Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Pool type – Accessory
Patent
1987-02-13
1988-08-23
Artis, Henry K.
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Pool type
Accessory
4498, 4500, 242 76, 242 8652, E04H 319, A63C 1912
Patent
active
047649984
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a retracting cover device for covering structures such as vehicles, swimming pools, boats, awnings etc. The cover device is primarily designed to protect the structure from the weather but in a preferred embodiment an intrusion and theft alarm is provided.
BACKGROUND ART
Presently known covers are unfolded by hand and spread over the structure and then when the cover is not required it is removed and folded by hand and then stowed somewhere until required again. The awkward and time consuming handling of such covers make them unacceptable to the users.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The invention provides a retracting cover device for structures such as vehicles, swimming pools, boats, awnings etc., comprising a cover of wide flexible sheet material, a reel rotatably mounted on reel support means for winding on and winding off the cover, retracting mechanism for rotating the reel to wind up the cover thereon for storage, said reel being of very narrow width compared to the cover width and means for gathering the cover to enable winding onto the narrow reel.
Where it is desireable to protect the retracted cover such as when the device is mounted under a vehicle, an enclosure or housing is provided and this housing would normally form part of the reel support means.
The cover would usually be of light weight material and may be shower proof and unaffected by the elements. The cover would be wide enough to cover the top of the structure and the sides as well where necessary. A funnel shaped shute or collector bell mouth is provided to gather the cover to feed it either directly or through a delivery tube to the reel in the housing. These components may be fitted as original equipment and built into the structure at any convenient position. Alternatively the device may be fitted as a unit to existing structures.
An alarm system may be incorporated into the cover to prevent unauthorised access to the structure or theft of the cover itself.
The reel may be rotated by an electric motor and in this case disengaging means may be provided between the reel and the motor so that the reel can free-wheel when the cover is being manually withdrawn from the housing.
A spring motor arrangement may also be used to rotate the reel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
By way of example only, the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a general layout of the cover device.
FIG. 2 is an electrically driven example with a first disengaging means.
FIG. 3 is an electrically driven example with a second disengaging means.
FIGS. 4A to 4E is an electrically driven example with a third disengaging means.
FIG. 5 is a spring driven example.
FIG. 6 is an example of the electronics for retraction control and an alarm system.
MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a general arrangement of the cover device in which the housing 1 is connected to the delivery shute 2 having a bell mouth 3 at its outer end through which the cover 4 is gathered and withdrawn onto the reel. The housing 1 would usually be of generally cylindrical shape to house the reel. The available space, say under a motor vehicle, would also have a bearing on the side and shape of the housing. The bell mouth could be positioned in an outer body panel of a motor vehicle or under the front or rear ends of the motor vehicle. While the bell mouth 3 may be fitted directly onto the housing 1 the positioning of the housing may make it necessary to have a delivery shute to convey the cover from the bell mouth 3 into the housing 1. While the size and shape of the bell mouth and delivery tube are not critical there dimensions must be such that the wider cover is gathered so that it will wind onto the relatively narrow reel. As examples, a 3 inches (8 cms) diameter bell mouth or a rectangular bell mouth 4 inches (10 cms) by 2 inches (5 cms) effectively gathers a 9 ft (3 meters) wide cover for guiding the cover into a 3 inch (8 cms) delivery tube then through a similar sized opening in
REFERENCES:
patent: 2898607 (1959-08-01), McGuire
patent: 3747132 (1973-07-01), Foster
patent: 4324370 (1982-04-01), Guard et al.
patent: 4422193 (1983-12-01), Kravath
patent: 4459711 (1984-07-01), Sartain et al.
patent: 4467978 (1984-08-01), Farrington
patent: 4471500 (1984-09-01), Long et al.
patent: 4480800 (1984-11-01), berg et al.
Cousins Neville L.
Dobbyns Vaughan
Garrood Stephen T.
Norris Kevin N.
Richards David A.
Artis Henry K.
Cousins Neville Lawrence
Santolina Securities Limited
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