Patent Publication Number: US-6986178-B2

Title: Portable bivouac shelter

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable 
   REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not applicable 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to personal, portable, bivouac shelters. More specifically, it relates to such shelters in combination with sleeping pads, wherein the sleeping pad, itself, forms a part of the shelter or enclosure—in which a sleeping bag and other items may be enclosed along with the occupant. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   A portable shelter is usually the bulkiest and heaviest part of a backpacker&#39;s gear for extended hiking trips. It is also the most difficult to handle in inclement weather. Traditionally, the portable shelter has comprised a light-weight tent for protection against the elements and insects, a sleeping bag, and a foam or inflatable sleeping pad that served the dual purpose of providing a soft surface on the usually-hard ground and thermal insulation between the user and the ground. More recently, the tent has been replaced by a bivouac bag, which is essentially a waterproof, but air-and-vapor breathable, tubular outer shell that is closed at one end, but open at the other, so that a sleeping pad and sleeping bag can be inserted therein. The open end is zippered or equipped with a drawstring to provide a completely-enclosed shelter—or one that can be closed around the user&#39;s face. In this system, three large, bulky shelter components—the bivouac bag, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag—must be arranged to form a complete shelter. While this is a small problem under ordinary circumstances or for short hikes, it can be quite inconvenient in inclement weather or for extended hikes. Other problems with the conventional bivouac bag is that it does not enable its occupant to sit upright without being exposed to the elements, and it does not provide protected storage space for toiletry items, etc. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a portable, bivouac shelter system that solves problems in state-of-the-art camping gear and reduces the weight and bulk thereof by combining the upper portion of a bivouac bag with a sleeping pad. The pad is integral therewith and forms the bottom of the shelter—thus eliminating a major portion of the material of the bivouac bag—which is typically heavy and expensive. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a portable bivouac shelter that can be simply unrolled and occupied almost immediately, by saving the time otherwise needed to arrange a sleeping pad inside the bivouac bag—since the sleeping pad is no longer an extra item. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a shelter that includes a canopy, attached to the bivouac bag, that can provide protected storage space for toiletry items, etc., and can enable the user to sit upright, while protected from the elements—without the weight and bulk of a tent. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a shelter in which the canopy is supported by segmented wands, wherein the wands (except for one) are all of the same length and the segments of each wand are foldably fastened together by internal elastic strands. Hence, the wands can be easily installed in the canopy without the user&#39;s having to make wand-length choices or locate parts. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a shelter wherein the canopy can easily be completely closed, partially opened, or completely opened. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a shelter wherein shallow punctures in the floor of a preferred embodiment of the shelter will not destroy its effectiveness as a watertight shelter. 
   Other features and advantages of the invention will be noted as the following, detailed description is read with reference to the drawings, wherein the same parts are designated by the same characters throughout the disclosure. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken on Line  2 — 2  of  FIG. 1 , to show a preferred means of attaching the bivouac-bag material to the sleeping pad; 
       FIG. 3  is corner view of the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , showing how the corners of the bivouac-bag material are arranged with respect to the sleeping pad; 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary section, similar to  FIG. 2 , to show an alternate means of fastening the bivouac-bag material to a foam sleeping pad; 
       FIG. 5  is an elevation view of a second embodiment of the invention that includes a canopy—an alternate position of the foot-end wand being shown in broken lines; 
       FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken on Line  6 — 6  of  FIG. 5 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken on Line  7 — 7  of  FIG. 5 ; 
       FIG. 8  is a greatly-enlarged view taken on Line  8 — 8  of  FIG. 7 , shown partially in section; 
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged view showing the typical construction of a wand; 
       FIG. 10  is a side view of a third embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 11  is a top view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 10 , but showing the brace wand installed inside the canopy; 
       FIG. 12  is an enlarged, sectional view taken on Line  12 — 12  of  FIG. 11 ; 
       FIG. 13  is an enlarged, detail view taken on Line  13 — 13  of  FIG. 11 ; and 
       FIG. 14  is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention with some parts broken away to show internal features. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , a thin, flexible, outer shell  10  and a sleeping pad  11  are combined to form a tubular structure or bivouac bag  12 , closed at one end and closeable at the other end. This combination eliminates about a third of the bulk and weight of the material that would otherwise comprise a conventional bivouac bag and sleeping pad. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the shell  10  is water-proof, but vapor-breathable material. Such materials are presently on the market. The sleeping-pad portion of the tubular structure can be any of a number of yielding, or resilient, water-proof pads, such as pads of closed-cell foam materials (e.g., a polyolefin foam), open-cell plastic foam enclosed in a water-proof membrane, an inflatable pad, or any similar device. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pad  11  is made of closed-cell, plastic foam. In the present description, the term “sleeping pad” refers to a flat, yielding or resilient pad that provides a softened surface and thermal insulation between the user and the ground. The pad  11  can be in any of the popular configurations for such pads, such as the “mummy” shape, wherein the head and foot portions of the pad are narrower than the shoulder portion, or it may be the short version of a rectangular pad, in which the pad  11  extends approximately to the user&#39;s knees. In this latter form, the outer shell  10  forms the closed, tubular structure  12  below the user&#39;s knees. However, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sleeping pad  11  is full-length and rectangular, wherein the pad extends well beyond both the feet and head of the user, and it is amply wide to support the shoulders of a typical user. 
   The lower edges  13  of the outer shell  10  can be fastened to the outer edges  14  of the sleeping pad  11  by any of several means, such as welding, gluing, or stitching, to form the tubular structure  12 .  FIGS. 2-4  show two such means. In a preferred means (FIGS.  2  and  3 ), the edges of the shell  10  are beads  15  that are forced into slots  16  in the outer edges  14  of the pad  11 —the beads  15  fitting into tubular inner portions  17  of the slots.  FIG. 3  shows how the edges of the shell  10  are separated at the corners of the pad, forming a gap  18  in the edge portions of the shell at each corner of the pad  11 . A strip of adhesive tape  19  is applied to the entire edge of the pad  11  to cover the gaps  18  and insure integrity of the edges of the pad. 
     FIG. 4  shows an alternative means of fastening the edges  13  of the shell  10  to the pad  11 —this is especially useful when the edge portions of the pad are quite flexible. A longitudinal slit  21  is made in the edges  14  of the pad  11 , dividing them into an upper edge portion  14   a  and a lower edge portion  14   b . The edges  13  of the shell are then folded around the edges  14   a  of the pad  11 , so that the extreme edges  13  are inserted into the slit  21 , forming horizontal layers  22   a  and  22   b  thereon. The layers  22   a  and  22   b  are then stitched to the edge portions  14  of the pad  11  by threads  23 , and a layer of double-stick, adhesive tape  24  is inserted between the lower layer  22   b  of the shell edge  13  and the lower edge portion  14   b  of the pad  11 . 
   An opening  25  near one end of the tubular structure or improved, bivouac bag  12  is positioned to coincide approximately with the user&#39;s face. This opening is bounded by a sleeve  26  containing a drawstring  27 , whereby the opening  25  can be adjusted from a small aperture just large enough for breathing to an opening that surrounds the user&#39;s face without constriction (FIGS.  1  and  7 ). The user can use this opening  25  for controlling body-heat loss, as well as for freedom of head movement. When the opening  25  has been adjusted as desired, the ends of the drawstring  27  can be tied to maintain the size of the opening  25 . A first separation  28  in the top of the outer shell  10  extends from the opening  25  to about the position of the user&#39;s knees to promote ease of entry into the bivouac bag  12 . This separation is equipped with a zipper  20 , whereby it can be closed or opened to the extent desired. The shelter is normally used by arranging it flat on the ground with the opening  25  on top, untying the drawstring  27 , unzipping the separation  28 , placing a sleeping bag into the bivouac bag  12  and climbing in. 
   In a second embodiment of the invention ( FIGS. 5-9 ) a rain shelter or canopy  30  is attached to the pad  11  via a first strap  31   a  and a second strap  31   b  that extend beneath the pad  11  and are attached to it transversely to its major axis at approximately the positions of the user&#39;s shoulders and hips, respectively. The first strap  31   a  holds two grommets  32  in each of its end portions, and the second strap  31   b  holds one grommet  32  in each of its end portions (FIGS.  7  and  8 ). The canopy  30  can be of any light-weight, water-proof material. Whereas the upper shell  10  of the bivouac bag is preferably air-and-vapor breathable to avoid water condensation in contact with an enclosed sleeping bag, this is not necessary for the canopy  30 , which normally permits adequate ventilation around the bivouac bag  12  to prevent such condensation. As conventionally used, “air-and-vapor-breathable but waterproof” refers to any of the materials on the market that are impervious to water, but admit passage therethrough of airborne vapor droplets and air molecules. The size of the canopy  30  is such that the user can sit upright in it and can store various items in the spaces between the head-end portion of the pad  11  and the inside of the canopy  30 . 
   As viewed from the top ( FIG. 7 , the canopy  30  is oval in configuration, and is essentially bounded by two long sleeves. The head-end sleeve  33   a  (normally behind the user&#39;s head when the canopy is deployed) forms the head-end edge of the canopy and the foot-end sleeve  33   b  forms the foot-end edge of the canopy  30 . Two long, resilient wands ( FIG. 8 , the head-end wand  34   a  and the foot-end wand  34   b  fit into their respective sleeves  33   a  and  33   b . The wands are longer than their sleeves, so that the end portions  35  of each wand extend beyond their sleeves. This end portion  35  of each wand is smaller in diameter than the wand, so that it can be fitted into one of the grommets  32 , whereas the remainder of the wand is too large to enter a grommet  32 . Similarly, an upright sleeve  33   c  is fastened to the canopy  30  (either inside or outside the canopy, but preferably inside) between sleeves  33   a  and  33   b , so that, when the upright wand  34   c  is installed therein, it is supported in an approximately vertical position by the canopy material. Like the wands  34   a  and  34   b , the end portions  35  of the upright wand  34   c  are inserted into grommets  32  in the end portions of the strap  31   a  on opposite sides of the canopy  30  (FIG.  6 ). The distance between grommets of each wand is shorter than the wand, causing each wand to form an arch. Hence, the upright wand  34   c  determines the height of the canopy. To promote ease of setting up the shelter and to avoid having to compare sizes of wands under possibly-adverse conditions, all of the sleeves  33   a - 33   c  and wands  34   a - 34   c  are of the same length. An intermediate sleeve  33   d  between the sleeves  33   a  and  33   c  holds an intermediate wand  34   d  that is anchored in grommets  32 , similarly to wands  34   a ,  34   b  and  34   c.    
   As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 7 , the canopy  30  is longer than the bivouac bag, and, when deployed, the head-end and foot-end wands  34   a  and  34   b  are both in horizontal positions on the ground. Hence, the head end of the canopy may be anchored to the ground by a tent peg  37  driven through a grommet  32  held by a small tab  38  attached to the head-end sleeve  33   a . The tab  38  is flexible, so that the peg  37  can be used either inside or outside the canopy  30 . The foot end of the canopy  30  is anchored against possible wind by the user&#39;s feet-the canopy material being extended to form a large pouch  39  that extends beyond the foot-end sleeve  33   b , and fits over the foot end of the bivouac bag, so that the foot-end wand  34   b  is held beneath the user&#39;s feet when the shelter is being occupied. 
   The user may open the canopy  30  by moving the foot-end wand  34   b  into a substantially-vertical position adjacent the upright wand  34   c  (shown in broken lines in FIG.  5 ), draping the canopy material between those wands over the portion of the canopy between the upright wand  34   c  and the intermediate wand  34   d . The foot-end wand  34   b  can be temporarily fastened in this position by a small strap  40 , attached at one end to the apex of the footend sleeve  33   b  and having a hook-and-loop (e.g. Velcro) fastener pad  41  on its other end that can engage a matching pad  42  on the canopy material adjacent the upright sleeve  33   c . In this arrangement, however, the wands  34   b ,  34   c , and  34   d  have a tendency to collapse on top of the head-end wand  34   a . This is prevented by at least one thin line  29  attached at one end to the upper portion of the upright sleeve  33   c  and anchored at the other end either to the foot-end portion of the bivouac bag by some means, such as hook-and-loop pads, or a hook and grommet.  FIG. 5  shows the free end of the line  29  anchored to the ground via a loop  29   a  fastened to the line  29  through which a tent peg  37   a  is driven into the ground. The preferred arrangement is to have two lines  29 , one on each side of the canopy  30 . 
   Alternatively, the head-end portion of the canopy  30  can be opened by removing the tent peg  37  and rotating the head wand, intermediate wand, and upright wand toward the foot end of the shelter until they all rest on the canopy  30  below the user&#39;s hips. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , a panel of insect-proof netting  43  is attached to the inside of the canopy adjacent the upright sleeve  33   c . It falls loosely over the bivouac bag and is attached at its sides by hook-and-loop fasteners  44  to the sides of the canopy  30 . 
   Each of the wands is of conventional construction wherein it is made of several segments  45  (FIG.  9 ), one end of each segment being fitted with a metal ferrule  46  that extends beyond the end of the wand segment to form a female receptacle  47  to receive the bare end  48  of the adjacent wand segment. Since the ferrules  46  are only necessary between segments, one end segment  45   a  of each wand is not fitted with a ferrule  46 . Further, the wand segments are fastened together with a long, elastic strand  50  that extends through a central channel  51  through the entire wand and is attached to the end segments thereof. This, also, is conventional construction, used to promote ease of assembling each wand. Although the embodiment of the invention described uses the long sleeves to attach the wands to the canopy, each of these sleeves could be replaced by a series of loops attached to the canopy, short sleeves, rings, spring clips, hooks, etc. 
   A third embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIGS. 10-13 . The rectangular, plastic-foam sleeping pad  11  (as described above) is bonded, at its bottom edges  52 , to the floor  53  of the shelter (FIG.  11 ). The shelter floor  53  has a large, rectangular opening  54  slightly smaller than the pad  11 , so that its edges overlap the edges of the pad by about one inch on all four sides—the overlap  55  being bonded to the bottom of the pad  11 . The shelter is divided into a canopy section  56  and a foot-end section  57  by a juncture  58  (although the pad  11  is continuous between the sections). The foot-end section  57  has an outer shell  10 ′, as described above that is preferably made of water-proof but air-and-vapor-breathable material; and the canopy section  56  is preferably made of waterproof nylon fabric, or other waterproof material, also as described above. Similarly, the foot-end section  57  of the shelter is of a tubular configuration. However, since it is joined to the canopy section  56 , it is not closeable about the user&#39;s face, as is the tubular structure  12 . 
   The canopy section  56  is also similar to that described above. The sheet  59  of material forming the canopy is equipped with three sleeves: a head-end sleeve  60   a , an intermediate sleeve  60   b , and an upright sleeve  60   c . These sleeves are preferably fastened to the outside of the canopy material  59 , transversely to the major axis of the shelter. Three resilient wands, the head-end wand  61   a , the intermediate wand  61   b , and the upright wand  61   c  ( FIG. 13 ) are installed in their respective sleeves  60   a - 60   c  when the canopy is deployed. This is accomplished by inserting the ends  62  of the wands into pockets  63 , sewn or otherwise fastened to the outside of the canopy section  56  on each side of the canopy approximately in line with the user&#39;s shoulders. Optionally, the sleeves  60   a - 60   c  and pockets  63  can be fastened to the inside of the canopy sheet  59 . A brace wand  64 , about half the length of the other three wands, has one end  62   a  inserted into a pocket  63   a  ( FIG. 12 ) fastened on or adjacent the apex of the head-end sleeve  60   a  and the other end  62   c  inserted into a pocket  63   c  on or adjacent the apex of the upright sleeve  60   c . Its purpose is to support the upright wand  61   c  in a vertical position. A hook-and-loop fastener strap  64   a , fastened to or adjacent the apex of the intermediate sleeve  60   b  is wrapped around the brace wand  64  to hold it in the desired position relative to the canopy section. 
   The canopy material forms a curved panel  59   a  between the upright sleeve  60   c  and the juncture  58  of the foot-end section with the canopy section. It has a large opening  65  that extends from the juncture  58  nearly to the upright sleeve  60   c  and transversely from one side of the top of the sleeping pad  11  to the other. Two flexible panels ( FIG. 10 ) are fastened together and to the shell  10 ′ along the juncture line  58  and either of them can be used to close the opening  65 . The inner panel  67  is insect-proof netting, and can be fastened to the canopy material along the two side edges and top edge of the opening  65  by a zipper  66 . The outer panel  68  is made of the same material as the rest of the canopy material  59 . A long separation  69  in the flexible shell  10 ′ of the foot-end section  57  extends from about the position of the user&#39;s knees to one lower corner  69   a  of the panels  67  and  68  (the point at which these panels intersect the juncture line  58 ). This separation  69  is continuous with the separations at the corresponding sides of the panels  67  and  68 . A zipper  70  is fastened to the sides of the separation  69  and continues around the side and top edges of the outer panel  68 , so that, when the inner panel  67  is unzipped, the shell material and the inner and outer panels can be opened or closed as a single, flexible panel that can be folded over to one side of the shelter for easy entry into the shelter by the user. If the shelter is completely closed and the user desires to open the outer panel but have the inner panel closed, he can, from the inside of the shelter, unzip the inner panel, then unzip the outer panel, and then close the inner panel. If he wishes to close the outer panel, he can unzip the inner panel and close the outer panel. If he wishes to open the entire canopy, he can completely open both zippers  66  and  70  (or the zipper  70  can be opened as far as the juncture  58 ), remove the brace wand  64  and fold the entire canopy on top of the head wand  61   c.    
   As in the previously-described embodiment of the invention, this shelter can be anchored to the ground by tent pegs driven through grommets (neither of which are shown) attached to the shelter. 
   This embodiment of the invention is also typically carried and stored in a coiled configuration in the conventional manner. Hence, it is simply unrolled, the three wands  61   a - 61   c  are installed, and the shelter is ready to be occupied. The brace wand  64  is necessary for supporting the upright wand  61   c  only when both panels  67  and  68  are open. Ordinarily, it can be supported by the fabric of the shell  10 ′ and the canopy material  59 . 
   A fourth embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIG. 14. A  canopy  30 ″, having a rectangular base, is formed of canopy material  30   a , as described above, stretched over two long, flexible wands  34 ″ fastened together at their apexes, and to the inside of the top of the canopy  30  by a hook-and-loop strap  72  fastened thereto. The ends of the wands  34 ″ are seated in pockets  63 ′ fastened into the bottom corners of the canopy  30 ″. The head-end portion of the bivouac bag  12  (which is the same as shown in  FIG. 1 ) extends through an opening  73  in the side  74  of the canopy  30 ″ toward the user&#39;s feet, and the shell  10 ′ of the bivouac bag  12  is joined to the opening  73  with a watertight seal. A floor  75  of the canopy material  30   a  surrounds, and is fastened to, the head-end portion of the sleeping pad by one of the methods previously described. However, the floor  75  in this embodiment covers only a portion of the rectangular base of the canopy  30 ″. Adjacent the head end of the bivouac bag  12 , the floor  75  is bent upwardly to provide a dam  76  between the bivouac bag and the side  77  of the canopy opposite the bivouac bag, the ends of the dam  76  being fastened to the sides of the canopy with a watertight seal. This forms a vestibule  78  between the bivouac bag and the side  77  of the canopy that is open to the ground and affords a place in which wet garments, etc. can be stored. The dam  76  prevents ground water from entering the sleeping portion of the canopy  30 ″. 
   A substantially-vertical panel  79  of insect-proof netting is fastened to the top of the dam  76  and to the inside of the canopy to complete a barrier between the vestibule  78  and the sleeping portion of the canopy  30 ″. A large opening  80  in the side  77  of the canopy opposite the bivouac bag  12  is closeable by a panel  81 , integral on one side thereof with the canopy material and equipped on its other three sides with a zipper  82  that is also attached to the three open sides of the panel  81 . This opening  80  provides entry into the vestibule  78 . Similarly, a substantially-vertical separation in the insect-netting panel  79  is provided with a zipper  83 . This is joined by a horizontal separation between the insect netting  79  and the dam  76  in which a zipper  84  is installed. These zippers  83  and  84  provide entry into the sleeping portion of the canopy  30 ″. 
   To use this embodiment of the shelter, the user needs only to enter the shelter through the opening  80  and install the wands from inside the shelter. Since the corners of the canopy  30 ″ provide two-sided support for each wand, the long sleeves described in the previous embodiments of the invention are not necessary for holding the wands in a desired position relative to the canopy. Two small holes  85  in the top portion of the insect netting  79  are provided for passage therethrough of the wands (only one hole is shown). 
   A portable, personal bivouac shelter has been described that eliminates part of the bulk and weight of conventional camping gear, and provides a shelter with a canopy that can be easily set up, and completely opened, completely closed, or partially opened. Although the invention has been described in considerable detail, it should be noted that many details can be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.