Patent Publication Number: US-2023160224-A1

Title: Outdoor Sunshade

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from Chinese application number 2021228916777 filed on Nov. 24, 2021. The entire disclosure of the prior application is considered to be part of the disclosure of the accompanying application and is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is in the field of roof structures for outdoor sunshade structures such as gazebos, rotundas, arbors, kiosks, bandstands, and sheds. All these structures and other related structures will be referred to as gazebos hereafter. More particularly, the present invention is a unique interconnecting roof support system that allows for the construction of two-tier roof structures while at the same time minimizing packaging and shipping costs. Accordingly, the present disclosure makes specific reference to the unique interconnecting roof support system thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that aspects of the present invention are also equally amenable to other like applications, devices, and methods of manufacture. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Gazebos are widely used in leisure places such as backyards, squares, beaches, parks, courtyards, and more. Gazebos provide people with a comfortable leisure and cooling space away from direct sunlight or rain and may be built by craftsmen on-site or shipped as parts and assembled on-site. When shipped as parts, the packaging and shipping costs are considerable and care must be taken to ensure that packaging and shipping costs are kept to a minimum. 
     Additionally, gazebos that utilize a two-tier roof structure are desirable and aesthetically pleasing. Such designs are less susceptible to high wind weather conditions because of the gap that exists between the upper and lower roof tiers. This gap becomes ever more important as over time the square footage of gazebos desired by consumers has grown. However, due to the increased length of the frame to support such a roof structure along its hips, packaging and shipping costs for the gazebo have increased as well as increased structural demands on the frame supporting the hip. 
     A gazebo that utilizes a frame to support a roof&#39;s hip is found in U.S. patent publication 2022/0081900 to Meether et al. In Meether, the main support beam  40  and four lateral beams  42  are used to support the roof&#39;s hip. However, in Meether, the roof structure is single-tier and thus more susceptible to sustaining damage from high winds. Moreover, as the square footage of the roof structure increases, so will the length of the main support beam  40  and four lateral beams  42 . As the size of the Meether gazebo grows, so will the packaging and shipping costs along with the structural demands on the main support beam  40  and the four lateral beams  42 . 
     A gazebo that utilizes a frame to support a two-tier roof structure is found in U.S. Pat. No. 10,184,264 to Hunt et al. Here Hunt discloses a roof support structure comprised of one or more roof frame member  152 . Each roof frame member includes a pair of generally parallel, spaced apart lower and upper tubular members  154  and  156 . The lower tubular member  154  supports the larger and lower first roof tier. The short upper tubular member  156  is used to support the smaller and upper second roof tier. The pair of tubular members  154  and  156  are connected to one another by two spaced apart tubular members  158 , which are each disposed generally perpendicular to each of the lower and upper tubular members  154  and  156 . The tubular members  158  form the gap that allows for the venting of excess air. However, as one may realize, roof frame member  152  is a very long piece. This results in greater costs when packaging and shipping such a lengthy piece. In addition, the greater structural demands on roof frame member  152  will result in higher manufacturing costs. 
     It is desirable to utilize a roof supporting system for a gazebo that may be easily assembled together and packaged in smaller containers to be shipped to the construction site yet provides the structural integrity to support a roof during adverse weather conditions such as wind, rain, or snow. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed invention. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some general concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     The purpose of this disclosure is to reveal a novel assembly to support the hips of a two-tier gazebo roof structure that may be used to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, realize the disassembly and assembly of components, reduce the cost of packaging and transportation, and at the same time ensure the firmness and bearing capacity of the product structure. 
     The gazebo of the present disclosure comprises a tent frame and a roof, wherein the roof comprises a central roof located in the middle of the roof and a surrounding roof encompassing and below the central roof such that a vertical gap exists between the central roof and the surrounding roof. The central roof is supported by one or more upper frames while the surrounding roof is supported by one or more lower frames. Each upper frame has attached, by welding or other similar means, a first coupler. Each lower frame has attached, by welding or other similar means, a second coupler. Each first coupler is designed to releasably mate with each second coupler. By mating first coupler to second coupler, upper frame and lower frame are joined together becoming one piece supporting both the central roof and the surrounding roof. 
     To mate first coupler with second coupler, the first coupler includes a first seat and a first body, the first seat and the first body are arranged in an “L” shape where the first seat is the horizontal portion of the “L” and the first body is the vertical portion of the “L”. Within the first body is found first cavity and within first cavity there are at least two first guides. Each first guide contains a through hole with a counterbore at both ends of the through hole. The second coupler includes a second seat and a second body, the second seat and the second body are arranged in an “L” shape where the second seat is the horizontal portion of the “L” and the second body is the vertical portion of the “L”. Within the second body is found second cavity and within second cavity there are at least two second guides. Each second guide contains a blind hole having a ridge surrounding the blind hole. The ridge surrounding the blind hole of second guide is so designed to fit within the counterbore surrounding the through hole of first guide so as to mate first coupler with second coupler. 
     The first seat includes a first seat surface, the second seat includes a second seat surface, the first seat surface is used to cooperate with the end surface of the second body, and the second seat surface is used to cooperate with the end surface of the first body. The dimensions of first coupler and second coupler are matched, so that when the first coupler and the second coupler are combined and fastened to each other, a rectangular structure is formed. 
     The second guide includes a blind hole and a ridge surrounding the blind hole. The blind hole is to align with the through hole in the first guide and the ridge surrounding the blind hole is so designed to mate with the counterbore surrounding the through hole. 
     To reinforce the two or more first guide and second guide, one or more flanges may connect the outer walls of first guide and second guide with the wall of their respective first body and second body. 
     The number of first guide and second guide in first coupler and second coupler are the same and aligned with each other. In the preferred embodiment, the number of first guide and second guide are three and arranged as an isosceles triangle. 
     The first coupler and the second coupler are both integrally formed structures. 
     When compared with the prior art, the present disclosure allows for a roof support structure for two-tier gazebo roofs that is broken down into separate components, that may be assembled and disassembled without adversely affecting the firmness and endurance of the gazebo while reducing the packaging and transportation costs. 
     The features of the present invention can be clearly understood by referring to the drawings of the present invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings. Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. Component parts shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale and may be exaggerated to better illustrate the important features of the invention. Dimensions disclosed or shown are exemplary only. In the drawings, like reference numerals may designate like parts throughout the different views, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is the overall structure schematic diagram one of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is the overall structure schematic diagram two of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is an enlarged schematic diagram of part A in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram of the upper frame having a first coupler and the lower frame having a second coupler, the first coupler and second coupler being joined together so that upper frame and lower frame become a single assembly; 
         FIG.  5    shows an isometric view of the first coupler and second coupler oriented so that the internal structure of first coupler is visible; 
         FIG.  6    shows an isometric view of the first coupler and second coupler oriented so that the internal structure of second coupler is visible; 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of the first coupler of the present invention: 
         FIG.  8    is a cross-sectional structure schematic diagram of the second coupler of the present invention; and 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic diagram of a secondary embodiment of the single piece version of the coupling assembly of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     Among them, central roof  1 ; upper frame  11 ; surrounding roof  2 ; lower frame  21 ; tent frame  3 ; coupling assembly  4 ; first coupler  5 ; first seat  51 ; first seat surface  511 ; first body  52 ; first guide  53 ; through hole  531 ; outer counterbore  532 ; inner counterbore  533 ; first cavity  54 ; second coupler  6 ; second seat  61 ; second seat surface  611 ; second body  62 ; second guide  63 ; blind hole  631 ; ridge  632 ; second cavity  64 ; support flange  65 . 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in schematic form in order to facilitate a description thereof. Various embodiments are discussed hereinafter. It should be noted that the figures are described only to facilitate the description of the embodiments. They are neither intended as an exhaustive description of the invention, nor do they limit the scope of the invention. Additionally, an illustrated embodiment need not have all the aspects or advantages shown. Thus, in other embodiments, any of the features described herein from different embodiments may be combined. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  1  to  8   , a gazebo provided by the present invention includes tent frame  3  and a roof. The roof includes a central roof  1  in the middle and surrounding roof  2  encompassing and below central roof  1  so that a gap for venting exists between central roof  1  and surrounding roof  2 . Central roof  1  and surrounding roof  2  are installed together through coupling assembly  4 , specifically: central roof  1  includes a number of upper frame  11 , surrounding roof  2  includes a number of lower frame  21 , and a single upper frame  11  corresponds to a single lower frame  21 . Lower frame  21  and upper frame  11  are mated and coupled by coupling assembly  4 . According to different roof structures, the number of upper frame  11  and lower frame  21  can be three or more for a circular gazebo or four or more for a rectangular gazebo. Coupling assembly  4  includes a first coupler  5  and a second coupler  6 . First coupler  5  and second coupler  6  can be releasably mated by fasteners after being combined. First coupler  5  is permanently attached to upper frame  11  and upper frame  11  supports central roof  1 . Second coupler  6  is permanently attached to lower frame  21  and lower frame  21  supports surrounding roof  2 . 
     According to the above structure, the present embodiment adopts coupling assembly  4  to realize the connection of upper frame  11  and lower frame  21 , so that the frame supporting the roof&#39;s hips may be disassembled, reducing packaging and transportation costs while ensuring the firmness of the product structure and bearing capacity. 
     Based on the above, first coupler  5  is permanently attached to upper frame  11  while second coupler  6  is permanently attached to lower frame  21 . The couplers may be permanently attached to the hip frames by welding or other means are known to those with ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, this arrangement may be altered so that first coupler  5  is permanently attached to lower frame  21  while second coupler  6  is permanently attached to upper frame  11 . 
     Based on any one of the above-mentioned embodiments, first coupler  5  includes a first seat  51  and a first body  52 . First seat  51  and first body  52  are arranged as an “L” shaped structure where the vertical portion of the “L” shaped structure comprises first body  52  and the horizontal portion of the “L” shaped structure comprises first seat  51 . Within first body  52  is first cavity  54  and within first cavity  54  at least one first guide  53  is present. Second coupler  6  includes second seat  61  and second body  62 . Second seat  61  and second body  62  are arranged as an “L” shaped structure where the vertical portion of the “L” shaped structure comprises second body  62  and the horizontal portion of the “L” shaped structure comprises second seat  61 . Within second body  62  is second cavity  64  and within second cavity  64  at least one second guide  63  is present. The at least one first guide  53  in first cavity  54  is used to mate with the at least one second guide  63  in second cavity  64  so that first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  may be releasably fastened together thereby. As first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  are structurally inverted, when brought together a rectangular structure is formed. This is shown as coupling assembly  4  in  FIGS.  3 ,  4 ,  5 , and  6   . As first seat  51  includes first seat surface  511 , and second seat  61  includes second seat surface  611 , first seat surface  511  is used to cooperate with second distal surface  66  of second body  62 , and second seat surface  611  is used to cooperate with first distal surface  55  of first body  52 , so that first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  are merged resulting in a rectangular structure being formed. 
     In the preferred embodiment, first coupler  5  is permanently attached upper frame  11  by means of welding. Welding is also used to permanently attach second coupler  6  to lower frame  21 . Other means of permanently attaching first coupler  5  to upper frame  11  and second coupler  6  to lower frame  21  are well known in the art. In the actual fixing and welding process, first proximal surface  56  is usually a plane structure, which is used for welding and fixing with the bottom surface of upper frame  11 . Second proximal surface  67  adopts a V-shaped groove structure for welding with the upper end surface of lower frame  21 . Usually, the upper end surface of lower frame  21  is an inverted V-shaped boss, which is used to cooperate with the V-shaped groove in second proximal surface  67  to realize welding and fixing. Configuring first proximal surface  56  and second proximal surface  67  to mate with the corresponding plane or surface of upper frame  11  and lower frame  21  facilitates the permanent attachment of first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  to upper frame  11  and lower frame  21  respectively. 
     Preferably, first guide  53  includes through hole  531 ; outer counterbore  532  located on the outer side of through hole  531  which is configured to adopt a countersunk head bolt; and inner counterbore  533  located on the inner side of through hole  531  and is configured to receive ridge  632 . Second guide  63  includes blind hole  631 , which may have an internal thread structure to receive a fastener, and ridge  632 . Blind hole  631  is used to cooperate with and is aligned with through hole  531  so as to receive a fastener that passes within through hole  531 . Ridge  632  is configured so that when first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  are joined together, ridge  632  is either fully or partially embedded in inner counterbore  533  as previously discussed. In a secondary embodiment, second guide  63  can be an insert nut, which is convenient for installation with first guide  53 , and can also be directly provided with a lock hole and other structures. 
     In the specific installation process, after first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  are mated, a fastener, preferably a screw, is inserted into first coupler  5  passing through, in sequence, outer counterbore  532 , through hole  531 , and inner counterbore  533  and then into blind hole  631  of second coupler  6  to complete the mating process. As each one or more rust guide  53  of first coupler  5  is aligned with and designed to mate to each one or more second guide  63  of second coupler  6 , the mating of first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  is simplified, improving the assembly and joining of upper frame  11  and lower frame  21 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, in order to strengthen the mating of first coupler  5  with second coupler  6 , the thickness dimension of second body  62  in second coupler  6  is generally larger than the thickness dimension of first body  52  in first coupler  5 . The purpose here being to increase the depth of blind hole  631 , thereby increasing the threaded tightness of the fastener. 
     In a secondary embodiment, the structure of blind hole  631  in second guide  63  can be changed to a through hole structure, and a third counterbore is provided on the outer surface of second guide  63 . In this embodiment, a fastener penetrates both first guide  53  and second guide  63 . First guide  53  and second guide  63  are then mated by threading a nut onto the portion of the fastener extending from second guide  63 . The nut may further be embedded in the third counterbore at the same time. 
     In yet another embodiment, the structural strength of second coupler  6  is enhanced by joining each of the one or more second guide  63  with one or more of the walls surrounding second cavity  64  by using one or more support flange  65 . The one or more support flange  65  about each of the one or more second guide  63  will improve the structural life of second coupler  6  while minimizing the weight of second coupler  6 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, there are three first guide  53  aligned to and designed to mate with three second guide  63 . The three first guide  53  and three second guide  63  are arranged triangularly, that is each first guide  53  and each second guide  63  form the points of the triangle. This design improves the overall strength of the mating of first coupler  5  and each second coupler  6 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, first coupler  5  and second coupler  6  are both integrally formed structures, which are usually cast aluminum integral casting, or aluminum casting integral forming, etc., which can ensure the overall strength of the product. 
     This disclosure reveals a novel coupling assembly that may be utilized to join a upper frame and a lower frame of a two tier roof used on an outdoor sunshade. By this novel design, the upper frame and the lower frame of a two tier roof used on an outdoor sunshade may be shipped as separate components. As a result, the packaging and transportation costs are reduced while the firmness and bearing capacity of an outdoor sunshade are ensured at the same time. 
       FIG.  9    shows a schematic diagram of a secondary embodiment of the coupling assembly of the present invention. In this embodiment coupling assembly  4  is comprised of a single component that may be releasably attached to both upper frame  11  and lower frame  21 . In this embodiment, coupling assembly  4  consists of a single rectangular block having an upper plate and a lower plate that are permanently affixed to the rectangular block. The upper and lower plates have one or more through holes that align to one or more threaded blind holes on both upper frame  11  and lower frame  21 . Screw fasteners may then be inserted through the through holes in both the upper and lower plates found on coupling assembly  4  and into the aligned blind holes found on both upper frame  11  and lower frame  21  to releasably attach coupling assembly  4  to both upper frame  11  and lower frame  21 . In this manner forming a single piece consisting of upper frame  11 , lower frame  21 , and coupling assembly  4 . 
     In yet another embodiment, coupling assembly  4  may be permanently attached to either upper frame  11  or lower frame  21  and then releasably attached to the opposing frame. In this embodiment, coupling assembly  4  consists of a single rectangular block, as shown in  FIG.  9   , but one end is permanently attached to either upper frame  11  or lower frame  21  and the opposing end having a plate containing one or more through holes. These through holes align to one or more threaded blind holes on the frame that coupling assembly  4  is to releasably attach to. Screw fasteners may then be inserted through the through holes in the plate found on coupling assembly  4  and into the aligned blind holes found on the frame, either upper frame  11  or lower frame  21 , that coupling assembly  4  is to releasably attach to thereby forming a single piece consisting of upper frame  11 , lower frame  21 , and coupling assembly  4 . 
     Exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in an illustrative style. Accordingly, the terminology employed throughout should be read in a non-limiting manner. Although minor modifications to the teachings herein will occur to those well versed in the art, it shall be understood that what is intended to be circumscribed within the scope of the patent warranted hereon are all such embodiments that reasonably fall within the scope of the advancement to the art hereby contributed and that that scope shall not be restricted, except in the light of the appended claims and their equivalents.