EP2159350A1

EP2159350A1 - Collapsible shelter

Info

Publication number: EP2159350A1
Application number: EP08163327A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christophe Haemers; Jimmy Vanhoucke
Original assignee: Umbrosa NV
Current assignee: Umbrosa NV
Priority date: 2008-08-29
Filing date: 2008-08-29
Publication date: 2010-03-03
Also published as: WO2010023315A1

Abstract

A collapsible shelter having a flexible rod positioned between at least two support elements, characterized in that the shelter further comprises means to vary the distance between said support elements.

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a collapsible shelter, especially a sunshade or rain shelter comprising a fabric attached to a flexible rod.

Background of the Invention

With an ever increasing interest in design and comfort, hotels and resorts try to distinguish themselves from competitors. For beach resorts and tourist hotels, the looks of the adjacent beach or the swimming pool are one of the most appealing spots that deserve detailed attention in set up and design. To meet the hotels efforts to make their swimming pool or beach more appealing, the concept of classical parasols offering shade to persons is more and more replaced by a more personal concept of shade creation. In this new concept, special attention is made not only to offering shade to persons but also to the outline of the shade and the atmosphere it creates. In a sense, sunshades are designed and used to block light just as the mask in front of a light projector to create a work of art on a surface.
In order to make sunshades in all types of shapes, it is known to use rigid sheets curved or molded in the desired shape, however such rigid sheets are very difficult to store and not ideal for home use or for hotels needing large storage areas to store the sunshades in winter.
US 5,355,902 describes an umbrella with an alternative shape. The umbrella essentially comprises a flexible loop member attached to the canopy. By providing a flexible loop member, the shape of the umbrella can be designed quite different from classic umbrellas or shapes. To fold, close or collapse the umbrella, fixed points are provided at three distinct points along the flexible loop, which points are moved towards each other thereby folding the loop in smaller loops. A disadvantage of this folding of the flexible loop is that the tension on the loop increases significantly at folding the umbrella from a open to a closed position such that the loop is in a more tensed position when the umbrella is closed than when the umbrella is open, which is negative for the durability of the umbrella as the canopy will stretch gradually when the umbrella is closed and will loose tension in an open position of the umbrella.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the above mentioned and other disadvantages, without limiting the design options of the shelter structure in terms of shape and ease of use.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a collapsible shelter having a flexible rod positioned between at least two support elements, characterized in that the shelter further comprises means to vary the distance between said support elements.
Preferably, the distance between both support elements is varied for opening and closing the shelter, whereby the distance between the support elements is increased when moving the shelter from a open to a closed position.
The present invention also relates to the use of means to vary the distance between said two support elements for opening and closing a collapsible shelter.

Description of the Invention

A collapsible shelter according to the present invention has a flexible rod positioned between at least two support elements and further comprises means to vary the distance between said support elements. Preferably, the flexible rod and the support elements are configured such that for moving the shelter from a closed position to an open position, the support elements are moved apart.
In a simple configuration of the shelter according the present invention, both end portions of the flexible rod are directly or indirectly attached to the support elements and the flexible rod is in a bent position when the shelter is open. To close the shelter, the support elements are moved apart, where upon the flexible rod is relaxed and the bending thereof decreases.
An advantage of the shelter according to the present invention is that both the flexible rod and the canopy are under a more relaxed position when the shelter is closed than when the shelter is open. Hence, the canopy will not stretch in a closed position and will remain its shape and neatly follow the bend of the flexible rod in an open position. As such, the durability of the shelter according the present invention is increased in view of known collapsible shelters of the type comprising a flexible rod.
Another advantage of the shelter according to the present invention is that opening and closing of the shelter involves the relative movement of only two support elements, whereas for folding and unfolding an umbrella according to US 5,355,902 three fixed points along the flexible loop have to be moved. Since the mutual movement of two support elements can be realized according to ample of very simple well-known techniques, handling of the shelter according the present invention can be simple, resulting in a user friendly shelter.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that by making use one or more flexible rods positioned between two support elements, a great freedom of design is achieved, as when providing the flexible rod at the perimeter of the canopy, the bending of the rod -at moving the shelter from an open to a closed position- is controlled by the shape of the canopy. As such it is possible to create shelters having the shape of for example an oblong leaf.

Brief description of the Drawings

Figure 1: represents a shelter according to the present invention in an open position;
Figure 2: represents the same shelter as claim 1, though in a closed position;
Figure 3: represents a cross section along line A-A in figure 1;
Figure 4: represents an alternative shelter according to the present invention.

Description of a Preferred Embodiment

Figure 1 represents a shelter 1 having a flexible rod 2 positioned between at least two support elements 3-4 and comprising means to vary the distance between said support elements 3-4. In this case, the shelter 1 further comprises a support member 5 and a canopy or fabric 6 attached to the flexible rod 2 and preferably to the support member 5.
The flexible rod 2 is flexible in that it is bendable in a certain degree. The capacity of bending the rod is determined by the shape of the shelter to be created. The rod is preferably manufactured from a flexible material such as a composite or fiberglass material and can be segmented or manufactured in one piece. In case of a segmented rod, the flexibility can be achieved by the flexibility of each segment individually or by all segments collectively being flexible. Examples of such flexible rods are well known in the tent industry, where such rods are used as tent poles. It is preferred that the material of the flexible rod has none or very little memory, such that the material retakes its original form when relaxed after being put under tension (bending) for a certain period.
As represented in figure 1, both end portions of the flexible rod are preferably directly attached to the support elements 3-4. In this case the fixation of the end portions of the rod is achieved by a pen 7 fixedly provided on the support element, the flexible rod being hingeable around said pen.
The support elements 3-4 in this case comprise two parallel plate elements provided at a distance of each other and fixed to each other by for example the above mentioned pen 7, the end portions of the flexible rod extending between both plate elements. Preferably and as represented in figure 3, the support elements 3-4 comprise means to guide the bending of the flexible rod 2, which guide means in this case comprise a rib 8 provided between both plate elements, preventing the end portions of the rod 2 to hinge in an unwanted direction.
Turning now to the means to vary the distance between the support elements it is noted that in this case the means comprise a telescopic strut 5 that also functions as the above mentioned support member. The ends of the telescopic strut 5 are fixed to the support elements 3-4(in between the plate elements). The means to vary the distance between the support elements 3-4 further preferably comprise a cord 9 attached to one of the support elements 4 and is further guided along or through the telescopic strut 5 and having an operable free end adjacent the second support element 3.
The fabric 6 of the shelter can be a woven or non-woven and is preferably attached to the flexible rod 2 by gluing, stitching, by enveloping the flexible rod 2 in the fabric or any other suitable technique allowing stretching the fabric when opening the shelter and relaxing the fabric when closing the shelter.
Preferably the fabric is also attached to the support member 5 by gluing, stitching, by enveloping the support member 2 in the fabric or any other suitable technique allowing stretching the fabric when opening the shelter and relaxing the fabric when closing the shelter.
Handling of the shelter according to the present invention is very simple and as follows. When the shelter 1 is in a closed position as represented in figure 2, the fabric is folded and the telescopic strut 5 is slit out. To open the shelter, one only needs to pull the cord, thereby sliding in the telescopic strut 5 and moving both support elements 3-4 towards each other. By decreasing the distance between the support elements 3-4, the tension on the flexible rod 2 is increased and the telescopic rod 2 is forced to bend and the fabric will be stretched open. The bending of the telescopic rod 2 will be determined by the shape of the fabric 6 and/or the attachment of the fabric 6 to the rod 2. The shelter is kept in an open position by clamping the cord or by fixing it in a stretched position. Upon releasing the cord, the shelter will close automatically by the resiliency of the flexible rod 2. According to the present invention, the distance between the support element is increased when moving the shelter from an open to a closed position, hence decreasing the tension applied on the fabric and on the flexible rod. It is clear that closing of the shelter can be made more fluent by providing a spring to the telescopic strut 5, said spring forcing the distance between both support elements 3-4 to increase when the shelter is in an open position.
It is noted that the means to vary the distance between the support elements can be achieved in numerous manners and does not necessitate the use of a support member or a telescopic strut. If a telescopic strut is used, opening of the shelter can be achieved by manually pushing both support elements towards each other and blocking the support elements in the open position of the shelter. Further it is noted that the telescopic strut can also be configures a double telescopic strut with a telescopic part at each end of a central part of the strut. Such double telescopic strut allows designing large shelters.
Clearly it is also possible to make use of a rail and wagon to vary the distance between the support elements 3-4, in which case at least one of the support elements 3-4 is fixed to the wagon being slideable in the rail. Also the use of a hingeable arm can be used to vary the distance between the support elements. Examples of such hingeable arms are known from awnings.
Figure 4 represents an alternative shelter according the present invention, comprising two flexible rods 2 and a support member 5 positioned there between. In this configuration, both flexible rods 2 are provided in between the same pair of support elements 3-4 and the shelter can be designed in the shape of for example an oblong leaf.
Evidently, the different flexible rods 2 (either two or more) can be provided between different pairs of support elements 3-4, depending on the desired shape of shelter.
A shelter according the present invention can be used for various applications such as a sunshade, an umbrella, a banner or the like.
The present invention is by no means limited to the above described and represented embodiments but can be manufactured according to numerous variants without leaving the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A collapsible shelter having a flexible rod positioned between at least two support elements, characterized in that the shelter further comprises means to vary the distance between said support elements.
The shelter according to claim 1, wherein the distance between both support elements is varied for opening and closing the shelter.
The shelter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the distance between the support elements is increased when moving the shelter from a open to a closed position
The shelter according to claim 1, further comprising a support member and a fabric attached to said flexible rod.
The shelter according to claims 1 and 4, wherein said means to vary the distance between the support elements comprises a telescopic strut.
The shelter according to claim 5, wherein said support member is the telescopic strut.
The shelter according to claim 6, comprising two flexible rods both positioned between said support elements, said fabric being attached to both rods.
The shelter according to claim 7, wherein the support member is positioned between both flexible rods.
Use of means as referred to in claim 1 for opening and closing a collapsible shelter
Use of a shelter as identified in claim 1 as a sunshade.