Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Door or window with specified vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-27
2002-03-05
Patel, Ken (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Door or window with specified vehicle feature
C296S001110, C296S152000, C296S063000, C297S219100, C297S228100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06352299
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temporary replacement window with extension that can be used to cover and protect the opening in any vehicle door that results when the vehicle door has missing or broken glass on either the passenger or driver's side of the vehicle. More specifically, the present invention includes two sheets of clear, transparent, flexible, substantially air impervious continuous plastic material attached together so as to form an envelope, which will fit snugly over the upper portion of the door frame of the vehicle. The sheets comprising the envelope are attached together at portions of their sides and are shaped to conform in general to the perimeter shape of the door frame. The objective is that the envelope will completely cover the opening left by the broken or missing window. The two sheet envelope of the present invention has a plurality of symmetrically positioned, grommeted apertures, which are positioned parallel to each other along the bottom open edge of the temporary window. To further secure and stabilize the replacement window against the force of the wind while the vehicle is moving, a cord is passed through these grommeted apertures and affixed securely to a protrusion in the interior of the vehicle. The envelope must be held taut while in place. Further, the present invention includes a detachable extension which is affixed to the two plastic sheet envelope and is situated in the interior of the vehicle. The detachable extension covers the seat base adjacent the broken window and protects the buttocks and thighs of the driver/passenger from being cut by shards of glass resulting from the broken window. The present invention provides a flexible see-through plastic temporary replacement window with extension, which is portable and easily installed on a vehicle door, and easily moved from vehicle to vehicle.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The use of an article employing a sheet of plastic film to temporarily cover the opening or hole produced by a broken or missing window glass or the like, is generally known in the prior art; but all such articles of manufacture have various limiting features which neither detract from the novelty of the presently disclosed article, nor make it obvious. Generally, in the prior art, the replacement window was a make-shift article of some type of film that is tied or taped to the door frame surrounding the opening. This arrangement provides a temporary cover to the opening in the door until a permanent repair of the glass can be made. Such a solution is both messy and very inconvenient to install. It may require considerable effort to clean up the shards of glass and other residue remaining after such temporary installation. Other temporary measures utilize glue, tape or other adhesive, any one of which is difficult or hard to remove from both the body of the vehicle and the user's hands. Other aspects must be considered in dealing with a broken side window of an automobile. Unless the film is transparent, visibility while driving will be impaired. If the film is loosely installed or of incorrect thickness, the sound produced while driving may be annoying, if not distracting or deafening to the driver, increasing the risk of an accident during operation of the vehicle. The ability to seal the film reliably, such as to produce a good moisture or rain barrier, can be difficult, if not impossible, using the existing art. Furthermore, the art extant, does not adequately prevent the migration of the remaining glass fragments (shards) of the broken window into the car's interior. Moreover, storage in the vehicle of the article of the present invention, does not pose the same problems as storing glue or adhesive over an extended period of time under various climatic conditions as required by some other prior art methods.
In view of these problems and limitations associated with the prior art, the need is clear for an inexpensive, functional and reliable temporary replacement window, particularly for automobile side windows which are described herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,536,773 discloses a recloseable self-sealing container made of normally pressure-sensitive self-sealing material. Applicants' structure has outside and inside sheets that are substantially the same dimensions from top to bottom. This defines the length of each sheet as being substantially the same. Saidel's structure with its pocket portion
16
and elongated closing flap
18
of unequal length is different from the structure of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,168 to Leverence describes and illustrates a foldable and compactly packagable screen for use in screening the open windows of closed body or cab types of motor vehicles. It includes window frame attaching mechanism being adjustable or variable in size.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,621 discloses a screen used in conjunction with an automobile designed to keep insects out of the interior of the vehicle and to allow the free circulation of air in and out of the vehicle. The reference does not seek to suppress “wind noise.” The present invention relates to an impervious envelope that prevents air from freely circulating in and out of the vehicle. The article in the reference allows free circulation of air and does not emphasize noise suppression.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,411,562 discloses a temporary windshield for a motor vehicle. Claim
1
describes the invention as an elongated sheet of flexible transparent plastic material and includes a “plurality of transversely extending reinforcing rods, located in closely spaced apart parallel relationship.” The windscreen is held in place by shutting the doors of the vehicle on either end. Accordingly, the only similarity between the present invention and the device depicted in the '562 reference is that the doors of the vehicles are used to secure the replacement window. However, the present invention is secured by simply closing the door on which it is used. Moreover, the structure of the present invention is significantly different from the item disclosed in the '562 patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,497 to Hornstein discloses a “shrunk-on plastic foil package” for motor vehicles which envelops the vehicle on all sides. Hornstein's plastic foil package covers the entire vehicle on the exterior of the automobile. With respect to its position in use on the vehicle, it is not limited to covering only the upper portion of the vehicle door frame. It covers the front window of the automobile, as well as, the sides and rear of the vehicle. Its structure is totally different. A preferred embodiment in the '497 reference is an automobile covered by a continuous foil envelope (or hood) that contains a slit in the foil along hinge
34
of front door
16
. The resulting flap of foil
38
to the rear of the slit at hinge
34
is then tucked inside the automobile
10
. Another foil in the shape of a bag is pulled over the rearward end of the open door. The outside
42
of foil
40
is heat sealed to the edge of foil
36
located at hinge
34
. A review of the text and
FIG. 7
reveals that the “foil hood
40
in the shape of a bag” differs from the envelope of present invention in that bag
40
is not sealed along its forward vertical edge which is located at the leading edge of the door
16
. Applicants' structure explicitly provides edges of the two sheets that are joined to each other at the top of the article and along its forward edge and its rearward edge to form an envelope. Applicants' envelope is open at the bottom but is sealed along its sides and top. Hornstein's bag does not have the forward edges of the bag sealed together. One edge of the exterior sheet comprising the bag is sealed in the vicinity of
36
to the foil covering the exterior of the car and forward edge of the other edge in the interior of the car. This structure would not meet the objectives of the present invention because if the leading edge of the exterior sheet of Applicants' i
Ames Marc L.
Magenheim Henry H.
Glynn, Esquire Kenneth P.
Patel Ken
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