Tent with ventilating means

Aug. 17, 1965

3,200,731

J. F. HART, JR

TENT WITH VENTILATING MEANS

Filed Sept. 11, 1961

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ATTORNEYS

United States Patent Office

3,200,731

Patented Aug. 17, 1S65

3,200,731

TENT WITH VENTILATING MEANS

John Freeman Hart, Jr., 765 Cherry St., Macon, Ga.

Filed Sept. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 137,323

Claims. (Ci. 98—1)

This invention relates generally to a ventilated funeral tent and further concerns a fan mounting for a tent pole.

In the past some undertakers follow the practice of erecting a tent at a burial site for the immediate family at the time of interment. It has been found that funeral tents of this type become extremely hot and that by mounting fans on the tent poles, the tents may be quickly cooled so that the tents will not be uncomfortable for the people in them.

An important object of this invention is to provide a fan ventilated funeral tent.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a portable battery operated system for ventilating a funeral tent.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide novel means for securing a fan to a tent pole.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a new type of fan which may be quickly assembled on a tent pole with a minimum of effort.

According to the general features of this invention there is provided a combination including an immediate family funeral tent having tent poles and a series of fans mounted on the tent poles for circulating air within the tent.

In accordance with other features of this invention the aforesaid fans are operated by a portable battery.

A still further feature of the combination defined above is that the fans are provided with a mounting including a looped portion engaged about the periphery of a tent pole which looped portion is directly fastened to the pole.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fan mounting for attachment to a tent pole comprising a strap having a looped portion for encompassing a tent pole, said strap having means for fastening the looped portion in clamped assembly with a tent pole, and fan mounting means attached to said looped portion.

Other objects and features of the present invention will more fully become apparent in view of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating several embodiments and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top view of a tent only with the roof broken away and with the tent having poles with fans mounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevation of a tent pole having a fan mounting secured thereon;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the fan mounting shown in FIGURE 2 with a fan mounted thereon;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the fan mounting;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of a fan. attached to a tent pole by means of a fan mounting;

FIGURE 6 is a top view of the fan mounting shown in FIGURE 5 with a fan pivot pin journalled in the fan mounting; and

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view similar to FIGURE 6 only showing a modified type of fan mounting.

The reference numeral 10 in FIGURE 1 indicates generally a tent which may be of any suitable type and made from any suitable material. The tent 10 is supported by tent poles 11 disposed at the four corners of the tent. It will be appreciated that the position of the poles with respect to the tent and the number of poles may be varied in accordance with the support requirements of the particular type of tent which is to be used.

In accordance with certain other features of this invention, a series of fans 12 are mounted on the tent poles 11. The fans 12 are preferably operated by means of a portable battery 13 and are connected with the portable battery 13 by means of electrical wires 14,14 shown in FIGURE 1. One or more batteries 13 may be used depending upon the power requirements of the particular fan 12 which is employed.

In accordance with still other features of this invention I have provided a fan mounting as indicated at 15 which includes a clamp 16. The clamp 16 may be constructed of any suitable material such as a rust resistant metal or a suitable plastic and the like. The illustrated clamp 16 is comprised of a metallic material.

The clamp 16 includes a looped portion 16α which has a configuration generally corresponding to the configuration of the tent pole 11. The looped portion 16α is adapted to be engaged about the perimeter of the tent pole 11 and secured in assembly with the tent pole by means of a suitable fastener such as a bolt 17 and a nut 18. As shown in FIGURE 4, the bolt is adapted to extend through the looped portion with a headed end of the bolt bearing against one side of the looped portion and with the nut 18 being secured on a threaded end 17b on the opposite side of the looped portion 16α.

Since the diameter of the tent pole 11 may vary, the clamp has a built-in feature which enables it to be mounted on tent poles 11 of varying sizes. To this end, the clamp 16 has spaced ends 16Z>, 16b and it will be appreciated that the spacing between the ends 16b, 16b may be varied depending upon the size of the pole 11 on which the looped portion 16α is being engaged.

Fan mounting means 18' is provided for securing the fan 11 to the clamp 16. The fan mounting means includes a circular plate 19 and a series of circumferentially spaced nut and bolt assemblies 20 with the bolts being adapted to extend through plate holes 21. As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the fan 11 includes a base 11α which is bolted to the plate 19 by means of the nut and bolt assemblies 20. It will further be seen that the fan 11 has a pivotal connection 22 joining the fan base 11α with a rotating head lib on which the fan propellers are carried. The plate 19 may be secured to the looped portion 16α in any suitable manner such as by means of a weld 23 (FIGURE 4).

In FIGURES 5 and 6 a modified type of fan mounting is indicated generally at 25. The fan mounting 25 includes a clamp 26 having a looped portion 27. A nut and bolt assembly 28 and 29 extend through the looped portion 27 for securing the clamp 26 to the tent pole 11 in the same manner as previously described.

Disposed at one end of the looped portion 27 is a fan mounting means comprising a second and smaller looped portion 30 which second looped portion defines a socket or journal.

Mounted on the fan mounting 25 is a conventional type of fan indicated generally at 31 which fan may be operated by means of a portable battery 13 or any suitable means. The fan 31 includes a base 32 having a pivot pin 33 journalled in the journal or socket defined by the second looped portion 30.

So as to be able to firmly attach the looped portions 27 and 30 to the tent pole 11 and the pivot pin 33, adjustment means here illustrated as comprising fasteners 34 and 35 are provided. The clamp 26 has arcuate leg portions 36 and 37 which are arched towards one another and secured together by means of the fastener 34. The tension on the leg portions 36 and 37 may be varied by altering the adjustment between the fastener 34 and the leg portions 36 and 37. The fastener 35 passes through the spaced oppositely facing free ends 38 and 39 of the

3,300,731

Ο strap 26 for adjusting the looped portion 27 with respect to its associated tent pole II.

As shown in FIGURES 4 and 6, the straps 16 and 26 are one-piece strips. In FIGURE 7 a modified type of . strap 45 is provided. In this instance, the strap 45 is comprised of two separate pieces 46 and 47 as opposed to a single piece. The strap 45 is otherwise identical to the strap 26. The fan mounting or strap illustrated in FIGURE 7 is adapted to operate in the same manner as the fan mounting or strap described in FIGURE 6.

When a person desires to ventilate a funeral tent he may do so by securing the fan mountings to the tent poles. The canvas is then mounted on the tent poles and a portable battery or the like is wired to fans which are journalled on the fan mounting. By flipping a switch, the fans may be caused to operate whereby the tent may be readily cooled.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.