Embodiments of the invention relate generally to roof construction. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to a retractable angled roof that can be quickly installed and shipped in a compact form.
The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Traditional house construction requires workers to spend a few days building a roof on the frame of the house. This can not only be time consuming, but costly, as such construction is often specialized and requires a skilled roofing working. While a truss roof construction may allow for assembly of individual framework off-site, truss roof construction requires labor for sheeting the roof and also requires significant space for shipping the pre-assembled structures.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a roof construction that can be shipped in a reduced size configuration and can be quickly and easily deployed on a structure.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a retractable roof comprising a first frame on a first side of the retractable roof; a second frame on the second side of the retractable roof; a plurality of roof boards spanning between the first frame and the second frame; wherein the first and second frames include a vertical riser having a top end and a lower end; opposing first and second angled arms pivotably extending from opposite sides of the top end of the vertical riser; a horizontal arm slidably disposed on the vertical riser; horizontal telescoping arms extendable from opposite ends of the horizontal arm, the horizontal telescoping arms extendable to span at least a width of a structure on which the retractable roof is applied; and telescoping arms extending from each of the first and second angled arms, the telescoping arms pivotably attached to respective ends of the horizontal telescoping arms, wherein the horizontal arm is movable from a first position defining a collapsed configuration and a second position defining an extended configuration, wherein, in the first position, the horizontal arm is disposed closer to both of the first and second angled arms.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a retractable roof comprising a first frame on a first side of the retractable roof; a second frame on the second side of the retractable roof; a plurality of roof boards spanning between the first frame and the second frame; wherein the first and second frames include a vertical riser having a top end and a lower end; opposing first and second angled arms pivotably extending from opposite sides of the top end of the vertical riser; a horizontal arm slidably disposed on the vertical riser; horizontal telescoping arms extendable from opposite ends of the horizontal arm, the horizontal telescoping arms extendable to span at least a width of a structure on which the retractable roof is applied; and telescoping arms extending from each of the first and second angled arms, the telescoping arms pivotably attached to respective ends of the horizontal telescoping arms, wherein the telescoping arms include a telescoping arm slot directing travel of a first portion of the plurality of roof boards; the angled arms include an angled arm slot directing travel of a second portion of the plurality of roof boards; and each of the first and second portions of roof boards include a roller on opposing sides thereof, the roller fitting into one of the telescoping arm slot or the angled arm slot.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a retractable roof comprising a first frame on a first side of the retractable roof; a second frame on the second side of the retractable roof; a plurality of roof boards spanning between the first frame and the second frame; wherein the first and second frames include a vertical riser having a top end and a lower end; opposing first and second angled arms pivotably extending from opposite sides of the top end of the vertical riser; a horizontal arm slidably disposed on the vertical riser; horizontal telescoping arms extendable from opposite ends of the horizontal arm, the horizontal telescoping arms extendable to span at least a width of a structure on which the retractable roof is applied; telescoping arms extending from each of the first and second angled arms, the telescoping arms pivotably attached to respective ends of the horizontal telescoping arms; and a double pivot connector connecting the telescoping arms to the respective ends of the horizontal telescoping arms, wherein the horizontal arm is movable from a first position defining a collapsed configuration and a second position defining an extended configuration, wherein, in the first position, the horizontal arm is disposed closer to both of the first and second angled arms; in the first position, the horizontal arms are generally parallel to the first and second angled arms; the telescoping arms include a telescoping arm slot directing travel of a first portion of the plurality of roof boards; and the angled arms include an angled arm slot directing travel of a second portion of the plurality of roof boards.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may be configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.
Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide a retractable roof construction that can be manufactured in a factory and quickly deployed when assembling the house. This retractable roof can be made in parts and assembled into its compact formation whilst in the factory. This compact formation reduces space occupied in shipment, reducing the overall cost. When the compact formation roof is on a construction site, the roof can expand on both sides and be raised in the middle to provide an angle to protect against the rain. The expending process can be automated for reducing labor used in the construction. When compared to traditional roof construction, the retractable roof construction allows fast installation as well as reduced cost, both in shipping and labor.
Referring to
The retractable roof can include two roof frame assemblies 40 on each side and roof boards 12 spanning between the two roof frame assemblies 40. The roof boards 12 can include a small forward overhang 48 (see
The retractable roof 10 can include a vertical riser 18 where the angled arms 20 are pivotably attached to extend in opposite directions from the top of the vertical riser 18. A telescoping member 22 can telescopingly extend from each of the angled arms 20. An end 28 of the angled arms may pivotably connect to a telescoping member 16 that is telescopingly extendable from each end of a horizontal arm 16. In the extended configuration, as illustrated in
Referring to
In the collapsed configuration, the angled arms 20 (as well as the telescoping members 22) are disposed alongside the horizontal arm 14. In some embodiments, because of the double pivot connector 24, the angled arms 20 can rest parallel to the horizontal arm 14.
Referring to
The frames 40 can be expanded by moving the horizontal arm 14 down the vertical riser 18. The telescoping arms 16, 22 can be extended for the width of the structure on which the roof is disposed.
While in the embodiments illustrated, there is one frame 40 on each end of the retractable roof 10, in some embodiments, especially for longer roof structures, the retractable roof can include one or more central frames. The central frames may be similar to the frames 40 described herein, but may have slots on both sides so that the roof boards can attach to both sides of the central frame.
Referring now to
The shorter shaft roof board 12B can attach its rollers 44 to the angled arms 20. The angled arms 20 can include a slot 50 that communicates with a channel that has a width wider than the slot. The rollers 44 can fit into the channel while the shaft extends out of the slot 50, thus preventing the roller 44 from exiting the slot 50 in a direction that is parallel with the axis of the shaft. Similarly, the longer shaft 42 roof board 12A can attach its rollers 44 to the telescoping arms 22 that extend from the angled arms 20. A slot 52 in the telescoping arms 22 (of respective frames 40) can have a wider separation as compared to the slots 50 of the angled arms 20 (of respective frames 40). Thus, the longer shaft 42 can permit the rollers 44 of the roof boards 12A to fit into the telescoping arms 22 while the rollers 44 of the roof boards 12B fit into the angled arms 20. The rollers 44 may include ball bearings or similar structures to permit free movement of the rollers 44 within the slots 50, 52 and associated channels.
The angled arm 20 can include a shelf 54 and the telescoping arms 22 can include a shelf 56. The shelves 54, 56 can support the side overhangs 45 of the roof boards 12 as described above, while the rollers 44 are disposed in the slots 50, 52. The shelves 54, 56 of one of the frames 40 can be directed toward the other of the frames 40 of the retractable roof 10. Thus, the shelves 54, 56 provide a region of reduced spacing between opposing frames 40 for supporting the roof boards 12.
As shown in
All the features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.
Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.
The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification the generic structure, material or acts of which they represent a single species.
The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to not only include the combination of elements which are literally set forth. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.