Patent Application
20130032186
Embodiments relate to a canopy, especially to a collapsible canopy that is expandable during rain fall.
A typical canopy includes a canopy cover supported on a canopy frame (e.g. steel metal frame.) Canopy covers are typically composed of a fabric material, normally waterproof material. The canopy cover hangs over the canopy frame to provide shelter from exterior weather conditions or debris such as sun, rain or snow.
However, the canopy cover is constructed in a solid surface because of the waterproof requirement. When it rains on the cover, pools of rain water often gather on various portions of the cover. Such pools often cause the cover to sag that not only form an unsightly or lumpy appearance for the cover, but also exert undesirable forces against the canopy cover. Too much undesirable forces may tear or damage the cover.
Accordingly, a need exists for a canopy cover that allows for guiding of rain water from the canopy cover within a path, which diminishes any undesirable forces of water pools.
These and other needs are addressed by the exemplary embodiments, in which one approach provided for a collapsible canopy that is expanded during rain fall to guide fluid (i.e., rain water) for diminishing any undesirable forces of water pools.
Another approach provided for a collapsible canopy that is flexible, expandable, portable, easy assembly, low maintenance and economic affordable for protecting underneath plants from damages of natural disasters and collecting rain water.
According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a canopy comprises a frame, a propulsive mechanism and a shelter. The frame has a stationary side and a movable side. The stationary side is fixed to ground. The movable side is opposite corresponded to the stationary side and is configured to move forward and backward in a predetermined path, which expands the coverage of the collapsible canopy. The propulsive mechanism drives the movable side to expand the frame. The shelter is expandable and collapsible connected to the frame, wherein the shelter forms a collective area to provide sheltering from exterior weather conditions and guides the fluid out when the shelter is expanded and driven by the movable side of the frame.
Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the exemplary embodiments are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations, including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the exemplary embodiments. The exemplary embodiments are also capable of other and different embodiments, and their several details can be modified in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative, and not as restrictive.
The exemplary embodiments are illustrated by way of examples, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:
With reference to
The movable side 10B is also formed by two rods 103 and two valley bars 104, and is opposite corresponded to the stationary side 10A. The rods 103 of the movable side 10A are detachable from ground and may connect to a corresponding mobile mechanism 105. In this example, the mobile mechanism 105 is a wheel. The movable side 10B of the frame is configured to move forward and backward in a predetermined path, which expands the coverage of the collapsible canopy. The predetermined path can be simply a track notched on ground. The valley bars 104 of the movable side 10B are connected to each other, and are supported by the rods 103. Each valley bars 104 has an upper end (not shown) and a lower end (not shown). The upper end of the valley bar 104 connects to a top of the corresponding rod 103, and the lower end of the valley bar 104 connects to the other lower end of the valley bar 104.
The propulsive mechanism 11 drives the movable side 10B to expand the frame and may be selectively located on the stationary side or the movable side. In this example, the propulsive mechanism 11 is mounted on the movable side 10B connected to the mobile mechanism 105 (i.e., the wheel), which is triggered by a user and drives the mobile mechanism 105. The propulsive mechanism 11 may be a manually-operated module or a motorized module, and thus the mobile mechanism 105 can be driven by the manually-operated module, or the motorized module. It is noted that those skilled in the art would recognize that the mobile mechanism 105 can selectively be driven by a manually-operated module operated by hand (e.g. hand gear or mechanical spring), a motorized module operated by electricity or both.
The shelter 12 is expandable and collapsible connected to the corresponding valley bars 102, 104 of the frame. When the shelter 12 is collapsed and stored at an end of the stationary side 10A of the frame, as shown in
The shelter 12 may form a curtain-like configuration when expand or collapse between the stationary side 10A and the movable side 10B. As shown in
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In addition, when the propulsive mechanism 11 is operated by electricity, the canopy may further comprise a battery module. The battery module provides power to the propulsive mechanism and may be disposed on or integrated with the propulsive mechanism. Further, the segments 121 of the shelter 12 may be a solar panel that converts sunlight to electricity, which charges the battery module.
As evident from
The connections of the edges (i.e., the first edge 1213, the rear edge 1214, and the side edges 1211, 1212) between two separate segments 121 can be implemented by any suitable connecting assembly 1215, which may include one or more of, but not limited to using zipper, Velcro or hanger. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that may use multiple abovementioned embodiments by connecting the first side edge of one canopy to the first side edge of another canopy so as to extend the coverage.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined path is a slide assembly integrated with the mobile mechanism. The slide assembly is connected to the corresponding rods between the stationary side and the movable side. The mobile mechanism is a slide runner of the slide assembly, which is driven by the propulsive mechanism or hands. In one embodiment of the present invention, the propulsive mechanism is a motorized module mounted on the end of the stationary side of the frame. The propulsive mechanism drives the slide runner, the canopy unfolded as the slide runner extends from the slide assembly.
As shown in
In order to make the fluid flowing out more smoothly from the canopy, one embodiment of the present invention, the height of the movable side 10B of the frame is higher than the height of the stationary side 10A. In this way of the embodiment, the fluid on the surface of the shelter 12 may easily flow from the movable side 10B to the stationary side 10A then into the drain 13 for water collection.
According to another embodiment for flowing fluid smoothly, a canopy is similar to above mentioned embodiment. The length of the drains 13a, 13b, 13c are sequentially decreased, in this example, the frame of
As various embodiments above-mentioned of the present invention, the waterproof sheet may be made of any suitable waterproof fabric material such as polyester, polyethylene, nylon or plastic materials. The shelter segment can be configured to any shapes of square, triangle, rectangle or other appropriate polygon. Further, numbers of the shelters of the canopies can be arranged, the coverage of the canopy in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can be extended to any desired size.
While the exemplary embodiments have been described in connection with a number of embodiments and implementations, the exemplary embodiments are not so limited but cover various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements, which fall within the purview of the appended claims. Although features of the exemplary embodiments are expressed in certain combinations among the claims, it is contemplated that these features can be arranged in any combination and order.
