A CAMPING MATTRESS AND A ROOF TENT COMPRISING A CAMPING MATTRESS

Abstract

A camping mattress for use with a roof tent, said camping mattress comprising: a upper section for supporting an upper portion of a user, and a lower section for supporting a lower portion of the user; wherein the upper section is rotatable about an axis such that, in use, the upper section can be rotated and reversibly fixed at one or more inclined positions relative to the lower section. A kit of parts, said kit comprising a roof tent and the camping mattress. A roof tent, said roof tent comprising the camping mattress.

Claims

1. A camping mattress for use with a roof tent, said camping mattress comprising: a upper section for supporting an upper portion of a user, and a lower section for supporting a lower portion of the user; wherein the upper section is rotatable about an axis such that, in use, the upper section can be rotated and reversibly fixed at one or more inclined positions relative to the lower section.

2. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the camping mattress comprises a mechanism attached to the upper section that, in use, facilitates the rotation and inclination of the upper section relative to the lower section.

3. The camping mattress of claim 2, wherein the mechanism is also attached to the lower section.

4. The camping mattress of claim 2, wherein the mechanism can be reversibly fixed in one or more positions such that the upper section can be reversibly positioned at one or more inclinations relative to the lower section.

5. The camping mattress of claim 2, wherein the camping mattress comprises two mechanisms that are located on opposing sides or edges of the camping mattress.

6. The camping mattress of claim 2, wherein the mechanism comprises a hinge.

7. The camping mattress of claim 2, wherein the mechanism comprises a support member for supporting the upper section in one or more inclined positions.

8. The camping mattress of claim 7, wherein the support member is arranged to be reversibly fixed in one or more different positions relative to the upper section such that the upper section is reversibly fixed in one or more inclined positions relative to the lower section.

9. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the upper section comprises a backboard attached to an underside of the upper section.

10. The camping mattress of claim 9, wherein the backboard extends across the substantial majority of the underside or rear side of the upper section.

11. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the upper section comprises one or more handles for rotating and inclining the upper section relative to the lower section.

12. The camping mattress of claim 11, wherein the one or more handles comprise loops of material.

13. The camping mattress of claim 11, wherein the one or more handles comprise a cavity handle located in the underside or rear side of the upper section and backboard, if present.

14. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the upper section and the lower section are integrally formed.

15. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the camping mattress comprises a thinner or weakened section between the upper section and the lower section.

16. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the upper section is equal to in size or smaller than the lower section.

17. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the size of the upper section is greater than one-tenth of the camping mattress.

18. The camping mattress of claim 1, the upper section can be rotated about a rotational axis (R) relative to the lower section by an angle in a range of 0 to 90 degrees.

19. The camping mattress of claim 1, the upper section can be reversibly fixed at one or more inclined positions wherein the angle between the upper section and the lower section is between 15 and 75 degrees.

20. The camping mattress of claim 1, wherein the camping mattress comprises foam.

21. A kit of parts, said kit comprising: a roof tent; and a camping mattress comprising: a upper section for supporting an upper portion of a user, and a lower section for supporting a lower portion of the user, wherein the upper section is rotatable about an axis such that, in use, the upper section can be rotated and reversibly fixed at one or more inclined positions relative to the lower section.

22. A roof tent, said roof tent comprising a camping mattress comprising: a upper section for supporting an upper portion of a user, and a lower section for supporting a lower portion of the user, wherein the upper section is rotatable about an axis such that, in use, the upper section can be rotated and reversibly fixed at one or more inclined positions relative to the lower section.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0036] FIG. 1 of the depicts a top-down view of a camping mattress in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention;

[0037] FIG. 2 of the depicts a side-on view of the camping mattress in FIG. 1;

[0038] FIG. 3 depicts the same side-on view as FIG. 2, where the upper section of the camping mattress has been rotated into inclined position; and

[0039] FIG. 4 depicts a side-on view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] FIG. 1 of the drawings depicts a top-down view of a camping mattress 10 in accordance the present invention. The camping mattress 10 comprises a foam body that in use supports the user when they are laying down. That is, in this embodiment, the camping mattress 10 is a foam mattress as the body 20 predominantly comprises a foamed material as is known in the art. Other embodiments are envisaged, for example, the body 20 may comprise plastic that is arranged to be inflated to provide a camping mattress 10 that is an airbed.

[0041] The camping mattress 10 and the body 20 comprise an upper section 30 and a lower section 40. The upper section 30 of the camping mattress 10 is for supporting an upper portion of a user such as their head, back and torso, and the lower section 40 of the camping mattress 10 is for supporting a lower portion of the user such as their lower back, buttocks and legs.

[0042] In this embodiment, the upper section 30 and lower section 40 are integrally formed such that upper section 30 and the lower section 40 are a single piece. As such, the upper section 30 and lower section 40 are two portions of the camping mattress 10 and the body 20. In other envisaged embodiments, the upper section 30 and the lower section 40 can be separate or discrete entities that are connected by, for example, a hinged connection.

[0043] In this embodiment, the upper section 30 is approximately half the size of the lower section 40. Other sizes for the sections are envisaged, for example, the size of the upper section 30 may range between being equally sized with the lower section 40 to being approximately one-tenth the size of the camping mattress 10. Varying the size of the upper section 30 and lower section 40 changes the proportion of the user that each section supports.

[0044] Located at the boundary, junction or connection between the upper section 30 and lower section 40 is the rotational axis R. In this embodiment, and most other envisaged embodiments, the rotational axis R extends in a direction parallel with the second largest dimension of the mattress. That is, the rotational axis R extends across the camping mattress 10 in a direction perpendicular with the direction that the user would typically lay on the camping mattress 10. In terms of the art, the rotational axis R extends across the width of the camping mattress 10. The direction of the rotational axis R orientates the upper section 30 and the lower section 40 to support the upper and lower portions of the user, respectively.

[0045] The camping mattress further comprises two handles 45 that are attached to and extend from the top edge of the upper section 30. In this embodiment, the handles 45 are a loop of material that the user can grip in order to rotate and incline the upper section 30. The handles 45 makes movement of the upper section 30 by the user easier. The handles 45 may come in other forms and extend from any edge or face of the upper section 30.

[0046] The camping mattress 10 further comprises two hinges 50. The hinges 50 are attached to opposing sides of the camping mattress 10 at positions coaxial with to the rotational axis R. Thus, the hinges are proximate with the boundary, junction or connection between the upper section 30 and the lower section 40. The hinges 50 facilitate rotation and inclination of the upper section 30 relative to the lower section 40.

[0047] In this embodiment, the hinges 50 comprise a first hinge member 60 and a second hinge member 70 rotationally connected by a biased rotational member (not shown). The first hinge member 60 is fixedly attached to a backboard 80 that supports the upper section 30, and the second hinge member 70 is fixedly attached to the floor of the roof tent (not shown). The second hinge member 70 comprises apertures (not shown) for receiving fixings for attachment to the floor of the roof tent. In other embodiments, the second hinge member 70 is attached to the lower section 40 of the camping mattress.

[0048] FIG. 2 of the drawings depict a side-on view of the camping mattress 10 of FIG. 1. The backboard 80 of the upper section 30 of the camping mattress 10 is visible in FIG. 2. The backboard 80 comprises a material than is stiffer and more rigid than the body 20 of the camping mattress 10. For example, in this embodiment, the body predominantly comprises a foamed material and the backboard 80 is made of a wooden material, such as plywood. Due to the stiffer nature of the backboard 80, the first hinge member 60 is preferably attached directly to the backboard 80 rather than the upper section 30 of the body 20. However, other embodiments are envisaged where the first hinge member 60 is attached directly to the upper section 30. It is also envisaged that the handles 45 may be attached to the backboard 80.

[0049] The backboard 80 extends across the whole underside or rear side of the upper section 30, that is, the side of the upper section 30 that the user would not lay down on during normal use of the camping mattress 10.

[0050] FIG. 3 of the drawings depicts the same side-on view as FIG. 2 where the camping mattress has been positioned in an inclined or raised position. In use, when the user wishes to sit up on the camping mattress 10 rather than lay down may incline or raise the upper section 30 relative to the lower section 40. The user may wish to do this for comfort such that they can sit in a more upright position with their back supported by the camping mattress. Being able to sit in an upright position on the camping mattress 10 is beneficial in roof tents as they usually do not have sufficient vertical or horizontal space to sit on a chair or stool or stand-up in.

[0051] To incline or raise the upper section 30 relative to the lower section 40 the user first grips the handles 45 and then pulls the upper section 3 in a rotating motion 0, as indicated by the dashed arrow, off the floor of the roof tent towards the lower section 40. This motion by the user rotates the upper section 30 about the hinges 50 and rotational axis R and inclines the upper section 30. In typically use it is envisaged that the user will be seated on the lower section 40 when performing this motion and will pull and rotate the upper section 30 towards them. The user does not need to grip the handles 45 to incline the upper section 30 and may instead do this by simply gripping the upper section directly. However, the handles 45 improves the ease of this motion and prevent the user from damaging the body 20 with their grip.

[0052] The rotational motion applied by the user to incline the upper section 30 will compress the top surface of the body 20 and stretch the bottom surface of the body along the rotational axis R and the junction between the upper section 30 and lower section 40. The material of the body 20 should have sufficient elasticity to allow the rotation and associated deformations to be repeated without damaging body 20.

[0053] The user can then reversibly fix the position of the upper section 30 in an inclined position. In this embodiment, this is made possible by the hinges 50 and the biased rotational member that extends between the first hinge member 60 and the second hinge member 70. The rotational member comprises notches or grooves that can reversibly accept and accommodate a protrusion on the second hinge member 60. To reversibly fix the upper section 30 in a raised position the user rotates the upper section 30 passed the desired position and then lowers upper section 30 a relatively small amount that allows the notches or groove of the biased rotational member to accept the protrusion on the second hinge member 60. The biased nature of the rotational member is provide by, for example, a spring with ensures that the engagement between the protrusion and notches or groove do not merely slip out of position during normal use. The notches are angled such that they do not engage the protrusions during the raising or inclination of the upper section 30 and only engage when the upper section 30 is lowered into them. In this embodiment, the rotational member comprises a series of three notches such that the upper section 30 can be fixed at a three different inclined positions. The number of notches provided can be larger or smaller to increase the number of predetermined inclined positions.

[0054] To lower the upper section 30 into a flat configuration, where the upper section 30 and lower section are coplanar, from any of the inclined positions, the user simply rotates and inclines the upper section 30 further than the reversibly fixed position. This causes the notches or groove and protrusion to disengaged and then the user can push or lower the upper section 30 onto the floor of the roof tent. A slight pulling motion of the upper section 30 away from the lower section 40 can assist the user in not re-engaging the notches or grooves and protrusion. The handles 45 make the application of this pulling motion easier to apply by the user.

[0055] FIG. 4 of the drawings depicts a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment of the invention is substantially identical to the first except that the hinge 50 does not reversibly fix the position of the upper section 30. That is, the rotational member does not comprise notches. Rather, the camping mattress 10 comprises a support member 90. The support member 90 is pivotally attached to the backboard 80 of the upper section 30. When the camping mattress 10 and upper section are flat, the support member 90 is accommodated within a cavity (not shown) in the underside or rear side of the upper section 30 and backboard 80. In use, when the upper section 30 is rotated into an inclined position, the user can then reach around the upper section 30 and extend the support member 90. The user extends the support member 90 by rotating the support member 90 away from the backboard 80. The support member 90 frictionally engages the floor of the roof tent to fix the upper section 30 in an inclined position relative to the lower section. The incline of the upper section 30 is controlled by the extension, rotation and positioning of the support member 90 relative to the upper section 30. Lowering the upper section 30 is simply reversing this process.