Tent Hub Assembly

Abstract

A tent hub assembly has a hub, a base, and a biasing member. The hub has a central member in a central aperture and a plurality of arms pivotally connected to tent poles. The base has a shaft and a plurality of walls, with the central member slidably disposed in the shaft. Each wall has an elongated guide slot for receiving a pin which passes through a second hole of a respective pole in the pole slot. The biasing member is disposed in the shaft to bias the central member upward to bias the hub upward from the base. With the poles in an open configuration, the pins are in a locking position in the elongated slot; and, when the poles are moved to a closed configuration, the pins are moved from the locking position to an unlocked position in the elongated slot.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims foreign priority to China Application No. 2013207091816, filed on Nov. 11, 2013, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a tent hub assembly, and in particular to a hub assembly which facilitates folding and unfolding of a tent.[0004]2. Description of Prior Art[0005]Foldable tents are well known in the art and have become very popular in recent years. In fact, every major retail outlet in the U.S. sells a foldable tent in one form or another. Foldable tents come in different configurations with a variety of features and manufacturers continue to improve those features. However, in general, a foldable tent comprises a tent fabric coupled to a frame assembly at a radially inner space of the frame assembly.[0006]One of the most important parts of the foldable tent is the hub assembly. The hub assembly serves as ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention aims to provide a foldable instant tent that has a safeguard against unwanted collapse, can be easily folded for easy set up and eliminates the need for the user's feet to touch the tent fabric during set up. Additionally, the invention is more cost-effective to manufacture.

Problems solved by technology

However, external locking mechanisms are problematic for a number of reasons such as added bulk and weight, the tendency to malfunction due to the number of interacting components, and the extra time it takes to open and fold the tent.

Even though the more recently developed hub assembly is more advantageous than the previous hub assembly having an external locking mechanism, there are several problems associated with such a configuration.

Therefore, when the inward tension from the tent fabric is weakened or when the upper tent poles do not fully engage the engaging surface, for example by strong wind exerted on the tent or by human contact, the tent is susceptible to collapsing because an additional safeguard for maintaining the tent in the open state is not present.

Another disadvantage of the foldable tent of the prior art described above is that the tent fabric is susceptible to damage when folded.

The friction caused between the hub assembly and the tent fabric could damage the tent fabric.

The damage could be as severe as the tent fabric being torn, punctured or ripped especially when the folded tent is dropped on the end where the hub assembly is located.

Another disadvantage in the foldable tent of the prior art is that the tent fabric could be damaged during the set up process.

It is difficult to engage the poles without stepping on the tent fabric especially in larger instant tents of the prior art.

Therefore, the tent fabric is further susceptible to damage.

However, those hub assemblies are quite bulky due to the requirement of a lengthy biasing mechanism and are costly to manufacture because they require much more material—both plastic and metal.

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