Folding collapsible shelter

#1. Field of the Invention

#This invention relates to shelters and, more particularly, relates to a shelter assembly in which personal property can be stored and which can be opened from either side, either manually or by a motorized system, in either case permitting for essentially full opening in either direction of the cover by the use of independently articulating cover-supporting ribs.

#2. Background Art

#FIG. 1A is a perspective, exploded, partial view of a portion of the instant invention.

#FIG. 1B is a perspective, assembled, partial view of the portion of the invention shown in FIG. 1A.

#FIG. 2 is a perspective, partially exploded view of the novel hinge apparatus of the invention.

#FIGS. 1 through 9 illustrate the preferred form of my invention which is a personal articles shelter (10) attached to a sub-floor (12), the inventor comprising a base frame (16) which, in the preferred embodiment, is elliptical in shape but may be any desired shape to suit the circumstances. When discussing orientation, the end (16a) shown in FIG. 1 will be considered the front or forward end, the end indicated as (16b) will be referred to as the back or rear end, and (16c) and (16d) refer to the left and right sides of the shelter, respectively.

#A cover (20) is pivotally associated with frame (16) in a manner to be set forth hereinafter. The cover (20) may be comprised of a plurality of U-shaped ribs (22) over (or under) which is disposed a covering material (23) which may be, as mentioned above, canvas, plastic, nylon, vinyl, rubber, fabric, metal or any other suitable material as will occur to one of skill in the art. All that is required is that the cover be flexible so that the ribs can collapse toward each other as either or both ends of the cover are opened. It is preferred that the material be weather resistant, light weight.

#As best seen in FIG. 3, ribs (22) are independently and rotatably connected to corresponding flanges (31) and (35) on the right side of the device, the left side of the device being a mirror image of the right side, with the exception that there does not have to be (but there can be if desired) a motor and gear assembly (discussed below) associated with both the left and right side hinge mechanisms. One-half of the ribs are connected to forward flange (31) (and to a corresponding mirror-image flange (not shown) on right side (16d) of the shelter). The other half of the ribs are connected to rear flange (35) (and to a corresponding mirror-image flange (not shown) on right side (16d) of the shelter).