Children's toy playfort

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an improved children's toy playfort and a method of setting up a children's toy playfort. According to one aspect, the toy playfort comprises a canopy and a free-standing support structure for supporting the canopy. The support structure includes a first section and a second section that telescopes with respect to the first section to vary the height of the support structure. The canopy is secured to the support structure by an attachment that is provided between a central region of the canopy and a central region of the support structure, the support structure including a storage compartment to store the canopy. The method of setting up the playfort comprises telescoping at least one section of a support structure with respect to a base section to increase the height of the support structure, taking the canopy out from inside the support structure, and attaching the canopy to various objects located around the periphery of the canopy via attachment devices provided around the perimeter of the canopy to set up the playfort.

1 . A toy playfort comprising: 
 a canopy; and    a free-standing support structure for supporting the canopy, the support structure including a first section and a second section that telescopes with respect to the first section to vary a height of the support structure, the canopy secured to the support structure by an attachment that is provided between a central region of the canopy and a central region of the support structure, the support structure including a storage compartment to store the canopy.    
   
   
       2 . A toy playfort according to  claim 1 , wherein the attachment between the canopy and the support structure is provided via a cord.  
   
   
       3 . A toy playfort according to  claim 1 , wherein the canopy includes an attachment device provided around its perimeter for securing the canopy to various household objects to set up the playfort.  
   
   
       4 . A toy playfort according to  claim 3 , wherein the attachment device includes a gator clip.  
   
   
       5 . A toy playfort according to  claim 1 , wherein the first section is a base section adapted to make the playfort a free-standing structure, the support structure including at least two other sections that telescope with respect to the base section to vary the height of the support structure.  
   
   
       6 . A toy playfort according to  claim 1 , wherein the second section includes a hollow body for storing the canopy.  
   
   
       7 . A toy playfort according to  claim 1 , wherein the sections of the support structure include tabs for keeping the telescoping sections extended with respect to each other.  
   
   
       8 . A toy playfort according to  claim 7 , wherein the sections of the support structure include longitudinal guides mating with the tabs for slidably collapsing the support structure for storage.  
   
   
       9 . A toy playfort comprising: 
 a free-standing support structure including sections that telescope with respect to each other to vary a height of the support structure; and    a canopy supported by the support structure, the canopy including attachment devices provided around its perimeter for attaching the canopy to household objects to form the playfort.    
   
   
       10 . A toy playfort according to  claim 9 , wherein the attachment devices include gator clips.  
   
   
       11 . A toy playfort according to  claim 9 , wherein the canopy is attached to the support structure via a cord.  
   
   
       12 . A toy playfort according to  claim 9 , wherein the support structure includes a wide base to make the support structure free-standing.  
   
   
       13 . A toy playfort according to  claim 9 , wherein the sections of the support structure include tabs for keeping the telescoping sections extended with respect to each other.  
   
   
       14 . A toy playfort according to  claim 13 , wherein the sections of the support structure include longitudinal guides mating with the tabs for slidably collapsing the support structure for storage.  
   
   
       15 . A method of using a playfort, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) providing a free-standing support structure that includes a wide base for making the support structure free-standing and a canopy stored within a storage compartment of the support structure;    (b) telescoping at least one section of the support structure with respect to the base to increase a height of the support structure;    (c) taking the canopy out from inside the support structure;    (d) attaching the canopy to various objects located around a periphery of the canopy via attachment devices provided around a perimeter of the canopy to set up the playfort.    
   
   
       16 . A method according to  claim 15 , wherein the support structure includes at least two sections that telescope with respect to the base and with respect to each other.  
   
   
       17 . A method according to  claim 15 , further comprising the step of storing away the playfort by stuffing the canopy into the support structure and collapsing the telescoping sections of the support structure to decrease the height.  
   
   
       18 . A method according to  claim 15 , wherein the sections of the support structure include tabs for keeping the telescoping sections extended with respect to each other.  
   
   
       19 . A method according to  claim 18 , wherein the sections of the support structure include longitudinal guides mating with the tabs for slidably collapsing the support structure for storage.  
   
   
       20 . A method according to  claim 15 , wherein the attachment devices include gator clips.