COLLAPSIBLE CANOPY FRAMEWORK
A structure that is foldable and expandable to support a canopy when a covering is placed on top of the framework includes a plurality of upright supports and a plurality of edge scissor assemblies that interconnect adjacent ones of the upright supports. Mounting brackets are disposed on the upright supports and also between scissor assemblies to fasten outer, end portions of the edge scissor assemblies together or to the upright supports. The mounting brackets each have a plurality of unique single side wall sockets each including a means for limiting torsional twisting of the scissor assemblies fastened in the socket. The limiting means comprises a complementary groove or rib for matingly engaging, in a complementary fashion, a complementary rib or groove, respectively, formed on the end of the scissor member received in the socket and secured therein with a pivot pin. The mounting brackets on each upright support may be relatively movable to allow expansion and contraction of the framework while limiting the side to side stresses on the scissor members pivotally held within the mounting brackets.
1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the attachment of pivoting structural members in an integrated collapsible canopy system. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a structural device, in the form of non-compressible mounting brackets each forming a plurality of sockets for use in a collapsible canopy framework, wherein each socket captures an end portion of a scissor assembly member.
2. General Background
There is a need recognized when collapsible canopy products are manufactured to simplify the mounting bracketing of the scissor bar elements, one to another into scissor units and the resulting scissor units into interconnected scissor or truss assemblies, and in the connection of such truss assemblies in a pivotal expandable/collapsible manner to respective corner and intermediate supports. There is a need for interconnections which would be more resistive to shear and bending moments. The mounting brackets in the following description are structured to provide free pivots while at the same time resisting lateral and torsional deflection of the scissor assembly components.
SUMMARYA collapsible frame adapted to support a flexible fabric canopy or tent in an extended configuration and a collapsed configuration in accordance with the present disclosure has a plurality of upright support members oriented alongside one another in the collapsed state and movable outwardly apart from one another toward the expanded state. A plurality of edge scissor link assemblies each interconnect adjacent support members, each edge scissor link assembly comprising one or more pairs of scissor link members.
A unique mounting bracket connects one or more scissor link members to one of either one of the upright support members or another edge scissor link assembly. The mounting bracket is a solid body having a plurality of sockets therein each shaped to receive and pivotally hold one end of one of the link members therein. Each socket has an inner face, a horizontal wall, and only a single vertical side wall merging substantially at a right angle with the horizontal wall and the inner face of the socket. A pivot fastener extends through the one end of the link member and into the single side wall to hold the member in the socket and permit rotation of the link member about an axis of the pivot fastener. The mounting bracket further includes means formed between the horizontal wall of the socket and the end of the link member in the socket for limiting the effect of twisting side stresses applied to the scissor link member in the socket when the frame is fully expanded to support the canopy or tent cover.
The means for limiting preferably is formed within the socket by a groove formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and mates with a complementary shaped rib formed on the end of the scissor member engaged with the groove in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall in the socket.
Alternatively, the means for limiting may preferably be a rib formed in the horizontal wall extending into the socket parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped groove formed on the end of the scissor member engaged with the rib in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall in the socket.
The framework structure includes several different configurations of the mounting bracket of the present disclosure that have two, three, or four or more sockets formed therein, each of which includes the means for limiting the effect of twist or side stresses to which the scissor member in the socket may be subjected to. For example, a mounting bracket at one of the corners of the framework may have two sockets at right angles. A mounting bracket placed in the center of the framework for supporting the central portion of the canopy roof will have four sockets at right angles from each other. If the canopy or tent framework has roof members extending from the corners, then the corner mounting brackets each may include a socket oriented between the right angle sockets.
The framework structure can be folded and stored in a collapsed state and erected in an expanded state on a support surface in order to support a canopy covering above the support surface. In the collapsed state, the support members are oriented alongside one another but are movable outwardly apart from one another towards the expanded state.
A preferred embodiment of the framework structure includes a plurality of edge scissor assemblies that form truss members for the expandable framework with there being an edge scissor assembly interconnecting adjacent ones of the support members. Each edge scissor assembly may be made of two or more pairs of scissor members linked together. In addition, mounting brackets in accordance with the present disclosure connecting the scissor member pairs together. In addition, a fixed and slidable pair of mounting brackets are disposed on the upright support members to fasten the edge scissor assemblies to the upright support members.
The mounting brackets each have sockets that include a track or means for engaging the end of the scissor member of the scissor assembly received within a respective one of the sockets. A fastening pivot pin pivotally secures each outer end portion of each edge scissor assembly in its respective socket.
The mounting brackets on the upright support member are relatively movable with respect to one another so that the edge scissor assemblies are operative to open and close whereby the framework structure may move between the expanded and contracted states. One mounting bracket is stationary while the other is slidable. The sockets and the mounting brackets thus provide pivotal connections for the scissor bars or members which form the scissor pairs which in turn comprise the scissor assemblies.
The roof support assembly of the framework may be extendible roof members pivotally attached to the stationary mounting brackets in sockets at upper ends of the upright support members with these roof members projecting radially inwardly to form one or more apices to support the canopy covering. Alternately, the roof support members may extend radially inwardly from the slide mounting brackets to form such apex.
These and other objects of the present disclosure will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment when taken together with the accompanying drawings.
The present disclosure specifically concerns novel mounting brackets which may be used to interconnect the framework forming elements, such as the upright corner and intermediate leg support members, scissor assemblies and roof support structures in a collapsible canopy framework structure.
A stationary mounting bracket 60 in an exemplary embodiment of the framework 11 of the present disclosure is disposed at each upper end 18. A sliding mounting bracket 62 is slidably received on upper leg section 15 so that each slide mounting bracket 62 may move from a position remote from a respective stationary mounting bracket 15 to a location proximate stationary mounting bracket 60 in the fully expanded state as shown in
In
The scissor bars 40 and 42 are connected at common central pivot joint 43. A pivot fastener structure is provided. The pivot fastener structure includes a pair of cooperative mating pivot fastener structures that define a pivot axle that is a non-compressive element formed by a pair of cooperative axle pins such as female pin and male pin. The male pin has an elongated shaft terminating in a threaded end of reduced cross-section which, in turn, may be threadably received in threaded bore of shaft on the female pin. When joined, the shoulder on the shaft abuts the rim on the shaft so that the respective heads of female and male axle pins have a minimum distance of separation defined by the lengths of shafts. The minimum distance for the spacing between heads is at least the combined cross-sectional widths of scissor bars 40 and 42. Further, the heads are preferably separated a minimum distance to accommodate a spacer washer. The heads are tapered, and countersunk washers are preferably provided for mounting bracketing on the outermost sides of scissor bars 40 and 42.
Mounting brackets 20 connect the scissor units 40 and 42, as shown in
A separate perspective upper view of a corner mounting bracket 60 is shown in
Mounting brackets 20 each has three sockets 120 as shown in
A transverse pivot pin 140 pivotally fastens each end cap 44 of one of the scissor bar members 40 or 42 into the socket 120 through bore 45 in the end cap 44. Each pivot pin 140 is preferably threaded into and fixed into the vertical wall 122 of the socket 120. The end portions of the respective scissor bar members 40 and 42 are sized for close fitted mated engagement in the sockets 120 for relatively free pivotal motion therein. Due to this close fitted construction, each sidewall 122 forms a planar contact surface with its respective scissor bar 40 and 42 and, thus, resists lateral and torsional deflections of their respective scissor bars 40 and 42 along the planar contact surface of vertical wall 122.
However, stresses and torsional loads that are applied off axis to the pivot pin 140 are not restrained by the vertical wall 122. Accordingly a unique means for limiting torsional loads and side stresses is incorporated into each of the sockets 120 in each of the mounting brackets 60, 62, 66, 67, and 20. These features are clearly shown in detail in
One exemplary arrangement of the stress limiting means incorporated into each of the sockets 120 in the mounting bracket of the present disclosure is shown with reference to the lower sliding bracket 62 shown in
As illustrated in
In different configurations of the sockets 120 there can be different shapes of the interacting rib and groove arrangement than that illustrated. In
At the front edge of the flange or base 164 forming the horizontal wall of each of the sockets 120 there is a transverse rib 318 which protrudes from the flange 164 and engages a mating transverse groove 320 in the end cap 44. These rib/groove combinations operate to stabilize the mounting or mooring of the scissor elements 40 and 42 within the mounting bracket sockets 120.
Exemplary corner slide mounting brackets 62 are shown in perspective views in
Lower central mounting bracket 67, shown in
The central mounting brackets 66 and 67 are substantially identical to the other mounting brackets described above. The central mounting brackets may be of a different configuration but will necessarily have at least one socket 240 for each roof member to be terminated thereto.
While the mounting bracket apparatus has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure need not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. For example, other configurations of the canopy are envisioned. Another embodiment may include only three upright corner support members or five or six corner support members. In such configurations, the angles between sockets 120 or 240 may be other than 90 degrees. However, the internal structure of each socket will be substantially the same, defined by a single vertical wall and a horizontal wall both merging into an inner surface of the central section of the mounting bracket. Each socket will also have a groove or rib extending along the horizontal wall, spaced from and parallel to the vertical wall for receiving a complementary rib or groove formed in the end portion of the support member that is carried within the socket. This disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and are included within the spirit and scope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
Claims
1. In a collapsible frame adapted to support a flexible fabric canopy or tent, the frame having an extended configuration and a collapsed configuration, the frame having a plurality of upright support members oriented alongside one another in the collapsed state and movable outwardly apart from one another toward the expanded state and a plurality of edge scissor link assemblies each interconnecting adjacent support members, each edge scissor link assembly comprising one or more pairs of scissor link members, and a mounting bracket connecting one or more scissor link members to one of either one of the upright support members or another edge scissor link assembly, the mounting bracket comprising:
- a solid body having a plurality of sockets therein each shaped to receive and pivotally hold one end of one of the link members therein, each socket having an inner face, a horizontal wall, and only a single vertical side wall merging substantially at a right angle with the horizontal wall and the inner face of the socket;
- a pivot fastener extending through the one end of the link member and into the single side wall to hold the member in the socket and permit rotation of the link member about an axis of the pivot fastener; and
- means formed between the horizontal wall of the socket and the end of the link member in the socket for limiting effect of twisting side stresses applied to the scissor link member in the socket.
2. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of a pair of mounting brackets on each upright support member is a stationary mounting bracket and another of the pair being a slide mounting bracket, the slide mounting bracket being slidably secured to the upright support member and movable between locations proximate to and remote from the stationary mounting bracket when the respective the edge scissor assembly opens and closes.
3. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for limiting comprises a groove formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped rib formed on the end of the scissor member engaged with the groove in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall.
4. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for limiting comprises a rib formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped groove formed on the end of the scissor member engaged with the rib in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall.
5. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rib and the groove each has a complementary trapezoidal cross sectional shape.
6. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 4 wherein the rib and the groove each has a complementary trapezoidal cross sectional shape.
7. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rib and the groove each has a complementary curved cross sectional shape.
8. The mounting bracket as claimed in claim 3 wherein the solid body has at least two sockets at right angles to each other.
9. An expandable and collapsible framework structure comprising:
- a plurality of upright support members each having a bottom end positionable on a support surface and a top end opposite the bottom end, the support members oriented alongside one another in the collapsed state and movable outwardly apart from one another toward the expanded state;
- a plurality of edge scissor assemblies with there being an edge scissor assembly interconnecting adjacent ones of the support members, each the edge scissor assembly having a pair of link members with outer upper ends and outer lower ends, the edge scissor assemblies operative to open and close whereby the framework structure may move between the expanded and contracted states; and
- a plurality of mounting brackets disposed on the upright supports and operative to fasten the edge scissor assemblies thereto, each bracket having at least two sockets each receiving an end of one of the link members of the scissor assemblies therein, each socket having an inner surface, only a single vertical side wall extending from the inner surface, and a horizontal wall extending at a right angle from the side wall, and a pivot pin fastening the end of the scissor assembly member in the socket to the vertical wall, wherein each socket comprises means formed between the horizontal wall of the socket and the end of the link member in the socket for limiting effect of twisting side stresses applied to the scissor link member in the socket.
10. The structure as claimed in claim 9 wherein one of a pair of mounting brackets on each upright support member is a stationary mounting bracket and another of the pair being a slide mounting bracket, the slide mounting bracket being slidably secured to the upright support member and movable between locations proximate to and remote from the stationary mounting bracket when the respective the edge scissor assembly opens and closes.
11. The structure as claimed in claim 10 wherein the means for limiting comprises a groove formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped rib formed on the end of the scissor member engaged with the groove in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall.
12. The structure as claimed in claim 9 wherein the means for limiting comprises a rib formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped groove formed on the end of the scissor member engaging with the rib in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall of the mounting bracket.
13. The structure as claimed in claim 11 wherein the rib and the groove each has a complementary trapezoidal cross sectional shape.
14. The structure as claimed in claim 12 wherein the rib and the groove each has a complementary trapezoidal cross sectional shape.
15. The structure as claimed in claim 11 wherein the rib and the groove each has a complementary curved cross sectional shape.
16. The structure as claimed in claim 12 wherein the solid body has at least two sockets at right angles to each other.
17. The structure as claimed in claim 9 wherein the solid body has a central passage therethrough receiving one of the upright support members therein.
18. The structure as in claim 9 further comprising each scissor assembly comprising at least two pairs of scissor members connected together by mounting brackets wherein each mounting bracket has at least two sockets each receiving an end of one of the link members of the scissor member pairs therein, each socket having an inner surface, a single vertical side wall extending at a right angle from the inner surface of the socket, and a horizontal wall extending at a right angle from the single side wall, and a pivot pin fastening the end of the scissor member in the socket to the vertical wall, wherein each socket comprises means formed between the horizontal wall of the socket and the end of the link member in the socket for limiting effect of twisting side stresses applied to the scissor link member in the socket while the structure is in the expanded state.
19. The structure as in claim 18 wherein the means for limiting comprises a groove formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped rib formed on the end of the scissor member engaging with the groove in the socket when the pivot fastener fastens the link member to the vertical wall.
20. The structure as claimed in claim 18 wherein the means for limiting comprises a rib formed in the horizontal wall extending parallel to the vertical wall and a complementary shaped groove formed on the end of the scissor member engaging with the rib in the socket when the pivot fastens the link member to the vertical wall of the mounting bracket.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 17, 2006
Publication Date: Apr 17, 2008
Applicant: Norstar International, Inc. (Gardena, CA)
Inventor: Jung-Woo Jang (Changu Yung Sun)
Application Number: 11/550,351
International Classification: E04H 15/50 (20060101);