Automobile campers

Claim 2

In a light weight, collapsible camper having a rigid floor panel adapted to be secured to the top of an automobile or the like, a series of nesting wall sections having a height, when expanded, which is normally greater than the height of an individual using the same, including: a bottom wall section secured to the floor panel, a top wall section, and a roof section secured to the top wall section, the improvement wherein: the structure, including the floor section, the wall section and the roof section, is formed by interconnected panels with substantially all of these panels having a honeycomb core, a skin sheet bonded to each side of the core and edging strips affixed to the edges of skin sheets and the edges of the cores; the bottom wall section is rigidly affixed to the floor panel to form an integral component with the bottom wall section reinforcing the floor panel; and the roof section is rigidly affixed to the top wall section to foRm another integral component.

Claim 3

In the organization defined in claim 1, including an: edging strip which is U-shaped in section to define a base and leg portions in spaced parallelism, said leg portions lying between and being bonded to the inner surfaces of the skin sheets of a panel and the edge of the panel core extending between the leg portions.

Claim 4

In the organization defined in claim 1, wherein: the top wall section of the nestable wall sections embraces and extends about the other wall sections; the wall sections include outward and inward edge strips at the top and bottom edges which are adapted to interengage with adjacent strips when the wall sections are fully raised; a lifting means, which includes a rigid bar at the outside of each corner of the camper, hingedly affixed to the top wall section to lie against this section when the camper is retracted and to depend therefrom when the camper is to be extended; and means at the floor section adapted to hold the bottom of each bar when the bars are depending from the top section of the camper and the wall sections are fully extended.

Claim 5

In the organization defined in claim 3, wherein the lifting means includes further: a winch means at the floor section of the unit; cords extending from the winch means with a cord extending to each corner of the floor section; and a guide means at each corner of the floor section turns the cord downwardly with the downward end of the cord connecting to the lower end of the rigid bar at the corner; whereby, the winch means may be operated to retract and to extend all of the cords in unison to raise and lower the wall sections of the camper in an even, uniform manner.

Claim 6

In a light weight, collapsible camper having a rigid floor panel adapted to be secured to the top of an automobile or the like, a series of nesting wall sections having a height, when expanded, which is normally greater than the height of an individual using the same, including: a bottom wall section secured to the floor panel, a top wall section, and a roof section secured to the top wall section, the improvement wherein: the floor section, the wall sections and the roof section are formed by interconnected panels, with substantially all of these panels having a honeycomb core, a skin sheet bonded to each side of the core and edging strips affixed to the edges of the skin sheets and edges of the cores; the bottom wall section is rigidly affixed to the floor of the panel to form an integral component with the wall section reinforcing the panel floor; and an interior wall section having a height approximating the height of the bottom wall section is rigidly affixed to the floor section and to the bottom wall section to form an integrated reinforced unit.

Claim 7

In a light weight, collapsible camper having a rigid floor panel adapted to be secured to the top of an automobile or the like, a series of nesting wall sections having a height, when expanded, which is normally greater than the height of an individual using the same, including: a bottom wall section secured to the floor panel, a top wall section, and a roof section secured to the top wall section, the improvement wherein: the floor section, the wall sections and the roof section are formed by interconnected panels, with substantially all of these panels having a honeycomb core, a skin sheet bonded to each side of the core and edging strips affixed to the edges of the skin sheets and edges of the cores; the bottom wall section is rigidly affixed to the floor of the panel to form an integral component with the wall section reinforcing the panel floor; and an interior wall section having a height approximating the height of the bottom wall section is rigidly affixed to the floor section and to the bottom wall section to form an integrated reinforced unit.

Claim 8

In a light weight, collapsible camper having a rigid floor panel adapted to be secured to the top of an automobile or the like, a series of nesting wall sections having a height, and when expanded, which is normally greater than the height of an individual using the same, including: a bottom wall section secured to the floor panel, a top wall section, and a roof section secured to the top wall section, the improvement wherein: the floor section is adapted to be mounted upon the top of an automobile; a plurality of spaced, transverse reinforcing members extend underneath the floor section; a hold-down means securely connects each end of each reinforcing member to the top of the automobile; and a contour forming means is provided at the underside of each reinforcing member to conform with the contour of the automobile top when the hold-down means is secured to the automobile top, said contour forming means including: a strap underneath the reinforcing means; and means for tightening the strap at one end thereof.

Claim 9

In a light weight, collapsible camper having a rigid floor panel adapted to be secured to the top of an automobile or the like, a series of nesting wall sections having a height, and when expanded, which is normally greater than the height of an individual using the same, including: a bottom wall section secured to the floor panel, a top wall section, and a roof section secured to the top wall section, the improvement wherein: the floor section is adapted to be mounted upon the top of an automobile; a plurality of spaced, transverse reinforcing members extend underneath the floor section; a hold-down means securely connects each end of each reinforcing member to the top of the automobile; and a contour forming means is provided at the underside of each reinforcing member to conform with the contour of the automobile top when the hold-down means is secured to the automobile top, said contour forming means including: a strap underneath the reinforcing means; and means for tightening the strap at one end thereof.

Claim 10

In the organization defined in claim 6, wherein: the means for tightening the strap includes a ratchet member.