US1990804A - Portable dressing booth - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 12, 1935. E, WATSON 1,990,804

PORTABLE DRES S ING BOOTH Filed Oct. 19, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 j y 1 /6 l6 A9 7/ 1 INVENTOR 1 7:9- G r/muff fi/a fs'olz v BY ATTORNEY Feb. 12, 1935. E. WATSON 1,990,304

PORTABLE DRESSING BOOTH Filed Oct. 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AITORNEY Patented Feb. 12, 1935 1,990,804 PORTABLE DRESSING noo'rn Ernest Watson, Wauwatosa, Wis.

A plication October 19, 1933, Serial No. 694,262

" 4 Claims. (01. 135-5) This invention relates to portable dressing booths.

-An object of the present invention is toprovide an improved portable dressing booth which may be readily collapsed into a form convenient for handling and transporting from place to place and as readily distended to provide a self-sustaining enclosure affording privacy for one desiring to change garments.

This I have accomplished by the provision of a longitudinally collapsible and distensible structure that may be seated at one end on the ground, or other supporting surface, and which is provided at its other end with a top opening affording ready admission of a person thereto, when the structure is collapsed, and which, when vertically distended, forms a surrounding curtain or shield effectively secluding the figure of the person from view. Exit from the enclosure may be had through the top opening after the structure has again been collapsed. The structure is preferably, but not necessarily, self distensible by the inclusion therein of resilient means capable of expanding the same vertically, but yieldab-le under manual pressure to permit reduction thereof to collapsed form.

The ready portability, ease of erection, and privacy afforded by devices of the present invention render them particularly useful on bathing beaches, athletic fields, and wherever other facilities are not readily available to hide one from public view during a change of clothing.

Other more specific objects and advantages will appear from the following description of two illustrative embodiments of the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a portable dressing booth constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the same collapsed.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a portable dressing booth involving a modified construction.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the booth shown in Fig. 3.

The portable dressing booth shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a longitudinally collapsible and distensible structure having in this instance a cylindrical side wall 10 of substantially opaque flexible material, such as fabric, and a bottom 11 of like material secured thereto. The upper end 12 of the structure is open to admit a person thereinto.

Provision is made in the structure shown for yieldably supporting the same in the distended condition shown in Fig. 1, this being effected by the use of a coil spring 13 within'the structure. In this instance the spring 13 is fixed at its lower end to a supporting hoop 14; containedin a bot tom hem 15 of the fabric 10, and at its upper-end to a similar hoop 16, contained in a top hem 1'7.

m p STATES PATENT OFFICE The arrangement is such that the entire structure may be compressed, against the resistance of the spring 13, into the collapsed condition shown in Fig. 2, in which form it may be easily handled and readily transported to the place of use. Any appropriate means, such as resilient clips 18, fixed to the bottom of the structure and engageable over the top rim of the structure When collapsed, may be employed to secure the structure in collapsed condition. In this instance the free ends of a steel strip 19, fixed to the bottom hoop 14, are bent to form the clips 18.

A person desiring to occupy the booth enters it through the upper open end 12, while the structure is collapsed, and then releases the clips 18,. permitting the structure to rise about him until his figure is hidden from view. The structure is self sustaining and remains in distended 'upright position until the user'is ready to make his exit, which is readily effected after the structure has been again collapsed by forcing the top thereof downwardly into position beneath the clips 18. The booth is then again ready for occupancy at the same or any other place to which it may hav been carried.

When collapsed the booth described may serve as a convenient receptacle and carrier for bathing suits, towels, etc.

The booth shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is similar in.

many respects to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It includes a substantially cylindrical fabric structure 10', closed at its bottom by fabric 11', and open at its top 12'. In this instance it is yieldably sustained in distended condition by a plurality of coil springs 13', symmetrically disposed within the fabric structure at the periphery thereof, and confined between the bottom and top hoops 14 and 16'. 4

The several springs 13 are preferably connected by an intermediate hoop 20 which also serves as a brace for the surrounding fabric. Each of the springs 13' may constitute a single full-length unit, as indicated, or may constitute separate sections above and below the hoop 20, and when thus constituted the upper section may be formed of lighter material to conform to the lesser load which it is called upon tosupport.

As in the booth hereinabove first described, the

booth shown inFigs. 3 and 4 may be collapsed by compression into a compact unit,easy to handle and to carry from place to place, entry into and exit from the booth being efiected through the top 12 while in collapsed condition.

Various changes may be made in either of the embodiments of the invention hereinabove specifically described without departing from or sacrificing the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims. r Y

Iclaim:.-

. 1. A portable dressing booth comprising avertically collapsible and distensible structure having means for hidingthe figure of a person thereperson therein when distended, said structure including resilient means for yieldably sustaining said structure in distended condition, said structure having a top opening through which a person may enter or leave the same when collapsed, and means for releasably retaining said tially from top to bottom of said structure for yieldably sustaining the same in distended condition. V

V 4, A portable dressing booth comprising a vertically collapsible and distensible structure having a top opening through which a person may enter or leave the same when collapsed, said structure including a flexible covering for hiding the figure of an admitted person from view when distended, and a plurality of vertical coil springs V ERNEST'WATSON.

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