U.S. patent application number 09/792903 was filed with the patent office on 2002-08-29 for retractable upright pole for a camping tent.
Invention is credited to Han, Jan-Long.
Application Number | 20020117196 09/792903 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25158418 |
Filed Date | 2002-08-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020117196 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Han, Jan-Long |
August 29, 2002 |
Retractable upright pole for a camping tent
Abstract
A retractable upright pole for a tent has multiple tubes
receivable in one another and each tube having a ball-spring
combination and multiple bores defined to correspond to the
ball-spring combination of another tube to secure the connection
between two adjacent tubes. The upright pole further has a
chain-spring combination inside the tube to be in combination with
the ball-spring combination to secure the connection between two
adjacent tubes.
Inventors: |
Han, Jan-Long; (Hsintien
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Alan Kamrath
RIDER BENNETT EGAN & ARUNDEL, LLP
333 South Seventh Street, Suite 2000
Minneapolis
MN
55402
US
|
Family ID: |
25158418 |
Appl. No.: |
09/792903 |
Filed: |
February 26, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/114 ; 135/75;
248/161 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04H 15/60 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
135/114 ; 135/75;
248/161 |
International
Class: |
E04H 015/60 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A retractable upright pole for a tent, the upright pole
comprising: multiple tubes of different sizes and sequentially
receivable in one another and each tube having a neck in one end,
an open end in the other end, multiple bores defined in a periphery
of the tube and a ball-spring combination securely provided inside
the tube, the ball-spring combination being able to extend to a
corresponding one of the bores of another tube to secure the
connection between the neck and the open end of two adjacent tubes
of different sizes.
2. The upright tube as claimed in claim 1 further having a
chain-spring combination provided in at least one of the tubes to
secure the connection between two adjacent tubes.
3. A retractable upright pole for a tent, the upright pole
comprising: multiple tubes of different sizes and each tube having
a neck in one end, an open end in the other end, multiple bores
defined in a periphery of the tube and a chain-spring combination
securely provided inside the tube, the chain-spring combination
being able to secure the connection between the neck and the open
end of two adjacent tubes of different sizes.
4. The upright tube as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a
ball-spring combination provided in at least one of the tubes to
secure the connection between two adjacent tubes.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a retractable upright pole,
and more particularly to a retractable upright pole for a camping
tent. The foldable upright pole can be retracted into a compact
size for storage to minimize the space occupied.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] A conventional upright pole generally can be separated into
pieces so that campers are able to carry all the camping equipment
easily. Usually, the conventional upright pole consists of several
different sections. When the camper is setting up a tent, the
camper normally assembles the different sections into one pole to
support two opposite ends of the tent or the center of a large
tent. When the camper moves to another location, the tent is
disassembled by separating the upright pole into pieces, and then
the disassembled pieces of the upright pole are received in a bag
for easy storage and transportation. However, because there are
different sizes of tents and different sizes of upright poles,
campers often mix the pieces of different upright poles and have a
hard time trying to sort out the correct sizes for each group of
upright poles.
[0005] To solve the problem, the present invention aims to provide
an improved upright pole structure to mitigate and obviate the
aforementioned problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
a retractable upright pole for a tent. The retractable upright pole
has multiple sectioned tubes receivable in one another and multiple
ball-spring combinations each securely provided in one of the
sectioned tubes, such that the upright pole is able-to be stretched
and retracted easily.
[0007] Another objective of the invention is that the upright pole
further has a chain-spring combination incorporated with the
ball-spring combination, so that even after the upright pole is
separated, portions of the upright pole are still connected to one
another to keep the pieces of the same group of upright poles
together.
[0008] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a side plan view of a tent with the upright pole
in accordance with the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the upright pole in FIG.
1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side plan view of the inner
structure of the upright pole in FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side plan view of an alternate
embodiment of the inner structure of the upright pole in accordance
with the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a side plan view of the upright pole in FIG. 2 in
a retracted mode; and
[0014] FIG. 6 is a side plan view of the upright pole in FIG. 1 in
a retracted mode, wherein the upright pole has a chain-spring
combination.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the retractable upright
pole (10) in accordance with the present invention generally is
provided in the center of a tent (not numbered). The upright pole
(10) in accordance with the present invention consists of different
tubes (11) of different sizes. With reference to FIG. 3, each tube
(11) has a neck (110) formed in one end and an open end (111) in
the other end. The tube (11) further has multiple peripherally
defined aligned bores (112) and has a ball-spring combination (113)
securely provided inside the tube (11). The ball-spring combination
(113) is able to extend out from the bore (112) of another tube
(11) to secure the engagement between two tubes (11). With such an
arrangement, the tubes (11) are sequentially receivable in one
another and extendable to the full length of the upright pole
(10).
[0016] With reference to FIGS. 5, when the tubes (11) of the
upright tube (10) are to be retracted for storage, the user is able
to press the ball-spring combination (113) into the bore (112) to
partially receive one tube (11) into another tube (11), such that
all the other tubes (11) are received in the tube (11) of the
largest diameter, and the user only has to carry one tube (11)
instead of all the individual tubes (11).
[0017] With reference to FIG. 4 and 6, an alternative embodiment of
the upright pole (10) in accordance with the present invention
further has a chain-spring combination (114) securely provided
between adjacent tubes (11). That is, the chain-spring combination
(114) is provided between the neck (110) of one tube (11) and the
open end (111) of another tube (11), such that even after the
adjacent tubes (11) are separated and folded, the two tubes (11)
are still connected with one another.
[0018] Moreover, when the upright tube (11) has the chain-spring
(114), the user is able to fold the adjacent tubes (11) without
separating the two adjacent tubes (11). With such an arrangement,
the user is still able to locate the right sizes of the sectioned
tubes (11) even after the upright pole (10) is disassembled.
[0019] It is thus concluded that the upright pole in accordance
with the present invention enables the user to easily find the
right size of the tubes to match with one another even after the
user accidentally mixes tubes of different sizes together.
[0020] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
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