US 7111634 B2
A self-erecting structure includes a series of fabric panels each tautly spread by a length of steel wire or other resiliently flexible, filiform material. The steel wire may form a closed loop, an open loop or a mere arc. The wire is selectively inserted into at least two of several pockets or fabric straps positioned around the periphery of the panel. The selection of the wire-holding pockets or straps defines the shape of the spread-out panel. Parts of the fabric which are not encompassed by a wire are held folded over it and against the spread-out portion. The shape of the structure can be quickly modified by repositioning of the wires.
1. A self-deploying structure which comprises at least one panel configurable into a plurality of shapes, said panel including:
a sheet of fabric having a central area, a peripheral outer edge, and a marginal, peripheral area along said edge;
a length of resiliently flexible, filiform material not confined by fixed attachment to said sheet;
a plurality of releasable means, positioned about said peripheral area, for retaining said length; and
said length being selectively insertable into at least two of said releasable means for retaining and for tautly spreading at least a portion of said sheet; and whereby the selection of one or more of said releasable means and the insertion of said length therein defines the shape of said structure.
2. The structure of
3. The structure of
4. The structure of
5. The structure of
6. The structure of
7. The structure of
8. The structure of
9. The structure of
10. The structure of
11. The structure of
at least three of said panels, each being connected at opposite sides to two other of said panels wherein each of said panels comprise an edge unconnected to another of said panels; and
a sheet of fabric connected to the edge of each of said panels.
12. The structure of
13. The structure of
14. The structure of
15. The structure of
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/790,404, filed Feb. 21, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,595.
This invention relates to temporary structures made of canvas stretched over foldable wire armatures such as tents, sun shades and a variety of toys.
The prior art contains a great number and variety of self-erecting, collapsible and portable structures made by the juxtaposition of panels of many shapes and dimensions where each panel is formed by a sheet of fabric stretched by a loop of steel wire or similar resiliently flexible filiform elements. Examples of this type of structure are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,161 Norman and U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,812 Norman, which patents are incorporated in this specification by his reference. In every instance, the wire loop is permanently attached to the periphery of the panel. While such fixedly defined panels can be joined in a variety of ways in order to change the shape, size or even nature of the structure, there is a definite advantage in providing ever improved versatility so that the same device can be put to variety of uses.
The principal and secondary objects of this invention are to provide wire and fabric structural panels whose shapes and dimensions can be quickly modified in order to provide structures that can be transfigured into others of different shapes, sizes and uses.
These and other valuable objects are achieved by using steel wire and fabric panels in which the wire is not confined to a fixed attachment to the fabric sheet, but, instead, is loosely inserted in a selection of several pockets or recesses formed in various parts of the sheet's periphery. Judicious positioning and sizing of the recesses and pockets allow for the reconfiguration of a particular panel from one shape to another. Combinations of those transfigurable panels can lead to the construction of diverse structures out of the same components.
Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in
As illustrated in
In a first quadrangular version 16 of the panel, the loop is inserted into the four pockets 5–8 formed at the corners of the sheet 1. The triangular section 2 of the sheet is folded over the loop and against the inner central area 11, and retained thereupon by the cooperating patches 10 and 14 of fabric fasteners. It should be noted that the length or circumference of the loop is substantially equal to the periphery of the quadrangular portion of the sheet of fabric 1.
This first version of the panel can be quickly and conveniently transfigured into the triangular version 17 illustrated in
It should be noted that the wire loop can be secured to various alternate portions of the sheet by means other than recesses and pockets such as strings, straps or loops strategically positioned at various locations.
The cubic structure 20 of
The pyramidal structure 23 of
The structure 24 of
The structure 28 of
The second sheet of fabric 30 illustrated in
The transfigurable structure or structural element of
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, modifications can be made and other embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.