Cabana

Aug. 1, 1967

H. G. BANNISTER ET AL

CABANA

3,333,595

Filed Aug. 23, 1963

<img file="US3333595A_D0001.tif" />

ATTORNEY

United States Patent Office

3,333,595

Patented Aug. 1, 1967

3,333,595 CABANA

Howard George Bannister, 1114 SE. 14th Ave., Deerfield Beach, Fla. 33441, Gordon Morrell Hillock, 1436 High Ridge Road, Lake Worth, Fla. 33460, and Frank Taylor, 128 E. Lakewood Road, West Palm Beach. Fla.

33405 ’

Filed Aug. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 304,061 6 Claims. (Cl. 135—2)

This invention relates to shelters of various kinds for use in various ways including primarily for recreation on beaches, beside swimming pools and in numerous other locations, for the comfort, pleasure and relaxation of the user and others of the area in which used.

The invention relates particularly to a beach house or shelter generally referred to as a cabana or independent enclosure, which can be easily installed for use on a temporary or limited basis, and which can be readily stored or transported from one location to another.

Various kinds of enclosures have been used in the pursuit of healthful activities including in recreation and sports especially bathing in the surf and in pools and other waters. Prior devices have been of limited use serving ordinarily merely as a sun shelter readily blown over 25 by the wind and affording only limited privacy.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, portable cabana or tent which could be easily erected and collapsed into a compact bundle, of unitary construction, providing a floor containing enclosure for ³⁰protection from the elements, and among other ways as a wading pool with a covering thereover.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cabana or tent of the character indicated which can be readily anchored in a fixed location on the beach, near a swimming pool, or other location, in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort, and which can be used as a place to dress or undress, with sections which can be used for ventilation, for ingress or egress, as a sunshade or canopy or as a lounging mat or combination of both.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cabana or tent of flexible sheet material including a floor and a roof with connecting side wall structure and with a perimeter ring which when inflated can contain water as a wading pool and also provides a channel which can be filled with ⁴⁵sand for ballast and where sand is not available water can be introduced into the air chamber to provide the desired ballast.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cabana or tent which forms an enclosure having a floor to prevent chairs or other objects from becoming imbedded in the sand, which will provide a shelter of maximum usefulness including as a play tent for children, a tent for campers and others desiring to avail themselves of the pleasures and advantages of fresh air, sunshine, water, scenic beauty and the wonders of nature, as well as by workmen when employed on construction or otherwise, as a temporary toilet enclosure for maximum convenience, sanitation and the like and for many other purposes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating one application of the invention;

FIG. 2, a perspective viewed at substantially right angles to FIG. 1 and illustrating additional use of the invention;

FIG. 3, a perspective of the invention in collapsed compact form for transportation or storage;

FIG. 4, an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the floor and ground sections of the device on the line 4—4 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary details of the stabilizing or anchoring rim; and

FIG. 7, an enlarged fragmentary detail of the top or roof structure on the line 7—7 of FIG. 1.

Briefly stated the present invention is an inexpensive portable cabana or tent of sheet material, of compact unitary construction when not in use, which can be readily set up or taken down with minimum expenditure of time and effort, and having a floor with a hollow rim to permit the floor to be covered with water to provide a wading pool, which rim can be filled with water to provide ballast for anchoring the cabana in place or can be inflated with air.

The invention is an inexpensive portable cabana or tent of compact unitary construction when not in use requiring minimum space for storage and transportation which can be readily installed and removed with minimum expenditure of time and effort, and which will give maximum service for a long period.

The cabana or tent of the present invention may be composed of flexible sheet material such as canvas, plastic or the like, and it includes a floor 10 with a hollow marginal anchoring portion or rim 11, providing an annular inflation chamber 12, with an inlet valve 13 for the admission of air, an inlet 14 for water, and a discharge or drainage plug 15.

By filling the annular chamber 12 the floor and side wall structure are fully extended and when filled with air a ring of sand 16 may be added as ballast, such sand being held between the annular member 11 and the side wall structure 17. The rim 11 not only serves to maintain the cabana anchored to the earth by the weight of the sand but likewise applies a tightening tension to the side wall structure. Instead of filling the rim 11 with air, as for example when sand is not readily available or for the sake of tidiness, the rim 11 may be filled with water to serve as ballast and the sand omitted. The skirt 17' may be attached to the side wall structure 17 to provide a water shed for the rim 11.

The side wall 17 extends substantially to the top of the tent or cabana and is provided with ventilated openings 18 along the upper edge to allow for the circulation of air between the interior and exterior of the upper portion of the device.

A roof 19 is provided composed of a series of generally triangular segments 19 stitched or otherwise joined along seams 20 and connected at their lower edges by a seam 21 with a series of flaps 22 which overlap the ventilating openings 18 but allow air to flow therethrough.

In order to provide an upright support for the side walls and the roof a post of upright and lower telescoping portions 23 and 24 is provided. Means is provided for attaching the post to the floor 10 and to the top of the cabana. In order to accomplish this purpose the lower end 60 P^ortion tf*⁶ Post fits into an anchoring sleeve 25 and such sleeve is fixed to a reinforcing flange or disk 26 fused or otherwise secured to the floor 10.

The lower portion of the post 24 telescopes into the upper post portion 23, and the upper portion of the post _6g portion 23 extends into a slidable operating sleeve 27 having a collar 28 in which a series of radial members 29 are pivoted and which radial members engage and support a series of ribs 30. The sleeve 27 frictionally engages the

3,333,595 taele attached to the center of the floor and the other end of the post being anchored to the center of the top, said top being frictionally received on said post the central portion of said floor being movable towards said top and. the lower edges of said top being movable towards said post to collapse said cabana, said side wall structure having portions detachable therefrom and providing openings serving as windows, door, canopies, and mats.

3. A portable unitary cabana having a floor, a top and connecting side wall structure, a hollow inflatable stretching and anchoring rim connected to said floor around the margin thereof, said hollow anchoring rim being constructed to hold water as ballast or to be inflated and to receive sand between said rim and side wall structure to fully extend the floor and tighten the side wall structure for maximum room inside the cabana and to provide ballast, said side wall structure having ventilating openings around the upper portion thereof and said top having its lower portion extending over such ventilated openings and protecting against the weather, a skirt extending downwardly from said side wall structure over said anchoring rim for shedding water, a center post of telescopic sections supporting said top above said floor, one end of the post being anchored in a receptacle attached to the center of the floor and the other end of the post being anchored to the center of the top, said top being frictionally received on said post and the central portion of said floor being movable towards said top and the lower edges of said top being movable towards said post to collapse said cabana.

4. A portable unitary cabana having a floor, a top and connecting side wall structure, a hollow inflatable stretching and anchoring rim connected to said floor around the margin thereof, said hollow anchoring rim being constructed to hold water as ballast or to be inflated and to receive sand between said rim and side wall structure to fully extend the floor and tighten the side wall structure for maximum room inside the cabana and to provide ballast, a water shedding skirt extending downwardly from said side wall structure over said anchoring rim, a center post of telescopic sections supporting said top above said floor, one end of the post being anchored in a receptacle attached to the center of the floor and the other end of the post being anchored to the center of the top, said top being frictionally received on said post and the central portion of said floor being movable towards said top and the lower edges of said top being movable towards said post to collapse said cabana.

5. A portable unitary cabana having a floor, a top and connecting side wall structure, a hollow inflatable stretching and anchoring rim connected to said floor around the margin thereof, said hollow anchoring rim being constructed to hold water as ballast or to be inflated and to receive sand between said rim and side wall structure to fully extend the floor and tighten the side wall structure for maximum room inside the cabana and to provide ballast, a skirt extending downwardly from said side wall structure over said anchoring rim for shedding water, a center post of telescopic sections supporting said top above said floor, -and said side wall structure having portions detachable therefrom and providing openings serving as windows, doors, canopies, and mats.

6. A portable unitary cabana having a floor, a top and connecting side wall structure, a hollow inflatable stretching and anchoring rim connected to said floor around the margin thereof, said hollow anchoring rim being constructed to hold water as ballast or to be inflated and to receive sand between said rim and side wall structure to fully extend the floor and tighten the side wall structure for maximum room inside the cabana and to provide ballast, a skirt extending downwardly from said side wall structure over said anchoring rim for shedding water, a center post of telescopic sections supporting said top above said floor, said side wall structure having portions de-: tachable therefrom and providing openings serving as upper portion 23 of the post so that all that is necessary to locate and secure it in the position shown in FIG. 7 is to push it to its uppermost position from which it may be readily pulled down when collapsing is desired. A unitary structure is thus provided which can be in compact form as illustrated in FIG. 3 or in fully expanded operative condition as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The cabana or tent may have removable segments to provide suitable door, window and the like openings. Segments 31 and 32 may be removably attachable and de- j tachable by means of fasteners 33, 34, 35, and 36 which permit the segments 31 and 32 to be completely removed or they may be detached except across a lower edge and used as a floor mat as illustrated in FIG. 1 and at the

- right hand side of FIG. 2, or they may be detached except : across an upper edge and used as illustrated at the left hand side of FIG. 2, as a canopy in which latter position they may be supported by a U-shaped support 37 the bight of. which supports the lower edge of each of the segments 31 and 32. Each of the legs of the U-shaped member are : telescopic and therefore extensions. In like manner windows 38 may be added by the provision of a pair of quarter circle fasteners 39 and 40 which allow a flap 41 to fold down and provide an opening which can be closed by screening 42..

Within the cabana a number of towel or other racks or clothes hangers 43 may be provided as well as pockets 44 for the reception of various articles. When it is desired to use the cabana it may be set up as illustrated in the several figures other than FIG. 3 and when it is desired it can be taken down and collapsed as illustrated in FIG· 3 ^and secured in such position by means of straps 45.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.