quite simply the mirror image of the right-hand hub 18. Each inner end of the ribs 22 is provided with a synthetic plastics injection-moulded end cap 32 firmly secured to the rib 22 and being formed with a head portion 34 formed with a throughbore 36 through which extends a stainless steel pin 38, the ends of which are held in the hub 18. This enables the rib 22 to pivot in an upward direction relative to the hub 18, but an abutment 40 is located to prevent the rib from pivoting downwardly in relation to the hub 18. The hub 18 is moulded with rib-end recesses 42 to accommodate the end caps 32, the pins 38 extending across the recesses 42.
The same pivotal connection for each end of the crossbar 20 is provided therefore as is provided for each inner end of the ribs 22. The forwardly extending rib 24 is held in the hub 18 quite simply by means of a stainless-steel lined blind bore 44 extending inwardly into that hub from an intended front face thereof. A further stainless-steel lined blind bore 45 is provided next to the bore 44 to enable another rib (not shown) of ancilary equipment, such as a storm shield, to be attached to the hub.
Figure 5 shows that the underside of an upper half 43 of the hub 18 is provided with pin-end recesses 46 in pairs, with the recesses of each pair being on opposite sides of a rib-end recess 42. The underside of the upper half 43 also being provided with four spaced-apart blind internally screw-threaded bolt holes 48.
The upper side of the lower half 49 of the hub 18 is correspondingly formed with rib-end recesses 42 and pin-end recesses 46, but the mouth of each recess 42 is provided with a bridging portion constituting the abutment 40. The lower half 49 of the hub 18 is formed with four spaced-apart through bolt holes 50 located in positions corresponding to those of the blind bolt holes 48 in the upper half 43 of the hub 18.
The underside of the lower half 49 of the hub 18 is provided with a retaining hook 52 to enable a loop of the canopy sheeting 12 to be hooked on to it.
Each hub is assembled by threading the pins 38 through the bores 36 and then, with the rib-ends located in the rib-end recesses 42 and the pin-ends located in the pin-end recesses 46, the two halves 43 and 49 are bolted together by means of bolts through the bolt holes 50 and 48.
Each of the pivot connections 28 in the ribs 22 and the crossbar 20 is shown in detail in Figures 9 to 17.
The pivot connections 28 each comprises two joint parts 66 and 68 to which are connected to respective ends of the rib or bar parts a and b. The parts a and b are connected and secured to their associated joint parts 66 and 68 each in the same manner as the inner end of each rib 22 in connection to its end cap 32. The joint part 68 is also provided with a hook-like clip 70 from which may be suspended the sheeting material of the tent shown in Figure 1.
The two joint parts 66 and 68 are pivotally connected together by means of a pivot 72 which has a transverse turning axis offset from the common elongate axis of the rib or bar parts a and b.
The joint part 66 has a female retaining part of the joint 74 which opens towards the joint part 68 as shown in Figure 13. The joint part 68 has a corresponding male retaining part 76 which is received in the female retaining part 74 of the joint part 66. A slider 78 has a thumb-pad 80 extending around the outside of a portion of the joint part 68 and an inner serrated portion 82 which forms part of the male retaining part 76. Corresponding serrations on the rest of the male part 76 and also on the inside of the female part 74 engage the serrations of the slider 78. The flexure of the rib 22 or crossbar 20, as a result of the inward pull of the tent material, tends to break the pivot connection 28 to pivot the male retaining part 76 out of engagement with the female retaining part 74. However, the interengaging serrations prevent this from happening, unless and until the user operates the slider to disengage the female and male retaining parts 74 and 76.
To enable such disengagement to happen, the male retaining part 76 is so dimensioned and positioned in relation to the pivot 72 and the female part 74 that a gap 84 is present between the female retaining part 74 and the male retaining part 76 on the pivot side of the joint 24. Furthermore, a transverse end portion 86 which extends from and is integrally moulded with the slider 78 is urged towards the part a by a helical compression spring 88 provided in a spring cavity 90 of the joint part 68. As a result, the joint 24 may be pushed inwardly towards the tent as shown in Figure 1 until the gap 84 is closed and the interengaging serrations of the female part 74 and the slider 78 disengage. The slider 78 may now be pulled outwardly from the female retaining part 74 against the restoring force of the compression spring 88. This enables the whole joint now to be folded by pivoting the joint parts 66 and 68 relative to one another about the pivot 72 until the male retaining part 76 is entirely clear of the female retaining part 74. For each and every one of the five pivotal connections 28, the connection is so oriented that the pivot 72 is on that side of the rib or crossbar axis which is closer to the sheeting 12, and the parts 74 and 82 are on that side of the rib or crossbar axis which is further from the sheeting 12.
To dismantle the tent, all five pivotal connections 28 are broken in the manner set out in the immediately preceding paragraph. The relative positioning of the two joint parts 66 and 68 when the tent frame is in its collapsed condition is shown in Figure 17. Thus, none of the components of the frame need to be separated, and the canopy sheeting remains attached to the frame. However, with the pivotal connections broken, the whole tent can be folded up and gathered for stowage.
To erect the tent, the foregoing steps are followed in reverse order.
Many variations and modifications to the illustrated tent may occur to the reader without taking the resulting constuction outside the scope of the present invention. To give one example only, instead of using separate pins 38 passing through respective bores 36 in the end cap 32, the latter may be formed with trunnions projecting outwardly from opposite sides of the end caps 32, the pin end recesses 46 being sufficiently large so as not to prevent rotation of the trunnions within those recesses 46.

Claims

A tent or canopy frame (14) which supports sheet material (12) when in use and which comprises two hubs (16, 18), from which ribs (22) of the frame (14) radiate, the hubs (16, 18) being joined by a crossbar (20), characterised in that the crossbar (20) is breakable to facilitate collapse of the tent or canopy for storage thereof.
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 1, characterised in that the crossbar (20) is breakable by virtue of it being in two parts attached to one another at respective inner ends of those parts by way of a pivotal connection (28).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 2, characterised in that the crossbar (20) is breakable such that the pivotal connection (28) can be raised above the level of the hubs (16, 18) or can be raised further above the level of the hubs (16, 18).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 2 or claim 3, characterised in that an outer portion (74) on an inner end of one of the parts (a) of the crossbar (20) engages an inner portion (82) of an inner end of the other part (b) to resist relative movement of the parts about the pivotal connection (72) that would put these portions (74, 82) on the reflex angle side of the crossbar (20), movement of one of those portions (82) enabling the parts (a, b) of the crossbar (20) to be moved about the pivotal connection (72) in such a manner that the said portions (74, 82) are on the reflex angle side of the crossbar (20).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 4, characterised in that the said outer and inner portions (74, 82) are on an intended upper side of the crossbar (20).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 4 or claim 5, characterised in that one of the said portions (82) is slideable relative to the other (74).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 6, characterised in that the inner portion (82) is slideable relative to the outer portion (82).
A tent or canopy frame according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the crossbar (20) is pivotally connected at its outer ends to the hubs (16, 18) respectively.
A tent or canopy frame which supports sheet material (12) when in use and which comprises two hubs (16, 18), from which ribs (22) of the frame (14) radiate, the hubs (16, 18) being joined by a crossbar (20), characterised in that the ribs (22) are pivotally attached to the hubs (16, 18) in a permanent fashion which prevents accidental detachment between a rib (22) and a hub (16 or 18) of the frame (14) when the tent or canopy is erected or dismantled.
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 9, characterised in that the pivotal connection (72) between the ribs (22) and the hubs (16, 18) each comprises a pin (38) about which the rib (22) rotates, the pin (38) being held by the hub (16 or 18).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 10, characterised in that each hub (16, 18) is in two halves (43 and 49), both defining respective recesses (42) for the rib ends and each half being provided with further recesses (46) to accommodate the pin ends on opposite sides of the rib end recess (42).
A tent or canopy frame according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterised in that each pivotal connection between a rib end and a hub (16 or 18) comprises a single pin (38) extending through a portion of the rib end.
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 12, characterised in that the pins (38) are advantageously made of stainless steel so that they will not readily deteriorate in outdoor conditions.
A tent or canopy frame according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterised in that the inner rib ends are provided with an end cap (32) which is the part pivoted to the hub (16 or 18).
A tent or canopy frame according to claim 14, characterised in that the end cap (32) is made of synthetic plastics injection-moulded material.
A tent or canopy frame according to any preceding claim, characterised in that each hub (16, 18) is made of a synthetic plastics injection-moulded material.
A tent or canopy comprising sheet material (12) supported by a frame (14) made in accordance with any preceding claim.