US2070244A - Play tent - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 9, 1937. N. STAAB 2,070,244

PLAY TENT Filed Feb. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 9, 1937. N. STAAB PLAY TENT Filed Feb. 23, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 9, 1937. N. STAAB 2,070,244

PLAY TENT Filed Feb. 23, 1955 a Sheets- Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES FLAY TENT Nicholas Staab, Chicago, ElL, assignor to J. W. Johnson Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,738

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in tents and has special relation to childrens playtents.

An important object of the invention is to provide a tent structure which will be self support ing in open or set up condition; which shall consist of a minimum number of parts; which will be of minimum weight; which shall be capable of being packed in a minimum sized container in knock-down condition; and which can be readily andeasily assembled in set-up condition.

The invention resides in a tent of tepee form having a plurality of frame members rigidly connected at the peak of the tent and the lower ends of the members connected together and held from spreading by the tent fabric.

The invention also resides in the various structures, devices and combinations of same by which the above objects are attained.

The accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and the following description set forth one embodiment of the invention, but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to such showing except within the scope of the appended claims.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tent con structed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the tent, the tent cover being broken away to more clearly show the support;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 4;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the metal connecting bracket at the top of the support or frame work;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the line l! of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a broken side elevation of one of the legs of the support;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation of one of the lower corners of the tent;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line Ill-ll] of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of the top portion of the tent cover;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to Fig. 3, taken on the line 12-42 of Fig. 13, and showing round legs instead of square legs;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line I3-l3 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a horizontal section on the line l4--l4 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary side elevation similar 5 to the lower part of Fig. 2 and showing another means for securing the tent cover to the lower ends of the legs;

Fig. 16 is a horizontal section on the line l6l6 of Fig. 15; 10

Fig. 1'7 is a vertical section on the line l'l-|'l of Fig. 15;

Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig. 15, but showing a modification of the cover holding means shown in Figs. 15 to 17;

Fig. 19 is a horizontal section on the line l9-l9 of Fig. 18;

Fig. 20 is a partial longitudinal section on the line 2020 of Fig. 18;

Fig. 21 is a vertical section on the line 2l2l of Fig. 18;

Fig. 22 is a view similar to Fig. 18, shown partly in section and showing another simple cover holding means;

Fig. 23 is a transverse section on the line 23-23 of Fig. 22;

Fig. 24 is a view similar to Fig. 22, but showing a slight modification of the holding means shown in Fig. 22;

Fig. 25 is a transverse section on the line 25-25 of Fig. 24; and

Fig. 26 is a. fragmentary elevational view of the inner side of the lower end of the leg shown in Fig. 24.

The tent comprises a tent cover 15 made of canvas or the like, and made up in tent form as shown with a plurality of flat sides 16 reaching from the top I! to the bottom [8 of the tent. One of the sides I6 is provided with an opening 19 located above the bottom I8 of the tent cover to give entrance to the tent and yet preserve the bottom 18 of the tent cover intact or continuous clear around the tent.

Preferably each side 16 of the tent is fiat and in the form shown there are four of these sides 45 joined together at their side edges to form a conelike tent cover.

To support the cover for use, I provide a supporting structure which is very simple in construction and readily assembled for use or dis- 5U assembled for storage or shipping. The supporting structure consists of a plurality of leg members 20 equal in number with the sides of the tent cover and arranged at the meeting edges of the sides 16 as shown.

These leg members are rigidly secured together at their upper ends to a rigid top bracket member 2|.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 10, inclusive, the leg members 20 are rectangular in cross-section and are preferably square.

The top bracket 2| is preferably made of metal and is provided with grooves 22 for receiving the upper ends of the legs 20. These grooves 22 are preferably V-shaped to fit the inserted corners of the legs 20 and the legs are rigidly secured to the bracket by readily removable bolts 23. The grooves 22 are inclined outwardly to cause the legs 26 to fit in the corners of the tent cover and hold the sides It? extended in flat condition.

The supporting structure consisting of the top bracket 2| and the four outwardly inclined divergent legs 20, is a relatively rigid unit and can be lifted and moved about without collapsing.

As has been explained the tent cover is a continuous member, and it is closed at its top and open at its bottom and is provided with the entrance opening 19.

For securing the cover to the support, the support is provided, adjacent to the lower ends of the legs, with headed projections 24, see Fig. 10, and the cover is provided with eyelets or grummets 25 adjacent its lower edge on the seams connecting the flat sides of the cover, adapted to receive the headed projections 24. The arrangement is such that the cover has to be stretched taut in order to place the eyelets 25 on the projections 24 and consequently the cover is in a sense interlocked with the support and the tent consisting of the Support and the cover is a unit which can be lifted and moved about without collapsing,

The grooves 22 in the bracket 21 and bolts 23 arranged between the ends of the grooves make a very rigid connection of the legs with the bracket and with each other which rigidly holds the legs extended as desired.

It is to be noted that the bracket 2| is hollow and is cut away between the several grooves 22, and it is preferably made of aluminum in order to reduce its Weight to a minimum while preserving sufiicient rigidity for the use to which it is put.

It will be understood that by taking off the tent cover and removing the bolts 23, the supporting structure is disassembled and can be packed in a very small space and that the cover can be folded to occupy a relatively small space and that consequently the tent structure as a whole can be packed for shipment in a container of relatively small cross-section and which is long enough to receive the legs 20. Consequently the device lends itself to the modern ideas of merchandising, that is such devices packed in individual cartons ready for shipment and delivery.

In Figs. 12, 13, and 14, the idea is illustrated that instead of the preferably square cross-sectional legs 20, round rods 27 may be used and will likewise be firmly held in the V-shaped grooves 22 by the bolts 23.

To prevent the upper ends of the legs 20 from possibly injuring the tent cover 15, the extreme upper ends of the legs are cut off on an angle as shown at 28, Fig. 3, so as to present a top surface in substantially the plane of the topof the bracket 2 I. And as a further precaution the outer corners 29 of the upper ends of the legs 20 are beveled off as best shown at 30, Figs. 4 and 8. Likewise the upper ends of the round legs 21 may be similarly shaped.

In Figs. 15 to 21, I have shown other means for engaging the lower edge of the tent cover with the lower ends of the frame members or legs, for holding the tent cover taut.

For instance at the corners of the tent cover I I provide pockets 3| adapted to receive the lower ends of the frame members 20. These pockets may be produced by turning up a hem 32 at the lower edge of the cover and leaving the hem 32 unattached to the body of the cover at the corners, or flaps 33 may be provided at the corner portions of the cover, and these flaps left unattached at their upper edges at the corners so that the lower ends of the frame members can be inserted between the flaps and the body of the tent.

In using either form of pocket it should be understood that the cover has to be stretched beyond its usual size to insert the ends of the legs, and the tension on the tent body will hold the cover in place with the lower ends of the legs in the pockets.

In Figs. 22-26 I have shown other means of securing the cover to the lower ends of the legs, which consists in providing a notchv 34 preferably inclined as shown, near the lower end of each leg and providing, in one form, a tie string 35 on the cover adapted to engage in the notch.

As an alternate form I may secure a ring 36 attached to the cover, one for each leg, adapted to engage in the notches 34. In both these forms the tent cover is held taut by the securing means.

As many modifications of the invention will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, I do not limit or confine the invention to the specific details of construction herein shown and described except within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a tent frame, a top bracket member provided with a plurality of divergent grooves, an.

equal plurality of frame members, means for clamping the upper ends of the frame members in said grooves and causing the frame members to project in a divergent manner similar to the divergence of the said grooves.

2. In a tent of the kind described, a top bracket provided with a plurality of V-shaped divergent grooves, a like plurality of similar frame members, the grooves adapted to receive the upper ends of the tent frame members, means for tightly clamping the upper ends of the frame members in said grooves and causing the frame members to be held in divergent relation similar to the divergence of the grooves.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, the upper ends of the leg members being formed to lie in a plane parallel with the top of the bracket.

4. In a tent of the kind described, a substantially rigid frame work comprising a connecting bracket at the top, elongated frame members secured rigidly to the bracket and extending downwardy in divergent rotation from the bracket, a continuous cover fitting over the frame work, the lower edge portion of the cover turned up inside and stitched at its edge to the body of the cover except where the frame members are located, thus forming pockets to receive the free ends of the frame members.

NICHOLAS STAAB.

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