US3779259A

US3779259A - Collapsible protective structure

Info

Publication number: US3779259A
Application number: US00246255A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Fuller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-04-21
Filing date: 1972-04-21
Publication date: 1973-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 1990-12-18
Also published as: CA955822A

Abstract

This invention provides a tent structure essentially coneshaped, including a flue opening in one side adjacent the peak. Two flexible smoke flaps are aligned vertically along the lateral edges of the flue opening. Two truss poles extend from the ground on opposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, and the peak of the tent is slung from the point where the truss poles meet. Two flap poles extend upwardly from the ground on the side opposite the flue opening, each flap pole crossing one of the truss poles externally and being attached to one of the smoke flaps, in order to maintain the flaps taut in a desired orientation.

Description

United States Patent Fuller Dec. 18, 1973 COLLAPSIBLE PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE 2.865385 12/1958 Crafts 135/1 0 [75] Inventor: .3131: Fuller, Calgary, Alberta, Primary Examiner peter M. Caun Attorney-Peter W. McBurney et a1. [73] Assignee: Ian Tyson, Toronto, Ontario,

Canada [5 7] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Apr. 21, 1972 This invention provides a tent structure essentially cone-shaped, including a flue opening in one side ad- [211 Appl' 246255 jacent the peak. Two flexible smoke flaps are aligned vertically along the lateral edges of the flue opening. 52 us. 01 135/1 0 Two truss poles extend from the ground on pp [51] Int. Cl A4515 1/00 sides of the tent to a location above the p and the [58] Field of Search 135/1 C, 1 D, 3 B, p of the n i l ng from he p int where the russ 135/3 C, 3 E, 4 B, 4 C poles meet. Two flap poles extend upwardly from the ground on the side opposite the flue opening, each [56] Refere Cit d flap pole crossing one of the truss poles externally and UNITED STATES PATENTS being attached to one of the smoke flaps, in order to 3.042 052 7/1962 Des Rosier 135/1 c maintain the flaps taut in a desired orientation 548,425 10/1895 Biddle 135/3 E 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures COLLAPSIBLE PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE This invention relates generally to tents or temporary structures of a collapsible nature which serve as a housing for the occupant to protect him against storm and weather conditions. More particularly, this invention has to do with a tent structure adapted to be heated from within either by an open fire or by camping stove,

etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tents in which open fires can be lit for warmth have been known for hundreds of years. On the North American continent, the Plains Indians have developed different variations of the essentially conical style of tent, generally known as the tipi. The Indian tipi usually has a substantially circular base, and its height from base to apex is about the same as the base diameter. The traditional construction of an Indian tipi involves first erecting a plurality of poles with their lower ends spaced around a circle intended to define the base of the eventual tipi and their upper ends fastened together at the peak. The skin of the tipi, when laid flat on the ground, is generally semi-circular in shape, and includes two smoke flaps extending from the middle area of the side corresponding to the diameter of the semicircle. These smoke flaps, when the tent is wrapped around the erected poles, take up a position in which they extend downwardly from the tipi peak on either side of an opening through which smoke is evacuated from the interior of the tipi. In the traditional construc tion of the tipi, the smoke flaps are held in a taut condition by flap poles of which the top ends engage the smoke flaps and the bottom ends are dug into the ground. The flap poles bear inwardly against the side of the tent, and are resisted by the support poles inside the tipi.

The entrance to the tipi is directly beneath the smoke flap, and the tipi is always erected so that the entrance and the smoke hole are directed away from the prevailing wind.

In order to achieve a good draught so that the smoke from the interior fire will exit through the smoke hole, the traditional tipi is at least 12 feet high, and often as much as 18 or feet in height.

DISADVANTAGES OF THEPRIOR ART While the general plan of the traditional Indian tipi represents an excellent design as far as smoke exhaustion and the maximum utilization of space are concerned, there are serious limits to its portability. The necessity of providing from 18 to 24 long poles at each site, or of transporting existing poles from site to site, makes the traditional tipi construction totally unsuited for the kind of light-weight camping that is popular today, where maximum utility it derived from minimum equipment bulk.

OBJECTS OF THIS INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a tipi-style tent similar to the traditional tipi, but requiring no internal poles for its erection.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tipistyle tent which is maintained erect by two exterior poles which co-operate in a special manner with two smoke flap poles so as to conserve the maximum amount of space within the tipi-style tent.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION To achieve the foregoing objects, this invention provides a collapsible protective structure comprising a flexible tent converging upwardly from a lower periphery to a peak, and having a front and a rear, the tent having a flue opening in the front adjacent said peak, and two aligned flexible smoke flaps along lateral edges of said flue opening, anchoring means for securing said lower periphery to the ground, two truss poles extending from the ground adjacent opposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, the two truss poles meeting at said location, securing means for suspending said peak from at least one truss pole at said location, two flap poles extending upwardly from the ground at the rear of the tent, each flap pole crossing one of the truss poles externally and being attached to one of the smoke flaps, whereby the smoke flaps can be maintained taut in a desired orientation, and an entrance in the front of the tent.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a tipi-style tent embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the tipi-style tent shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tipi-style tent shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevation, to a larger scale, of the peak of the tipi-style tent shown in FIG. 1.

PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Attention is first directed to FIG. 1, which shows a collapsible protective structure 10, which includes a flexible, conical tent 12 having a substantially circular base 14, an apex 16, and two smoke flaps 18 (only one visible in FIG. 1). As seen in FIG. 2, the two smoke flaps 18 define a flue opening 20 which opens into the interior of the tent 12. An entrance 22 is provided, which may be circular, oval or any other desirable shape. Generally speaking, the entrance 22 and the flue opening 20 are located at the same side of the tent 12, this side being referred to as the front of the tent.

Each smoke flap 18 is roughly trapezoid in shape, having a generally vertical edge 23, an oblique upward edge 25, and a short bottom edge 27. The upper edges 25 of the two smoke flaps l8 merge smoothly into each other around the rear of the tent, which in FIG. 1 is the left hand portion of the tent.

The tent 12 is supported by two truss poles 30, each having a bottom end 31 which is dug into the ground at one side of the tent (the two truss poles being arranged on opposite sides of the tent 12), and the upper ends 32 of the truss poles 30 are tied together where they cross at the location marked with the number 34. The location 34 is generally immediately above the apex of the tent 12.

Where the truss poles 30 cross at the location 34, they are bound together by a pole harness 36, from which ties, thongs or chains 38 extend down to buckle means 40 securely attached to the oblique upper edges 25 of both smoke flaps 18.

In FIG. 4, the means suspending the oblique upper edges 25 from the pole harness 36 is seen to include a downwardly depending loop 42, a snap-clip 44, and a plurality of chains 38.

Also in FIG. 4, the nearer truss pole is seen to include two telescopingly

collapsible sections

30a and 30b. Naturally some or all of the truss poles and the flap poles could be advantageously constructed to be telescopingly or otherwise collapsible.

The collapsible protective structure of this invention also includes two flap poles 46, each of which extends upwardly from the ground at the rear of the tent, crosses one of the truss poles 30 externally, and is attached at its upper end to one of the smoke flaps 18. As can be seen in the drawings, each flap pole 46 has its upper end 48 lodged in a pocket 49 at the upper corner of one of the smoke flaps 18.

Around the circular base 14 of the tent 12 a number of tent pegs 50 are provided to anchor the lower end of the tent 12 to the ground in the usual manner.

Preferably, the structure is erected in such an orientation that the prevailing wind tends to blow in the direction of the large arrow 52 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. In this manner, the smoke flaps 18 define an opening which is generally downwind, and this improves the draught in the interior of the tent 12, so that smoke from a fire 53 built on the ground within the tent 12 (see FIG. 3) will be drawn up to the peak, and out through the flue opening between the smoke flaps 18.

It is not essential that the smoke flaps 18 be in the exact shape shown in the drawings, since their configuration is a matter of choice. The lower corners 54 of the smoke flaps 18 need not be provided, for example, and the flaps can merely be triangular with the vertical edge 23 extending directly from the pocket 49 to the bottom of the flue opening 20. Where the corners 54 are provided, however, they can be tied out to a tie-pole 56 by cords 58, thus preventing the smoke flaps 18 from flapping.

It should be emphasized that both the truss poles 30 and the flap poles 46 serve more than one function in the construction of the collapsible tent disclosed herein. The truss poles 30 not only hold up the tent 12, but they also prevent the flap poles 46 from bearing in directly against the wall of the tent 12. It will be appreciated that, because the tent 12 has no inner supports that could resist the weight of the flap poles 46, the latter would cause a large and undesirable indentation in the wall of the tent 12 if they were to bear directly against the wall, and might even cause the tent to collapse by tightening the wall to the point where some of the tent pegs 50 were pulled out of the ground. I

Conversely, the flap poles 46 not only keep the flaps oriented properly and held in a taut condition, but by crossing the truss poles 30 on the outside, they restrain the bottom of the truss poles 30 from slipping outwardly away from the tent 12. In FIG. 3, for example, it can be seen that the flap pole 46 is slightly curved by the force it exerts inwardly against the truss pole 30 at the location 60 where the two cross. The location 60 is spaced from the pole harness 36, and therefore the inward force of the flap pole 46 against its respective truss pole 30 tends to transmit a small inward force to the bottom of the truss pole 30 which would help to restrain the latter from sliding outwardly away from the tent l2, and causing the collapse of the structure. The flap poles also serve a third function by virtue of the fact that they extend generally upwind of the tent (to the rear). Because of this positioning, the flap poles 46 would tend to act as a partial barrier to branches, tumbleweed, or any other debris being carried along the ground by a high wind.

Thus, the collapsible protective structure disclosed herein utilizes only four poles, each of which serves more than one function and therefore brings to the structure the advantage of an economy of means.

What I claim is:

1. A collapsible protective structure comprising:

a flexible tent converging upwardly from a lower periphery to a peak, and having a front and a rear, the tent having a flue opening in the front adjacent said peak, and two aligned flexible smoke flaps along lateral edges of said flue opening,

anchoring means for securing said lower periphery to the ground,

two truss poles extending from the ground externally adjacent opposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, the two truss poles meeting and being secured together at said location,

securing means for suspending said peak from at least one truss pole at said location,

two flap poles extending upwardly from the ground at the rear of the tent and being attached to the smoke flaps, each flap pole being maintained in a flexed condition around and in bearing contact with one of the truss poles whereby each truss pole maintains outward pressure on its associated flap pole and each flap pole maintains inward pressure on its associated truss pole and outward pressure on its associated flap to maintain said flaps taut in a desired orientation,

and an entrance.

2. The invention claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible tent is substantially conical in shape and has a substantially circular lower periphery.

3. The invention claimed in claim 2, wherein the flue opening is elongated and extends away from said peak above said entrance, and wherein each smoke flap is trapezoidal with one side defining an edge of the flue opening and one corner secured to the upper end of one flap pole.

4. The invention claimed in claim 3, wherein said anchoring means includes tent pegs.

5. The invention claimed in claim 3, wherein a hypothetical line between the bottom ends of said truss poles lies substantially along a diameter of said circular lower periphery.

6. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which the truss poles and the flap poles are collapsible.

7. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which the truss poles and the flap poles are telescopingly collapsible.

Claims

1. A collapsible protective structure comprising: a flexible tent converging upwardly from a lower periphery to a peak, and having a front and a rear, the tent having a flue opening in the front adjacent said peak, and two aligned flexible smoke flaps along lateral edges of said flue opening, anchoring means for securing said lower periphery to the ground, two truss poles extending from the ground externally adjacent opposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, the two truss poles meeting and being secured together at said location, securing means for suspending said peak from at least one truss pole at said location, two flap poles extending upwardly from the ground at the rear of the tent and being attached to the smoke flaps, each flap pole being maintained in a flexed condition around and in bearing contact with one of the truss poles whereby each truss pole maintains outward pressure on its associated flap pole and each flap pole maintains inward pressure on its associated truss pole and outward pressure on its associated flap to maintain said flaps taut in a desired orientation, and an entrance.