1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a protective cover for protecting vehicles or structures from foreign objects, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a self-inflating protective cover for protecting vehicles or structures from hail.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Protective covers for protecting vehicles from weather, such as hail, are well known in the art. Many existing protective covers require inflation to form pneumatic cushions and therefore cannot be quickly installed should emergency conditions arise. Further, many existing covers are not sufficiently durable to resist and protect a vehicle or other structure from damaging foreign objects, such as hail. That is, these covers do not provide sufficient thickness or force-absorbing properties to resist and withstand the impact of damaging foreign objects, such as hail. Also, many existing covers are bulky and awkward making them inconvenient to store.
To this end, a protective cover is needed that is easily stored, self-inflating so as to be quickly installed during emergency situations and provides the requisite thickness necessary to resist the force of impacting foreign objects, such as hail.
Referring now to
A collapsible, resilient, open celled foam panel 26 rests within the air chamber 16. The function of the foam panel 26 is to aid in the inflation of the chamber 16, and also provide additional support in use of the first panel 12. More particularly, the foam panel 26 can be collapsed by pressing thereon to cause escape of air from the interior of the foam panel 26. The foam panel 26, due to its resiliency, expands upon release of such pressure and draws air into its interior. By placing such a foam panel within the air chamber 16, the first panel 12 is self-inflating, i.e., drawing air into the air chamber 16 upon its expansion from a collapsed state.
The second panel 14 includes an air chamber 28 defined by a top sheet 30 and a bottom sheet 32 joined about the periphery of the top sheet 30 and bottom sheet 32 to form a seam 34. The bottom sheet 32 includes there through a valve 36 operable by manual rotation thereof between an open condition and a closed condition. The valve 36 may take a variety of forms, its function being to selectively allow passage of air into or out of the air chamber 28. Thus, air may be selectively removed from and drawn into the air chamber 28 by use of the valve 36.
A collapsible, resilient, open celled foam panel 38 rests within the air chamber 28. The function of the foam panel 38 is to aid in the inflation of the chamber 28, and also provide additional support in use of the second panel 14. More particularly, the foam panel 38 can be collapsed by pressing thereon to cause escape of air from the interior of the foam panel 38. The foam panel 38, due to its resiliency, expands upon release of such pressure and draws air into its interior. By placing such a foam panel within the air chamber 28, the second panel 14 is self-inflating, i.e., drawing air into the air chamber 28 upon its expansion from a collapsed state.
The first panel 12 is superimposed on and connected to the second panel 14 such that the first panel 12 is slidably movable relative to the second panel 14 whereby the first panel 12 may be caused to slide relative to the second panel 14 upon the first panel 12 being impacted by an object, such as a hail stone. More specifically, thunderstorms that produce large, damaging hail also have a tendency to produce strong winds which can cause falling hail stones to impact objects at an angle. As such, the impact force has a vertical component as well as a horizontal component. The horizontal componentof the impact force, which is angled or non-perpendicular relative to the first panel 12, will act to shear the first panel 12 relative to the second panel 14 and thereby cause at least a portion of the impact energy to be dissipated. In one embodiment, the first panel 12 and the second panel 14 are connected to one another by a plurality of spaced apart straps, such as first strap 39 and a second strap 40. However, the first panel 12 may be connected to the second panel 14 with a single strap that encloses the space between the first panel 12 and the second panel 14.
The first strap 39 has a first end 42 and a second end 44. The first end 42 is secured to a first side 48 of the first panel 12. The second end 44 is secured to a first side 50 of the second panel 14 as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The self-inflating protective cover 10 may be any thickness desired. For example, as shown in
With reference to
In positioning the protective covers 10 on the vehicle 66, the edge of one protective cover 10 is preferably positioned to overlap the adjacent edge of the adjacent protective cover 10 or positioned so that adjacent edges are maintained in an abutting relation. To this end, each of the protective covers 10 may be provided with connecting members such as snaps or hook and loop connecting members (not shown) to secure one protective cover 10 to an adjacent protective cover 10. It is to also be understood that a single self-inflating protective cover of the present invention covering substantially the entire vehicle may be used.
To facilitate inflation and deflation of the protective covers 10, an electrical pump (not shown) that allows for air to be pumped into the air chambers or withdrawn therefrom may be utilized. In one embodiment, each of the first panel 12 and the second panel 14 would include multiple valves to permit the air chamber 16 of one first panel 12 to be connected to the air chamber 16 of an adjacent first panel 12 and/or the air chamber 28 of the second panel 14 to be connected to the air chamber 28 of the adjacent second panel 14 in series so that a single pump may be utilized to inflate and deflate each of the protective covers 10. The air chambers 16 of the first panel 12 may be connected to the air chamber 28 of the second panel 14. The valves may be connected together with a tube adapted to connect to valves of adjacent protective covers 10 and/or to valves of the first panel 12 and the second panel 14.
It should be understood that the self-inflating protective cover 10 described herein is not intended to be limited in use to protecting vehicles from impact forces caused by hail stones. The self-inflating protective cover 10 may also be used to protect other structures, such as roofs, furniture, equipment, and the like, from impact forces. It should also be understood that the self-inflating protective cover 10 is not intended to be limited to outdoor use. That is, the self-inflating protective cover 10 may also be used to cover structures located indoors.
After being used, the self-inflating protective cover 10 may be quickly and easily deflated and rolled into a compact cylinder shape which can be conveniently stored.
From the above description, it is clear that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and to attain the advantages mentioned herein, as well as those inherent in the invention. While a presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the spirit of the invention disclosed and as defined in the appended claims.
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/591,117, filed Jul. 26, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60591117 | Jul 2004 | US |