Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Storm-front shield – apron – or robe
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2002-08-27
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Storm-front shield, apron, or robe
C296S083000, C296S145000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06439637
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of soft golf cart covers, specifically to an improved cover that protects the passengers from rain.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Golf cart covers are utilized today to protect the occupants of the cart from adverse weather conditions and insects. The covers generally protect the front, sides and rear of the cart by covering the openings of the cart with panels made of vinyl, cloth or other similar materials. Golf carts typically have hard top covers to protect the occupants from the sunlight. Golf cart covers generally attach to or are supported by the top of the cart and have the side panels of the cover secured to the body of the cart.
Many golf carts have permanent hard front windshields that attach to a windshield frame that generally supports the front of the hard top on the cart. Carts with a permanent windshield do not need to have a front panel on the soft cover to protect the occupants from rain. In fact, having the front soft panel overlay the permanent windshield hinders the ability to see clearly through the front windshield of the cart. Therefore, it is desirable not to overlay the permanent windshield with a soft transparent panel from the soft cover. To accommodate carts with permanent windshields, many golf cart soft covers do not have front transparent panels.
One issue that golf cart soft cover manufacturers have today is making a cover versatile so that it may be used with carts that have permanent windshields and other carts that do not have windshields. A cover that would conveniently work for both types of carts is desirable since it appeals to customers who own a fleet of carts, some having permanent windshields and some without. In addition, it is less expensive to manufacture and warehouse one type of cover rather than two since the covers can be manufactured in higher volumes and stored in smaller quantities. In order to fulfill the need to have a versatile soft cover, there have been several covers patented that allow the front transparent panel to be folded up and secured when used with a cart having a permanent windshield. However, the front panel is relatively large and when rolled up forms a rather large roll that tends to flap around in the wind, collects rain, leafs, bird droppings and other debris. Additionally, these types of roll up front panel covers are unsightly.
Another challenge that golf cart soft cover manufacturers face is preventing the wind and rain from penetrating through the space between the edge of the vertical extending frame members supporting the front of the cart's hard top and the side panels of the soft cover when the front panel is removed or rolled up. The wind and rain tend to cause the front edges of the side panel to flap or flare outward allowing rain into the passenger compartment. To avoid this, covers have been developed that require the front of the side panels to attach to the frame supporting the front of the top. However, this requires additional attachment mechanisms making the cover more expensive and cumbersome to remove. In addition, the cover must be specifically designed for the type of cart it will be used on to ensure that the front edges of the side panels can be securely connected to the cart's front frame. This is due to the wide variety of makes and models of carts that currently exist in the golf market. Many of these carts have different frame designs depending on the cart's manufacturer and model year. This makes the task of creating a soft cover that will provide good water protection for the passengers when the front panel is rolled up a challenging endeavor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,615 to Showalter describes a soft cover bracket that enables the front edges of the side panels of a soft cover to be connected to the frame supporting the front of the cart top. In one embodiment, the bracket also supports a hard windshield. As can be seen in this patent, considerable expense is added to include these brackets to ensure that the front edge of the side panels do not flap in the wind and rain allowing rain into the passenger compartment of the cart. It is also clear that the bracket of the Showalter patent would not fit on any model of cart, requiring different brackets to be designed for different carts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,317 to Nation describes a soft golf cart cover having a plurality of panels, each panel having an inner and outer layer. The cover described in this patent can have a front panel, however, the front panel cannot be rolled up or removed. Therefore, the cover described in the Nation patent would hinder the ability to clearly see through the permanent windshield and the layer of transparent soft cover material overlaying it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,275 to Ridge describes a soft golf cart cover that has panels enclosing the passenger and club storage areas of the cart. A center vertical zipper in the rear panel is utilized in the Ridge patent to allow access to the golf clubs. However, there is no mention in the patent of using a zipper on the front windshield to allow it to be rolled or folded out of the way. Therefore, the cover described in the Ridge patent would hinder the ability to clearly see through the permanent windshield and the layer of transparent soft cover material overlaying it.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,315 to West describes a soft golf cart cover made up of a plurality of individual panels that attach to the cart's hard top. The panels may be connected to each other using ties to secure them together. It is conceivable that individual panels could be removed or folded up when not in use. However, if the front panel is rolled up, it will form a rather large cumbersome roll near the front edge of the cart. This roll will tend to collect rain, debris and bird droppings. Additionally, the front edges of the side panels require additional attachment to the frame of the cart. The patent describes ties that could be utilized to attach the front edge of the side panels to the edge of the cart's frame. However, this would form a rather poor seal and would require more cumbersome assembly and disassembly steps. Therefore, wind and rain would enter into the passenger compartment and the cover would be burdensome to install and remove due to all the tying required. In addition, the panel would need to be sized correctly and the ties positioned so that they would be in the right location to attach to the cart's frame. This would require different panel designs and tie positions for different makes and models of carts.
U.S Pat. No. 5,259,656 to Carroll describes a soft golf cart cover made up of a plurality of individual panels that may be rolled up and stored. However, the cover described in the Carroll patent would form a rather poor seal with the front edge of the side panels if the front panel was rolled up. Therefore, it would allow wind and rain to enter into the passenger compartment. It is also necessary to attach the front edge of the side panels to the cart's frame to avoid having the edges flap in the wind and allow rain to enter the passenger compartment. This attachment would require an attachment mechanism and more cumbersome assembly and disassembly steps. The cover of this patent would require different cover designs for different makes and models of carts to ensure that the front edges of the side panels could be attached to the cart's frame.
Therefore, a foldable golf cart cover that can be used with almost any make or model of cart, with or without a permanent windshield, without hindering the vision of the passengers and that forms versatile water blocking shields between the front edges of the side panels and the cart's frame is desired. It would also be beneficial if a golf cart cover that had these desired features be esthetically pleasing, portable and not allow the side panels to flap in the wind when the front panel is rolled up.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved golf cart cover for protecting the occupants in
Pedder Dennis H.
York Michael T.
LandOfFree
Golf cart cover does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Golf cart cover, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Golf cart cover will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2972715