Tent for rear-doored vehicle

Abstract

A tent for use with automobiles having a rear door which opens upwardly about a horizontal hinge attached to its top edge. The tent has a prism shape including a pair of substantially parallel triangular ends joined on two sides by quadrangles with the third side being open. One side fits over the top of the open door so that the other side hangs down from the top open end of the door in a substantially horizontal plane with its lower edge joined to the rear of the vehicle adjacent its bumper. The free edges of the ends seal against the rear quarter panels of the car. The ends are secured to the vehicle by elastic straps having hooks on their free edges which clip under convenient points on the car body.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 
     
       1. A frameless tent for a passenger type vehicle having a rear door supported in an opening, the vehicle body providing access to the passenger compartment of the vehicle which door is hinged about a horizontal axis at the upper edge of the opening so that when in a closed position its free edges project downward and rearwardly and seal against the edges of the opening and when in an opened position they project upward and rearwardly, said tent comprising: a pair of spaced end panel portions having a triangle shape formed by first, second and third edges, said second edge forming a base of the triangle and being generally vertically disposed and being substantially longer than the other two edges, said first edge extending downward and forward from the top of said second edge along the edge of the open door, said third edge extending upward and forward from the bottom of said second edge generally along the edge of the door opening, said first and third edges adapted to be connected at the axis of the door and forming an apex of the triangle shape, said second edge of each end panel portion connected together by a first generally vertically disposed quadrangular panel effectively enclosing the space formed within the combined vehicle and tent structure and acting to limit the spacing between the end panels to the width of the vehicle, the first edge of each end panel part connected together by a second generally quadrangular panel and adapted to entirely cover the opened door and to be supported thereby, and fastener means for retaining the third edges of the end panel portions in contact with the vehicle as well as the lower portion of the first quadrangular panel in contact with the vehicle whereby the tent is securely held against the vehicle during movement thereof solely by said fasteners and the door of the vehicle. 
     
     
       2. The frameless tent of claim 1 wherein the end panel portions and the quadrangular panels are flexible so that the entire tent structure may be folded for storage. .Iadd. 3. A frameless tent for a passenger type vehicle having a rear door supported in an opening in the vehicle body providing access to the passenger compartment of the vehicle which door is hinged about a horizontal axis at the upper edge of the opening so that when in a closed position its free edges project downward and rearwardly and seal against the edges of the opening and when in an opened position they project upward and rearwardly, said tent comprising: a pair of spaced end panel portions having a triangle shape formed by first, second and third edges, said second edge forming a base of the triangle and being generally vertically disposed, said first edge extending downward and forward from the top of said second edge along the edge of the open door, said third edge extending upward and forward from the bottom of said second edge generally along the edge of the door opening, said second edge of each end panel portion connected together by a first generally vertically disposed generally quadrangular panel effectively enclosing the space formed within the combined vehicle and tent structure and acting to limit the spacing between the end panels to about the width of the vehicle, the first edge of each end panel part connected together by a second generally quadrangular panel and adapted to entirely cover the opened door and to be supported thereby, and means for retaining the third edges of the end panel portions in contact with the vehicle as well as the lower portion of the first quadrangular panel in contact with the vehicle whereby the tent is securely held against the vehicle during movement thereof solely by said means and the door of the vehicle. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 4. A frameless tent for a passenger type vehicle having a rear door supported in an opening, the vehicle body providing access to the passenger compartment of the vehicle which door is hinged about an axis at the upper edge of the opening so that when in a closed position its free edges project downward and rearwardly and seal against the edges of the opening and when in an opened position they project upward and rearwardly, said tent comprising: a pair of spaced end panel portions having a triangular shape formed by first, second and third edges, said second edge forming a base and being generally vertically disposed and being substantially longer than the other two edges, said first edge extending downward and forward from the top of said second edge along the edge of the open door, said third edge extending upward and forward from the bottom of said second edge generally along the edge of the door opening, said first and third edges adapted to be connected near the axis of the door, said second edge of each end panel portion connected together by a first generally vertically disposed approximately quadrangular panel effectively enclosing the space formed within the combined vehicle and tent structure and acting to limit the spacing between the end panels to approximately the width of the vehicle, the first edge of each end panel part connected together by a second generally quadrangular panel and adapted to entirely cover the opened door and to be supported thereby, and fastener means for retaining the third edges of the end panel portions in contact with the vehicle as well as the lower portion of the first quadrangular panel in contact with the vehicle whereby the tent is securely held against the vehicle during movement thereof by said fasteners and the door of the vehicle. .Iaddend..Iadd. 5. A frameless tent for a passenger type vehicle having a rear door supported in an opening, the vehicle body providing access to the passenger compartment of the vehicle which door is hinged about an axis at the upper edge of the opening so that when in a closed position its free edges project downward and rearwardly and seal against the edges of the opening and when in an opened position they project upward and rearwardly, said tent comprising: a pair of spaced end panel portions having a shape formed by at least first, second and third edges, said second edge forming a base and being generally vertically disposed and being substantially longer than the other two edges, said first edge extending downward and forward from the top of said second edge along the edge of the open door, said third edge extending upward and forward from the bottom of said second edge generally along the edge of the door opening, said first and third edges adapted to be connected near the axis of the door, said second edge of each end panel portion connected together by a first generally vertically disposed panel which is approximately perpendicular to each said end panel and effectively enclosing the space formed within the combined vehicle and tent structure and acting to limit the spacing between the end panels to approximately the width of the vehicle, the first edge of each end panel part connected together by a second panel which is approximately perpendicular to each said end panel and adapted to entirely cover the opened door and to be supported thereby, and fastener means for retaining the third edges of the end panel portions in contact with the vehicle as well as the lower portion of the first panel in contact with the vehicle whereby the tent is securely held against the vehicle during movement thereof by said fasteners and the door of the vehicle. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 6. The tent of claim 3 wherein, all the panels of the tent are flexible so that the entire tent may be folded for storage. .Iaddend..Iadd. 7. The tent of claim 4 wherein,   all the panels of the tent are flexible so that the entire tent may be folded for storage. .Iaddend..Iadd. 8. The tent of claim 5 wherein,   all the panels of the tent are flexible so that the entire tent may be folded for storage. .Iaddend.