Tent – canopy – umbrella – or cane – Portable shelter – Framework
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-01
2003-06-24
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3637)
Tent, canopy, umbrella, or cane
Portable shelter
Framework
C135S136000, C135S098000, C135S156000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581617
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to canopy tents with automatic umbrella-type collapsible frames designed to be easily and simply stretched or collapsed in the same manner as expected from the collapsible frames of conventional automatic umbrellas, thus allowing a user to easily and simply pitch or close the tent and, more particularly, to a canopy tent with an automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame having a spring fitted over the shank part of the rib holder, the spring having high restoring force and automatically stretching the ribs, thus allowing a user to easily, simply and quickly pitch or close the tent, in addition to simplifying the construction of the frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
So-called “canopy tents” are designed to be easily, simply and quickly pitched or closed, and so they have been preferably used for outdoor applications, such as during camping or fishing.
Such canopy tents are also so-called “collapsible tents” or “folding tents”. The canopy tent has a collapsible frame designed to allow a user to easily, simply and quickly pitch or close the tent on a desired place by stretching or collapsing the frame.
Such canopy tents have been classified into several types. For example, a canopy tent with an automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame has been proposed and used in the prior art. The conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame for such canopy tents is designed to be easily and simply stretched or collapsed in the same manner as expected from the collapsible frames of conventional automatic umbrellas. An example of such conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frames for canopy tents is shown in FIG.
6
. As shown in the drawing, the conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame for canopy tents comprises a lower shank
110
, a rib holder
120
, a spreader holder
130
, a plurality of collapsible ribs
140
and a plurality of collapsible spreaders
150
.
The shank
110
has an internally-threaded opening
111
at its top end, and is selectively connected to an externally-threaded lower end
121
of the rib holder
120
through a screw-type engagement so as to allow the spreader holder
130
to be movable along the shank
110
upward or downward when pitching or closing the tent.
The rib holder
120
, selectively connected to the top end of the shank
110
through a screw-type engagement, is provided with a retractable bolt
122
on its shank part for selectively holding the spreader holder
130
on the shank part of the rib holder
120
at a desired position when the tent is completely pitched. A fixed ring is mounted to the top end of the rib holder
120
. This fixed ring is regularly toothed on its circumferential surface to form a plurality of rib holding notches
123
, with two first projections
124
provided on opposite side surfaces of each notch
123
for holding each of the ribs
140
at the notch
123
. A canopy holding disc
125
is mounted to the top surface of the fixed ring of the rib holder
120
using a plurality of locking screws, and holds the canopy to the fixed ring.
The spreader holder
130
is fitted over the shank
110
such that it is movable along the shank
110
and the shank part of the rib holder
120
upward and downward relative to the retractable bolt
122
of the rib holder
120
. This spreader holder
130
has a ring, which is provided with the same number of spreader holding notches
132
as that of the rib holding notches
123
of the rib holder
120
. Each of the spreader holding notches
132
is provided with two second projections
133
on its opposite side surfaces for holding each of the spreaders
150
. The spreader holder
130
is also provided with an actuating button
131
on its shank part. This button
131
is selectively operated by a user to retract the bolt
122
into the shank part of the rib holder
120
, and releases the spreader holder
30
from the bolt
122
.
The collapsible ribs
140
form the ceiling frame of the tent when the tent is fully pitched on a support surface, and are provided with inclined slits
141
at their inside ends. The ribs
140
are thus hinged to the projections
124
formed in the rib holding notches
123
of the rib holder
120
. The ribs
140
are rotatable around the projections
124
in opposite directions when the tent is pitched or closed. The outside ends of the ribs
140
are provided with spreader connectors
142
for connecting the spreaders
150
to the ribs
140
. An extension
140
a
is connected to each of spreader connectors
142
. These extensions
140
a
form the sidewall frame of the tent when the tent is fully pitched on a support surface.
The collapsible spreaders
150
are hinged to the projections
133
formed at the notches
132
of the spreader holder
130
. When the tent is fully pitched on a support surface, the spreaders
150
spread and open the ribs
140
to fully stretch the canopy of the tent.
However, the canopy tent having such a conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame is problematic due to structural defect of the frame as follows.
That is, when it is desired to collapse the tent, the shank
110
must be connected to the externally-threaded lower end
121
of the rib holder
120
through a screw-type engagement so as to allow the spreader holder
130
to be fully movable downward along the shank
110
. It is also necessary to remove the shank
110
from the rib holder
120
and to separately, carefully keep the shank
110
after the tent is completely pitched on a support surface since the shank
110
may disturb persons inside the pitched tent. Therefore, the frame does not allow a user to easily, simply or quickly pitch or close the canopy tent, in addition to causing a problem of separately keeping the shank
110
removed from the frame of the fully pitched tent.
The tension of the tent in a fully pitched position is supported only by the engagement of the retractable bolt
122
with the actuating button
131
, and so the bolt
122
and button
131
are overloaded to be easily broken. When at least one of the bolt
122
and button
131
is broken as described above, it is impossible to pitch or close the tent. In such a case, it is necessary to repair the broken bolt
122
or button
131
; otherwise, the owner of the tent is forced to purchase a new tent.
Another problem experienced by the conventional automatic umbrella-type frame for canopy tents resides in that it is difficult to move the spreader holder
130
along the shank
110
and the shank part of the rib holder
120
when pitching or closing the tent. That is, since the canopy tent with such an automatic umbrella-type frame is large in its size and heavy in its weight, different from conventional automatic umbrellas, it is difficult to move the spreader holder
130
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a canopy tent, which is provided with an automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame designed to be easily and simply stretched or collapsed in the same manner as expected from the collapsible frames of conventional automatic umbrellas so as to allow a user to easily and simply pitch or close the tent, and of which the frame has a spring fitted over the shank part of the rib holder, the spring having high restoring force and automatically stretching the ribs, thus allowing a user to easily, simply and quickly pitch or close the tent, in addition to simplifying the construction of the frame.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a canopy tent, comprising: a collapsible frame operated in a manner similar to that of the frames of conventional automatic umbrellas so as to pitch or close the tent, the frame including: a rib holder rotatably holding a plurality of collapsible ribs at its upper end while allowing the ribs to be stretchable in a radial direction when pitching the tent, with
Ham Se-II
Kim Gi-Hun
Mai Lanna
Schmeiser Olsen & Watts LLP
Yip Winnie
LandOfFree
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