The present invention relates to a tent structure and a method of erecting a tent. Tents, of course, have long been known; and many different structures have been proposed for tents and are in commercial use.
One important use for tents, from a commercial standpoint, is that of a camper carrying his gear in or on a backpack. There is a desire, in this and other instances, to have a tent which is compact in the sense of having a minimum floor area and minimum height, while providing sufficient headroom. Further, it is desirable to reduce the number of poles or frame elements required to support the tent shell or covering.
In the present invention, a tent structure includes a covering which has four upright triangular walls laid out in the form of a square or rectangle. A pair of transverse ridges are formed in the top of the tent covering, each ridge extends between the upper corner of opposing triangular walls.
Four top/corner pieces of covering material are provided to cover the quadrants defined by the transverse ridges. Each top/corner piece extends between adjacent ridge sections and between the inclined edges of adjacent ones of the triangular walls to complete the enclosure. Thus, each top/corner piece takes the general form of a symmetrical four-edged kite which is inverted to form a groove extending from the central portion of the top of the shell down to a corner of the base.
The supporting structure includes a rigid ridge pole assembly which extends along one of the transverse ridges of the shell, and is supported at its ends by a pair of upright, telescoping support poles (sometimes simply called the "uprights"). The ridge pole may be of fixed length, and it extends through a pair of loops, one at each end of the first ridge. This first ridge is tensioned against the upright support poles by a pair of ties, one at each end.
The second ridge is supported by a flexible spreader bar assembly which in the case of a two-man or three-man tent, may be provided in three pieces, each end piece fitting through a sleeve extending along one of the side ridge sections of the second ridge. For larger tents, the spreader bar assembly may be made longer and include more sections and couplers. In either case, the center portion of the spreader bar assembly rests on top of the center portion of the rigid ridge pole. Thus, load is transmitted from the spreader bar assembly to the rigid ridge pole and thence to the ground by means of the upright support poles. The upright support poles are capable of being adjusted in fixed lengths by means of a spring pin secured to an inner telescoping section and extending through an aperture in the outer piece. This type of adjusting mechanism is known in the art.
To erect the tent, the upright support poles are adjusted to the shortest length. The ridge pole is assembled through the corner loops on the first ridge, and the flexible spreader bar is placed through the sleeves on the second ridge and crossing over the center portion of the ridge pole.
With the bottom of the tent staked, the upright support poles are placed in their vertical positions. Tie tapes are used to secure the outboard ends of the first ridge to the upright support poles to tension the shell along the first ridge. Further, the sleeves are stretched along the outboard ends of the spreader bar assembly. The entire shell is tensioned by elongating the upright support poles as they remain in their vertical positions.
The present invention thus provides for a compact tent structure with a minimum of floor space and height, while providing sufficient headroom. Further, the entire structure is compact when disassembled and occupies a minimum of space. Further, the structure may be simply and easily erected by a single person.
Other features and advantages will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, accompanied by the attached drawing wherein identical reference numerals will refer to like parts in the various views.