A tent comprising a flexible porous sheet having an inner face and an outer face and a resilient frame attached to the sheet. The resilient frame is stressed so that the frame can shape the sheet into an enclosure having a peripheral wall, a closed top, an opening at the front, and a shroud for closing the opening. The shroud is of substantially greater length than the height of the opening. A peripheral region of the sheet extends from the perimeter of the enclosure to form a seal with the surface which supports the tent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
There are numerous circumstances in which flying and/or crawling insects 
can be a nuisance, or even pose a threat, to a person attempting to sleep. 
For example, mosquitoes are a common annoyance to campers and those 
traveling to parts of the earth where mosquitoes are found in abundance 
indoors. In other instances, poisonous insects, such as certain species of 
spiders, pose a threat to persons attempting to sleep. 
Perhaps the most common way to address the mosquito problem is to apply a 
mosquito repellant. Although mosquito repellant is to some extent 
satisfactory, care must be taken not to get it in the eyes, it often has 
an unpleasant odor, and its effectiveness is of a limited duration 
following its application. 
It is also known to use mosquito netting in an effort to shield a person 
from mosquitoes. Although mosquito netting can be effective, in many, if 
not most situations, there is no way to drape the netting over the person 
sleeping, and it is difficult to seal around the edges of the netting so 
as to positively exclude insects. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention provides a lightweight, inexpensive and very compact tent 
which is particularly adapted for shielding a person in a reclined 
position from flying and crawling insects. Although the tent of this 
invention is particularly adapted for this purpose, the tent can, if 
desired, be used for other purposes, such as sheltering a person from the 
elements. 
The tent generally comprises a flexible sheet having an inner face and an 
outer face, a resilient frame and means for attaching the frame to the 
sheet with the frame engaging the inner face of the sheet. The resilient 
frame can be stressed so that the frame can shape the sheet into an 
enclosure having a peripheral wall, a closed top, an opening at the front 
and a flap for closing the opening. 
For a tent that is to be used primarily as an insect shield, the sheet is 
preferably entirely porous to allow the passage of air therethrough, but 
with the pores being too small to allow passage of mosquitos, and the 
like, into the interior of the enclosure. The enclosure is preferably 
sufficiently large to receive the head and upper body of a person in a 
reclined position. To provide a better insect seal, the flap is preferably 
greatly enlarged with respect to the front opening so that it forms a 
shroud which can close the opening and extend outwardly from the perimeter 
of the enclosure. The shroud can then be tucked around the mid-section of 
the person using the tent to form an effective insect shield. To impede 
insects attempting to enter the enclosure at the base of the enclosure, a 
peripheral region of the sheet extends from the perimeter of the enclosure 
to form a peripheral flap or seal which can engage the supporting surface, 
such as the ground or a bed, on which the tent is placed. The seals 
referred to above significantly impede insect entrance into the interior 
of the enclosure. 
The tent of this invention can be embodied in a construction which is 
extremely simple. For example, the flexible sheet can be of one-piece 
construction which can be laid out flat. Accordingly, it can be folded 
into a very small package to aid portability of the tent and it can be 
used as conventional mosquito netting when desired. 
To permit the flexible sheet to be appropriately shaped by the frame, the 
sheet has a plurality of bearings mounted on the inner face thereof in a 
polygonal pattern. Each of these bearings is adapted to coact with an 
associated end portion of the frame. For example, in a preferred 
construction, there are four of the bearings arranged in a rectangular 
pattern, and the frame comprises first and second frame members diagonally 
intersecting with their end portions received by the four bearings, 
respectively. 
To partially stress the resilient frame so that it can shape the flexible 
sheet, fastener means is provided on at least one of the bearings and an 
adjacent region of the sheet whereby the bearing can be coupled to such 
region of the sheet. In a preferred construction, two of the bearings are 
coupled to associated regions of the sheet. Further stressing of the frame 
can be obtained by stressing the frame across the front opening. This can 
be accomplished, for example, by an elongated flexible element extending 
between the lower corners of the front opening and/or by folding of the 
sheet to form a bottom wall for the tent and appropriately attaching the 
bottom wall to the lower corners of the opening. With this construction, 
the frame members can be quickly attached to the bearings, and the 
fasteners can be quickly coupled together to assemble the tent. 
The invention, together with additional features and advantages thereof, 
may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in 
connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 shows a tent 11 which generally comprises a flexible panel 13 (FIGS. 
1 and 6) and a frame 15. As best shown in FIG. 6, the panel 13 comprises a 
flexible, porous sheet 17, rear bearings 19, forward bearings 21, fastener 
elements 23 and a frame attachment 25. To simplify construction, the sheet 
17 is preferably constructed of a single, integral seamless piece of 
porous, transparent netting having an inner face 27 and an outer face. 
Although the sheet 17 can be of different configurations, for simplicity, 
it can be rectangular and comprise generally parallel, longitudinal edges 
29 and shorter, parallel rear and front edges 30 and 31, respectively. 
The bearings 19 and 21 are suitably attached to the sheet 17 and lie on the 
inner face 27. The bearings 19 and 21 engage and support the ends of the 
frame 15 and, as such, may be of any suitable number and construction to 
accomplish this function. The bearings 19 and 21 are arranged in a 
polygonal pattern, and in the embodiment illustrated, this pattern is 
rectangular. Although different orientations are possible, in the 
illustrated embodiment of FIG. 6, the long dimensions of the rectangular 
pattern are parallel to the edges 30 and 31 and the short dimensions of 
the rectangular pattern are parallel to the longitudinal edges 29. 
The polygonal pattern of the bearings 19 and 21 is spaced inwardly from the 
periphery of the sheet so that the pattern is circumscribed by a 
peripheral region 32 of the sheet. Specifically, the bearings 19 and 21 
are spaced inwardly from the adjacent longitudinal edge 29 equal 
distances, and the fastener elements 23 are spaced inwardly from the rear 
edge 31 an equal amount. The polygonal pattern of the bearings 19 and 21 
is closer to the rear edge 30 than to the forward edge 31. 
Although the bearings 19 and 21 may be of various different constructions, 
in the form illustrated, each of them is in the form of a pocket formed by 
a strap folded on itself and having its bottom closed and its top open to 
receive an end portion of the frame 15. The loops which form the bearings 
19 and 21 are fastened or adhered to the inner face 27 of the sheet 17. 
Each of the bearings 19 and 21 has a fastener element 33 and 35, 
respectively, attached to the strap which forms the bearing. The fastener 
elements 23, 33 and 35 may be, for example, snap fasteners. 
The fastener elements 23 are adapted to releasably interlock with the 
adjacent fastener elements 33 as shown in FIG. 3. The fastener elements 23 
are attached to the inner face 27 of the sheet 17 as by an adhesive and 
are preferably located outside of the polygonal pattern of the bearings 19 
and 21. Also, the fastener elements 23 are closer together than the 
fastener elements 33 so that, when these fastener elements are interlocked 
as shown in FIG. 3, the frame 15 is stressed or tensioned as described 
more fully hereinbelow. 
To additionally stress the frame 15, the panel 13 includes an elongated 
flexible member 37 (FIGS. 1, 4 and 6) for drawing the bearings closer 
together. The flexible member 37 has fastener elements 39 at its opposite 
ends for releasably coupling the flexible member to the fastener elements 
35 carried by the bearings 21. To stress the forward portion of the frame 
15 equally with the rear portion, the flexible member 37 should have a 
length approximately equal to the distance between the fastener elements 
23. 
The frame attachment 25 comprises a web 43 (FIG. 5) of a suitable fabric 
adhered to the inner face 27. of the sheet 17 and carrying fastener 
elements 45 in the form of snap fasteners (FIG. 5). Two flexible fabric 
tabs 47 are releasably attached to the web 43 by snap fastener elements 
49. 
Although the frame 15 may be of different constructions, in the illustrated 
embodiment, it comprises first and second resilient frame members 51 which 
diagonally intersect to form an "X." To enhance portability, each of the 
frame members 51 preferably comprises a plurality of short segments 53 
held together by conventional couplings 55 which receive end portions of 
the segments 55. 
To assemble the tent, the sheet 17 is laid out flat, with the inner face 27 
facing inwardly as shown in FIG. 6. The opposite ends of the frame members 
51 are inserted into the diagonally opposite bearings 19 and 21, and the 
tabs 47 are snapped to the fastener elements 45 to secure these tabs 
around the central regions of the frame members to hold them against the 
inner face 27. Each of the frame members 51 is slightly longer than the 
diagonal distance between the associated bearings 19 and 21, and 
accordingly, when laid out flat, the frame members 51 bow somewhat as 
illustrated in FIG. 6. 
Next, the fastener elements 23 are attached to the associated fastener 
elements 33 as shown by the arrows A in FIG. 6. The effect is to draw the 
bearings 19 to the dashed position shown in FIG. 6 thereby bowing the 
frame members 51 concavely upwardly and stressing the frame members. 
Next, the flexible member 37 is attached via the fastener elements 35 and 
39 to the bearings 21 to move the bearings 21 toward each other to the 
dashed position shown in FIG. 6 thereby further stressing and tensioning 
the frame members 51. The tent 11 is then inverted to the position shown 
in FIG. 1 and placed on a suitable supporting surface 56 (FIG. 2). 
The tent 11 includes an enclosure 57 (FIG. 1) having a peripheral wall 
extending upwardly from a base 58 and including opposite side walls 59 and 
a rear or end wall 60. The top of the enclosure 57 is closed. Each of the 
side walls 59 is between an adjacent pair of the bearings 19 and 21, and 
the rear wall 60 is between the bearings 19. The tent 11 has an opening 61 
at the front and an openable flap in the form of a shroud 63 for closing 
the opening. The shroud 63 is of substantially greater length than the 
height of the opening 61 so that the shroud can close the opening and 
extend outwardly from the base of the enclosure 57 for a substantial 
distance as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The flexible member 37 extends across 
the bottom of the opening 61 between the lower corners of the opening. The 
relatively large spacing between the bearings 21 and the forward edge 31 
provide the shroud 63 with its additional length. 
The peripheral region 32 of the sheet 17 extends outwardly from the side 
walls 59 and the rear wall 60 to form a seal with the supporting surface 
56 on which the tent 11 rests. The peripheral region 32 may extend 
outwardly or inwardly from the base of the enclosure 57 as desired. 
Although the tent 11 can be of any desired size, when used as an insect 
shield, it is preferably large enough to receive the head, shoulders and 
upper body of the user. In this event, the shroud 63 can be tucked around 
the mid-section of the person reclined within the tent, and the shroud can 
still seal the front opening 61. The flexible member 37 can provide its 
frame tensioning function without obstructing the front opening 61. 
FIG. 7 shows a tent 11a which is identical to the tent 11 in all respects 
not shown or described herein. Portions of the tent 11a corresponding to 
portions of the tent 11 are designated by corresponding reference numerals 
followed by the letter "a.". 
The only differences between the tents 11 and 11a are that the latter has a 
floor 71, the fastener elements 39a are attached to the floor and the 
flexible member 37 is not used. To form the floor 71, the sheet 17a is 
enlarged between the bearings 19a and the rear edge 30a. The fastener 
elements 39a are sewed onto the inner face 27a of the enlarged region as 
shown in FIG. 7. As the final step of tent assembly, the sheet 17a is 
folded along a region 73 just rearwardly of the enclosure 57a to bring the 
enlarged portion of the sheet 17a below the enclosure to form the floor 71 
and to place the fastener elements 39a in position for attachment to the 
bearings 21a . Because the sheet 17a is not rectangular, the floor 71 
projects outwardly of the enclosure 57. 
Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and 
described, many changes, modifications and substitutions may be made by 
one having ordinary skill in the art without necessarily departing from 
the spirit and scope of this invention.