Foldable tent

Abstract

A foldable self-erecting tent (10) has an elongate fabric shell (11) and frame ribs (16). Frame ribs (16) define an interior space the of tent (10), and a collapsed and folded configuration in which the shell (11) is compacted and the frame is manipulated such that the tent (10) is stored in carry bag (25). The frame ribs (16) are adapted to be fitted into sleeves (17) and secured at their ends such that ribs (16) are bowed in arcuate configurations, the ribs (16) being made from a resilient spring like material urging against the shell (11) of fabric sheet material to form the interior space. The frame ribs (16) are moveable from the erect configuration where they are spaced apart to the collapsed configuration where they adjacent to each other into a substantially flat arrangement with a diameter of the transverse cross section being substantially identical to that of the erect configuration, the ribs (16) being adapted to be manipulated into a loop arrangement (23) thereby reducing the diameter in the collapsed and folded configuration, the tent in flat collapsed and folded configuration being adapted to be stored in the storage carry bag (25).

Description

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority of the filing date of, U.S. Ser. No. 10/332,755, presently pending, which itself is a U.S. national phase application, under 35 U.S.C. 371, of PCT/AU01/00843, having an international filing date of 13 Jul. 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Technical Field

The present invention relates to tents and, in particular, to a tent having an integral frame with attached fabric covering, which is self erecting, collapsible and is easily folded such that it is stowable in a carry bag or the like.

2. The Prior Art

Self-erecting tents are tents which utilize as a frame, a number of wire loops which are sewn into a sleeve in the fabric covering such that when the tent is released form its collapsed state, it springs into the shape of a tent due to the spring action of the wire loops.

However it has been found that prior art tents such as described above are not relatively easy to stow in a bag to be carried on one's back or over one's shoulder.

It is therefore seen to be desirable to have a foldable self-erecting tent which has the provision of a frame which is easy to fold into a flat collapsed state such that it is easily stowable into a carry bag which is suitable to be carried on ones back or over ones shoulder.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a foldable self-erecting tent and a method of folding same which substantially overcomes or ameliorates the above mentioned disadvantages. At the very least, the object of the invention is to provide an alternative to known foldable self-erecting tents and their methods of use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed foldable self-erecting tent having an elongate shell of fabric sheet material and a plurality of frame ribs, said tent having an erect configuration in which said frame ribs of said shell define an interior space of said tent, and a collapsed and folded configuration in which the shell is compacted and the frame is manipulated such that said tent is stored in a carry bag, wherein said shell includes a floor panel and at least one upper panel joined thereto, said floor panel having fixing means being adapted to be fixed to the ground, said at least one upper panel having sleeves associated therewith, said sleeves extending from a plurality of positions adjacent adjoining sides of said upper panel and said floor panel on one side of said floor panel to a position on opposite side of said floor panel, said frame ribs being adapted to be fitted into said sleeves and being secured at their ends such that said ribs are bowed in an arcuate configuration, said ribs being made from a resilient spring like material urging against the shell of fabric sheet material to form said interior space, wherein said frame ribs are moveable from the erect configuration where they are spaced apart to said collapsed configuration where they are adjacent to each other into a substantially flat arrangement with a diameter of the transverse cross section being substantially identical to that of the erect configuration, said ribs being adapted to be manipulated into a loop arrangement thereby reducing the diameter in the collapsed and folded configuration, and said tent in flat said collapsed and folded configuration being adapted to be stored in the storage carry bag.

The floor panel and the upper panel can be formed by an integral construction of the shell with a portion of the shell being relatively flat and being adapted to be fixed to the ground. The sleeves in this construction extending from ground level to ground level over the upper portion of the shell.

Preferably, in the collapsed and folded configuration where the ribs are looped once with the ends of the ribs facing the same general direction, the ribs are held against the bias of the ribs by a strap means. Preferably, the ends of the ribs are tucked under the fabric sheet material when in this configuration. In other forms of the invention, the ribs can be looped one and a half times, or more.

In a preferred form of the invention, the carry bag is a substantially flat oval shaped bag with two sides joined together. Preferably, the join of the two sides of the bag is reinforced by an oval rib. The carry bag preferably has at least one carry handle.

In a preferred form of the invention, the ribs are removable from the sleeves in order that they can be replaced when necessary, and are secured to tags located adjacent adjoining sides of said upper panel and said floor panel. They are preferably secured by means of being received through an eyelet. Preferably, these same tags have are use to fix the tent to the ground by pegging same to the ground. Preferably, pegs are used through different eyelets to those used by the ribs.

In a preferred form, the tent is elongate with a central upper panel and two oppositely located end upper panels. Openings are preferably provided in the end panels.

In the preferred form, the ribs are formed into pairs wherein a pair of ribs and hence the sleeves have two cross over points about half the height of the tent with the upper portion of each rib being located substantially above the ends of the other rib in the pair. Adjacent pairs of ribs and sleeves pull apart from each other when in the erected configuration to give a taut surface to the fabric sheet material, due to the bias or spring action of the ribs within the sleeves.

Naturally this preferred arrangement of the ribs can be altered whereby the crossover points of the ribs are located at the apex of the tent or in another alternative, there is no crossover points of each pair of ribs. A further alternative is where the ribs are not joined in pairs but are adjacent each other but directed in opposing directions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a tent according to one embodiment of the present invention illustrated in its erect configuration;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tent of FIG. 1 illustrated with an additional fly sheet;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the tent of FIG. 1 illustrated in its erect configuration;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the tent of FIG. 1 illustrated with the additional fly sheet;

FIG. 5 is a series of schematic views of the tent of FIG. 1 illustrated in its collapsed configuration whilst being folded;

FIG. 6 is a series of schematic views of a tent of another embodiment illustrated in its collapsed configuration whilst being folded;

FIG. 7 is a view of a bag into which the collapsed and folded tent of FIG. 1 is stowed, and

FIG. 8 is a series of schematic views of alternative arrangements of the ribs.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The general arrangement of a self erecting foldable tent 10 of a preferred embodiment is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 which show the tent 10 having an elongate shell 11 of fabric sheet material. The shell 11 includes a floor panel 12, a central upper panel 13 and two end upper panels 14 and 15. A number of bowed ribs 16 are received in corresponding sleeves 17 sewn into the fabric sheet material of the central upper panel 13, and are used to define an interior space of the tent as the ribs 16 are bowed in an arcuate configuration spacing the central upper panel 13 and the two end upper panels 14 of the shell 11 apart from the floor panel 12. The ribs 16 are preferably made from a resilient spring like material.

The ribs 16 in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, are formed in three criss-crossed pairs. The ribs 16 cross at about half the height of the tent 10 with the top of the ribs 16 being located approximately above the ends 18 of the other rib 16 in each pair. The ribs 16 are received in the sleeves 17 which are sewn into the upper panels 13, 14 and 15 of the shell 11.

The ends 18 of the ribs 16 are received in eyelets 19 located in tags 20 positioned at the floor panel 12. The tags 20 as well as receiving the ends 17 of the ribs 16 are used to fix the tent 10 to the ground by pegging. In this embodiment, other eyelets 21 in the tags 20 receive the pegs.

As the ribs 16 are formed in the sleeves 18 at angles to the vertical as seen in FIG. 1, the spring like nature of the ribs 16 forces the ribs 16 in the spaced apart arrangement as seen in FIG. 1. Adjacent pairs of ribs 16 pull apart from each other when in the erected configuration to give a taut surface to the fabric sheet material of the shell 11.

When stowing the tent 10, of the preferred embodiment as seen in FIGS. 1 to 4, when it is not in use, the ribs 16 are collapsed together against the bias of the ribs 16 such that the end panels 14 and 15 are forced together with the central panel 13 being collapsed. This results in the ribs 16 being grouped together as seen in FIG. 5 of the drawings. Once the ribs 16 have been grouped together, the ends 18 of the ribs 16 are able to be grasped and manipulated in a twisting action to form a loop 23 by crossing over the ribs 16 with the ends 18 generally facing the same direction. The twisting of the ribs 16 into the loop 23 ensures that the size of the diameter of the collapsed tent 10 is reduced. Once the diameter is reduced to an appropriate size, a strap 24 is fitted over the loop 23 of the ribs 16 to secure same. The strap can be separate or connected to the material of the tent 10. The ends 18 of the ribs 16 can then be tucked under the material of the shell 11.

The collapsed and folded tent 10 is now able to be stowed in a carry bag 25 as seen in FIG. 7. The carry bag 25 is a substantially flat oval shaped bag with two sides 26 joined together. Preferably, the join of the two sides 26 of the bag is reinforced by an oval beading 27. The carry bag 25 preferably has at least one carry handle 28 and has a zipper closure.

The reverse of the above procedure is followed to set up the tent 10 whereby the tent 10 is removed from the bag 25 and the strap 24 is released. The bias of the ribs 16 spring the tent 10 to full size as seen in FIG. 1. The tent 10 is then pegged to the ground, and a fly sheet 30 and guy ropes 31 are used.

It is seen that the tent 10 is very easy to erect and also very easy to collapse and fold. It is also seen that the folded tent 10 is well adapted to be stowed into the carry bag 25 for easy storage and transportation.

In another embodiment of the tent 10 in which the tent 10 is larger as seen in FIG. 6, when stowing the tent 10 when it is not in use, the ribs 16 are collapsed together against the bias of the ribs 16 such that the end panels 14 and 15 are forced together with the central panel 13 being collapsed. This results in the ribs 16 being grouped together as seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Once the ribs 16 have been grouped together, the ends 18 of the ribs 16 are fastened together by VELCRO®. straps 33 adjacent the ends of the ribs 16. VELCRO® straps 34 are also used to fasten the midsection 34 of the ribs 16 together to aid in folding the tent 10. The collapsed tent 10 is then laid on the ground and the ends 17 of the ribs 16 are clipped by releasable clips 35 located on the opposite side of the tent 10 about one third of the way around the ribs 16. The collapsed tent 10 now is in two loops 37 as seen in FIG. 6 and then they are brought together and a tension strap 38 ribs is used to hold the two loops 36 together. The tent is now able to be stowed in a bag in a similar manner to the other embodiment.

Alternative arrangements of the ribs 16 are shown in FIG. 8 whereby the ribs 16 are shown in a variety of different types of pairs.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications obvious to those skilled in the art can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag, said tent having an elongate shell of fabric sheet material and a plurality of frame ribs, said tent having an erect configuration in which said frame ribs of said shell define an interior space of said tent, and a collapsed and folded configuration in which the shell is compacted and the frame is manipulated such that said tent is stored in a carry bag, wherein said shell includes a floor panel and at least one upper panel joined thereto, said floor panel having fixing means being adapted to be fixed to the ground, said at least one upper panel having sleeves associated therewith, said sleeves extending from a plurality of positions adjacent adjoining sides of said upper panel and said floor panel on one side of said floor panel to a position on opposite side of said floor panel, said frame ribs being adapted to be fitted into said sleeves and being secured at their ends such that said ribs are bowed in an arcuate configuration, said ribs being made from a resilient material urging against the shell of fabric sheet material to form said interior space, wherein said frame ribs are moveable from the erect configuration where they are spaced apart to said collapsed configuration where they are adjacent to each other into a substantially flat arrangement with a diameter of the transverse cross section being substantially identical to that of the erect configuration, said ribs being adapted to be manipulated into a loop arrangement thereby reducing the diameter in the collapsed and folded configuration, and said tent in said collapsed and folded configuration being adapted to be stored in the storage carry bag wherein in the collapsed and folded configuration the ribs are looped once with the ends of the ribs facing the same general direction, the ribs being held against the bias of the ribs by a strap, wherein the ends of the ribs are tucked under the fabric sheet material when in the collapsed and folded configuration and wherein the ribs are looped at least one and a half times.

2. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the floor panel and the upper panel are formed by an integral construction of the shell with a portion of the shell being relatively flat and being adapted to be fixed to the ground.

3. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 2, wherein the sleeves extend from ground level to ground level over the upper portion of the shell.

4. The foldable tent according to claim 1, wherein securing means are used to secure the ribs together in the collapsed and folded configuration.

5. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the ribs are removable from the sleeves in order that they can be replaced when necessary, and are secured to tags located adjacent adjoining sides of said upper panel and said floor panel.

6. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 5, wherein the ribs are secured by means of being received through an eyelet.

7. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 6, wherein the tags are used to fix the tent to the ground by pegging to the ground.

8. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 7, wherein the pegs are used through different eyelets to those used by the ribs.

9. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the tent is elongate with a central upper panel and two oppositely located end upper panels.

10. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 9, wherein openings are provided in the end panels.

11. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the ribs are formed into pairs, wherein a pair of ribs and hence the sleeves have two cross over points about half the height of the tent with the upper portion of each rib being located substantially above the ends of the other rib in the pair whereby adjacent pairs of ribs and sleeves pull apart from each other when in the erected configuration to give a taut surface to the fabric sheet material, due to the bias or spring action of the ribs within the sleeves.

12. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 11, wherein the crossover points of the ribs are located at the apex of the tent.

13. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the ribs are formed in pairs and wherein there is no crossover points of each pair of ribs.

14. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the ribs are not joined in pairs but are adjacent each other but directed in opposing directions.

15. The foldable self-erecting tent and storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the carry bag is a substantially flat oval shaped bag.