TENT CHAIR

• US 20090179463A1
• Filed: 03/23/2009
• Published: 07/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: William H. Fargason III
• Original Assignee: William H. Fargason III
• Inventors: FARGASON, William H. III
• Granted Patent: US 8,042,865 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/16.200
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 97/01 for ice-fishing ; Ice drilling, hook-setting or signalling devices
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 4/286 foldable side to side and front to back, e.g. umbrella type
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 7/66 Means to protect against weather
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 7/666 of enclosure type with side panels

Abstract

The tent chair includes a folding frame supporting a folding cover, with the frame attached to a folding or portable chair. The chair has a single rearward frame bow which is radially flexible but rigid orthogonal to the lateral bow pivot axis of the chair. A series of similar bows is pivotally attached at or toward the front of the chair. The axially orthogonal rigid rearward bow supports the cover and prevents the forward bows from collapsing the cover forwardly as it is pulled taut. One use of the device is as a hunting blind, with a quick release optionally allowing the cover to be rapidly opened. Other configurations provide for use as a photography blind, a privacy shelter for camping or beach use, ice fishing, as a wheelchair or beach lounge chair cover, etc., and may have sufficient room for more than one person.

Claims

1. A collapsible hunting blind, being a seat with a cover wherein both the seat and its cover can be collapsed for compact storage;

the seat having sides comprising laterally opposed left and right sides, and longitudinally opposed front and back sides, plus a seating surface between the sides;

the collapsible hunting blind comprising;

construction such that the hunting blind is deployed for use by uncollapsing the seat to form a seating surface between spaced apart left and right sides and spaced apart front and back sides, and the hunting blind is collapsed by collapsing the seat;

said construction comprising;

a flexible elongated cover support bow comprising a first bow end that is attached to the left seat side, a second bow end that is attached to the right seat side, and an elongated portion flexed as an arch from the first bow end to the second bow end, wherein the bow ends are attached to the seat such that both the seat and its cover are collapsed for compact storage while attached together; and

a covering comprising a flexible sheet supported by the cover support bow, and extending downward around the seat to a lower periphery lying closely adjacent an underlying surface of the seat when the cover is deployed.

2. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 1, further comprising:

a laterally collapsing seat wherein the left seat side and the right seat side comprise the only pair of drawn-together seat sides;

such that collapsing the seat draws the left and right seat sides closer together and the first and second bow ends with them, thereby resulting in a relatively narrow elongated planar compact bundle with a correspondingly narrowed cover support bow arch.

3. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 1, further comprising:

a radially collapsing seat wherein, as the seat is collapsed, the left and right seat sides and the front and back seat sides are drawn closer together, and the first and second bow ends with them, thereby resulting in a relatively narrow cylindrically compacted elongate bundle with a correspondingly narrowed cover support bow arch.

4. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 1, further comprising:

a first pivot at the first bow end attachment point, the first pivot defining a first pivot axis in a plane described by the cover support bow, and a second pivot at the second bow end attachment point, the second pivot defining a second pivot axis in the plane of the cover support bow;

thereby enabling the cover support bow to be pivoted around the seat.

9. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 1, wherein a seat side comprises:

a bow support strut extending upward to a support bow end attachment point.

10. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more secondary cover support bows pivotally attached to the cover support bow.

5. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 5, wherein:

a back seat side comprises a backrest; and

the first and second pivots are attached to the backrest.

6. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 5, wherein:

a lateral seat side comprises an armrest; and

the first and second pivots are attached to the armrest.

7. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 5, further comprising:

a mechanism at a pivot that stops pivoting of the cover support bow at a predetermined orientation.

8. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 7, wherein:

the mechanism comprises a sleeve, movable along the cover support bow and slidingly movable to lock the cover support bow at a predetermined orientation.

11. A collapsible hunting blind including a seat having sides comprising laterally opposed left and right sides, longitudinally opposed front and back sides, and a flexible seating surface between the sides;

wherein the seat has a first position in which the seating surface is deployed for use between the sides; and

a second position in which the sides and the seating surface are radially collapsed, defining an axis of storage;

the collapsible hunting blind comprising;

at least one flexible elongated cover support bow;

a first end of the cover support bow that is pivotally attached to a first seat side at a first pivot point, and a second end of the cover support bow that is pivotally attached to a second seat side, distal to the first seat side, at a second pivot point;

alignment of a first pivot axis and a second pivot axis such that each pivot axis is substantially orthogonal to the axis of storage;

a flexible elongated portion of the cover support bow, extending between the first end and the second end, having a length greater than the distance between the first and second seat sides when the seat is uncollapsed in the first position; and

a covering comprising a flexible sheet supported by the at least one cover support bow and extending downward around the seat to a lower periphery lying closely adjacent an underlying surface of the seat when the cover is deployed;

thereby providing a collapsible hunting blind wherein, when the seat is collapsed, the bow ends are drawn closer together along with the seat sides to which they are attached, thus causing the cover support bow to flex into a more narrow arch that is thus compacted in a side to side dimension along with the seat.

12. The collapsible hunting blind of claim 11, further comprising:

one or more secondary cover support bows pivotally attached to the cover support bow.

13. A method for providing a collapsible hunting blind that collapses into a compact bundle, wherein the hunting blind is a collapsible seat with a cover, the seat having sides comprising laterally opposed left and right sides, and longitudinally opposed front and back sides, plus a seating surface between the sides;

the method comprising the steps of;

constructing the hunting blind such that;

the hunting blind is deployed for use by uncollapsing the seat to form a seating surface between spaced apart seat sides; and

the hunting blind is collapsed by drawing seat sides closer together while collapsing the seating surface therebetween;

providing the cover comprising a flexible sheet as a covering, and one or more flexible elongated cover support bows supporting the cover such that, when deployed, the covering extends downward around the seat to a lower periphery lying closely adjacent an underlying surface;

constructing the cover support bow with a first bow end, a second bow end, and an elongated portion therebetween; and

attaching the first bow end to a first seat side, and attaching the second bow end to a second seat side such that;

the elongated portion is flexed as an arch from the first bow end to the second bow end, and the first and second bow ends move with the seat sides to which they are attached;

thereby providing a collapsible hunting blind wherein, when the seat is collapsed, the bow ends are drawn closer together along with the seat sides to which they are attached, thus causing the cover support bow to flex into a more narrow arch that is thus compacted in a side to side dimension along with the seat.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of:

for each of the one or more cover support bows, providing a pivot at the first support bow end attachment point and a pivot at the second support bow end attachment point, the first and second pivots being aligned with a plane described by the cover support bow;

thereby providing a collapsible hunting blind wherein the one or more cover support bows can be pivoted around the seat to form a bundle that is compact in length.

15. A collapsible hunting blind cover, for use in covering a user sitting in a collapsible seat, the blind cover comprising:

a flexible elongated cover support bow comprising a first bow end, a second bow end, and an elongated portion flexed as an arch from the first bow end to the second bow end;

a covering comprising a flexible sheet supported by attachment to the cover support bow;

a first pivot at the first bow end, the first pivot defining a first pivot axis in a plane described by the cover support bow, and a second pivot at the second bow end, the second pivot defining a second pivot axis in the plane of the cover support bow; and

an attachment means at the first and second pivots, configured for attaching the first and second pivots to opposed sides of the collapsible seat;

wherein the covering is dimensioned such that its width limits a width of the cover support bow arch to compactly cover a user sitting in a collapsible seat, and such that the covering extends downward to a lower periphery lying closely adjacent an underlying surface of the collapsible seat when the cover is deployed while attached to the collapsible seat;

thereby allowing both the seat and the tent to be collapsed for compact storage while they are attached together.