Patent Application
20250172011
The present disclosure can include a shelter having a support frame. A flexible exterior shelter layer can cover the support frame. The exterior shelter layer can form exterior shelter layer roof and sidewall portions of the shelter. A flexible waterproof floor can be included and have a floor bottom portion and a floor sidewall portion. The floor sidewall portion can extend upwardly above the floor bottom portion. The floor sidewall portion can be removably securable to the exterior shelter layer sidewall portion above the floor bottom portion.
In particular embodiments, the floor sidewall portion can be removably securable to the exterior shelter layer sidewall portion with a zipper joint that is about 6 inches above the floor bottom portion. A flexible inner shelter layer can extend adjacent to the exterior shelter layer at the exterior shelter layer roof and sidewall portions and can also laterally extend inwardly over and cover the floor bottom portion at perimeter regions of the floor bottom portion in a generally ring-shaped manner. The inner shelter layer can cover the floor bottom portion about 18 inches from outer edges of the floor bottom portion. The inner shelter layer can be secured to the floor bottom portion with hook and loop fastener. The inner shelter layer can further include at least one of EMI shielding, insulation, light reflecting, anti-microbial and infrared reflecting properties, and can include at least one layer. The support frame can include at least two inflatable arch beams connected together by an inflatable ridge beam. Some embodiments can include four inflatable arch beams. The exterior shelter layer can be removably securable to the support frame by releasable support frame straps that extend around the beams at spaced apart locations. The support frame straps can include releasable secondary attachment features for removably securing the inner shelter layer in a spaced relationship relative to the exterior shelter layer. Spacers can attach the exterior shelter layer to the inner shelter layer to maintain about a 1 inch gap between the exterior shelter layer and the inner shelter layer. In some embodiments, the shelter can be a first shelter. The first shelter can include a first complexing member located on at least one end of the first shelter for mating with a second complexing member located on at least one end of a second shelter for joining the first and second shelters together. The first and second complexing members can be configured to form a rain gutter for directing water between the first and second shelters to the ground. In some embodiments, complexing members can be included on opposite ends of each shelter.
The present disclosure can also include a method of forming a shelter including providing a support frame and covering the support frame with a flexible exterior shelter layer to form exterior shelter layer roof and sidewall portions of the shelter. A flexible waterproof floor can be removably secured to the exterior shelter layer sidewall portion of the shelter. The floor can have a floor bottom portion and a floor sidewall portion. The floor sidewall portion can extend upwardly above the floor bottom portion. The floor sidewall portion can be removably securable to the exterior shelter layer sidewall portion above the floor bottom portion.
In particular embodiments, the floor sidewall portion can be removably secured to the exterior shelter layer sidewall portion with a zipper joint that is about 6 inches above the floor bottom portion. A flexible inner shelter layer can be provided. The inner shelter layer can extend adjacent to the exterior shelter layer at the exterior shelter layer roof and sidewall portions, and also can laterally extend inwardly over and cover the floor bottom portion at perimeter regions of the floor bottom portion in a generally ring-shaped manner. The exterior shelter layer can cover the floor bottom portion about 18 inches from outer edges of the floor bottom portion. The inner shelter layer can be secured to the floor bottom portion with hook and loop fastener. The inner shelter layer can be provided with at least one of EMI shielding, insulation, light reflecting, anti-microbial and infrared reflecting properties, and can include at least one layer. The support frame can include at least two inflatable arch beams connected together by an inflatable ridge beam. The exterior shelter layer can be removably secured to the support frame with releasable support frame straps that can extend around the beams at spaced apart locations. The inner shelter layer can be removably secured in a spaced relationship relative to the exterior shelter layer with releasable secondary attachment features on the support frame straps. About a 1 inch gap can be maintained between the exterior shelter layer and the inner shelter layer with spacers that attach the exterior shelter layer to the inner shelter layer. The shelter can be a first shelter and include a first complexing member located on at least one end of the first shelter for mating with a second complexing member located on at least one end of a second shelter for joining the first and second shelters together. The first and second complexing members can be configured to form a rain gutter for directing water between the first and second shelters to the ground.
The foregoing will be apparent from the following more particular description of example embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The drawings being filed herewith is not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating embodiments.
A description of example embodiments follows.
An example embodiment of a soft wall expeditionary shelter system 10 for the US Army is shown in
The air beams 12 can be in the shape of a faceted arch that span 10 feet laterally. The air beams can be 8″ in cross-sectional diameter, have two vertical legs of the arch that are 7′-6″ tall and slope inward toward the center of the shelter 1′-0″ from the bottom to the top of the legs, and each arch has a center-spanning air beam connecting to the top of the two legs and spanning 8′-0″ and with a peaked high point at the center of the span that is 8′-6″ above the floor.
The air beam includes an internal polyurethane air bladder and an outer protective fabric sleeve layer. The sleeves can include a zipper or Velcro® hook and loop fastener seam to replace the bladders. The air beams can be inflated manually or with an air compressor through an integrated air valve 18. The air beam bladders can be inflated to about 3-5 psi with a light tactical vehicle compressor. The air pumped into the air beam arches creates a pressure that automatically raises the walls and roof of the shelter into their occupiable shape. The air valves can be opened to release the air for taking down and folding up the shelter for storage. Each air beam arch can be connected to the other air beam arches by a ½″ diameter air tube 20 with a valve to pinch off or open up the possible passage of air. The air beam arches resist gravitational snow loads and lateral forces that are parallel to the span of the arch. The valves on the air beams allow rapid inflation and deflation.
In the example embodiment, there may be two types of fabric for the soft wall expeditionary shelter enclosure system: one type for the floor, and the other type for the rest of the shelter enclosure. In this embodiment, the floor 22 is a very durable waterproof fabric, and this fabric has a sidewall portion 22b that extends up to connect to the vertical walls of the shelter 6″ above the floor 22 to create a “bathtub effect” to keep out water. The floor fabric can be polyurethane coated for durability and include embedded aerogel for thermal performance and insulation. There can be a zipper joint 46 and a waterproof protective flap of fabric at this 6″ above-the-floor datum to connect the floor 22 to the rest of the shelter enclosure above. This allows the floor fabric to be removed and replaced if it becomes too damaged from wear and tear. The floor can be staked to the ground with stakes 24, through loops or openings 24a extending from floor 22.
In one example embodiment, the fabric 14 for the shelter enclosure can include three primary layers. The outer layer is waterproof with waterproof seams, has anti-microbial capabilities, and is camouflaged in appearance. The middle layer has complete electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding capabilities and has a high thermal resistance due to an integrated layer of flexible aerogel. The inner layer has anti-microbial and infrared light energy reflective capabilities and is light in color to best reflect the interior lighting. The shelter can be 15 ft long by 10 ft wide, having 150 ft2 of of floor fabric, 330 ft2 of wall/roof fabric and 144 ft2 of end wall fabric, including fabric doors. This can result in a total of 624 ft2 or 69.2 sq yrds of fabric.
There can be several 12″×12″ integrated waterproof of EMI shielding flaps 26 to allow service lines to penetrate the shelter enclosure and still maintain EMI shielding with a fixed seam at the top and a hook-and-loop style or other coupling element at the two sides and bottom edges to secure the flaps 26 to the exterior of the shelter enclosure. There can be D-shaped zippered door fabric panels 28 at each end of the extruded shelter form, each with two zippers that travel in opposite directions when unzipping to open the fabric door panels. The door zippers also have waterproof and EMI shielding protective flaps. The door panels can provide about 6′6″ tall and up to 3′6″ wide openings.
The example embodiment may include a collapsible fiberglass rod X-bracing system 16 that extends between each air-beam arch leg and between the central spanning beam, thus there are three X-braces per structural bay. This system resists lateral forces against racking and gravitational snow loads at the roof. At the intersection of the X, there may be a flexible rubberized rod connector that can fold to reduce the length of the X bracing in half when the shelter is taken down for storage. Also, the ends of each X-brace are connected to the adjacent X brace by a flexible rubberized rod connector creating a continuous network of X-braces the full length of the shelter.
The fiberglass rod X-bracing system may be slipped into fabric sleeves that are sewn integrally to the shelter enclosure fabric so the fiberglass rods and hinges stay in place. Once the air is pumped into the air beam arches and automatically raises the walls and roof of the shelter into their occupiable shape, the collapsible fiberglass rod hinges can be manually pushed outward to create tension within the rods and the shelter enclosure fabric to make tight the shelter enclosure fabric. To take down the shelter, the collapsible fiberglass rod hinges can be manually pushed inward to fold the X-braces in half to minimize the length of the shelter when it is folded up for storage. A collapsible skeleton for a 4 ft long packed length can be provided.
1. An example feature of this soft wall expeditionary shelter system is its unique combination of integrated structural and shelter enclosure technologies, including the air beam arches, multi layered shelter enclosure, and fiberglass rod X-bracing systems.
2. Example embodiments include a combination of these systems to provide for a rapidly deployable, self-actuating shelter set up, waterproofed, high-thermally performing, EMI shielding, and infrared reflecting shelter system.
3. This shelter system is designed to be under 150 pounds so it can be lifted up and easily transported by just three people.
4. This shelter system is designed to be set up by just three people, for example, in under five minutes and to be taken down by just three people, for example, in under five minutes.
5. The shelter enclosure fabric may integrate thin layers of high-thermal resisting layers of flexible aerogel.
Example advantages of this soft wall expeditionary shelter over existing shelter systems include its unique combination of performative attributes that are specifically designed for military operations:
1. it is lightweight and compact when rolled up and stowed for ease of transport, lifting, and handling;
2. the structure is self-actuating and rapidly deployable by inflating the air beam arches;
3. it has a unique combination of air beam arches and a fiberglass rod X-bracing system that is structurally rigid to resist gravitational loads up to 10 lbs./sf snow load, and, in an example embodiment, to resist 60 mph lateral wind forces;
4. the shelter enclosure system may have a unique combination of visual camouflage, waterproofing, a snow and rain shedding form, high thermal performance down to −60° F. and up to +140° F., infrared reflecting, anti-microbial properties, and EMI shielding capabilities; and
5. the shelter may have an easily deployable waterproof and EMI-shielded system of fabric flaps that can be folded through the door of one shelter into another for connecting two shelters together to easily enlarge the overall square footage of interior space.
1. This soft wall expeditionary shelter may be designed specifically for the use of small and fast moving tactical groups of US Army soldiers.
2. It may be designed to be easily stowed in military vehicles for transport into active battle zones, and to weigh under 150 lbs. so it may be easily carried and handled by three soldiers.
3. It is designed to be rapidly set up to provide the necessary environmental and enemy-detection protection, and to be rapidly taken down, rolled up, and stowed back into a military vehicle.
4. The air beam structure can be inflated using the air compressor that is already integrated into military vehicles for its self-actuating set-up process, or it may be manually inflated using a hand pump.
5. Two shelters can be easily connected together to increase the overall interior square footage.
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A flexible second, interior or inner shelter layer liner or fabric 42 can be attached inside the interior of the shelter 30 for extending next to or adjacent to the exterior shelter layer 32, on the ends 31, sidewalls 32a and the roof 32b. The inner shelter layer 42 can include an insulating layer formed of aerogel, an EMI shielding layer, a white light reflecting layer, and include infrared reflecting properties and anti-microbial properties. The inner shelter layer 42 can be secured to the support frame 15, the exterior shelter 32 and the floor 22. The inner shelter layer 42 can extend laterally inwardly over the floor 22 to cover a perimeter ring region and can be secured to the floor 22 with a series of spaced apart paired fasteners 44 such as Velcro® hook and loop fastener patches or dots.
Two sets of service ports can be included on opposite sides 32a and near opposite ends 31. Each set can include two large ports 38 for air-conditioning or heating, and one small port 40 for electrical or communication wires or cables.
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Further details of an embodiment of a tent or shelter 30 in the present disclosure follow. The tent or shelter can be a new, lightweight, rapidly deployable, soft wall shelter 30 for the US Army. The primary structure can be an inflatable air beam support frame structure or skeleton 15 comprised of four, parallel, faceted, air beam arches 12 that span 10′-0″ and are interconnected to a perpendicular, 15′-0″ long, central air ridge beam 13. The air beam skeleton defines a 10′-0″ wide×15′-0″ long space that is an extruded form of the shape of the faceted arches. The total floor area can be 150 square feet.
The air beam skeleton 15 can be contained within, and structurally supports, an exterior shelter layer or fabric enclosure 32. The exterior enclosure can have large zippered doors 34 at both short ends approximately in the shape of a “D,” having a zipper 66 and fabric ties 62. Each “D” door 34 can have a smaller, rectangular, zippered, roll-up door 36 within its profile having zipper 66 and fabric ties 64. There can be two groups of three service portals 38 and 40 on both long sides of the fabric enclosure, six total, to bring in conditioned air and electrical services from the outside.
There can also be an inner shelter layer or fabric liner 42 that attaches to the air beam skeleton 15 and the outer enclosure 32 using Velcro® fasteners. This inner shelter layer liner 42 can be comprised of three layers: an outermost thermal resistance layer; a middle electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding layer; an innermost layer to protect the other two from direct contact. The inner shelter layer 42 liner can also have large zippered doors 34a to correspond directly to the large exterior doors 34, with a smaller roll-up door 36a within the larger door profile 34a, and service ports that correspond to the service ports in the outer or exterior shelter layer 32 enclosure.
The support frame structure air beam skeleton 15 can be a continuous and bladderless volume, i.e., the exterior fabric is impermeable and holds air that is under 3 psi to 6 psi air pressure. The air beam skeleton 15 can be inflated manually or with an air compressor through integrated inflate/deflate air valves 18. When inflated, the air beam skeleton 15 can resist both gravitational snow loads and lateral wind forces.
The shape of the air beam 12 arches can be comprised of four straight facets or partitions: two lower legs, portions or facets 12a that touch the ground 10′-0″ apart and rise 6′-0″ at an 81° angle from the horizontal; two upper portions or facets 12b that spring from the top of the lower facets 12a at a 30° angle from the horizontal, and connect to the central air ridge beam 13. All of the air beam arch facets 12a and 12b can be 9″ in diameter. The air beam arches 12 can be spaced 4′-9″ on center apart from each other. The central air ridge beam 13 can be 1′-0″ in dimeter, and the top of the ridge beam can be 8′-4″ above the ground. There can be an inflate/deflate valve 1′-6″ above the ground at both ends of the air beam skeleton 15, two total, and can be kitty-corner from each other.
The exterior shelter enclosure layer 32 can be attached to the air beam skeleton 15 by a series of nylon straps 48 with Velcro® fastener strips for bonding. These straps 48 can be sewn onto the exterior shelter layer 32 enclosure to be at the bottom, middle, and top of all four air beam arch facets 12a and 12b, and along the air ridge beam 13. This allows for either the air beam skeleton 15 or exterior shelter layer enclosure 32 to be demounted and replaced if damaged.
There can be two types of fabric for the exterior enclosure system, one for the floor 22 and the other for the walls 32a, doors 34, 36, protective zipper flaps 34a and 36a, service portal flaps 38a, 340a, and roof 32b. The floor 22 can be a very durable waterproof, antimicrobial fabric to resist wear and tear from the environmental condition of the ground and soldiers walking on it. The floor fabric 22 cab extend up the vertical walls of the shelter 6″ to create a “bathtub effect” to keep out water. There can be a zipper joint 46 and a waterproof protective fabric flap 47 kept in place with Velcro® fastener strips at 6″ above the ground to connect the floor bathtub to the rest of the exterior enclosure above. This allows the floor fabric 22 to be demounted and replaced if it becomes damaged.
The exterior enclosure walls, doors, service ports, and roof can be formed of a waterproof, antimicrobial fabric with a camouflage pattern on the exterior and a black blackout surface on the interior. The zippers for the large “D” doors 34 and small roll-up doors 36 can have protective flaps 34a and 36a of this same fabric and can be held in place by Velcro® strips. There can be two groups of three service portals 38 and 40 on both long sides of the fabric enclosure, six total, to bring in conditioned air and electrical services from the outside. Two of the portals in each group can be 1′-4″ in diameter and the third portal can be 4″ in diameter. Each portal 38 and 40 can shed water by being covered by a “dryer vent” service flap on the exterior of the enclosure.
There can be complementary complexing flaps 50A and 50B that follow the profile of the air beam arches 12 at each end of the exterior enclosure so two soft wall shelters 30a and 30b can be joined at their doors to create one large and continuous interior space (called complexing) while preventing ambient air, wind, rain, or snow intrusion. Flaps 50A at one end A are designed to receive Flaps 50B of another soft wall shelter 30, thereby creating a sealed gutter 52 that will direct any moisture around the door openings and down to the ground. Additionally, there can be nylon loops 24a sewn onto the exterior enclosure at the foot and shoulder of each air beam arch 12 to be able to stake the shelter 30 down with stakes 24 in high wind environments. Guy wires can be attached to the shoulder loops 24a so they be angled down to reach the ground 8 and be staked in.
The inner shelter layer or fabric liner 42 can attach to the air beam skeleton 15 using the same straps and Velcro® fasteners that attach the air beam skeleton 15 to the exterior shelter layer 32 enclosure so it can be demounted and replaced if damaged. There can be additional connection points 56 between the exterior shelter layer or outer enclosure 32 and inner shelter layer liner 42 to prevent the inner liner from sagging and impinging on the interior space. If desired, the inner liner can be removed and stowed and the shelter would still maintain its protection from weather and wind.
The inner shelter layer liner 42 can be a composite of three fabric layers: an outermost thermal layer; a middle electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding layer; an innermost layer to protect the other two from direct contact. The thermal layer can be fabricated from a flexible aerogel. The EMI shielding layer can be an existing product that contains a metallic weave that denies through-transmission of EMI signals. The inner layer is white to best reflect interior light sources and can have antimicrobial and infrared-light shielding capabilities to minimize heat signatures.
There can be lightweight straps 58 sewn onto the inner shelter layer 42 to support a string of lights to illuminate the interior. There can also be heavy “D-rings” 60 sewn onto the inner shelter layer that are aligned with each air beam arch 12 to support straps to hang equipment.
Unique features are generated by the integration of the soft wall shelter systems 30 described above. The integration of the primary shelter systems and their subsystems creates unique performative synergies and are enumerated here:
The advantage of the soft wall shelter 30 over existing shelter systems is its unique combination of performative attributes that are specifically designed for military operations but applicable to other uses and markets:
The design of the soft wall shelter 30 greatly minimizes unnecessary complexity, thus reducing overall manufacturing costs while making the user interface extremely easy and intuitive. The streamlined design also minimizes the general quantities of material per square foot of usable space to match the weight criteria of the US Army. By minimizing complexity and materials, overall manufacturing costs are also minimized.
The unique combination of the integrated systems, including the air beam skeleton, exterior shelter layer enclosure, and inner shelter layer liner, is specifically tuned to the needs of the US Army for with the following performative attributes:
Many of these same attributes would also be desirable for humanitarian, emergency, and recreational uses.
While example embodiments have been particularly shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the embodiments encompassed or contemplated herein or in the drawing being filed herewith. Features of different embodiments can be combined together or omitted. Example dimensions of embodiments are described and given in the drawings, However, dimensions can vary depending upon the situation at hand. Although shelters have been described above to include inflatable beams 12 and 13, in some embodiments, non-inflatable or rigid arch and ridge beams or support frames can be used to support inner and exterior shelter layers.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/362,281, filed on Mar. 31, 2022. The entire teachings of the above application are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention was made with government support under Grant Number W911QY-19-9-0011 from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center. The government has certain rights in the invention.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2023/064746 | 3/21/2023 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63362281 | Mar 2022 | US |
