Abstract: A housing unit for a domestic animal comprises a frame for supporting a fabric flexible cover, the frame defining a main housing compartment constituted by tubes joined by connecting elements also define a second chamber or entrance porch. At least the main compartment is provided with a ground sheet which extends under the main chamber and incorporates edge portions defining or connected to upright side walls of a bed base for the animal. A waterproof flexible cover, formed as a unitary layer, is fitted over the frame and has a plurality of tabs by which the cover can be secured to the ground, such as by ground-engaging attachment pegs. A further lining sheet attached under the frame may also be provided.

Abstract: A tent comprises a shell including a floor and a canopy secured together. The floor and canopy are separably joined along a substantially U-shaped perimeter section to provide a door opening. The tent has a frame including an arch with its ends supported adjacent the ends of the door opening and extending across the tent to support the canopy above the floor. The arch is pivotable from a closed condition of the tent in which the floor and canopy meet along the U-shaped door opening and an open position in which the canopy is drawn up and away from the floor to permit access to the tent. The frame may also include two longitudinally oriented bowed supports supporting the canopy above the floor. The tent may, for cold weather use, include an insulating liner suspended from the frame and spaced from the canopy. The liner is preferably air pervious at a head end of the tent and impervious at a foot end of the tent. The canopy is then made with a breathing section at the head end.

Abstract: A tent apparatus and method, the tent apparatus including a fabric tent shell having a plurality of side walls joined in seams along adjacent edges and a fabric floor joined to the bottom edges of the side walls. A tent pole-receiving sleeve is formed as an integral part of each seam. The tent shell is supported inside a foldable frame having a plurality of tent poles joined in a coupling at an apex and ribs extending laterally between the tent poles. Each tent pole is inserted in a sleeve and the fabric tent shell is mounted to the foldable frame by a unique cord/pulley system which places the fabric tent shell under tension adjacent the coupling and adjacent the base of each tent pole when the frame is extended while providing ample slack when the frame is folded. The fabric tent shell and foldable frame are thus integrally joined into a unitary, man-portable, and erectable tent structure.

Abstract: A collapsible frame structure has an upper frame section connected to a base frame section by a plurality of hinged struts. Both the upper frame and the base frame section comprise a pair of opposed rigid frame members pivotally connected by opposed hinged frame members. The hinged members fold inward of each section to collapse the section and extend outward to expand the section. The hinged struts fold inward of the structure to raise and lower the upper section relative to the base section. A pair of winches mounted to the base frame section and operatively connected to the struts extend the struts to raise the upper frame section above the base frame section to an operative frame position. Stabilizing members are mounted to an upper portion of the struts to balance the weight of the upper section upon the struts, thus enabling the struts to extend.

Abstract: An inflatable, self-supporting shelter particularly suited for survival use in remote, rugged terrain and evacuating injured victims includes inflatable floor and side panels and two opposing multi-layered, noninflatable end panels which cooperate to form an enclosed shelter. The floor and side panels each include an inner wall, outer wall and plurality of parallel, longitudinally extending strips therebetween. The strips, which are connected to both the inner and outer walls, have an "I" shaped cross section and serve to divide the air space between the walls into a series of pneumatically interconnected cells and to rigidify the shelter when it is inflated. In one embodiment, the shelter is provided with pole receiving means to facilitate transporting the shelter as a litter, and fastening means securing the side panels and end panels to one another such that the shelter can be "opened up" to provide quick and easy access to the victim.

Abstract: A bed tent comprising a base portion adapted to be snugly fitted over a mattress, a canopy portion connected to said base portion along its lower periphery and adapted to be supported in an upright position so as to provide an enclosure having a bottom surface area that is substantially coextensive with the surface area of the mattress, and an opening for providing ingress and egress by the user.

Abstract: A bed/shelter unit comprising a lightweight air mattress and a lightweight tent on the mattress adapted to be erected as a shelter over the mattress and to be collapsed on the mattress, the mattress, when deflated, and the tent, when collapsed on the mattress, being adapted to be compactly packed as by rolling them up into a lightweight bundle. The tent comprises a panel of lightweight flexible tent material adapted to arch over the inflated mattress from one side thereof to the other, the panel having inflatable arches at its ends adapted when inflated to extend over the mattress from one side to the other. End closures at the ends of the tent hold the arches in an erected position with the panel drawn between the arches and thereby arched over the mattress.

Abstract: A tent structure adapted for use by game hunters, fishermen, etc., comprising a pair of floor-supporting frames hinged to one another on a medial axis for folding together; a foldable linkage for supporting the floor frames in elevated positions above ground moisture; and foldable corner posts and roof frame structure for supporting a canvas covering in an area rising vertically from the floor area.

Abstract: A collapsible structure useful for such applications as a portable garage, greenhouse, camping or camouflage covering comprises a pair of hub members detachably connected to one another by hub connector and a plurality of spring-steel joist members pivotally mounted in the hubs and serving to support a stretched skin thereover. The structure is held stably in either open or closed position by the combination of a Landau-type locking mechanism and a sheathed spring.