US3584322A - Cot supported tent supporting frame - Google Patents

Abstract

A TUBULAR METAL TENT FRAME CAPABLE OF BEING READILY ATTACHED TO AND SUPPORTED BY THE TUBULAR METAL FRAME OF A CONVENTIONAL COT FOR SUPPORTING A TENT OR CANOPY OVER THE COT FOR PROTECTING THE OCCUPANT FROM THE ELEMENTS AND FROM INSECTS WHILE SLEEPING OUTDOORS. THE TENT FRAME IS FORMED OF PIVOTALLY CONNECTED SECTIONS TO ENABLE IT TO BE COMPACTLY FOLDED FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORTATION WITH THE TENT, WHEN DETACHED FROM THE COT, OR FOR OPENING ONE

END OF THE TENT TO AFFORD INGRESS AND EGRESS TO OR FROM, RESPECTIVELY, THE TENT ENCLOSED COT.

Description

June 15, 1971 R. A. MODOUGALL COT SUPPORTED TENT SUPPORTING FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 12, 1969 INVENTOR ROLAND AMQDOUGALL BY 2&5 M.

FIG.9

ATTORNEY E M A R F W u L R m P w. T 0 N E M T D E M R O P P U s T O 0 June 15, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 12, 1969 INVENTOR ROLAND A. McDOUGALL ATTORNEY United States Patent 01 C6 3,584,322 COT SUPPORTED TENT SUPPORTING FRAME Roland A. McDougall, 704 Hall St., Charleston, W. Va. 25302 Filed Aug. 12, 1969, Ser. No. 849,352 Int. Cl. A47c 29/00 U.S. Cl. 5113 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular metal tent frame capable of being readily attached to and supported by the tubular metal frame of a conventional cot for supporting a tent or canopy over the cot for protecting the occupant from the elements and from insects while sleeping outdoors. The tent frame is formed of pivotally connected sections to enable it to be compactly folded for storage or transportation with the tent, when detached from the cot, or for opening one end of the tent to afford ingress and egress to or from, respectively, the tent enclosed cot.

SUMMARY It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a lightweight yet strong metal frame of extremely simple construction which may be composed primarily of lightweight metal tubing and which may be quickly attached to or detached from a conventional cot for supporting an enclosure such as a tent or canopy over the cot.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame having novel means by which it may be anchored to the cot by the user while in a position on the cot and within the tent, and which anchoring means may be released from within the tent for opening an end thereof to provide egress for the occupant and to subsequently afford access to the cot and tent.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tent supporting frame wherein the means anchoring the frame to the cot additionally completes the erection of the tent over the frame and cot.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a frame which may be quickly detached from the cot and folded with the tent or canopy enclosure into a small compact unit capable of being conveniently stored or transported.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, showing the frame attached to and supported on a cot and with the enclosure or tent supported thereby over and around the cot;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view thereof with the tent or enclosure partly broken away to illustrate details of the frame;

Patented June 15., 1971 FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view, partly in vertical section, of a portion of the tent supporting frame and a portion of the cot frame;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the tent supporting frame, and

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view showing the main body of the tent supporting frame folded and with the tent or enclosure omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring rnore specifically to the drawings, the tent supporting frame in its entirety and comprising the invention is designated generally 10 and includes an upright arch-shaped member 11 to the lower ends of the depending legs 12 of which are secured joint members 13 which project from opposite sides of said legs 12, as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The frame 10 also includes corresponding U-shaped end member 14 and 15, the terminals of the parallel sides 16 of which are connected to the joints 13 by pivot fastenings 17 on opposite sides of the arch member 11, for swinging movement of said end members 14 and 15 between extended substantially coplanar positions as illustrated in FIG. 1, at right angles to the arch 11, and folded positions, as seen in FIG. 9, substantially parallel to the arch member 11.

The frame 10 includes corresponding arch- shaped props 18 and 19 having depending leg 20 to the terminals of which are rigidly secured angular joint members 21. The joint members 21 of the prop 18 are pivotally connected by fastenings 22 t0 the legs 16 of the member 14 and the joints 21 of the prop 19 are similarly connected by fastenings 22 to the legs 16 of the member 15. The fastenings 22 are located nearer the transverse end portions 23 of the members 14 and 15 than the pivots 17, as clearly illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 9. A rigid inwardly opening hook 24 is immovably secured to and extends downwardly from each joint 21, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described.

The parts previously described and illustrated in FIG. 9 constitute the main unit of the frame 10, the members 11, 14, 15, 18 and 19 of which are preferably of tubular construction, as illustrated.

The tent supporting frame 10 also includes a pair of corresponding supporting units 25, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of which includes an elongated bar 26 of arcuate cross section having an upright pin or post 27 extending upwardly from the upper convex side thereof and intermediate of its ends. Each unit 25 also includes two split ring clamps 28, the terminals of each of which are connected by a wing nut and bolt fastening 29, as seen in FIG. 6.

7 The frame 10 is adapted to be mounted on a substantially conventional cot having a tubular metal frame 31 composed of two corresponding U-shaped tubular members 32, the inwardly extending ends of the legs 33 of which are pivotally connected by fastenings 34 to joint members 35 which are rigidly secured to the upright ends of a U-shaped center leg 36, to permit folding of the frame members 32 relative to one another, as is conventional. The cot frame 31 also includes U-shaped end legs 37 the terminals of the uprights of which are secured to joint members 38 which are pivotally connected at 39 to the sides of the frame members 32, remote from the pivots 34. As is conventional, the cot 30 includes a flexible fabric or plastic sheet 40 which is stretched between and secured to the frame members 32.

With the cot open or extended, as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the bars 26 are positioned on the sides of the frame members 32 so as to span the joints 35 and the ring clamps 28 are engaged thereover and around the members 32, after which the fastenings 29 are tightened for clamping the members 25 on the cot frame and with the pins or posts 27 extending upwardly, in alignment with the upright terminals of the center leg 36, as seen in FIG. 4. The legs 12 of the arch member 11 are then moved downwardly onto the posts 27 which engage in the lower portions thereof, as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, for mounting the arch 11 on the two units 25. The length of the frame 10, as measured between the end portions 23, and the width of said frame, as measured between the side members 16, is equal to the length and width, respectively, of the cot frame 31, so that when the end members 14 and 15 are swung downwardly to their full line positions of FIG. 3, said members will be disposed directly over the ends and sides of the cot frame.

A tent or enclosure 41 which may be formed of any suitable flexible and Waterproof material is supported by the frame 10 and includes a roof 42 which slopes endwise downwardly from the intermediate portion thereof which rests upon the top intermediate portion 43 of the arch 11. The ends of the roof 41 rest upon the top intermediate portions 44 of the props 18 and 19 which, in their extended full line positions of FIG. 3, extend upwardly and outwardly at an incline relative to one another from the joints 21, so that said portions 44 are disposed directly over the end portions 23. The side walls 45 and the end walls 46 of the tent 41 extend downwardly to below the level of the cot frame 31, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Said walls 45 and 46 are each provided with internal casings or sleeves 4-7, as best seen in FIG. 7, formed by rows of stitching 48, which sleeves 47 are formed around the sides 16 and ends 23 of the end members 14 and 15 for securing the tent or enclosure 41 to the frame 10.

One or both side walls 45 and end walls 46 are provided with windows 49 which may include a transparent plastic sheet 50 covering an opening 51 in the tent wall; or a sheet of mesh fabric may be utilized in lieu of the plastic sheet. A flap 52, of the same material as the tent 41, is secured by stitching 53' to the inner side of the tent above each window 49 so that it can be lowered to a position as illustrated in FIG. 3 for covering the window opening.

As seen in FIGS, 1 and 3, when the props 18 and 19 are swung outwardly and away from the arch 11 toward their positions of FIG. 1 and their full line positions of FIG. 3, the hooks 24 thereof will engage pins 53, which project outwardly from the sides of the cot frame 31, as said props 18 and 19 reach their upwardly and outwardly inclined extended positions, to latch the frame 10' on the cot frame and to prevent the props from swinging outwardly and downwardly beyond said extended positions. The pins 53 constitute the only modification of the otherwise conventional cot 30.

The frame 10 also includes two rigid tubular braces 54 having enlargements or heads 55 at the ends thereof.

Each head 55 has an outwardly opening substantially semicircular notch 56. The notches 56 at the adjacent ends of the two braces 54 engage the top portion 43 of the arch 11 and the notches 56 at the remote ends of the braces 54 engage the top portions 44 of the props 18 and 19 to hold said props in their extended positions and to retain the hooks 24 in engagement with the pins 53.

As will be readily apparent, the user must assume a position on the cot 30 and within the tent 41 in order to extend the frame 10 and latch it to the cot 30. Egress from the cot and tent is accomplished by first removing one of the braces 54, as, for example, the right hand brace as seen in FIG. 3, so that the prop 118 can then be swung upwardly and inwardly to disengage the books 24 thereof from two of the pins 53, so that the end member 14 and the portion of the tent attached thereto can be swung upwardly to the dotted line positions of said parts 14 and 18. Obviously, the parts 14 and 18 will be moved to their dotted line positions of FIG. 3 to afford access to the cot and tent.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cot supported tent supporting assembly comprising, a cot frame, a tent supporting frame having an upright arch member, a pair of U-shaped end members, means swingably connecting said end members to the depending ends of said arch member for swinging movement between folded substantially parallel positions and extended substantially coplanar positions, said end members being adapted to be disposed directly over the cot frame in said extended positions thereof, means attached to the sides of the cot frame and engaging the depending ends of the arch member for detachably mounting the tent frame on the cot frame, a pair of arch-shaped props having substantially parallel legs, means pivotally connecting the terminals of said legs to the sides of said end members, remote from said arch member, for swinging movement between folded positions extending inwardly from the pivots thereof and lying substantially parallel to said end members and extended positions projecting upwardly and outwardly at inclines from the extended end members, and a tent disposed over the extended tent frame having a roof resting on and supported by the intermediate portions of said arch member and said props, said tent having side and end walls extending downwardly around and to beneath the cot frame.

2. A tent frame as in claim 1, said inte'mediate portions 4 of the props being disposed below the level of the intermediate portion of the arch member for supporting the tent with the roof thereof sloping downwardly from its intermediate portion toward each of its ends.

3. A tent frame as in claim 1, and means adapted to latch the props to the cot frame in the extended upwardly and outwardly inclined positions of the props.

4. A tent frame as in claim 3, said last mentioned means limiting the extent of the movement of the props outwardly and away from the arch member.

5. A tent frame as in claim 3, and rigid braces detachably mounted between and engaging the intermediate portions of the arch member and props for holding the props against swinging movement inwardly of one another and for retaining the props latched to the cot frame for retaining the tent supporting frame immovably positioned on the cot frame.

6. A tent frame as in claim 1, and means attaching the side and end walls of the tent to said end members for retaining the tent extended over the tent supporting frame when said frame is in an extended position on the cot.

7. A tent supporting frame as in claim 1, and means adapted to latch said props to the cot frame, said last mentioned means of either of said props being releasable to permit one of said end members to be swung upwardly with an end of the tent attached thereto for ingress and egress to and from the cot and tent.

8. A tent supporting frame as in claim 1, said means adapted to attach the tent supporting frame to the cot comprising bars adapted to rest on the sides of the cot frame, clamps securing said bars immovably to the cot frame, and posts extending upwardly from said bars and engaging in the depending legs of said arch member.

9. A tent supporting frame as in claim 1, said arch 10 member, end members and props being formed of substantially rigid tubular material.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,673,626 6/1928 Johnson 5-113 2,159,309 5/1939 Betourne 135-4 3,206,773 9/ 1965 Sarasin 5-99 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner DARRELL F. MARQUETTE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 5114; 135-4

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