Tent.

Application filed. February 18, 1908. Serial No. 416,608,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hermann Wenzel, a citizen of the United States, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in-Tents, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to tents, and the object of my invention is to construct a tent whereby all of its parts may be folded and packed in a comparatively small space when transporting from place to place, as occasion may require.

Heretofore in the construction of tents, it was necessary when setting the tent up for use to be provided with a stiff ridge pole, constructed of wood, this ridge pole being expensive, bulky, and heavy, and inconvenient to pack and transport from place to place.

The special object of my invention is to construct a flexible, folding ridge member and center end poles, which latter are made in sections, in order that they may be taken apart and packed in a comparatively small space.

To the above purposes, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:—

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my tent set up; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the flexible ridge member, with a part broken away in the center; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the center end poles, folding ridge member, guy ropes, etc., with the tent covering removed.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings:—1 indicates the side Avails of the tent, 2 the end walls, and 3 the side guy ropes, all of which are of the ordinary construction.

indicates the roof portion of the tent, and 5 the ridge section of the roof. The center end poles for supporting the tent are illustrated in Fig. 3, and it will be seen that they are similarly constructed, and are composed of bottom sections 6 and top sections 7.

Secured to the sections 6 are sleeves 8. The ends of the abutting sections of the center supporting poles are beveled, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The upper ends of sections 7 are provided with sockets 9, adapted to receive removable strut rods 10, provided on their ends with rings 11. 60

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated the foldable ridge member, which is constructed of a number of layers or thicknesses of heavy fabric, such as tent material, folded upon itself and stitched together. Each encl of 65 this ridge member is provided with an opening 13, and secured to said member, adjacent the ends thereof, are rings 14.

When the center end poles are properly set, I apply the roof portion of the tent, it 70 being understood in this connection that an opening is formed in the ridge portion of the roof for the rings 14 and the removable struts 10. The removable struts 10 are then inserted in the sockets 9 of the section 7, the 7 5 guy ropes 15 are secured to said removable struts and then properly anchored, and the guy ropes 16 are secured to the rings 14 and passed through the rings 11, and properly anchored. ; 80

It will be noticed in Fig. 1 that the guy ropes 16 are supported considerably above the ridge portion of the tent; that is to say, the bearings of the removable struts which receive the guy ropes 16 are elevated several 85 inches above the ridge section of the tent, and when said guy ropes 16 are made taut, the foldable ridge member 12 is likewise made taut, and thus the ridge portion of the tent is held as securely as if a solid ridge pole was 90 used.

When a tent is packed for storage or transportation, the foldable member 12 can be folded and rolled up with the tent; and by removing the rods 10 from the upper ends of 95 the poles, and then disjointing said poles, all of the parts of the tent can be packed and folded into a comparatively small space.