Patent Application
20150252587
Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of the present disclosure.
1. Field
The embodiments relate to a tent, canopy or other structure and, specifically, to a removable awning arrangement for such a tent, canopy or other structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tents or canopies, such as collapsible canopies, are often used in to provide shade or rain protection outdoors. In existing canopies, a small amount of height adjustment of the roof of the tent structure is provided by height adjustment of the support legs. Users can adjust the individual support legs to different heights to achieve an angled position of the roof of the tent structure to address sun, wind or rain that is directed at an angle and not sufficiently blocked by a horizontal orientation of the roof structure. However, such adjustment is typically quite limited and results in reduced overhead clearance within at least portions of the interior of the canopy. In addition, the tent roof size remains fixed.
The systems, methods and devices described herein have innovative aspects, no single one of which is indispensable or solely responsible for their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the claims, some of the advantageous features will now be summarized.
One or more embodiments provide a flexible adjustment of shade or rain protection, referred to herein as coverage. To address this purpose, the canopy includes a detachable awning and, in particular, detachable awning support structures. The canopy generally includes a roof and several support legs. The canopy also includes a removable awning structure, which includes removable awning connectors, tubes and awning cloth or other material. The awning connectors are connected to respective tube members and the awning connectors are detachably connectable to respective support legs of the canopy.
An embodiment involves a canopy having a detachable awning structure, said canopy comprises a roof and legs, characterized in that the canopy further comprises a detachable awning structure, said detachable awning structure comprising an awning-connecting member, an awning tube and an awning cloth or other suitable body, wherein said awning cloth is fixed on said awning tube, said awning tube being connected with said awning-connecting member, and said awning-connecting member being detachably connected to said leg.
In some configurations, said awning-connecting member comprises a leg groove and an awning tube groove; after being assembled, said awning tube being fitted to said awning tube groove and said leg groove being fitted tightly to said leg, so that said detachable awning structure is fixed to said leg. Said awning tube can be connected to said awning-connecting member by a rotating pin inserted into a fixing hole on said awning tube groove, and said awning tube being able to be rotated about the axis of said fixing hole relative to said awning-connecting member. A retention surface and a sloped entry surface can be provided at the upper portion of said awning tube groove of the awning-connecting member, said sloped entry surface helping said awning tube to slide downwards into said awning tube groove and said retention surface inhibiting or preventing the awning tube within the awning tube groove from moving out of said awning tube groove, so that said awning tube is retained in the awning tube groove in response to normal or expected forces. The cross sectional dimensions of the part of said leg groove that contacts said leg can be smaller than the cross sectional dimensions of said leg, so that said awning-connecting member is able to tightly clamp said leg without sliding downwards in response to normal or expected forces.
In some configurations, said awning tube is fixedly connected to said awning tube groove of the awning-connecting member by a fixing pin that is inserted into a fixing hole on the awning tube groove. Said awning-connecting member can be provided with an upper frame and a lower frame with flexibility that define said leg groove, and when installing, said frames being pulled open to make said awning-connecting member clamp on said leg, thus said awning-connecting member will be stably fixed on said leg due to flexibility of said frames. A tube plug can be provided at the end of said awning tube installed in the awning tube groove of the awning-connecting member, wherein a spring and a button are provided between said tube plug and bottom of said awning tube groove, a button hole being provided at the bottom of the awning tube groove, the wall of the leg that is installed in the leg groove pressing said spring and abut against said button, so that the wall of said leg tightly contacts with said frames ensuring that said awning-connecting member is fixed at a specific height of the leg without slipping off.
In some configurations, said awning-connecting member is made of elastic or resilient material.
In some configurations, said detachable awning structure(s) is(are) installed at any one or more sides of said canopy.
In some configurations, one or two sides of said canopy each is provided with two detachable awning structures, wherein the two detachable awning structures are fixedly installed at different heights of said legs.
The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of systems, components and methods of assembly and manufacture will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals refer to like or similar elements throughout. Although several embodiments, examples and illustrations are disclosed below, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the inventions described herein extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments, examples and illustrations, and can include other uses of the inventions and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. The terminology used in the description presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictive manner simply because it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the inventions. In addition, embodiments of the inventions can comprise several novel features and no single feature is solely responsible for its desirable attributes or is essential to practicing the inventions herein described.
Certain terminology may be used in the following description for the purpose of reference only, and thus are not intended to be limiting. For example, terms such as “above” and “below” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. Terms such as “front,” “back,” “left,” “right,” “rear,” and “side” describe the orientation and/or location of portions of the components or elements within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the components or elements under discussion. Moreover, terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” and so on may be used to describe separate components. Such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
In one or more configurations, during the installation of the overhang 101 to the tent structure 100, each side of the cloth or other overhang body 3 is fixed to an awning tube 5. The connecting members 4 are connected to the support legs 2 of the tent 100 by inserting the leg 2 into the leg opening 8. Then, the awning support tube 5 is rotated into the groove 7 through the entry surface 9 of the mouth and is retained in place by the retention surface 10. In such a position, the awning support tube 5 preferably contacts the leg tube 2 and tightly jams the leg tube 2 in the opening 8 and against the connecting member 4 so that the overhang tube 5 is fixedly coupled to the tent leg tube 2. In some configurations, the overhang tubes 5 are connected to the leg tubes 2 and then the awning member 3 is assembled to the two adjacent tubes 5 so that the overhanging awning cloth or body 3 is attached the outer edge of the roof 1 in order to achieve a good supplement shading or rain protection.
Preferably, to facilitate the awning connection member 4 being fixedly connectable to the tent leg tube 2, a material having elasticity is utilized in constructing the awning connecting member 4 such that the groove 8 can have a relaxed or normal size that is slightly smaller than the cross section of leg tube 2. That is, in at least some configurations, the leg opening dimension (a) of the groove 8 is slightly smaller than the width of a leg tube 2 corresponding to the width (a) of the opening so that the awning has a resilient member 4 that can snap tightly to the leg tube 2 and be removably connected thereto without slipping on leg tube 2 in response to normal or expected forces. The resilient or elastic material can also enhance frictional engagement with the leg tube 2. Other suitable structural features can be employed that permit the overhang 101 leg connecting member 4 to be detachably, semi-permanently or permanently connected to the leg tube 2.
The awning connecting member 4′ can be mounted to the leg tube 2 via upper and lower connection arms 14 that cooperate to receive and engage the leg tube 2. Preferably, the upper and lower connection arms 14 can deflect to permit engagement of the connecting member 4′ with the tent leg tube 2 and then resiliently return toward a relaxed position and/or toward restoration of the original shape to engage the leg tube 2. In some configurations, a space between the arms 14 allows entry of the leg tube 2 into the leg opening 8′ when the connecting member 4′ is rotated to a particular angle and, once the leg tube 2 is located within the leg opening 8′, the connecting member 4′ can be rotated to cause the arms 14 to flex outwardly and then resiliently return to engage the leg tube 2. Each of the arms 14 can be located on or wrap a portion or all of three sides of the leg tube 2. Each of the arms 14 can include a hook end that engages the fourth side of the leg tube 2. Preferably, the hook end wraps only partially around the fourth side of the leg tube 2. In the illustrated arrangement, the arms 14 mirror each other such that the hook ends engage different (e.g., opposite) sides of the leg tube 2.
With reference to
It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may be made to the herein-described embodiments, the elements of which are to be understood as being among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims. Moreover, any of the steps described herein can be performed simultaneously or in an order different from the steps as ordered herein. Moreover, as should be apparent, the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
Moreover, the following terminology may have been used herein. The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an item includes reference to one or more items. The term “ones” refers to one, two, or more, and generally applies to the selection of some or all of a quantity. The term “plurality” refers to two or more of an item. The term “about” or “approximately” means that quantities, dimensions, sizes, formulations, parameters, shapes and other characteristics need not be exact, but may be approximated and/or larger or smaller, as desired, reflecting acceptable tolerances, conversion factors, rounding off, measurement error and the like and other factors known to those of skill in the art. The term “substantially” means that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.
Numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also interpreted to include all of the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but should also be interpreted to also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3 and 4 and sub-ranges such as “about 1 to about 3,” “about 2 to about 4” and “about 3 to about 5,” “1 to 3,” “2 to 4,” “3 to 5,” etc. This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value (e.g., “greater than about 1”) and should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described. A plurality of items may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. Furthermore, where the terms “and” and “or” are used in conjunction with a list of items, they are to be interpreted broadly, in that any one or more of the listed items may be used alone or in combination with other listed items. The term “alternatively” refers to selection of one of two or more alternatives, and is not intended to limit the selection to only those listed alternatives or to only one of the listed alternatives at a time, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61947893 | Mar 2014 | US |
