Patent ID: 7320332

Claim:
A portable and collapsible shelter for placement on an outdoor substrate to protect a user from the environment, the portable shelter comprising: a shell formed of flexible sheet material; a frame structure for supporting the shell; and a plurality of anchor stakes for securing the shell to the substrate, wherein each of said anchor stakes has a threaded end with an arcuate helical tip; wherein the shell comprises: a plurality of interconnected sidewalls arranged lateral edge to lateral edge such that each of the plural sidewalls is joined to an adjacent sidewall at respective lateral edges; and a skirt portion attached to a respective bottom edge of each sidewall of the plurality of sidewalls, wherein the skirt portion comprises an elongated strip of material which is wider than said sidewall, the skirt portion extending substantially continuously along the entire lower edge of the sidewall such that ends of the skirt portion extend beyond both lateral edges of said sidewall, each end of the skirt portion provided with a through hole formed therein, wherein the ends of each of the respective skirt portions are reinforced in an area thereof surrounding the respective through holes, using metal or plastic grommets, wherein the threaded end of each of the anchor stakes is dimensioned and configured to fit into and to be insertable through one of said grommets; wherein each end of the skirt portion is adapted to be arranged in a layered, overlapping relationship with an end of a skirt portion of an adjacent sidewall, such that a through hole of a skirt portion of one sidewall overlies and is capable of placement in stacked vertical alignment with the through hole of a skirt portion of the adjacent sidewall, to form a vertically aligned through hole pair adapted to receive one of said anchor stakes therethrough; and wherein the frame comprises a plurality of sub-frames, the number of sub-frames corresponding to the number of sidewalls plus one.