GB2342931A

GB2342931A - Attaching tent to vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2342931A
Application number: GB9822334A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald Sidney Bater
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-10-13
Filing date: 1998-10-13
Publication date: 2000-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 2018-10-13
Also published as: GB9822334D0; GB2342931B

Abstract

A vehicle roof attachment (20) for attaching a free-standing tent (1) to a vehicle roof (3,4,5,6,7) so that the tent is supported both by the vehicle (2) and upstanding supports (140, 141); further upstanding supports are fitted when the tent is free-standing and these may be attached to the tent at corner joints (114 and 117).

Description

An arrangement for attaching a tent to a vehicle roof The present invention relates to an arrangement for attaching a tent to a vehicle roof.

Vehicle roofs are frequently provided with support members adapted for the carriage of goods on the vehicle roof. These support members are known as roof racks, and may consist of longitudinal and/or lateral bars extending across the roof to provide means for securing goods to the vehicle roof. On some vehicles locations are provided by the vehicle manufacturer for the attachment of a vehicle roof rack.

Tents and similar lightweight structures for providing protection or shelter against the elements, including for example rain, wind and sun, are known. These structures are frequently comprised of a support frame which is covered by a flexible sheet covering material, such as a fabric or a flexible plastics film. The support frame is normally constructed so that it may be dismantled for easy transport and storage, and may comprise tubular poles. The support frame frequently comprises upstanding supports positioned at an extremity of the tent, such as a corner or on a side, and a substantially horizontal support between each of the upstanding supports around a perimeter of a roof portion of the tent. The covering material may only cover the roof portion of the tent structure, or it may also extend around one or more sides of the structure. Such tents may have 4 sides and be square or rectangular or have more than 4 sides or be circular. Tents, with at least one openable or open side for providing at least partial shelter from the elements are used in domestic gardens and similar semi-permanent locations.

However, temporary shelter is often required at a location that has been reached by vehicle. Such locations could include for example boot sales, country shows, or picnics. Frequently it would be advantageous for the temporary shelter to provide protection from the elements to at least a door of the vehicle.

According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement, whereby a tent may be attached to the roof of a vehicle.

The vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement may be arranged to attach to locations provided for the attachment of a vehicle roof rack.

The vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement may be arranged to attach to a vehicle roof rack.

The vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement may be arranged so that a tent comprising a frame and a cover, the frame comprising roof members and at least an upstanding support at an extremity, the roof members comprising at least a substantially horizontal perimeter member, the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement being mountable to the roof rack and mountable to the substantially horizontal perimeter member, such that the tent when attached to the vehicle provides protection from the elements to at least a door of the vehicle, and wherein at least one upstanding support may be omitted.

A further aspect of the invention is a tent having a vehicle roof attachment arrangement.

An advantage of this invention is that greater utilisation may be made of a tent that was intended to be used free standing in a garden or similar location. A further advantage of attaching the tent to a vehicle is that it may not be possible to obtain an anchorage for the tent in the hard surface of for example a car park, however the attachment to the vehicle will provide the tent with great stability and resistance to displacement by wind.

An adjustable foot arrangement may be provided to allow for easy re-positioning of the tent frame on soft ground after it has been partially erected. An additional benefit of the adjustable foot arrangement is that it may also incorporate height adjustment which would enable the tent frame to be levelled even when erected on sloping or uneven ground. Further benefits of an adjustable foot arrangement is that it may incorporate means to anchor the tent to the ground, and it may also provide for a diagonal bracing of the frame to aid erection of the frame.

Preferably the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement for attaching the tent to the roof rack comprises an adjustable clamping means for attaching to the roof rack.

An advantage of the adjustable clamping means for attaching the tent to the roof rack is that the position of the attachment may be altered to be anywhere along a transverse or lateral member of the roof rack. Hence the extension of the tent from the vehicle, and also the extent to which the vehicle is covered may be altered.

This may be advantageous in confined spaces, or where it is required to protect the vehicle.

Preferably the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement is adjustable to accommodate a range of sizes of tents.

For example suitable tents range in size from those where a perimeter member may have a length of 2 metres to tents where the length may be 4 metres. Larger tents may be accommodated, but this may be dependant on the strength of the tent frame, and the weight of the tent.

A clamping arrangement may be provided to attach the tent frame to the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement.

An advantage of this is that the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement may be used with a wide variety of tent frames. A further advantage of the clamping arrangement is that the tent frame may be easily adjusted after initial erection.

A spigot arrangement may be provided to attach the tent frame to the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement.

An advantage of this is that the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement may be used with tent frames where the frame relies on support to a corner bracket of the frame to maintain the integrity of the frame.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle, which is fitted with a roof rack, and to which a tent frame is attached using a vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement according to the invention; Figure 1A is a detailed view of a corner joint that is shown in Fig. 1 ; Figure 1B is a detailed view of an adjustable foot arrangement that may be used with the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 2 is an exploded diagrammatic view of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1 indicating the method of connecting component parts together; Figure 3 is an exploded diagrammatic view of an alternative embodiment of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1 indicating the method of connecting component parts together ; Figure 3A is an assembled view of the alternative embodiment of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 3 indicating the method of connecting component parts together shown together with a particular tent side pole; Figure 4 is a side view of an upstanding support bar which is a part of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1, shown together with a side roof member of a tent ; Figure 5 is a side view of a roof rack bracket which is a part of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1 ; Figure 6 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the roof rack bracket which is a part of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1; Figure 7 is a top view of the roof rack bracket which is a part of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 5; Figure 8 is a partly sectioned side view of an adjustable centre coupling which is a part of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1 ; Figure 9 is a side view of an side extension bar which is a part of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement shown in Fig. 1; From Fig. 1, an embodiment of the invention is shown at 1, where a vehicle 2 is shown parked. Vehicle 2 has a roof rack 3, comprising two longitudinal bars 6 and 7, and two transverse bars 4 and 5, attached to these bars is a vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement 20, which is supporting a side tube 110 of a tent frame 100. The tent frame 100 further comprises other side tubes 111, 112 and 113, which at corner joints 114,115,116 and 117, are connected to roof hip poles 130,131,132 and 133, which are also connected to each other at a centre joint 134. At each of the corner joints 115 and 116 an upright pole 140 and 141, are fitted to support these corners of the frame. The corner joints 114 and 117, are also arranged to receive similar upright poles (not shown) but since the side tube 110 is supported, at the same height as side tube 112, by the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement 20 it is not necessary to fit them. Figure 1A shows a detailed view of the corner joint 114, which is a rigid welded construction comprising a socket 118 for receiving tube 110, a socket 119 for receiving hip pole 130, a socket 120 for receiving side tube 111, and a socket 121 for receiving an upright pole (not shown). The other corner joints are similar. As shown in Figure 1, the whole construction using the embodiment forms a substantially rigid and self supporting structure to which a membrane covering (not shown) may be fitted as required to the roof and or sides to provide protection from the elements to a side 10 of the vehicle 2 and the enclosed area 15 shown by the dashed perimeter. line.

From Figure 1B an adjustable foot arrangement 160 can be seen, which comprises a base plate 161, with anchor holes 162,163,164 and 165, and an angled edge 166 with a bracing hole 167 to which is mounted a tent frame receiving socket 168, which has a tent frame height adjustment means 169.

Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the parts of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement 20 shown in Figure 1. The vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement comprises two identical roof rack brackets 21 and 21' which are also shown in Figures 5,6 and 7. From Fig. 5 it may be seen that the roof bracket 21 has on an underside 22 a roof rack clamp 23 for ensuring a secure attachment to the roof rack transverse bar 4 or 5. The roof rack clamp 23 comprises a fixed jaw (not visible in Fig. 5) which is rigidly mounted to the underside 22, a moveable jaw (not visible in Fig. 5) which is attached to clamping screw 26, so that when clamping screw 26 is rotated it moves forward through the threaded plate 27 to clamp the jaws securely onto the transverse bar 4.

In another embodiment which is shown in Figure 6, the roof rack clamp has a facility provided by pivot 228 for clamping onto longitudinal roof bars instead of the transverse roof bars if this is preferred by a user, and hence in this embodiment the invention may also be used with either a vehicle where the roof rack consists solely of the transverse bars 4 and 5, or solely the longitudinal bars 6 and 7. From Fig. 6 it may be seen that the roof bracket 221 has on an underside 222 a pivotable plate 229 able to be pivoted about pivot 228, and to the pivotable plate 229 is mounted a roof rack clamp 223 for ensuring a secure attachment to the roof rack transverse bar 4 or 5. The roof rack clamp 223 comprises a fixed jaw 224 which is rigidly mounted to the pivotable plate 229, a moveable jaw 225 which is attached to clamping screw 226, so that when clamping screw 226 is rotated it moves forward through the threaded plate 227, which is rigidly mounted to pivotable plate 229, to clamp the jaws securely onto the transverse bar (not shown in Fig. 6) or the longitudinal bar 6 or 7.

In a further embodiment (not shown) the roof rack clamp has an additional facility to be attached to locations provided by the vehicle manufacturer for the attachment of a vehicle roof rack.

The roof rack brackets 21 and 221 shown in Figs. 5,6 and 7 comprises on an upper side 30 and 230 an upright socket 32,232 with an open end 33,233, a series of alternative location holes 34,234, and another series of alternative location holes 35, 235, positioned at 90 to the first series about a longitudinal axis of the socket. A pair of horizontal sockets 36,39,236 (only one visible in Figs. 5 and 6) has open end 37,37', 237, and a series of alternative location holes 38 and 38'visible in Fig. 6.

A support surface 40 is provided for transporting a load comprising a tent, and eye-hooks 41 and 42 are provided to enable the load to be secured. From Fig. 6 the pair of horizontal sockets 36 and 36'can be seen clearly.

Figure 8 shows an adjustable centre coupling 50 comprising two bars 51,52 each fitted with sprung loaded detents 53,54,55,56 and a centre tube 57 (shown sectioned in Fig. 8) which may have a series of location holes similar to the alternative location holes 38 which would co-operate with the detents 54,55 to retain the bars 51,52 in position in the centre tube, or the centre tube may have clamping means 58,59 which may comprise a threaded screw in order to retain the bars in the centre tube. The detents 53 and 56 are arranged so that when the bars 51 and 52 are inserted in a socket 36 or 39 the respective detents will engage in the respective series of location holes 38 or 38'retain the bars in the sockets. An advantage of using clamping means such as the threaded screws is that a length D between the detents 53 and 56 may be adjusted to suit the spacing of the roof rack brackets 21 and 21'which if they are fitted to the transverse bars 4 and 5 is dependant on the spacing of these transverse bars.

Figure 9 shows a side view of an side extension bar 70 which comprises a bar end 71 with a detent 72 which similarly to detents 53,56 are arranged so that when the bar end 71 is inserted in a socket 36 or 39 the detent 72 will engage in the respective series of location holes 38 or 38'retain the bar end in the socket. When the bar end is inserted in a socket, the detent will also ensure that a socket end 73 of bar 70 is maintained in a substantially vertical orientation. The socket end has an hollow socket 75 and a location hole 74. In an alternative embodiment a series of alternative location holes is provided instead of the single location hole 74.

The hollow socket 75 in Fig. 9 and the upright sockets 32,232 may receive a spigot 81 of an upright support 80 shown in Figure 4. The upright support member also comprises an adjustment means 82 for adjusting a length H between a detent 83 and an underside 84 of a fixed jaw 85 of a tent side tube clamp 86. The side tube clamp 86 comprises the fixed jaw 85 rigidly mounted to an upper part 87 of the upright support 80 and a moveable jaw 88 which is attached to clamping screw 89, so that when clamping screw 89 is rotated it moves forward through the threaded plate 90 to clamp the jaws securely onto the tent side tube 110.

A benefit of adjustment means 82 which allows length H to be adjusted is so that a user may alter a height J in Fig. 1 of the side tube 110 so that the side tubes 110, 111,112, and 113 are substantially level. This adjustability allows the user to make allowances for uneven sites, a variation in a height of the roof rack from the ground due to a load in the vehicle, and for different heights of different vehicles.

In use the adjustable centre coupling 50 provides support to the roof rack brackets 21 and 21'to which it is connected. This avoids the roof rack brackets placing a torsional load on the roof rack bars, arising from a downward force exerted as a result of a weight of the tent frame 100 and its covering material transmitted through the upright supports 80 and 80''' (see Fig. 2) which are mounted in the socket ends 73 and 73', which can have a substantial moment about the roof rack bars due to a length W of the extension bars 70 and 70'.

Figure 3 shows an exploded diagrammatic side view of an alternative embodiment 300 of the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement where roof rack brackets 321 and 321'are arranged to attach to a vehicle roof rack in a similar manner to brackets 21, and an adjustable centre coupling 350 provides support to the brackets 321 and 321'to avoid placing a torsional load on the roof rack bars. Side extension bars 370 and 370'are similar to side extension bars 70 and 70', except that they are inclined upwards away from the roof rack brackets 321 and 321'. A benefit of this is that when the vehicle roof tent attachment arrangement 300 is attached to a roof rack fitted to a small vehicle, elbows 376 and 376'are at a greater height from the ground, and intrude less into the area 15, enabling easier and safer access for people under corners 114 and 117 (see Fig. 1) of the tent, as with the embodiment 20 of Fig. 2 access under corners 114 and 117 would be obstructed by the lower elbows. Roof rack brackets 321 and 321'have an upright socket 332 and 332'similar to 32, each to receive an upright support 80 shown in detail in Fig. 4. In use the clamp is used to clamp to the side tube 110.

Figure 3 also shows a further alternative embodiment where pole spigot 380 is used to support an alternative tent side tube 110, where the pole spigot 380 is in use connected to the socket 121 for receiving an upright pole of a corner joint 114 shown in Figure 1A.

Figure 3A shows the embodiment 300 of Fig. 3 together with a particular tent side pole 400, comprising an upper pole 401 and a lower pole 402, and short uprights 403 and 404 which engage the pole spigots 380 and 380' respectively.

In use a tent frame 100 may be assembled by first fitting a side tube 110 to the vehicle tent attachment arrangement 20 that has already been mounted to a vehicle, but only securing the tent side tube clamps 86, 86', 86''and 86'''sufficiently to locate the side tube, without preventing it from rotating. The rest of the tent frame may then be assembled starting with the roof and leaving the upright poles 140 and 141 until last when the partially assembled tent frame may be rotated in the side tube clamps 86,86', 86''and 86'''as the corner joints 115 and 116 are raised to insert the upright poles 140,141.

Alternatively the tent frame can be assembled away from the vehicle, and then using the adjustable foot arrangement 160 in Fig. 1B fitted to each of the upright poles 140 and 141, with a tension brace 169 fitted between bracing hole 167 and the corner joint 114, the assembled tent frame can be lifted by side tube 110, and slid towards the vehicle on the base plates 161 and 161' of adjustable foot arrangements 160 and 160'so that side tube 110 engages the side tube clamps 86,86', 86''and 86'''.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle, the tent comprising a tent frame, a tent cover supported by the frame and a vehicle roof attachment means, the frame comprising at least one substantially horizontal perimeter member and a plurality of detachable upstanding supports arranged to support the perimeter member (s) so that the tent is free standing in a first configuration, and in a second configuration the tent is partly supported by a vehicle such that at least one of the upstanding supports is detached, the vehicle roof attachment means arranged so as to be mountable between a roof of the vehicle and the perimeter member (s).
2. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tent frame has an adjustable foot arrangement provided on at least one upstanding support, the adjustable foot arrangement being arranged to provide height adjustment for the at least one upstanding support.
3. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein an anchor means is provided to anchor the tent to the ground.
4.-A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle roof tent attachment means for attaching the tent to the vehicle roof comprises an adjustable clamping means for attaching to a roof rack mounted to the vehicle roof.
5. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vehicle roof tent attachment means for attaching the tent to the vehicle roof comprises a means for attaching to mountings provided for attaching a roof rack to the vehicle roof.
6. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a clamping arrangement is provided to attach the tent frame to the vehicle roof tent attachment means.
7. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a connecting means is provided on the vehicle roof tent attachment means to connect to the tent frame at a mounting point which is also arranged to receive the upstanding support detached in the second configuration.
8. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein in the second configuration, the tent provides protection from the elements to at least a portion of the vehicle.
9. A tent adapted for use with a vehicle as described herein with reference to the attached drawings.