Patent Application
20250189149
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The disclosure relates to cover apparatuses and more particularly pertains to a new cover apparatus for preventing debris from entering an air conditioner condenser.
The prior art relates to cover apparatuses, particularly those adapted for covering an air conditioner condenser. These covers typically are shaped to cover an outtake of an air conditioner condenser to prevent debris from falling into the air conditioner condenser via the outtake. Such covers are desirable because outtakes for air conditioner condensers typically face upwardly, so debris may easily drop into the air conditioner condenser from above. However, such covers do not guard the intakes on the perimeters of air conditioner condensers from dirt, leaves, and other debris which may enter while performing lawn chores. For example, moving leaves with a leaf blower may result in such debris being blown into the air conditioner condenser through the intake.
Additionally, some covers are shaped to cover the perimeter of an air conditioner condenser, but such covers have flaps which may be blown away from the air conditioner condenser, leaving the intake exposed. Even when fasteners are provided to keep the flaps shut, such fasteners may fail, or a user may neglect to use them. A new cover is therefore needed which relies on elastic bands to secure the cover around the perimeter of the air conditioner condense.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a sleeve with a tubular shape, a bottom opening at a bottom end, and a shape configured to fit around a perimeter of an air conditioner condenser. The sleeve is flexible such that the sleeve is configured to conform to the perimeter of the air conditioner condenser. A bottom band is coupled to the sleeve and positioned around the bottom opening of the sleeve. The bottom band comprises a resiliently stretchable material and is biased to constrict the sleeve.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The barrier layer 22 comprises a water-impermeable material which is durable such that the barrier layer 22 is configured to resist tears and other damage. The protective layer 24 is coupled to and positioned inwardly of the barrier layer 22. The protective layer 24 comprises a nonabrasive material such that the protective layer 24 is configured to be drawn against the air conditioner condenser 30 without marring the air conditioner condenser 30. The barrier layer 22 and the protective layer 24 are both flexible such that the sleeve 12 is flexible as described. The barrier layer 22 may comprise a vinyl, a canvas, a rubber, a silicone, or the like. The protective layer 24 comprises cotton but may comprise other suitably nonabrasive materials such as nylon, polyester, silk, or the like. The construction of the protective layer 24 may include fine fibers or other similar construction such that the protective layer 24 is nonabrasive.
A bottom band 26 and a top band 28 are coupled to the sleeve 12. The bottom band 26 is positioned at the bottom end 14 around the bottom opening 18, and the top band 28 is positioned at the top end 16 around the top opening 20. Each of the bottom and top bands 26, 28 comprises a resiliently stretchable material and is biased to constrict the sleeve 12. A cross-section of the sleeve 12 taken perpendicular to an axis extending between the top end 16 and the bottom end 14 has a rectangular shape when the sleeve 12 is not being constricted by the bottom and top bands 26, 28. The bottom and top bands 26, 28 may comprise rubber, elastane, or the like.
In use, the sleeve 12 is positioned around the perimeter 32 of the air conditioner condenser 30 to prevent dirt, leaves, and other debris from entering the air conditioner condenser 30. By covering the perimeter 32, the air conditioner condenser cover 10 typically will cover an intake 34 of the air conditioner condenser 30 while leaving an outtake 36 of the air conditioner condenser 30 open. The sleeve 12 may typically used only temporarily so as to avoid blocking the intake 34 for an extended period of time and limiting airflow to the air conditioner condenser 30. During installation and removal of the air conditioner condenser cover 10, the protective layer 24 of the sleeve 12 is drawn against the air conditioner with a lower likelihood of marring the air conditioner condenser 30 than if the protective layer 24 was made of an abrasive material.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
