GB2498353A - A triangular peg template - Google Patents

Abstract

A peg template for use in erecting a tent, the peg template comprising at least three peg guides (2) arranged to either couple to tent pegs or to indicate required positions for tent pegs; and at least one spacing element (4) interconnecting the peg guides. The three peg guides are interconnected by the at least one spacing element such that in a first configuration the peg guides are positioned in a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to one another in which the three peg guides define the corners of a triangle.

Description

A Peg Template The present invention relates to a peg template for use in erecting a tent. In particular, the present invention relates to a peg template to assist in accurately locating the position of tent pegs when erecting a tent. The present invention is particularly applicable to large tents and marquees.

A typical tent is illustrated in Figure 9. The tent is supported by a single tent pole 16 generally in the middle of the tent and comprises a single skin tent fabric 8 which defines a sloping roof and a side wall. The sloping roof is stretched outwards away from the tent pole by guy ropes 10 which are secured to guy rope tent pegs 6. Not all the guy ropes 10 and the guy rope tent pegs 6 are individually labelled. The side wall is secured at its base by rubber brailings 12 coupled to brailing tent pegs 6. Again not all of the rubber brailings 12 and the tent pegs 6 are individually labelled. A ground sheet 22 is zipped into position such that it extends around tent pole 16 and extends to the side wall of the tent fabric S after the tent has been erected.

The process of erecting a tent such as is shown in Figure 9 proceeds as follows.

The first step is to select the site where the tent is to be erected. The tent fabric 8 is placed upon the ground at the approximate required location with the opening forming the tent door 14 facing in the required direction. The tent pole 16 is then inserted underneath the tent fabric 8 and held in an upright position such that the tent fabric 8 falls loosely about the tent pole 16. Guy ropes 10 are then stretched away from tent pole 16 to pull the tent fabric 8 taut and to support the tent pole 16. Tent pegs 6 are hammered into the ground to individually secure each guy rope 10. After the guy ropes 10 are in position the side wall of the tent fabric 8 is secured to the ground by placing brailing tent pegs 6 in position to secure brailing rubbers 12. The brailings 12 comprise elastic bends to provide some flexibility in case the side wall of the tent fabric 8 does not quite reach the ground in a particular position. Additional rigid posts may be secured to the tent fabric 8 to fonn a door A frame 18 (not visible in Figure 9 but visible in Figure 8). The door A flame 18 defines the shape of the tent door 14.

The structural stability of an erected tent is dependent upon the tent being erected with all components accurately located. In order to ensure a stable tent it is frequently necessary to spend considerable time adjusting the position of tent pegs 6 for both the guy ropes 10 and the brailing rubbers 12. However, even when the task is conducted by an expert it can be difficult or impossible to ensure that all of the tent pegs 6 are placed in theft optimal positions. The result is that the tent fabric 8 may not be stretched sufficiently in some areas or overstretched in other areas. In addition to resulting in a less stable tent, if the tent pegs 6 are not accurately located the result is less aesthetically pleasing.

It is an object embodiments of the present invention to obviate, or mitigate, one or more the problems associated to the prior art, whether identified herein or elsewhere.

According to the present invention there is provided a peg template for use in erecting a tent, the peg template comprising: at least three peg guides arranged to either couple to tent pegs or to indicate required positions for tent pegs; and at least one spacing element interconnecting the peg guides; wherein three peg guides are interconnected by the at least one spacing element such that in a first configuration the peg guides are positioned in a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to one another in which the three peg guides define the corners of a triangle.

An advantage of the present invention is that because the peg guides may be placed in a predetermined special arrangement relative to one another the relative positions of tent pegs may be optimised. For a tent having a large number of tent pegs all the tent pegs may be positioned relative to an initial tent peg using the peg template. The result is that tents may be erected in a manner which ensures that they are more structurally stable as well as improving the aesthetic appearance of erected tents.

The at least one spacing element may comprise separate spacing elements interconnecting pairs of peg guides.

Each peg guide may be coupled to at least two other peg guides via spacing elements.

At least one peg guide may define an orifice such that either the peg guide can pass over a tent peg to couple to the tent peg or a tent peg can be inserted through the orifice. At least one peg guide may comprise a ring. Alternatively or in addition at least one peg guide may comprise a clip arranged to detachably fasten to a tent peg. The peg guides may be formed from a metallic material.

The at least one spacing element may be flexible such that the peg guides may move towards or away from one another when the spacing elements are slack and wherein in the first configuration the peg guides may be placed in the predetermined spatial arrangement relative to one another when the at least one spacing element is pulled taut.

The at least one spacing element may be constructed from a material arranged to resist stretching when the at least one spacing element is pulled taut. The at least one spacing element may comprise tape or rope formed from a plastic material.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a peg template for use in erecting a tent in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a peg template for use in erecting a tent in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Figures 3 to 5 schematically illustrate the use of the first and second embodiments of the present invention for positioning pegs when erecting a tent; Figures 6 to 9 illustrate the process of erecting a tent using the tent pegs placed in position using the first and second embodiments of the present invention; and Figure 10 illustrates a peg template for use in erecting a tent according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring first to Figure 1 this illustrates a peg template in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The peg template comprises three peg guides 2, with each pair of peg guides 2 being coupled together by a spacing element 4. The peg guides 2 comprise metallic rings, for instance formed from stainless steel. The rings are sized such that they define an orifice large enough to either pass over a peg which has already been positioned in the ground or to allow a tent peg to be inserted through the orifice into the ground with the ring then being able to be removed from the tent peg without disrupting the tent peg. The spacing elements 4 may comprise flexible tapes, such as tapes formed from a plastic material. Alternatively the spacing elements 4 may comprise string or ropes.

It will be appreciated that the materials chosen may vary significantly so long as the peg guides 2 retain the strength or rigidity to couple to tent pegs 6. Preferably the material chosen for the spacing elements 4 has sufficient flexibility to fold down to a small size for transport and minimal stretch to ensure accurately located peg guides 2. The spacing elements 4 are tied or sealed at each end to the peg guides 2. It will be appreciated that other attachment mechanisms are possible. In an alternative embodiment the three spacing elements 4 may in fact be formed as a single component shaped as a triangle and coupled to peg guides at each corner. The single spacing element may comprise a sheet material.

Alternatively the single spacing element may still be generally formed from tape, except that the tape sides are joined directly to one another at corners defined by peg guides.

In Figure 1 the peg guides 2 are labelled "Ring A", "Ring B" or "Ring C" which serves to make clear the way in which the peg guide is used, as will now be described.

Referring to Figure 3, the process of erecting a tent begins as follows. Once the site to erect a tent has been identified a peg 6 is placed at the centre point of the tent, which may be referred to as the centre peg. Taking the peg template of Figure 1, Ring A is placed over the centre peg. The side opposite to Ring A (labelled "Front Door") is then rotated about Ring A such that is in the required position for the front door of the tent. Holding the other two peg guides (Ring B and Ring C) the spacing elements 4 may be pulled taut.

This ensures that the three peg guides 2 are in a predetermined spatial arrangement. That is, this ensures that the peg guides 2 are the correct distance apart from one another. Two further pegs 6 may be inserted through Rings B and C. These two pegs define the position of the front door of the tent.

Figure 2 illustrates a further embodiment of a peg template for use in erecting the tent. The embodiment of Figure 2 is generally the same as that of Figure 1 except that the triangle is stretched and at mid points along two long sides there are two further peg guides 2. The five peg guides of the peg template of Figure 2 are labelled "Ring 1" to "Ring 5".

The construction of the peg guide of Figure 2 is generally the same as for that of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 4 the next steps in erecting a tent will now be described. The first peg template may be removed or it may be left in position. Taking the peg template of Figure 2, Ring 1 is placed over the centre peg. Ring 2 is placed over the peg 2 which was inserted through Ring C of the peg guide of Figure 1 as shown in Figure 4. Ring 1 and Ring 2 are thus held in position. Pulling Rings 3 and 4 away from Ring 1 (with the direction of pull for Ring 3 being in line with both Ring 1 and Ring 2) causes the peg template to be stretched to ensure that Rings 1 to 5 are in a predetermined special arrangement relative to one another. Pegs may then be inserted through each of Rings 3 to 5. The peg template may then be removed from the pegs 6 except for Ring 1 which remains in place over the centre peg. The process may then be repeated, this time by coupling Rings 2 and 3 to the pegs previously inserted through Rings 5 and 4 respectively.

Keeping the peg template taut at each step, pegs 6 can be placed in position in a circular pattern as illustrated by the dashed lines in Figures 3 and 4. The position of Rings 2 and 5 indicates where brailing pegs 6 are to be positioned. The position of Rings 3 and 4 at each step indicates where the guy rope pegs 6 are to be positioned at each step. Referring also to Figure 5 this shows the last step in positioning all of the pegs 6 in which Ring 5 exactly matches up to the position of the peg 2 inserted through Ring B of the peg guide of Figure 1 as shown in Figure 3. It will be appreciated that the process may proceed in a clockwise or an anti clockwise direction. At each step the spatial arrangement of the pegs 6 to be placed is accurately determined by ensuring that the spacing elements 4 are kept taut. The result is that the twin circles of pegs 6 return exactly in line with the pegs originally inserted using the peg template of Figure 1. The peg templates of Figures 1 and 2 may then be removed from the pegs 6.

The process of erecting a tent using the preplaeed pegs 6 is illustrated in Figures 6 to 9. With reference to Figure 6 the tent fabric 8 is placed in position with the centre point of the tent fabric 8 approximately located over centre pegs 6 and the front door 14 approximately located relative to the pegs 6 originally inserted through Rings B and C of the peg template of Figure 1. Guy ropes 10 are loosely placed over the guide rope pegs 6.

The rubber brailings 12 attached to the side wall of the tent are attached to the inner circle of brailing pegs 6.

With reference to Figure 7 the tent pole 16 is placed in position with the top of the tent pole coupled to the tent fabric 8 and the base of the tent pole 16 located at the point of the centre peg 6 (which is now removed). As can be seen from Figure 7 the tent fabric 8 is loosely supported by the tent pole 16. The guy ropes are all tensioned to a medium level of tension so as to ensure that the tent pole 16 cannot fall over.

With reference to Figure 8 in certain tents there may be additional structural framework forming an A frame 18 to define the tent door 14. The A frame 18 may be secured to the tent fabric 8 by a spike 19 passing through an eyelet in the tent fabric 8 and ties 20 which are attached to the tent fabric 8 and can be tied around the A frame 18.

Referring to Figure 9 a further guy rope 24 is coupled to spike 19 of the A frame 18. Guy rope 24 extends to a ftirther peg 6 which is manually positioned as the exact location of this peg 6 is not critical to the structural stability of the tent. The remaining guy ropes 10 are then tightened to ensure that tent fabric 8 is stretched evenly and an internal ground sheet 22 is positioned within the tent surrounding tent pole 16. The tent is then fully erected.

It will be appreciated that the present invention allows for tents to be erected in a more even or symmetrical fashion which is both aesthetically pleasing and increases the structural stability of the tent. Essentially the process reverses the conventional method of erecting a tent which requires the tent fabric and the pole or poles to be erected first and then pegs put into position to support guy ropes with the position of the pegs being judge by eye. The present invention provides for a significant improvement to the process of erecting tents.

In an alternative embodiment the peg templates of Figures 1 and 2 may be combined by modifying the embodiment of Figure 2 to have a further spacing element extending between Rings 2 and 5. This further spacing element is the same length as the spacing element 4 extending between Ring B and Ring C in Figure 1. When such a modified peg template is used for the step of erecting a tent shown in Figure 3, Rings 3 and 4 are left loose and Rings 2 and 5 stretched apart relative to one another and relative to Ring 1. When the modified peg template is to be used for the step of erecting a tent shown in Figure 4, Rings 3 and 4 are stretched apart relative to one another and relative to Ring 1 such that the spacing element 4 between Rings 2 and 5 goes slack.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are optimised for erecting circular tents in which it is required that pegs are placed in a regular circular pattern extending around a centre point. It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to this. For instance, an exemplary further embodiment is illustrated in Figure which may be of use in positioning tent pegs for rectangular tents, The peg template of Figure 10 is generally the same as that of Figure 1 except that there is a rectangular arrangement of four peg guides 2 interconnected around the outside of the rectangle by spacing elements 4. To ensure that when the peg guides 2 are pulled apart a predetermined spatial arrangement is achieved, a further spacing element 4 extends across one diagonal of the rectangle. It will be appreciated that this is extendable to any arrangement of peg guides 2 for any shape so long as additional spacing elements 4 are provided to ensure that when the peg guides are pulled apart the spatial arrangement of the peg guides is fixed by ensuring that key groups of peg guides are arranged as triangles interconnected by spacing elements.

In further embodiments of the invention the peg guides may be interconnected by rigid spacing elements such as metal or plastic rods. However, flexible spacing elements are particularly preferred because this allows the peg guide to be collapsed to a very small volume.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the peg guides may not be rings. The peg guides may be alternative shapes defining an orifice. Alternatively they may be clips which engage pegs from the side, such as a U-shaped clip. Further options for the peg guides will be readily apparent to the skilled person taking into account the shapes of different tent pegs.

Further modifications to the present invention will be readily apparent to the appropriately skilled person from the teaching herein without falling outside of the scope of the claims.

Claims (1)

1. <claim-text>CLAIMS: 1. A peg template for use in erecting a tent, the peg template comprising: at least three peg guides arranged to either couple to tent pegs or to indicate required positions for tent pegs; and at least one spacing element interconnecting the peg guides; wherein three peg guides are interconnected by the at least one spacing element such that in a first configuration the peg guides are positioned in a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to one another in which the three peg guides define the corners of a triangle.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A peg template according to claim 1, wherein the at least one spacing element comprises separate spacing elements interconnecting pairs of peg guides.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A peg template according to claim 2, wherein each peg guide is coupled to at least two other peg guides via spacing elements.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A peg template according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one peg guide defines an orifice such that either the peg guide can pass over a tent peg to couple to the tent peg or a tent peg can be inserted through the orifice.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A peg template according to claim 4, wherein said at least one peg guide comprises a ring.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A peg template according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one peg guide comprises a clip arranged to detachably fasten to a tent peg.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A peg template according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one spacing element is flexible such that the peg guides may move towards or away from one another when the at least one spacing element is slack and wherein in the first configuration the peg guides are placed in the predetermined spatial arrangement relative to one another when the at least one spacing element is pulled taut.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A peg template according to claim 7, wherein the at least one spacing element is constructed from a material arranged to resist stretching when the at least one spacing element is pulled taut.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A peg template according to claim 8, wherein the at least one spacing element comprises tape or rope formed from a plastic material.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A peg template according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the peg guides are formed from a metallic material.</claim-text>