Patent Application
20060130887
This article of manufacture relates generally to an elongated structural support; and more particularly to a novel and improved structural support member for a collapsible shelter having a cellular core structure characterized by its high strength and ability to withstand a combination of axial bending stresses and tensile loading as well as torsional forces. A structural support member may be used in combination with an adjustment assembly and improved mounting members to provide for an improved collapsible shelter with added stability and strength.
Modern load-bearing supports for canopies, shelters, umbrellas and the like need to be lightweight yet also capable of sustaining loading forces, such as, gravity, winds and other forces. Hollow stainless steel members which have been used in the past, are heavy and must withstand high wind speeds and structural loads while efficiently and inexpensively reinforcing the load carrying capacity of the structural member. The following article of manufacture is a novel and improved structural support member which is lightweight yet is able to withstand multidirectional forces.
The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope.
The embodiments set forth are exemplary and not for purposes of limitation. The present embodiments are designed to provide a novel and improved elongated structural support member to be integrated in a load carrying structure, such as, a truss. The present embodiments provide a structural support member for shelters, canopies, chairs, umbrellas and are not limited to these but are given by way of example.
In accordance with the present embodiments, there is provided an elongated structural support member having a cellular core structure of generally oblong cross-sectional configuration, the cellular core structure including an outer rigid shell and internal dovetailed wall portions at opposite ends of the shell and an internal medial wall portion joined at opposite ends to the dovetailed wall portions. There is further provided a collapsible frame shelter including vertical support legs, a telescoping center support member and truss sections extending between the vertical support legs, the center support end having slidable mounting members located on an upper end of the vertical support legs, the mounting members each having at least two bosses with a bore therethrough, arm members including an aligned bore pivotally mounted in juxtaposition to the bosses, vertical support legs having mutually aligned bores, position locking members located on the mounting members and the truss sections defined by a plurality of elongated structural support beams each having an outer rigid shell and internal dovetailed wall portions at opposite ends of the shell and an internal medial wall portions joined at opposite ends to the dovetailed wall portions.
In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by references to the drawings and by study of the following descriptions.
Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in reference to Figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and Figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than limiting.
An elongated structural support 11 for a collapsible shelter is illustrated generally in
Broadly, the cellular core structure or honeycomb configuration is formed from a medial wall portion 17 having a continuous series of upwardly and downwardly projecting extensions forming generally polygonal areas. It will be recognized that termination of the extensions in slightly rounded flat surfaces will cause variance in the cross-sectional forms.
In the embodiment shown in
The elongated structural support member 11 is formed of aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, Fiberglass, steel or other types of materials. Titanium typically has maximum stress levels of about 150,000 psi while aluminum has maximum stress levels up to 90,000 psi depending upon the alloy mixture. Fiber material has maximum stress levels of about 600,000 psi to 1,000,000 psi. The type of material chosen for the support member 11 is dependent upon the stress levels required, the expense and the characteristics desired, i.e., lightweight. The support beam 11 forms a truss member capable of withstanding multi-directional stresses. The support members 11, 41 are typically formed by the extrusion process used by those skilled in the art. This structure can also be formed by, but is not limited to, casting, diffusion bonding and filament winding. The formation of the profiled metal shapes may be varied depending upon the structure desired. The cellular structure of the design allows for variance in the load-carrying capability along different planes while also providing for a lighter weight framework.
Further, the cross-sectional configuration of the support member 11 will dictate the areas of greater load carrying capacity. For example, a support beam having a cross-sectional configuration including generally conical recesses at each opposite end 23, 23′ of the shell 15 provides greater load carrying capacity at each vertical end preventing buckling or breaking of the support beam at localized areas of highly concentrated loads. In this situation, the load-bearing capacity is greater along the vertical plane than the lateral plane. A smaller cross-sectional area is provided at these points. Based upon the expected loading characteristics of a structural framework, the geometry of the structural support member 11 can be used to efficiently carry the expected stresses. Furthermore, the cellular core structure must have cooperating elements forming the support member 11 which can resolve stresses generated from more than one direction. For example, a shelter assembly must be designed in such a way to efficiently withstand forces within a truss such as bending, deflection and shear as well as torsional, rotational, compression bending and tension stresses.
A further embodiment as shown in
The support beam may be used as framework in canopies, chairs, benches, hammocks, carriages and other fixed and folding frameworks. An example of this is shown in
The mounting members 123 are secured by terminal ends of the truss sections to the support members, each of the mounting members having at least one boss 70 with a bore 72 therethrough and the sections including aligned bores pivotally mounted in juxtaposition to the bosses. See
The configurations described are by way of example and not limitation and these configurations have been found to provide a high strength structure capable of withstanding high compressional forces but also capable of withstanding high shear forces. It has also been found that polygonal recesses at opposite ends of an elongated support beam provide maximum strength along a major axis where torsional forces can be higher in a truss bar of a shelter. It is obvious that the polygonal recesses may assume a number of different shapes, such as, triangle, trapezoid, diamond, parallelogram or rhombus to obtain maximum strength in a selected direction.
While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and subcombinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and subcombinations as are within their true spirit and scope.
This application is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 10/983,005, filed 5 Nov., 2004 for CORNER MOLDING AND STOP ASSEMBLY FOR COLLAPSIBLE SHELTERS by Steven E. Mallookis and Chao-Shun Ko and incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10983005 | Nov 2004 | US |
| Child | 11301981 | Dec 2005 | US |
