Tent Hub Assembly

Abstract

A tent hub assembly has a hub, a base, and a biasing member. The hub has a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms pivotally connected to tent poles. The base has a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft. Each wall has an elongated guide slot for receiving a pin which passes through a second hole of a respective pole in the pole slot. The biasing member is disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base. With the poles in an open configuration, the pins are in a locking position in the elongated slot; and, when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pins are moved from the locking position to an unlocked position in the elongated slot.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims foreign priority to China Application No. 2013207091816, filed on Nov. 11, 2013, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tent hub assembly, and in particular to a hub assembly which facilitates folding and unfolding of a tent.

2. Description of Prior Art

Foldable tents are well known in the art and have become very popular in recent years. In fact, every major retail outlet in the U.S. sells a foldable tent in one form or another. Foldable tents come in different configurations with a variety of features and manufacturers continue to improve those features. However, in general, a foldable tent comprises a tent fabric coupled to a frame assembly at a radially inner space of the frame assembly.

One of the most important parts of the foldable tent is the hub assembly. The hub assembly serves as the backbone of the tent and facilitates the opening and folding of the tent while also maintaining the tent in those positions. In the earlier developed foldable tents the hub assembly included an external locking mechanism to ensure that the tent is maintained in the open state. However, external locking mechanisms are problematic for a number of reasons such as added bulk and weight, the tendency to malfunction due to the number of interacting components, and the extra time it takes to open and fold the tent. Therefore, more recently a hub assembly that does not require an external locking mechanism was developed.

In a more recently developed hub assembly the tent poles are pivotally coupled to the hub assembly and supported by an engaging surface when the tent is in the open configuration, as shown and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,448,656. When folded, the poles are pivoted upward relative to the hub assembly and the hub assembly is placed on top of the tent fabric and folded into a compact bundle, and stored within a carry bag. Even though the more recently developed hub assembly is more advantageous than the previous hub assembly having an external locking mechanism, there are several problems associated with such a configuration.

In the open state, in the foldable tent of the prior art described in the previous paragraph the radially inward tension from the tent fabric prevents the tent from collapsing. The upper poles of the tent are secured only by way of contact with the engaging surface. Therefore, when the inward tension from the tent fabric is weakened or when the upper tent poles do not fully engage the engaging surface, for example by strong wind exerted on the tent or by human contact, the tent is susceptible to collapsing because an additional safeguard for maintaining the tent in the open state is not present.

Another disadvantage of the foldable tent of the prior art described above is that the tent fabric is susceptible to damage when folded. This is because the poles are folded upward relative to the hub assembly and thus the hub assembly rests directly on top of the tent fabric when the tent it folded. The friction caused between the hub assembly and the tent fabric could damage the tent fabric. The damage could be as severe as the tent fabric being torn, punctured or ripped especially when the folded tent is dropped on the end where the hub assembly is located.

Another disadvantage in the foldable tent of the prior art is that the tent fabric could be damaged during the set up process. For the tent of the prior art, the tent must first be unfolded such that the floor of the tent is completely expanded with the poles resting on top. The user is then required to reach within the boundaries of the floor to further unfold and extend the poles. It is difficult to engage the poles without stepping on the tent fabric especially in larger instant tents of the prior art. Therefore, the tent fabric is further susceptible to damage.

Other hub assemblies have been developed to overcome the disadvantages of the hub assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 8,448,656. For example, the hub assemblies of U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,861,736; 8,047,218; and 7,607,447 disclose hub assemblies where the poles fold downward and that do not have external locking mechanisms. However, those hub assemblies are quite bulky due to the requirement of a lengthy biasing mechanism and are costly to manufacture because they require much more material—both plastic and metal.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of some embodiments of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some embodiments of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The present invention is intended to overcome at least the above-described disadvantages. More specifically, the objects and advantages of the present invention are to provide a foldable instant tent that: includes a safeguard, in addition to tension forces from the tent fabric, against unwanted collapse of the tent while in an open state; has the capability of the upper tent poles to fold downward to minimize contact between the hub assembly and tent fabric when in the folded state, and provides the user with easy set up while eliminating the need for the user to make contact with the tent fabric with his feet during set up; and is more cost effective to manufacture.

Facilitating the above-mentioned objectives, in a first embodiment, the hub assembly for a tent having a plurality of poles includes a hub having a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms, each arm having a fastener aperture for receiving a fastener which pivotably connects a first hole of a respective pole to the arm; a base having a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft, with pairs of the walls forming pole slots each for receiving a respective pole, each wall having an elongated guide slot for receiving a pin which passes through a second hole of a respective pole in the pole slot; and a biasing member disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base.

With the poles in an open configuration, the pins are in a locking position in the elongated slot; and when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pins are moved from the locking position to an unlocked position in the elongated slot. With the poles in the open configuration, the hub abuts the base. When the poles are moved to the closed configuration, the hub is moved upward from the base.

The central member is slidable between an open position where the biasing member is compressed and a closed position where the biasing member is more compressed. A force from the biasing member in its more compressed state pushes the central member upward relative to the shaft, thereby driving the hub arms and the poles to the closed position. The biasing member is a spring, and the elongated guide slot has a non-linear shape.

In a second embodiment, the hub assembly includes a hub having a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms, each arm having a pivotal connection with a first portion of a respective pole; a base having a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft, with the walls including a guide slot having a pivotal connection with a second portion of a respective pole; and a biasing member disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base.

The guide slot has a non-linear shape. With the poles in an open configuration, the pivotal connection of the second portion of the pole is in a locking position in a curved portion in the non-linear guide slot; and when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pivotal connection of the second portion moves from the locking position to an unlocked position in an elongated portion in the non-linear guide slot.

The present invention also includes a tent having such poles connected to the hub assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top side perspective view of the hub assembly in the open configuration;

FIG. 2 is the top side perspective view of FIG. 1 with parts separated;

FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of the hub assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top side perspective view of the hub assembly in a partially closed configuration;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the hub assembly of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top side perspective view of the hub assembly in the closed configuration;

FIG. 7 is a front cross-sectional view of the hub assembly of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a top side perspective view of a tent with poles connected to the hub assembly of FIG. 1.

To facilitate an understanding of the invention, identical reference numerals have been used, when appropriate, to designate the same or similar elements that are common to the figures. Further, unless stated otherwise, the features shown in the figures are not drawn to scale, but are shown for illustrative purposes only.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The article “a” is intended to include one or more items, and where only one item is intended the term “one” or similar language is used. Additionally, to assist in the description of the present invention, words such as top, bottom, upper, lower, front, rear, inner, outer, right and left are used to describe the accompanying figures. The terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 8, the hub assembly 1 is connected to the ends of a plurality of poles 40 of a tent, as shown in FIG. 8, which have the tent fabric attached to the poles 40. As shown in FIGS. 1-2, the hub assembly 1 has a body or hub 10 with a plurality of hub arms 12 radially extending from a central portion having a central aperture 11. Each hub arm 12 has a fastener aperture 15 which receives a fastener 16 that passes through a first hole 41 in the end of each pole 40 at a first portion. The fastener 16 pivotally connects the first hole 41 to a pair of hub arms 12 of the hub 10, such that the pole 40 pivots in a respective pair of hub arms 12. In this embodiment, the hub assembly 1 includes four poles 40 but more poles could be included with additional hub arms 12 as well.

The hub assembly 1 also has a base 20 with pairs of walls 25 radially extending from a central portion with a shaft 24. Each pair of walls 25 forms a pole slot for receiving an intermediate or second portion of each pole 40. The intermediate portions have a second hole 42 through each pole 40, as shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the shaft 24 is cylindrical but one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the hub assembly 1 could be configured such that the shaft 24 has other shapes and sizes such as, for example, having a square cross-section.

Each wall 25 of the base 20 has an elongated guide slot 21 which receive pins 50 that pass through the second holes 42, such that the elongated guide slot 21 of each pair of walls 25 is pivotally connected to the second holes 42. Accordingly, the intermediate portions of the poles 40 at the second holes 42 are slidably and pivotally connected to the elongated guide slot 21 of each pair of walls 25.

As shown in FIGS. 1-2 and 7, the elongated guide slot 21 is non-linear, having a linear portion 22 and a curved portion 23 which provides a non-linear path of slidable movement of the pins 50 in the elongated guide slot 21.

Referring to FIGS. 2-3, the central aperture 11 and the shaft 24 receive a central member such as a bolt 13 which extends through a biasing member such as a spring 30, which is disposed in an interior 26 of the shaft 24. The biasing member could also take on other forms such as a double spring or a pneumatic actuator. A top portion of the shaft 24 is substantially enclosed other than an aperture for which the bolt 13 extends. The lower end of the bolt 13 engages a washer 14 and a nut 17. The diameter of the washer 14 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the shaft 24. In the open configuration, the hub body may abut the base 20, while the spring 30 biases the hub body of the hub assembly 10 upward and away from the base 20. The shaft 24 may also have an opening 27 for attaching a top portion of the tent fabric or to attach other accessories.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the poles 40 are in an open configuration, with the pins 50 in the curved portion 23 of the elongated guide slot 21. When the pins 50 are in the curved portion 23, the pins 40 are in a locked position at the upper end of the elongated guide slot 21, such that the poles 40 are maintained in the open configuration without the need for additional fasteners. In addition, the spring 30 in the interior 26 of the shaft 24 is partially compressed.

When a user desires to fold the tent, the user moves the poles 40 from the open configuration in FIGS. 1 and 3 to an intermediate configuration shown in FIGS. 4-5 and then to a closed configuration shown in FIGS. 6-7.

Referring to FIGS. 4-5, to fold the tent, the user moves the poles 40 to the intermediate configuration by moving the poles 40 downward, and therefore providing a downward moment about the pivot of each fastener 16 which is fixed to the hub arms 12. The downward moment removes the slidable pivoting pins 50 out of the curved portion 23 of the elongated guide slot 21, as shown in FIG. 4, allowing the pins 50 to enter the linear portion 22 of the elongated guide slot 21. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the downward moment applies a force which moves the hub 10 upward from the base 20 and further compresses the spring 30 in the shaft 24.

The user then moves the poles 40 to the closed configuration, shown in FIGS. 6-7, by further moving the poles 40 toward the base 20 which provides a downward moment or torque about the pivot of each fastener 16, allowing the pins 50 to slide downward along the linear portion 22 of the elongated guide slot 21. Such a downward moment further applies a force which moves the hub 10 further upward from the base 20 and further compresses the spring 30 in the shaft 24, as shown in FIG. 7. The compression of the spring 30 provides a force which maintains the poles 40 in the closed configuration without the need for additional fasteners.

To open the tent, the user moves the poles 40 upward from the closed configuration in FIGS. 6-7 through the intermediate configuration in FIGS. 4-5 and then to the open configuration in FIGS. 1 and 3. By moving the poles 40 accordingly, the user provides an upward moment or torque on the poles 40 about the fastener 16 to overcome the force of the compressed spring 30, and then to move the pins 50 into the curved portion 23 of the elongated guide slot 21. Thus, the upward moment provided by the opening movement of the poles 40 slides the pins 50 upward along the linear portion of the elongated guide slot 22 to the locking position in the curved portion 23.

Therefore, in the open configuration in FIGS. 1 and 3, the spring 30 is extended and the pins 50 are locked in the curved portion 23 so that the pins 50 cannot release from the curved portion 23 unless the user provides sufficient downward force to move the poles 40.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

1. A hub assembly for a tent having a plurality of poles, the hub assembly comprising:

a hub having a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms, each arm having a fastener aperture for receiving a fastener which pivotably connects a first hole of a respective pole to the arm;

a base having a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft, with pairs of the walls forming pole slots each for receiving a respective pole, each wall having an elongated guide slot for receiving a pin which passes through a second hole of a respective pole in the pole slot;

a biasing member disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base;

wherein, with the poles in an open configuration, the pins are in a locking position in the elongated slot; and

wherein, when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pins are moved from the locking position to an unlocked position in the elongated slot.

2. The hub assembly of claim 1, wherein with the poles in the open configuration, the hub abuts the base.

3. The hub assembly of claim 1, wherein when the poles are moved to the closed configuration, the hub is moved upward from the base.

4. The hub assembly of claim 1, wherein the central member is slidable between an open position where the biasing member is compressed and a closed position where the biasing member is more compressed.

5. The hub assembly of claim 4, wherein a force from the biasing member in its more compressed state pushes the central member upward relative to the shaft, thereby driving the hub arms and the poles to the closed position.

6. The hub assembly of claim 1, wherein the biasing member is a spring.

7. The hub assembly of claim 1, wherein the elongated guide slot has a non-linear shape.

8. A hub assembly for a tent having a plurality of poles, the hub assembly comprising:

a hub having a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms, each arm having a pivotal connection with a first portion of a respective pole;

a base having a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft, with the walls including a guide slot having a pivotal connection with a second portion of a respective pole; and

a biasing member disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base.

9. The hub assembly of claim 8, wherein the guide slot has a non-linear shape.

10. The hub assembly of claim 9, wherein, with the poles in an open configuration, the pivotal connection of the second portion of the pole is in a locking position in a curved portion in the non-linear guide slot; and

wherein, when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pivotal connection of the second portion moves from the locking position to an unlocked position in an elongated portion in the non-linear guide slot.

11. The hub assembly of claim 8, wherein the central member is slidable between an open position where the biasing member is compressed and a closed position where the biasing member is more compressed.

12. The hub assembly of claim 11, wherein a force from the biasing member in its more compressed state pushes the central member upward relative to the shaft, thereby driving the hub arms and the poles to the closed position.

13. The hub assembly of claim 8, wherein the biasing member is a spring.

14. A tent comprising:

a plurality of poles;

a hub having a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms, each arm having a fastener aperture for receiving a fastener which pivotably connects a first hole of a respective pole to the arm;

a base having a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft, with pairs of the walls forming pole slots each for receiving a respective pole, each wall having an elongated guide slot for receiving a pin which passes through a second hole of a respective pole in the pole slot;

a biasing member disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base;

wherein, with the poles in an open configuration, the pins are in a locking position in the elongated guide slot; and

wherein, when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pins are moved from the locking position to an unlocked position in the elongated guide slot.

15. The tent of claim 14, wherein with the poles in the open configuration, the hub abuts the base.

16. The tent of claim 14, wherein when the poles are moved to the closed configuration, the hub is moved upward from the base.

17. The tent of claim 14, wherein the central member is slidable between an open position where the biasing member is compressed and a closed position where the biasing member is more compressed.

18. The tent of claim 17, wherein a force from the biasing member in its more compressed state pushes the central member upward relative to the shaft, thereby driving the hub arms and the poles to the closed position.

19. The tent of claim 14, wherein the biasing member is a spring.

20. The tent of claim 14, wherein the elongated guide slot has a non-linear shape.