Tent – canopy – umbrella – or cane – Portable shelter – Closure – viewing window – awning – or sunshade
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-28
2004-07-20
Wilkens, Janet M. (Department: 3637)
Tent, canopy, umbrella, or cane
Portable shelter
Closure, viewing window, awning, or sunshade
C135S093000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06763841
ABSTRACT:
FIELD
The present invention relates generally to portable living structures and specifically to tents.
ART
Tents have been used for centuries as temporary structures for camping trips. During these trips, there may be competing desires for comfort on one band, while a camper may still desire to get away from the complications of city life. The use of lightweight materials has made the satisfaction of these competing desires more easily accomplished. Tent fabrics, as well as tent poles and frame structures, can now be made to be very strong, while also very lightweight. This use of materials allows more imaginative and varied structures to be designed, which are still light enough to be easily portable, and thus practical for camping trips.
Another pair of competing needs facing campers and users of tents is that of the need for a reasonably small floor space, while providing enough internal volume for comfort. When camping in the woods, the extent of usable flat ground area may be limited, by trees or uneven terrain, thus a tent which has a large “footprint” or floor area will find fewer useable sites than one that has a smaller footprint. At the same time, a user will generally feel a need for “elbow room” and may feel cramped without a reasonable amount of space.
Thus there is a need for a tent which has a compact footprint, but which has an interior volume which is greater than that of a tent having the traditional inwardly tapering, or even strictly vertical walls.
SUMMARY
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tent which has a compact footprint.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tent which has an enlarged internal enclosed volume.
And another object of the invention is to provide windows which are protected from rain entry.
A further object of the present invention is to provide windows which are extended from the main body of the tent, and thus enlarge the interior volume.
Briefly, one preferred embodiment of the present invention is a tent with extendable windows having a main structure including a plurality of walls which are oriented at a first angle with respect to a vertical reference. The tent also includes at least one window which is extendable to a second angle with respect to a vertical reference, where the second angle is a more negative angle than the first angle thus producing windows which are extendable horizontally further than the tent walls.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides extendable windows which extend from the main volume of the tent, and thus enlarge it.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the extendable windows can be retracted against the tent sides if necessary.
And another advantage of the present invention is that the extendable windows have a water-proof awning portion, and the screen area of each window slopes negatively back towards the main tent structure, thus preventing rain from entering.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the extendable windows provide an enlarged volume area at or around a typical adults' head, shoulder and torso area, thus providing enlarged volume in the area where more adults are largest, rather than down by their feet.
A yet further advantage is that the enlarged volume provides a psychological feeling of being less cramped to some people, which may be out of proportion to the actual increase in volume achieved.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art in view of the description of the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and the industrial applicability of the preferred embodiment as described herein and as illustrated in the several figures of the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1833096 (1931-11-01), Smith
patent: 2230454 (1941-02-01), Friesner et al.
patent: 3800814 (1974-04-01), Hibbert
patent: 4265261 (1981-05-01), Barker
patent: 5467794 (1995-11-01), Zheng
patent: 6067676 (2000-05-01), Carnahan et al.
patent: 6499497 (2002-12-01), Swetish et al.
patent: 1268271 (1961-06-01), None
American Camper brochure; Dome tents No. 4679 and No. 4681; 1996.
IPSG, P.C.
NorthPole Limited
Wilkens Janet M.
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