User adjustable support assembly for a collapsible canopy

Abstract

A collapsible shelter assembly having a cover, a plurality of legs, a truss system linking each pair of legs together and forming a truss perimeter, rod for supporting the cover and having a plurality of rod segments, brackets having a base adapted for attachment to an upper end of a leg and a coupler pivotally mounted to the base adapted for attaching to one of the rods, each bracket having a locking mechanism configured for locking the rotatable coupler relative to the base, and one or more hubs each configured for coupling to the distal ends of two or more rods.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A collapsible shelter assembly comprising:
 a plurality of legs, each of the legs having an upper end, a lower end and defining a substantially vertical axis when the shelter is erected;   a truss system linking each pair of legs together and defining a truss system perimeter, the truss system includes pairs of link members connected to each of the legs, the link member pairs having a first end connected to one leg and a second end connected to another leg, and having a scissors link permitting folding of each link member;   a plurality of rods configured for supporting a cover, each rod having a proximal end and a distal end, and each rod having a plurality of rod segments coupled end to end with each two consecutive rod segments being coupled end to end by a connector;   a plurality of brackets, each bracket having a base adapted for attachment to the upper end one of the legs and a coupler rotatable mounted to the base and adapted for attaching to one of the rods, each bracket being configured so that at least one of the base and the coupler is rotatable in a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis defined by the leg, and each bracket includes a locking mechanism configured for locking the rotatable coupler relative to the leg; and   a cover supported by the rods to form a canopy when the shelter is erected with the rods attached to the bracket couplers and the bracket bases attached to the upper ends of the legs.   
     
     
         2 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the locking mechanism includes holes positioned radially about the base, at least one hole on the coupler, and a pin configured for insertion into one of the holes of the base and into the hole of the coupler. 
     
     
         3 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the locking mechanism includes holes positioned radially about the coupler, at least one hole in the base, and a pin configured for insertion into one of the holes of the coupler and into the hole of the base. 
     
     
         4 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the bracket includes a bearing assembly positioned between the rotatable coupler and the base for aiding the rotation of the coupler relative to the base. 
     
     
         5 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the bracket includes a ball and socket configured for providing the rotation of the coupler relative to the base. 
     
     
         6 . The assembly of  claim 5  wherein the socket includes a clamp for locking the position of the ball within the socket. 
     
     
         7 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the coupler is fixedly attached to the base and wherein the base is rotatably mounting to the top end of the leg. 
     
     
         8 . The assembly of  claim 7  wherein at least on of the top end of the leg and the base includes fixture selected from the group consisting of a ball and a socket. 
     
     
         9 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the coupler includes a receptacle for receiving a rod and passing a portion of the rod there through, further comprising a stop positionable along the rod for engaging with the coupler and defining a predefined distance from the end of the rod and for extending an end of the rod externally to the perimeter defined by the truss system and forming a canopy perimeter that is greater than a perimeter defined by the truss system. 
     
     
         10 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the coupler and rod are adapted for attaching a rod at a predefined distance from the end of the rod and for extending an end of the rod externally to the perimeter defined by the truss system and forming a canopy perimeter that is greater than a perimeter defined by the truss system. 
     
     
         11 . The assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more hubs for coupling with the distal ends of two more rods together. 
     
     
         12 . The assembly of  claim 11  wherein at least one hub is releasably coupled to the distal ends of the two or more rods. 
     
     
         13 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the rods are configurable for forming two or more user selected differently shaped covered shelters selected from the group consisting of a pyramid, a dome, a hut, and an arch. 
     
     
         14 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein each leg defines a cavity at the upper end and wherein the base of each bracket is configured for insertion into the cavity. 
     
     
         15 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the rods are multi-sectional flexible rods. 
     
     
         16 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein locking mechanism includes a pair of mated knurled portions, a first of the mated knurled portions being fixedly attached to the coupler with the receptacle and a second of the mated knurled portions being attached to the base, and wherein the pair of mated knurled portions being selectively rotatable about the horizontal axis. 
     
     
         17 . The assembly of  claim 16  wherein each mated knurled portion includes a knurled circular surface with each having a hole defining the horizontal axis, and wherein the locking mechanism include a fastener positioned within each hole selectively securing the first mated knurled portions together in a selectively fixed rotated position about the horizontal axis. 
     
     
         18 . A collapsible shelter assembly having a plurality of legs, each of the legs having an upper end and a lower end, and a truss system linking each pair of legs together and forming a perimeter, the shelter comprising:
 a plurality of rods, each rod having a proximal end and a distal end and each includes a plurality of rod segments coupled end to end with each two consecutive rod segments being coupled end to end by a connector;   a plurality of brackets, each bracket having a base adapted for attachment to the upper end one of the legs and a coupler pivotally mounted to the base adapted for attaching to one of the rods, each bracket including a locking mechanism configured for locking the coupler relative to the base;   one or more hubs, each configured for coupling to the distal ends of two or more rods; and   a cover configured to be supported by the rods to form a canopy when the rods are attached to the bracket couplers and the bracket bases are attached to the upper ends of the legs.   
     
     
         19 . The assembly of  claim 18  wherein the bracket includes a bearing assembly positioned between the rotatable coupler and the base. 
     
     
         20 . The assembly of  claim 18  wherein the bracket includes a ball and socket configured for providing the pivoting of the coupler relative to the base. 
     
     
         21 . The assembly of  claim 18  wherein the coupler includes a receptacle for receiving a portion of the rod, passing the portion of the rod there through, and the brackets are adapted for attaching to the rods at a predefined distance from the end of the rods for extending an end of the rods externally to the perimeter defined by the truss system and forming a canopy perimeter greater than the truss system perimeter. 
     
     
         22 . The assembly of  claim 18  wherein the rods are flexible multi-sectional fiberglass rods coupled together to form the rods for supporting the cover.