Two new Cascadia RTTs: Maggiolina-style with solar panel, and Columbus-style

[qwerty]

http://www.cascadiatents.com/Roof_Top_Tents.htm?m=94

I don't know whether Cascadia stole AutoHome's designs and intellectual property to make these knock-offs, or if AutoHome's patents have expired on the Maggiolina and Columbus, and Cascadia is legally allowed to copy AutoHome's designs.

I love the idea of a hardshell RTT with an integrated solar panel on the roof, but wish the solar panel was larger than the one on Cascadia's RTT. Having a solar panel permanently mounted on the tent roof can maximize the amount of time that the truck's batteries are charging. But what Cascadia did is kind of asinine. Their Mt. Saint Helens Solar Powered RTT charges a battery inside the tent, which powers electric scissor lifts to automatically open and close the tent instead of manually cranking a handle. What's the point? You can do the same thing with a cordless drill, or better yet, with the gas rams in an Air Top tent. I assume that the battery also powers the light in the tent and can run some 12 volt accessories. There is no mention of the battery's capacity or the wattage of the solar panel. There is also no mention of whether the tent is pre-wired to be able to charge the batteries in the rig if so desired.

The link to the video of the solar powered RTT on Cascadia's webpage is broken, but I found it on Cascadia's YouTube channel. Be warned, the guy from the Cascadia video says: "It may be a little slow. Because I've had it in the shop. It hasn't charged a whole lot, being out of the sun." It takes four minutes to open!!! Of course, he doesn't say how fast it opens and closes with a fully charged battery. Here is a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrtR...DvjVQa1PpcFPFOeDAVyhftLJ3KpdRFpUprnqBoKxvf4k=

Using the door with wings as a mini awning seems like a good way to maximize ventilation while shading the inside of the tent from the sun. However, if it starts raining it looks like the water will pool on top of the door.

There is also another video of the interior of the Maggiolina-style tent at the following link:
http://www.cascadiatents.com/index.php?m=94&s=594&c=&id=118&&mode=27

 

[Corey]

I would not want a permanent panel installed on top of the tent.
I like my foldable panel so I can move it to track the sun.

Also the top of these tents can get very dirty over the winter, and a panel like that would get scratched very easily when scrubbing the winter dirt off.

Cranking the tent also by hand is not hard at all.
I have done it numerous times as well as others, and it takes less than a minute, and you can check for tautness that way, not so sure with the solar one.
The tents do look like a copy of the Autohome ones, and these appear to have ripstop nylon for the material instead of the much more waterproof material that Autohome uses, but the specs do say the tent is poly/cotton.

 

[qwerty]

Corey,

I doubt that the glass on the panel would scratch very easily from removing winter dirt. Does your truck's sunroof, windshield, or windows get noticeably scratched after you wash your truck even if it was caked in mud. And the new Corning "Gorilla Glass" which is used on iPhone's, smart phones, iPads, and tablets is much tougher than regular auto glass and virtually scratch proof.

The only time your foldable solar panel is charging is when you take it out at camp and stay close to your truck. The tent-top panel can charge your truck's battery while driving on the trail, and when your leave your truck at camp to take a bike ride, hike a trail, or take the kayak for a paddle. I wouldn't leave an expensive folding solar panel on the hood of my truck if I left camp to do any of these activities. It's too easy for that solar panel to "walk off" while I'm away from camp. If the tent-top solar panels can automatically keep a fridge from draining your truck's batteries when you leave your truck in the hot sun with the doors locked and the windows closed, I'd say that's a big plus. My co-worker drives a Prius with the factory solar roof option. It doesn't charge the car's battery, but instead it runs a fan on hot sunny days to vent the interior keeping it from getting stifling hot. It works automatically and seamlessly. Having an integrated tent-top solar panel gives you the same convenience you get from having solar panels permanently installed on the roof of your home, and not having to drag them out of the garage every morning on sunny days. It's always on the tent roof charging your truck's battery system whenever the sun shines on it, automatically and seamlessly.

It looks like the interior of the tent is some sort of ripstop nylon, but the exterior of the tent looks like a poly/cotton material. Weird.

 

[Corey]

If I am going to be away from the rig for over 30 minutes, yeah, I would put the panel away.
But what I like about mine is I can move it around to get full sun, and it has a long enough cord I could move it quite a bit to get it just right for full sun.

If you are setup in camp with the tent on top of the rig or a trailer and you have an awning deployed, it would be kind of hard to have to move either rig to get the sun on top of the built in panel.

So does this built in panel allow you then to hook up to your rigs batteries too, or just the built in one for the motor to raise the roof?

 

[Moody]

I like it. I have been considering another hard sided roof tent for the top of my truck. Great idea. I do agree a crank for the up/down would be beast, keeping the solar for an interior light or better yet, a trickle charge for the secondary battery...

 

[Mike S]

http://www.cascadiatents.com/Roof_Top_Tents.htm?m=94

I don't know whether Cascadia stole AutoHome's designs and intellectual property to make these knock-offs, or if AutoHome's patents have expired on the Maggiolina and Columbus, and Cascadia is legally allowed to copy AutoHome's designs.

No permission was granted by AutoHome to use AutoHome's intellectual property.

 

[ssssnake529]

No permission was granted by AutoHome to use AutoHome's intellectual property.

Unless AutoHome has valid, issued patents that cover Cascadia's products, or unless Cascadia had access to some Autohome trade secrets which were incorporated into Cascadia's designs, Cascadia wouldn't need AutoHome's permission.

A quick search of the Patent and Trademark's database didn't show any current US patents assigned to Autohome. If they have any patents, maybe they are listed under another name.

 

[Mike S]

Unless AutoHome has valid, issued patents that cover Cascadia's products, or unless Cascadia had access to some Autohome trade secrets which were incorporated into Cascadia's designs, Cascadia wouldn't need AutoHome's permission.

A quick search of the Patent and Trademark's database didn't show any current US patents assigned to Autohome. If they have any patents, maybe they are listed under another name.

The question was asked and answered. Did you search the Italian patents as well?

 

[UK4X4]

patents are a dificult subject and usually people can't afford to patent their product in every country- even the multi nationals in the oilfield have a gentlemans agreement - if its patented in the US its upheld globaly without each company having to apply for multiple times.

patents usually expire too after a time -

 

[Lemsteraak]

Good point, usually there is a gentlemen's agreement in most industries not to infringe.

In reality, how feasible would it be for a very small Italian manufacturer to sue a large Chinese firm for infringement in the US?

Autohome won Chrysler's DEX (Design Excellence) award a few years back, does this mean Cascadia can claim their design is award winning too?

 

[kilimats]

that solar idea is SILLY but i love those stick to keep the entrance open, MUST DO THAT ON MINE !!!!!

 

[ckkone]

Those look slick, to bad they are all 2 person models...

 

[ssssnake529]

Good point, usually there is a gentlemen's agreement in most industries not to infringe.

In reality, how feasible would it be for a very small Italian manufacturer to sue a large Chinese firm for infringement in the US?

Most industries have a gentlemen's agreement not to "infringe" unpatented technology? Really? I've worked in patent law since 1989, and I can't say I've ever seen an industry where that is the case. My experience has been that if something is valuable enough to patent, it's valuable enough to copy once patent protection isn't there any more.

I've also never seen anyone decide not to enter a market or not copy an unpatented product because of a gentlemen's agreememt not to "infringe." In fact, if there were such a "gentlemen's agreement," it might violate a number of competition laws.

It's not that hard to enforce a patent in the US, provided you have a valid US patent. In most cases, going to court isn't necessary. A strongly worded letter is usually all it takes to make an infringer cease and desist (again, provided you have a US Patent.) If you do have to go to court, you can collect treble damages, and because of this, it isn't hard to find firms that will take a decent patent case on contingency.

The question was asked and answered. Did you search the Italian patents as well?

Unless Cascadia is selling their products in Italy, Italian patents are not relevant.

 

[Corey]

This may be the same company (not 100% sure, but Mike would know) that took Autohome's FAQ from the USA site and copied it word for word and used on their site.
The FAQ there now
http://www.cascadiatents.com/FAQ.htm?m=83
is different, but looks like they copied Martyn's words from his tent care fabric article here.

How do I take care of my Roof Top Tent


When you first get a poly-cotton tent it's always a good practice to lightly spray the tent fabric with a gentle shower of water from a garden hose. This will allow the cotton portion of the thread in the weave and stitching to absorb the moisture and swell up. This does two things, it tightens the weave of the fabric, and it also swells the stitching to fill the hole created by the needle.

When the fabric is sewn together the thread that is used is also poly-cotton, and because it has the ability to absorb liquid, when it does it increases in diameter and fills the hole created by the sewing needle. It's important that the sewing machine has been fitted with a needle that is the same diameter as the thread to create a watertight seam. On occasion the stitching will weep moisture through the seam. The simplest solution for this is to rub some bees wax along the seam to seal it.

If your tent is fitted with a coated poly-cotton flysheet, follow the same wetting procedure. Even though the flysheet is coated, the poly-cotton and can absorb water into the weave and the stitching.

Martyn's article:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/resources/rooftop-tent-fabrics-an-care.html

Care of your tent:

When you first get a poly-cotton tent it's always a good practice to lightly spray the tent fabric with a gentle shower of water from a garden hose. This will allow the cotton portion of the thread in the weave and stitching to absorb the moisture and swell up. This does two things, it tightens the weave of the fabric, and it also swells the stitching to fill the hole created by the needle.

When the fabric is sewn together the thread that is used is also poly-cotton, and because it has the ability to absorb liquid, when it does it increases in diameter and fills the hole created by the sewing needle. It's important that the sewing machine has been fitted with a needle that is the same diameter as the thread to create a watertight seam. On occasion the stitching will weep moisture through the seam. The simplest solution for this is to rub some bees wax along the seam to seal it.

If your tent is fitted with a coated poly-cotton flysheet, follow the same wetting procedure. Even though the flysheet is coated, the poly-cotton and can absorb water into the weave and the stitching.

Read the rest of Cascadia's FAQ, looks like they copied Martyn's article almost word for word.

 

[Martyn]

Today I informed Cascadia that they are in copyright violation of an article I wrote on tent fabric and tent care. They pasted complete blocks of my article into their FAQ page. Seems they didn't learn about plagiarism in school.