Joint for collapsible structures
OwnerFrancis J. Reevesinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A joint having a socket portion facilitates forming a collapsible structure. The joints can be formed as corner joints or straight joints and any number of members may be connected to the joints. The socket portion of the joint accommodates a movable member which has multiple degrees of motion. The movable member is connected with a threaded or otherwise twistable connection to the rod of a heim joint which rotates on a roll pin. The movable portion moves in and out of the socket portion to erect and collapse the structure. Frame members are attached to the fixed and movable portions of the joint. A cover plate on the joint assists in aligning the movable portion into the proper position so that the erect structure is stable.
Claims22
A joint for linking members of a collapsible assembly, said joint comprising:
- a socket portion having a mouth portion smaller than an inner diameter of the socket portion;
- a roll pin mounted within the mouth portion of the socket portion;
- a movable member connectable to a member of said collapsible assembly;
- and
- a rod positioned within said socket portion, said rod being movable in and out of said socket portion, said rod having a connection at one end for rotatably mounting said movable member thereto and a connection at an opposite end to said roll pin, said rod being pivotable about said roll pin,
- wherein the movable member is laterally insertable in and out of the mouth portion of the socket portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.