GB2138857A - Portable shelter - Google Patents

Abstract

The shelter has four wall panels 2, 4, 6, 8 and a roof panel 10. The panels can be erected to form a shelter which is rectangular in plan and has an open front. Each wall panel is made from a rectangular wooden framework 2a to 2d 4a to 4d, 6a to 6d, 8a to 8d and a sheet of translucent corrugated PVC 2f to 8f. The roof panel consists of a wooden framework 10a to 10e and a translucent corrugated PVC sheet 10f. The roof panel is attached to the wall panels by turn buttons 24 and, after removal of the roof panel, wall panels are hinged together and fold with adjacent corrugated sheets nested (Fig. 6). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Portable shelter This invention relates to portable shelters.

The invention provides a portable shelter comprising a roof member and a plurality of wall panels, the roof member being removable from the wall panels which are hinged together to fold into face-to-face relationship for transport and to be erectable to form at least two adjacent walls of the shelter.

Advantageously, the panels are hinged so as to fold with alternate clockwise and anticlockwise rotations of the panels.

The wall panels will usually be rectangular in shape and, when all the panels are rectangular and of the same dimensions, a particularly compact and readily portable stack of folded panels is obtained.

The number of wall panels will usually be at least three, so that, upon erection, a shelter having a rear wall and two side walls, preferably perpendicular to the rear wall is formed. A particularly preferred shelter is one having four equal-sized rectangular wall panels which can be erected to form a three-walled shelter which is rectangular in plan and has a rear wall twice the length of each end wall. The open side of this, or any other shelter of the invention, may be enclosed by a curtain.

Support means, for example guy ropes, may be provided to maintain the shelter in its erected condition.

Each will panel preferably comprises a framework, for example of timber or metal, and a sheet of corrugated material, for example translucent PVC. The corrugated material may be attached to overlie the framework and, in this case, the corrugated faces thus formed of adjacent wall panels are preferably arranged such that upon folding, the corrugations nest with each other, the troughs of one sheet receiving the ridges of the other sheet.

The roof member of the shelter may also be a rectangular panel which advantageously is foldable for transport. The panel may comprise a framework as mentioned above and a corrugated sheet, for example of translucent PVC. Nesting of the sheets of adjacent roof panels to preferable.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of an erected shelter, Figure 2 is a plan view of the shelter of Fig.

1, Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the roof of the shelter removed, Figure 4 is a section on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1, Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 3 showing the shelter in a partially-folded and a completely folded state respectively, and Figures 7 and 8 are partial, vertical sectional views showing the attachment of the roof to the walls of the shelter of Fig. 1.

The shelter shown in Fig. 1 has a left-hand end wall panel 2, a right-hand end wall panel 4, first and second rear wall panels 6, 8, and a roof panel 10. The front opening of the shelter can be closed by a curtain which, for the sake of clarity, is not shown in the drawings. Each wall panel 2, 4, 6, 8, measures in this embodiment 1200 mm by 660 mm and is formed from a rectangular framework consisting of uprights 2a, 2c, 4a, 4c, 6a, 6c, 8a, 8c, top rails 2b, 4b, 6b, 8b and bottom rails 2d, 4d, 6d, 8dof 25 mm square-section timber and a sheet 2f, 4f, 6f, and 8fof corrugated translucent PVC sheeting attached to the framework.Adjustable guy ropes 1 2 extending to tent pegs 14 anchored in the ground 1 3 are secured to screw-eyes attached to the top rails 2c, 4c and assists in holding the shelter in its erected condition.

The roof panel 10 consists of a front rail 10a, end rails 10c, 10d, a rear rail 10aand a cross-member 1 owe of 25 mm square-section timber supporting a sheet 1 0d of translucent PVC sheeting.

The rear panels 6, 8 are linked by a pair of nylon hinges 1 6 screwed to the adjacent inner uprights 6a, 8a of the respective timber frameworks. Respective uprights 2c, 4c of the end panels 2, 4 are similarly linked to the outer uprights 6c, 8cof the rear panels 6, 8 by similar nylon hinges 1 8, 20.

Each outer upright 6c, 8c of the rear panels 6, 8 has a pair of blocks 22 of 25 mm square-section timber approximately 50 mm long screwed to it (see Figs. 1 and 4) to serve as stops and prevent the movement of the respective end-panels 2, 4, beyond positions in which they are perpendicular to the rear panels 6, 8.

The roof panel 10 is supported on the erected wall panels 2, 4, 6, 8 on steel plates 22 40 mm wide and 50 mm long, two of which are screwed at 23 to the underside of each top rail 2c, 4c of each end panel 2, 4, the plates 22 projecting inwardly to support the end rails 10c, 10d of the roof panel 10 (see Fig. 7). The roof panel 10 is secured in this position by respective turn buttons 24 screwed at 25 to its end rails 10c, 1 Od and rotatable to engage against the underside of the top rails 2c 4c of the end panels 2, 4 see Fig. 8 which shows a turn button 24 in its locked position in dash lines and its free position in full lines.

The corrugated translucent sheets 6e, 8e of the rear panels are positioned on their respective frameworks 6a, 6b, 6c, 6dand 8a, 8b, 8c, 8dsuch that, when the panels are folded to lie in face-to-face relationship with the sheets 6e, 8e in contact, corrugations of the sheets nest with the troughs of one sheet receiving the ridges of the other sheet. After removal of the roof panel 10 and the guy ropes 12, the wall panels 2, 4, 6, 8 the shelter can therefore be folded from the condition shown in Fig. 3, first to the condition of Fig. 5, and thence to the conditiion of Fig. 6 in which they can be readily transported.

Erection of the shelter involves opening the panels 2, 4, 6, 8 out from the Fig. 6 condition to the Fig. 3 condition, securing the panels 2, 4, 6, 8 with the guy ropes 1 2 and test pegs 14, fitting the roof panel 10 and securing it by means of the turn buttons 24.

Claims (14)

1. A portable shelter comprising a roof member and a plurality of wall panels, the roof member being removable from the wall panels which are hinged together to fold into face-to-face relationship for transport and to be erectable to form at least two adjacent walls of the shelter.

2. A shelter according to claim 1, in which the wall panels are hinged so as to fold with alternate clockwise and anti-clockwise rotations of the panels.

3. A shelter according to claim 1 or claim 2, having at least three wall panels and being erectable to have a rear wall and two side walls.

4. A shelter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which all the wall panels are rectangular and of the same dimensions.

5. A shelter according to claim 4, having four wall panels and being erectable to have a rear wall, two side walls and an open front, the erected shelter being rectangular in plan and having a rear wall twice the length of each end wall.

6. A shelter according to claim 5, having a curtain for closing the open front of the shelter.

7. A shelter according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which each wall panel comprises a framework supporting a sheet of corrugated material.

8. A shelter according to claim 7, in which the corrugated material is translucent.

9. A shelter according to claim 7 or claim 8, in which corrugated faces of adjacent wall panels are arranged such that, upon folding, the corrugations of the adjacent panels nest with each other, the troughs of one sheet receiving the ridges of the other sheet.

10. A shelter according to any one of claims 1 top9, in which the roof member comprises a rectangular panel.

11. A shelter according to any one of claims 1 to 10, in which the roof panel is foldable for transportation.

1 2. A shelter according to claim 10 or claim 11, in which the roof panel comprises a framework supporting a sheet of corrugated material.

1 3. A shelter according to claim 12, in which the corrugated material is translucent.

14. A shelter according to claim 11, in which the roof panel comprises corrugated material and is foldable in such a way that the corrugations of adjacent folded portions nest with each other, the troughs of one portion receiving the ridges of the other.

1 5. A panel shelter substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.