US1623153A - Tent pole - Google Patents

Description

April 5, 1927. 1,623,153

P. T. ABERCROMBIE TENT POLE Filed Dec. 15. 1925 IN VE N TOR readily at the place of use without requir Patented Apr. 5, 1927. i! Y UNITED STATES DAVID T. ABERCROMBIE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TENT

POLE.

Application filed December 15, 1925. Serial No. 75,528.

This invention is concerned particularly with sectional tent. poles which can be taken apart for convenience in transportation in automobiles, boats, etc. and can be assembled ing the cutting of poles. Such sectional tent poles are commonly made with some form of socket joint and besides being sometimes diflicult to take apart if the joints are tight enough to prevent flexing, require endwise movement of one section with respect to the other so that they cannotbe assembled easily within the tent and if so assembledbring about a disarrangement of thecanvas, which may require readjustment of the guy ropes. Other forms of joints have not proved satisfactory in practice for various reasons, such as that they involve the use of detachable parts which are liable tobecome lost, or that they do not hold the sections of the pole rigidly in line, or that they do not have the strength necessary to resist the stresses to which they may be subjected in use. The object of the present invention is to provide a joint of such character that it will be strong and capable of resisting strains, that it will have no detachable parts to be lost, that it will hold the sections of the pole rigidly in line, that it can be manipulated easily, that it can be assembled and put in position readily within the tent without stretching the canvas and without leaving it slack when in position, and that it can be produced at low cost. In accordance with the invention there is provided a channel member which is secured to one end of one of the pole sections and is adapted for secure engagement with the adjacent end of the other pole member, the adjacent extremities of the two pole members being suitably formed so as to interlock and also to facilitate taking apart and reassembling.

The invention will be explained more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which it is illustrated and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the improved joint, the channel member being shown partly in section todisclose the relation of the extremities of the two pole sections, the position which one of the sections assumes in taking apart or in assembling being indicated by broken lines.

Figure 2 is a view of the same in elevation as seen from the left hand in Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4: are conventional views illustrating the application of the pole to a simple form of tent.

In the embodiment of the invention illus trated in the drawing the two pole sections a and Z) are shown to be square and of the same size in cross section. To one of the sections, preferably to the upper portion of the lower section, is secured, as by rivets c, a channel member of sheet metal of such thickness as to insure stiffness. This channel member 0 is extended for about half its length beyond the extremity of the section b and is adapted to be engaged near its other end by a latch or look which is movable but is not removable. As shown, the channel member 0 is slotted, as at 0 to be engagedby an eye bolt d which is permanently secured, at the proper point, to the other pole section a, but is capable of being turned on its axis from a position in which it registers with the slot 0 as indicated by broken lines in Figure 1, to a position in which, after the eye has been passed through the slot 0 it may be turned to a position at right angles to the slot 0 as shown by full lines in Figures 1 and 2, in which latter position it cannot be withdrawn through the slot. As shown, there may be conveniently employed for the purpose a moderately heavy screw eye which engages a nut d countersunk in the opposite side of the pole section, the stem of the screw eye being then set up so as to prevent withdrawal. The threaded engagement of the screw eye with the nut permits the screw eye to be turned up so that when in locked position, it will engage the channel member tightly and prevent looseness.

The adjacent extremities of the pole sections are so formed as to interlock. In order that they may be engaged and disengaged readily, one of the pole sections is cut off obliquely, in one plane, as indicated at b in Figure 1, so as to form a socket between the pole and the channel member and the other pole section is similarly cut off on the same angle, as at a, so as to fit the socket above mentioned, and is also cut off at an angle therewith, as at (1 so as to facilitate the engagement and disengagement of the parts, as indicated by broken lines in Figure 1.

In the application of the invention illustrated conventionally in Figures 3 and 4-, in which is shown an A tent with a ridge 6, side Walls 7 and a sod cloth 9, the sectional pole is applied from within the tent by being engaged with the ridge and being itself flexed as indicated by broken lines. Pressure applied to the flexed pole at the joint will then bring the two members into line, with the ridge 6 pressed tightly against the top of the tent. The two sections may then be secured in position by manipulating the eye bolt or lock carried by one section, so as to engage the channel member.

It will be understood that the joint is capable of application to a wide range of uses and that it will be varied in detail of construction to suit varying conditions of use.

I claim as my invention:

1. A joint for detachable sectional tent poles comprising a metal channel member secured to one pole section and extended beyond the end thereof, engaging means on the end of the pole section cooperating with the channel member, cooperating means on another pole section formed to be received between the engaging means and the channel member, a portion of the cooperating pole adjacent the channel member receding therefrom toward the engaging face of the other pole section to permit the interengagement of the members with a substantially pivotal motion at the engaging portions, and means to lock the channel member to the cooperating pole section.

2. A joint for sectional tent poles comprising a metal channel member secured to one pole section and extended beyond the end thereof and formed at its other end with a slot, and an eye bolt carried by the other pole section and adapted by rotation to be engaged with and disengaged from the slotted portion of the channel member, the extremity of one pole section being cut off at an oblique angle to form a recess between itself and the back of the channel member and the extremity of the other pole section being cut off at a similar angle to enter such recess.

This specification signed this 12th day of December A. D. 1925.

DAVID T. ABERCROMBIE.

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