Apparatus for protecting against insects

The invention relates to apparatus for providing protection against insects. The apparatus comprises a support device (10), a framework (20) carried by the support device, and netting carried by the framework for the purpose of surrounding a protected zone. The framework comprises a central pivot (22) about which a plurality of arms are capable of pivoting about practically the same axis, said axis being designed to be substantially vertical. The arms (24, 26) can pivot about said axis between a working position in which they are distributed around the axis and a rest position in which they are all placed on the same side of a vertical plane including the pivot. The invention is applicable to mosquito nets.

The invention relates to an apparatus for providing protection against 
insects, i.e. apparatus including netting, essentially constituted by 
gauze or by muslin, and carried by a framework which is itself fixed to a 
wall or to a ceiling. Such apparatuses are already known and they are 
called "mosquito nets". 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A variety of mosquito nets having various types of framework are already 
known. Thus, French patent No. 976 500 describes a mosquito net in which 
extensible ribs have one end hinged to a slider which is at a distance 
from a support device when in a closed position. In an open position, 
after sliding along an upright, the slider is close to the support device 
and the ribs are received in notches in the support device. Thus by moving 
in an essentially vertical plane, each rib takes up a position enabling it 
to support netting. 
German patent No. 441 describes hoods for baby carriages, beds, or, baskets 
including one or two sheets of material each supported by ribs. The ribs 
are hinged at two locations which are in alignment about a common axis 
that is always horizontal. 
The frameworks of the apparatuses described in the two above-mentioned 
documents suffer from drawbacks. Thus, in the first case, the netting must 
be separated from the framework when the framework is to be put into its 
rest position. The second document describes a framework to which the 
sheet of material is fixed rigidly since given the rigidity of the 
framework, it exerts large forces on the sheet of material. In addition, 
an apparatus having two hinges placed at opposite ends of a space that is 
enclosed by the sheet of material is unsuitable for use as a mosquito net 
where the bottom portion of the netting usually rests on the ground or on 
a bed. 
An object of the invention is to provide apparatus for providing protection 
against insects, which apparatus is particularly simple and robust, and 
extremely easy to manipulate. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
More precisely, the apparatus of the invention for providing protection 
against insects comprises a framework including arms that are hinged to 
enable all of them to pivot substantially in a horizontal plane about a 
common axis which is substantially vertical. In addition, when the 
framework has been fixed to a wall by means of a support device, 
installing netting is extremely simple since the netting is presented 
beneath the framework and it is easily fixed to its corners and to a 
central point. 
More precisely, the invention relates to an apparatus for providing 
protection against insects, the apparatus being of the type comprising a 
support device, a framework carried by the support device, and netting 
carried by the framework for the purpose of surrounding a protected zone; 
according to the invention the framework comprises a central pivot from 
which or in the vicinity of which a plurality of arms are mounted to pivot 
about an axis that is practically common, said axis being designed to be 
substantially vertical when the apparatus is disposed in its extended 
position, and when the apparatus is in said position, the arms can pivot 
about said axis between a working position in which they are distributed 
around said axis and a rest position in which they are all disposed on the 
same side of a vertical plane including the pivot. 
Preferably, the central pivot comprises a plurality of parts stacked on one 
another along the pivot axis, and each having a fitting for engaging the 
end of a removable arm. 
In an embodiment, the framework has four arms that are designed to be 
adjacent in pairs when the apparatus is in the rest position and to be 
substantially perpendicular to both adjacent arms when the apparatus is in 
its working position. 
In another embodiment, the framework comprises five arms brought together 
into two groups when the apparatus is in its rest position, with each of 
the arms being substantially perpendicular to two other arms when the 
apparatus is in its extended position, and with two arms from two 
different groups lying adjacent each other when the apparatus is in its 
extended position. 
The framework is preferably dismountable, in which case it is advantageous 
for at least some of the arms to be telescopic so that the apparatus is 
reduced in size when it is dismounted. 
Most advantageously, the netting has a top portion designed to extend 
substantially horizontally and a plurality of walls designed to be 
substantially vertical, with the top portion of the netting being made of 
cloth that has good dimensional stability, and with the walls being made 
of gauze or muslin. Preferably, the top portion of the netting is made of 
cloth which shrinks only negligibly when washed. In addition, it is 
advantageous for the top portion of the netting to be made of a cloth 
which is sufficiently opaque to prevent the framework being visible 
therethrough. 
The top portion of the netting is preferably polygonal in shape, having the 
same number of corners as there are arms, with each corner having a gusset 
on top that is open towards the center for the purpose of receiving the 
end of an arm when the apparatus is in its operating position. 
Advantageously, the top portion of the netting is fixed in the middle to 
the central pivot of the framework. 
In an embodiment, the top portion of the netting is polygonal in shape, it 
is split along a line going from its center to one of its edges, its 
center carries a device for fixing to the pivot of the framework, and the 
two sides of the split in the top portion overlap each other. Under such 
circumstances, the two sides of the split are preferably fixed together 
when the apparatus is in its extended position. Such fixing is preferably 
provided by a press-fastener or by fabrics having complementary hooks and 
loops. 
The device for fixing the central portion of the top portion of the netting 
preferably comprises a cord for knotting to the central pivot. 
In an advantageous embodiment, at least one of the walls comprises two 
flaps that overlap and that are suitable for being moved apart while 
entering or leaving the apparatus. 
It is advantageous for at least two adjacent walls each to possess two 
flaps that overlap and that can be moved apart, and for the netting to 
carry a tape at an intermediate height where the walls meet each other, 
with the tape serving to hold one of the flaps of each of the two adjacent 
walls to the rear wall and to form a curtain loop. The front corners 
preferably have fasteners so that the walls of the netting can be raised 
and when the tape and the fasteners are in use, the apparatus takes up the 
form of a canopy. 
In some embodiments, the bottom portions of the walls of netting are 
weighted or ballasted. 
It is advantageous for the support device of the framework to include an 
additional rigid arm secured to the central pivot and intended to be held 
perpendicular to the wall from which the apparatus is suspended.

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 for providing protection against insects is 
intended to be fixed to a wall above the head of a bed. The apparatus 
essentially comprises a support device given overall reference 10. The 
support device comprises: an interconnecting nut 12 having a plurality of 
arms projecting therefrom; two horizontal arms 14 for placing horizontally 
against a wall; a horizontal arm 16 for projecting forwards to support the 
framework; and a set 18 of stays for fixing to the wall. 
The apparatus also includes a netting support framework. The framework is 
given an overall reference 20 and essentially comprises a central pivot 22 
carried at the projecting end of the arm 16 of the support device, and 
four arms: two back arms 24 and two fronts arms 26. In this embodiment, 
the framework has four arms whose tips define a quadrilateral, e.g. a 
square having a side of about 2.1 meters (m). 
The nut 12 and the pivot 22 which are described in greater detail below in 
the present description are essentially made of plastic, whereas the 
various arms 14, 16, 24, and 26 are made of bamboo or of extruded plastic 
tubing. It is also possible for them to be in the form of members that are 
optionally telescopic. 
The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 also includes netting given an overall 
reference 30. According to an advantageous characteristic of the 
invention, the netting 30 essentially comprises walls, and a top portion 
32 made of a different material. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the top 
portion 32 is split between its center and an intermediate portion of its 
front edge, and the split is provided with two overlapping edges. These 
edges can be fixed together by fixing devices given references 38 and 40 
which may be constituted, for example, by a fixing device 38 comprising 
fabric with loops and with hooks, and a press-fastener device 40. In a 
variant, the top portion 32 is not split in this way and the apparatus 
then needs to be folded in a special manner as described in detail below. 
It may also be observed that each of the corners of the top portion 40 
includes a patch constituting a gusset 36 sewn onto each corner so as to 
form a pocket enabling the netting to be fixed to the ends of the arms 24 
and 26. 
Advantageously, the top portion 32 is made of a non-seethrough cloth that 
is practically opaque, and that has high dimensional stability. Such 
dimensional stability makes it possible to install the netting 30 on the 
framework 20 merely by inserting the ends of the arms 24, 26 into the 
corner pockets 36 with a central cord 39 being fixed to the bottom of the 
pivot 22. It is therefore desirable for the top portion 32 to be made of a 
cloth that is stable on being washed, i.e. that does not shrink by more 
than 3%, for example. A suitable cloth for this purpose is 50% polyester 
and 50% cotton. 
The front wall (in FIG. 1) and the side walls of the netting 30 are each 
constituted in an advantageous embodiment by two flaps of gauze or muslin, 
namely flaps 42 and 44 for the front face and flaps 46 and 48 for the side 
face that is visible in FIG. 1. These flaps overlap considerably as can be 
seen in the figure. The adjacent flaps 44 and 46 of two adjacent walls are 
preferably constituted by a single piece of gauze or muslin. Where the 
side walls meet the back walls, a tie-back cord 50 is sewn on about 
half-way up to enable the adjacent side flaps to be held back like a 
curtain loop as shown in FIG. 2. In addition, internal cords and external 
loops form fasteners 51 (see FIG. 2) on each of the two front corners for 
supporting the netting. 
FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in which the cords 50 and the 
fasteners 51 are in use for retaining adjacent flaps such as 44 and 46. In 
this disposition, the apparatus forms a canopy giving an overall 
appearance similar to that of a four-poster bed. It does not provide 
protection against insects, but it does provide very easy access to a bed 
placed beneath the framework. It should be observed that because of the 
openings formed in each of the walls and because of the overlap between 
pairs of adjacent flaps such as 42, 44 and 46 and 48, it is very easy to 
get into the bed placed within the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. 
FIG. 3 shows a rest position for the apparatus in which the framework has 
been folded, as described below in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 
4 and 5, with the flaps of the netting being retained at the corners of 
the framework and of the support device by additional cords 52 sewn onto 
the back corners of the netting. 
FIG. 4 shows the framework of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 as it appears 
when no netting is installed on the framework. Additional references are 
used to designate the top member 54 for fixing the support device to a 
wall, and also serving to secure the stays 56 which hold the ends of the 
horizontal arms 14 of the support device, and a stay 58 which supports the 
top of the central pivot 22 of the framework, said stays constituting 
portions of the set 18. 
FIG. 5 shows that the rest position of the framework (already shown in FIG. 
3) may be obtained easily, merely by pivoting the two arms 26 through 
one-fourth of a turn about the vertical axis central pivot 22. 
The central pivot on which the arms are mounted is an essential component 
of the protection apparatus of the invention. Although it may be made in 
various different ways, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is particularly 
convenient for ensuring that the arms 24 and 26 can pivot in a plane that 
is substantially horizontal about an axis that is common or nearly common 
and that is vertical. It comprises firstly a top portion 60 which is 
terminated at the top by an eye 62 for fixing to the stay 58 and to 
optional stays 64 (see FIG. 4) supporting the middles of the arms 24 and 
26. The top portion 60 of the pivot has a hole 66 for receiving the tip of 
the arm 16 of the support device. A plurality of washers 68 are then 
stacked beneath the top portion 60. Each washer has a cylindrical body of 
circular section capable of pivoting about the pivot axis 22 and including 
a fitting 70 suitable for engaging the end of one of the arms 24, 26. FIG. 
6 shows five washers 68 suitable for engaging five arms. In the embodiment 
shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, four washers suffice. However, in the embodiment 
shown in FIG. 7, five washers are used for supporting five arms. Finally, 
the pivot 22 includes a bottom portion forming an eye 72 for fixing to the 
central cord 39 of the top portion 32 of the netting. 
The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 is very easily dismounted and put away. 
The netting is removed by undoing the cord 39 and by extracting the arms 
from the pockets 36. The netting can then be folded. The framework is then 
dismounted by extracting the pivot 22 from the end of the arm 16 of the 
support device and by extracting each of the arms 24 and 26. The support 
device is then itself dismounted by separating the arms 14, 16, and 18 
from the nut 12. All of the arms, the nut, and the pivot can easily be 
bundled together in a small volume. The arms 14 and 16 are about 1.1 m 
long. The arms 24 and 26 are about 1.5 m long. If this length is 
considered to be too long, then each of the arms 24 and 26 may be 
telescopic. 
For installation, the support device and the framework are assembled by the 
opposite procedure, until they take up the disposition shown in FIG. 4. 
Thereafter, the top of the netting 32 is presented beneath the framework. 
The corner pockets 36 are fitted in succession over the ends of the arms 
24 and 26, and the central cord 39 is fastened to the pivot 22. The side 
walls then hang naturally. 
FIG. 7 shows a variant apparatus of the invention. The support device is 
analogous to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. Similarly, the framework is very 
similar to that of FIGS. 1 to 5 apart from the fact that it includes an 
additional arm 73 analogous to the arms 26. More precisely, in this 
embodiment, the walls of the netting, now referenced 74, are continuous 
and the split enabling the netting to be opened is formed at one of the 
corners between two walls. This corner corresponds to two of the arms 26 
and 73 being juxtaposed, one of them carrying the corner of the wall 74 
and the other carrying the corner of a front wall 76. An overlap flap 78 
extends the front wall netting 76 and is fixed to the top portion or to 
the side wall 74 by fixing devices referenced 38 and 40 since they may be 
analogous to those used in the first embodiment. An additional bottom 
fixing device 80 may also be placed at the bottom. In this embodiment, 
optional ballasting 82 is shown in the bottom portions of the walls such 
as 74 and 76. 
The second embodiment forms a structure that can be closed more thoroughly 
than the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. However, it is more difficult of 
access. 
In the various embodiments, the openings obtained with overlapping flaps 
such as 42, 44 in FIG. 1 may be used at one or more corners in one or more 
walls, in any convenient combination. 
When the top portion 32 of the netting has a split as referenced 34 in FIG. 
1, going from the position shown in FIG. 1 to that shown in FIG. 3 is very 
simple since it suffices merely to pivot the arms 26. However, if the top 
portion 32 is made in one piece, folding the arms from the position shown 
in FIG. 4 to the position in FIG. 5 requires the end of one of the front 
arms to be removed from a pocket 36, the arms to be folded, and then the 
pocket to be fixed back onto the front arm. This small difficulty is 
usually acceptable, particularly in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 since 
while it is in use the framework retains its extended position and only 
the flaps such as 44 and 46 are tied back by the cords 50 and 51 or are 
moved towards one another. 
In the embodiments described above, the netting delimits a rectangular 
volume that is nearly in the form of a cube with a side that is 
advantageously about 2.1 m long. However, other dispositions are possible. 
For example, there is no need for all of the walls to be the same size, in 
particular when the apparatus is for protecting a single bed. Under such 
circumstances, the arms 24 and 26 may be the same size or they may be of 
different sizes. For example, the forwardly-extended arms 26 may be longer 
than the backwardly-extending arms 24. Under such circumstances, when the 
apparatus is in the extended position, the two arms 24 and 26 on the same 
"diagonal" are not exactly in line. 
Although the protection apparatus described is square or rectangular in 
section, other polygonal sections could be envisaged. For example, a 
substantially circular zone could be protected by using netting whose 
section in a horizontal plane is that of a polygon (preferably a regular 
polygon). For example, the pivot 22 could have six washers 68 and the 
framework could have six arms supporting the six corners of a hexagonal 
top portion. 
The embodiments described above are made of materials that are relatively 
cheap. For example, the pivot 22 which is the most complicated part is 
made of a plastic such as Nylon, as is the nut 12. The various arms may be 
made of bamboo. Consequently, the protection apparatus is cheap in spite 
of being robust and convenient to use. 
The support device may have other dispositions including more arms or 
fewer, providing it holds the pivot 22 at a distance from a wall. In 
particular, instead of having a single fixing point on the wall (at 54), 
it may have a plurality of such fixing points, in particular at locations 
corresponding to the outermost tips of the arms 14.