Patent Application
20090056233
A large amount of productivity is lost due to inclement weather. When workers must conduct their work in blazing heat or frigid cold, or in rain and snow, morale decreases along with attendance on the job site. The inclement weather may also damage property and requires workmen to take extra precautions to protect such property.
For example, in the moving industry crews are hired to take furniture and boxes outside of residences and businesses and place these items into a vehicle such as a moving truck or van. On rainy days, the moving crews are typically less motivated to carry out their work because of their discomfort in the rain. When there is snow and ice, the job may be exceedingly difficult. Moving companies must fear compensation claims from injured workers and claims of property damage from customers. Thus, many more moves are conducted in warmer months, while workers often sit idle in the winter months.
Further, in inclement weather, moves are more time-consuming and require better protection of property and people. For example, when the ground is slippery, salt must be procured and sprinkled over the entire path from a residence or place of business to the moving truck. When it is cold, workers must wear heavy coats and gloves which restrict ease of movement. Personal property must be well-covered. To prevent damage to furniture in various weather conditions, it needs to be wrapped in plastic before being moved. Such precautions are expensive in both time and possible damages.
Typically, in the moving industry, the prior art procedure is to place the moving truck as close as possible to the building to or from which items are being moved. However, this method has many drawbacks. First, it is not always feasible because of parking restrictions. Second, even when a truck is allowed to park adjacent to a building entrance, the property being moved must usually still be covered and protected, because it will still be briefly exposed to the elements. Third, a truck often cannot move close enough to the egress of a building because it may be much higher than the door and also requires space for a ramp or movable loading platform. Further, even if at a given location placement of a truck to abut a building is possible, at a second location, where the property is to be unloaded, this may not be the case. Prior art solutions had the drawback that, during heavy precipitation, water could enter even in a limited space between truck and building, and workers might have to pause on the job to wait for precipitation to decrease.
In another prior art method, a canopy, such as is marketed by DryMove LLC, is placed between the exit of a building and the moving truck. However, such canopies only provide protection from the elements on the top, leaving the sides open and liable to the problems cited above. In addition, such canopies are difficult and sometimes time-consuming to setup, and require many parts. The property to be moved must still be wrapped and protected from all kinds of weather, and workmen must still be fully garbed.
What is needed is a simple solution to adequately protect workers and property from the elements when moving property from a building to a vehicle such as a moving truck. Ideally, this solution must protect from the elements on all sides, be easy to use, and quick to assemble and dismantle.
The invention disclosed is an inflatable passageway for protection from the weather, comprising a two-piece canopy arrangement, joined to form a substantially unitary passageway. The canopy extends from the rear of a vehicle, such as a moving truck, towards a permanent building. The rear of the vehicle has a portal situated between top, right, left, and bottom walls. The first part of the canopy is an inflatable tunnel having a substantially U-shaped configuration defined by an outer surface, a sealed inflatable cavity, and an inner surface, the inner surface defining the walls of the first part of the passageway. This first part of the passageway extends between two portals adapted for entry and egress. The outer surface of the tunnel is provided with a plurality of eyelets for securing the tunnel by securing means to the ground or stationary structures, such as to the left and right walls of the rear of the vehicle.
The second part of the passageway is formed between the vehicle and tunnel by a resilient flexible fabric, such as a tarp, extending out from an initially rolled configuration near the top wall of the back of the vehicle, and extending longitudinally from near the left to the right walls of the vehicle. From the vehicle, the fabric extends over the outer surface of the tunnel where it is secured. Gravitational forces cause portions of the canopy near the right and left walls of the back of the vehicle to fall downwards, defining sides of the passageway. Additionally, the fabric may be secured to a plurality of eyelets provided in the right and left walls of the rear of the vehicle.
Thus, a substantially continuous passageway is provided with protection from the weather on all sides which extends at least from the portal at the rear of the vehicle, underneath the fabric, and through a first portal and under an inflatable tunnel. The inflatable area of the tunnel may be rolled up and further comprises an inflation apparatus which may be powered by battery or AC current. The device of the invention can be configured in less than fifteen minutes.
Still further, the portals of the tunnel may comprise flaps extending from near the inner surface of the tunnel towards the ground. The portals may be positioned at any place on the tunnel such as at the first and seconds ends thereof, or at a first end and through a wall of the passageway. Subsequent tunnels can connect to one another via snug placement of a portal from a first and second tunnel at angles up to 270°.
Other advantageous features of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description.
The inflatable tunnel 100 comprises a sealed, air-filled cavity contained within the inner and outer surfaces of the tunnel. The tunnel 100 is generally U-shaped with a hollow passageway beneath the inner surface of the tunnel. In the embodiment of
The outer surface of the tunnel 100 further comprises spaced-apart connection eyelets 110 at least near a first end of the tunnel 100. These eyelets are attached to a securing means, such as a rope or bungee cord. The securing means are further attached to the flexible canopy 200 at spaced apart positions generally corresponding to the positions of the connection eyelets 110. The connection eyelets 110 are strategically placed and spaced apart near a first opening of the inflatable tunnel, though the connection eyelets may be placed at any position on the outer surface of the tunnel 100.
In the embodiment of
Referring to
In the present embodiment, optional mat 150 is provided. The mat 150 is made from a resilient flexible material such as a polyethylene woven mesh. The mat provides a lower surface of the unitary passageway of the invention. For example, in wet or snowy conditions, the mat protects workers from slipping and falling by providing a covering on the ground. When the property being moved is placed down, it is placed on a clean mat and is protected from water damage.
The canopy 200 is further secured by securing means to the top eyelets 320 positioned on the top wall of the cargo hold opening 350. In an embodiment of the invention, three top eyelets 320 are used for securing the canopy 200 to the cargo hold 300. Depending on the specific needs of the user, the canopy 200 may be attached to some or all of the side and top eyelets. Attachment to the top eyelets 320 provides stable placement of the canopy 200 as a top of the unitary passageway. The canopy 200 then hangs down to form side walls of the unitary passageway. However, as best depicted in
In alternative embodiments of the invention, other connection means for temporary and fixed attachment between the canopy 200 and cargo hold 300, as well as the inflatable tunnel 100, may be used. For example, in an alternative embodiment, side eyelets 330 and top eyelets 320 are sockets formed by drilling holes through the side walls and top walls of the cargo hold 300, and the canopy 200 is attached by the hooks 162, 164, or 166 or by a rope attaching the canopy 200 to the side and top walls of the cargo hold 300.
Thus, in the embodiment of the invention depicted in
Further, in an embodiment of the invention, any reasonable number of extension tunnels may be positioned at the end of a tunnel 100, 180 or 190 to provide further extension of the passageway (not depicted). When a side tunnel 180 or 190 or extension tunnel (not depicted) is placed at an angle with respect to another tunnel, rigid connection means such as a rope or bungee cord are used between the connection eyelets 110 of the respective tunnels. The stabilizing eyelets 120 are further used to keep the respective tunnels in place. Thus, tunnels may be placed at angles to each other and be fixed in place, as well as be positioned snuggly against one another, so that workers and property are protected from the outside during usage.
Referring to
An advantageous feature of the invention is that inflation of the tunnel takes about fifteen minutes. During this time interval, the rest of the unitary passageway can be configured. The canopy 200 is rolled from the cargo hold 300 and securely attached to the connection eyelets 110 of the inflatable tunnel. The canopy is also attached to the side eyelets 330 of the cargo hold 300 at the cargo hold opening 350 to provide side walls of the passageway between the cargo hold 300 and the inflatable tunnel 100. The stabilizing eyelets 120 are stably attached to the rope 124 or to a stake placed between a stabilizing eyelet 120 and the ground.
Further, multiple tunnels 100, 180, and 190 can be inflated simultaneously and attached to each other via a flexible connection between the connection eyelets 110 of a tunnel 100 and a side tunnel 180 and 190. Thus, a large inflatable passageway can be configured between a building and the cargo hold 300 in fifteen minutes or less.
It should be understood by one skilled in the art that the above disclosure has been presented by way of example only and not limitation. For example, the present invention is not limited to the physical arrangements or dimensions illustrated or described. Further, the present invention is not limited to any particular design or materials of construction. As such, the breadth and scope of the patent invention should not be limited to any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
