AUVENT PLIANT

COLLAPSIBLE CANOPY

Abrégé anglais

A B S T R A C T
This invention is a collapsible canopy, made of a
soft waterproof material, and supported on a framework made of
rods which are held together by corner sockets into which the
ends of these rods fit and are held, and from which the rods
can be removed for storage and transportation purposes. Four
of these rods serve as the corner posts of the framework; two
of the rods join the tops of each opposite pair of posts; and
four of the rods, one extending from the top of each of the
posts, form a gable type roof support for the canopy. From
the rectangular bottom edge of the canopy extends downwardly
a short wall, which holds the canopy in place. The bottom
ends of the posts are provided with pointed attachments by
means of which the posts are inserted into and held by the
ground. A wall for enclosing the entire structure, is provided
where total privacy is required, and a plurality of pockets are
provided at the edge and on the inside of one of the short walls.

Revendications

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-
sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows,-
1. A canopy, which is collapsible for storage purposes
comprising a framework consisting of four upright corner rods,
each one of which is provided with a sharp point, by means of
which these rods are inserted and held in the ground; two hori-
zontal rods; each of which ties together the upper ends of each
pair of corner rods; two angularly inclined rods, which, at-
tached to the upper ends of the corner rods, and attached to
each other, form the front gable of the canopy; another pair of
similar rods, similarly attached to the rear pair of corner
rods, to form the rear gable of the cahopy; a single horizontal
rod which joins the front gable peak to the rear gable peak,
forms the central ridge of the roof; a plurality of three-
socket corner fittings which tie the said rods together; a
canopy of waterproof and weatherproof material which encloses
the entire roof and only part way down the walls of the struc-
ture; and a row of pockets at the bottom of and on the inside
of the canopy walls, in combination with said canopy.

Description

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S P E C I F I C A T I 0 N
This invention consists of a canopy which can be
assembled rapidly for use at beaches and around the home for
protection against rain and over exposure to the sun. It can
be assembled rapidly, and folded into a comparatively small
package for storage and transportation.
Before the discovery of the above invention, large
size beach umbrellas were used to provide protection against
the actions of the sun, rain, and wind. The large size and
heavy weight of this type of umbrellas, made it unwieldy; its
position had to be constantly changed to be effective; its
single, central, supporting rod, which was stuck into the
ground or sand, was never capable of holding the umbrella in
the required position for any appreciabie length of time. In
its folded form, the umbrella still presents a formidable package
which is often difficult to store or carry.
The above difficulties are overcome by the use of
this invention which has the following advantages,-
~a) Larger shade area. This eliminates the need
for frequent relocation,
(b) Greater stability, because of the four leg sup-
port instead of a single central shaft,
(c) Can be easily srected, or folded into a light
compact package.
In describing the invention, reference will be made
to the attached drawings in which,-
Figure 1 shows the canopy framework,
Figure 2 shows the canopy located upon the framework,
Figure 3 shows a variation in the construction of
the canopy, and
Figure 4 shows one of the framework components.
The canopy 5, as shown in the drawings, consists of
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a soft waterproof cloth or plastic material, which is formedinto a gable shaped roof, having a rectangular base from the
perimeter of which extends downwardly a short wall 6. The
canopy is made of a soft material so that it can be folded
into a small package for storage or transportation.
The framework which supports the canopy is made up
of rods or pipes of a rigid but light material, such as plastic
rods of a small diameter, or of a light metal tubing. It con-
sists of four equal and upright posts 1, the bottom ehds of
which are each fitted with a sharp pointed attachment 1~, by
means of which each of said posts can be inserted into soft
ground or sand, and held therein. The posts 1, are positioned
so that each one of them is located on the corner of a rectangle
of the same dimension as the rectangular edge of the canopy.
Each pair of posts 1, at each end of the rectangle, is joined
at its top with a horizontal tie 2; and extending at an upward
angle from the top of each of the joined posts, is a rod 3,
which meets and joins the upward angular extensions from the
opposite posts, to form a gable roof support for the canopy.
All the rods which make up the canopy supporting
framework are joined together at their ends by means of specially
designed corner sockets 4, into which fit the ends of the
posts 1, the ends of ties 2, and the ends of the gable roof
support 3.
Along one edge of the short wall 6, and on the in-
terior thereof, is provided a plurality of pockets 7, in which
various articles, such as cosmetics, lotions, and other
toiletries can be kept for convenient use.
A variation in the inYention is shown in Figure 3.
This consists of adding extensions 8 to the short walls 6, which
are normally kept rolled up and tied to the walls 6, by means
of ties 9. The wall extensions 8 can be lowered by unrolling
them to~their full length for the purpose of prividing privacy

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when changing into bathing or street clothes.
The various rods used in the construction of the
framework for the canopy, can be made in required lengths to
provide the required results; thus all the posts 1 would be
equal in length; all ties would be of equal lengths and the
roof rods 3, would be equal in length. However, to provide
further simplification, all the above named rods can be made
of equal length, thereby becoming interchangeable.