Tent – canopy – umbrella – or cane – Portable shelter – Framework
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-13
2001-03-27
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Tent, canopy, umbrella, or cane
Portable shelter
Framework
C135S131000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206020
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to canopies which may be used to temporarily shelter against the elements, to provide privacy and the like. Specifically, however, the present invention is directed to a collapsible shelter which may be quickly erected for use yet easily collapsed for storage. In particular, the present invention concerns a canopy shelter which has articulating scissor assemblies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Portable shelters have been in existence since prehistoric time, but the modern era has seen an increasing need for greater sophistication in the quality and type of construction for portable shelter devices. In the last twenty to thirty years, the quick erect shelter industry has dramatically grown as the result of new technologies and fabrics. Support structures and design, especially in the field of light-weight tents and mountaineering shelters, have witnessed dramatic improvements. These developments manifest themselves in special application fields, but relatively little attention has been paid to the development of larger area shelters that are stored in a small collapsed state but which may be expanded with a minimum amount of effort into sturdy, large area shelters.
One response to this need is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,676. This patent shows a portable canopy structure having a framework that may be collapsed into a stored state yet which may be expanded and erected for use. The framework includes a plurality of upright support members which are interconnected by a plurality of scissor assemblies. The scissor assemblies have their upper outer ends fastened to the upright supports by removable mounts. The lower outer ends, however, are secured to a sliding mount which travels along the upright member between the erect and collapsed states. Internal scissor assemblies may be provided to support a central post, and a covering extends across the tops of the supports and is supported by the posts in a dome-like manner. This structure is also similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,656 issued Aug. 26, 1996 to Carter.
While the structures shown in my '676 Patent and in the Carter Patent do provide significant advantages over earlier structures, especially in the relative ease of both expansion and collapse, they nonetheless have some drawbacks. For example, in use, the scissor assemblies shown in these two structures are under compressive forces. When the scissor assemblies are subjected to forces transversely of their plane, the combination of this force with the compressive force can result in substantial bowing of the scissor assemblies and distortion of the canopy framework.
The structure described in my '676 Patent was modified by that disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,635 issued Oct. 15, 1988. In this patent, the canopy structure outwardly biased its corner support members so that the framework interconnecting the adjacent corner support members was placed in tension as opposed to compression. Nonetheless, the assembly shown in my '635 Patent was still subject to improvement in the scissor bar interconnections.
In an effort to enhance the stability of scissoring canopy frameworks, I developed the structures shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,001. In this patent, socket-type mounts were employed to fasten the ends of the scissor assemblies to the upright supports and to each other. The sockets provided by the mounts were formed to have spaced-apart, parallel side wall portions. The end scissor assemblies had outer end portions of rectangular cross-section so that each could be received in a close-fitted engagement between the parallel side wall portions thereby forming planar contact surfaces. The socket both simplified interconnection of the various structural members while at the same time provided resistance to lateral forces.
Despite the improvements taught in the above-noted patents, there remains a need for improved framework structures that provide quick erect canopy shelters. For example, the canopy frameworks disclosed in the above-referenced patents each utilize one rigid bracket and one slide bracket on the upright supports. The use of a slide bracket is necessary to allow a pair of upper and lower outer ends of the scissor assemblies to move apart from one another thereby allowing the scissor assemblies to move between the expanded state and the collapsed state. The present invention has been designed to eliminate the need for a slide bracket so that the ends of the scissor assemblies may each be secured to the upright supports at a fixed location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful canopy framework which can be quickly and easily expanded for use yet collapsed for storage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a canopy framework and canopy structure that employs scissoring structures that have fixed end points of attachment.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a canopy framework which is light-weight in construction so that it may be readily portable by a user.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a canopy framework which can be conveniently stored in a compact state yet which provides a comparatively large shelter are when erected for use.
According to the present invention, then, an expandable framework is provided that is adapted to move between an expanded state for supporting a covering above a support and a collapsed state for storage. Thus, the present invention also includes an expandable canopy adapted to provide shelter for a user.
In the broad form of the present invention, the expandable framework includes a plurality of upright support members which each have a bottom end positionable on the support surface and a top end opposite the bottom end. The support members are oriented alongside one another when in the collapsed state but are spaced apart from one another when in an expanded state. An upper mount is disposed at an upper fixed location on each corner support member, and a lower mount is disposed at a lower fixed location to each corner support member with the upper and lower mounts being spaced apart from one another a selected, fixed distance.
A plurality of edge scissor assemblies then interconnect the upright support members so that there is an edge scissor assembly in a connecting peripherally adjacent ones of the corner support members. Each edge scissor assembly includes a plurality of scissor arms hingedly connected to one another. At least two of the scissor arms of each edge scissor assembly define articulating members that are formed by at least two articulating arm sections movable between a folded state when the expandable framework is in the collapsed state and an aligned state when the expandable framework is in the expanded state. When in the aligned state, the two arm sections are oriented along parallel axes, and are preferably aligned with one another along a common axis. Each articulating member has a first outer end pivotally secured to one of the upper and lower mounts of the respective peripherally adjacent corner support member.
In the preferred embodiment, each articulating member is formed by three articulating arm sections. Here, two of the arm sections of each articulating member are linearly aligned with one another along a common axis and the third arm section of each articulating member is parallel to and off-set from the common axis. Two of the arm sections of each articulating member, moreover, are hinged to each other and to a central portion of another scissor arm, preferably, a non-articulating scissor arm. The hinged location is preferably at a central portion of the non-articulating scissor arm and the hinging occurs at a common location.
A first outer end of each articulating member is preferably secured to the lower mount on the respective upright support member. Moreover, an articulation bracket is used to hingedly inner connect two of the articulating arm sections together. The articulation
Henson Michael R.
Martin Timothy J.
Novosad Jennifer E.
Stodola Daniel P.
Weygandt Mark H.
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