Patent Application
20170111960
The disclosure relates to car cover devices and more particularly pertains to a new car cover device for removing snow and ice from a vehicle.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a panel that is flexible and has a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter edge. The perimeter edge includes a first end edge, a second end edge, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge. The panel is positionable on a vehicle. A heating element is positioned within the panel between the top and bottom sides and warms the panel when the heating element is powered. A power supply is electrically coupled to the heating element. A control is in communication with the heating element to remotely and wirelessly turn the heating element on or off. The panel has four corners and a plurality of straps is attached to the panel. Each of the corners has one of the straps positioned adjacent thereto. The straps each include a magnetic material.
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
A heating element 40 is positioned within the panel 12 between the top 14 and bottom 16 sides. The heating element 40 warms the panel 12 to a temperature at least above 32° F. (0° C.) when the heating element 40 is powered. The heating element 40 may be positioned between the top 30 and middle 34 layers to ensure that the top layer 30 is heated such that any accumulated snow or ice melts when the heating element 40 is powered. A power supply 42 is electrically coupled to the heating element 40. The power supply 42 may comprise a power cord 44 which is pluggable into an electrical outlet or the power supply 42 may included one or more batteries. A control 46 is in communication with the heating element 40 to wirelessly and remotely turn the heating element 40 on or off. The control 46 includes a switch 48 that is electrically coupled to the heating element 40. A receiver 50 is electrically coupled to the switch 48 and receives a wireless signal to turn the switch 48 to an on position or an off position. An actuator 52 includes a transmitter 54 that transmits the wireless signal when the transmitter 54 is actuated. The actuator 52 may be provided in a key fob or other housing, which includes on or more buttons 56 for the actuator 52, the transmitter 54 and a battery 58. The transmitter 54 and receiver 50 may be configured for radio wave transmission or infrared light signal transmission.
The panel 12 has four corners 60. A plurality of straps 62 is attached to the panel 12 and each of the corners 60 has one of the straps 62 positioned adjacent thereto. Each of the straps 62 has a pair of ends 64 attached to the bottom side 16 of the panel 12. Each of the straps 62 comprises a magnetic material which may be provided one or magnets 66 positioned within the straps for magnetic adherence to the vehicle 70. The straps 64 may be comprised of a resiliently elastic material for pulling the panel 12 tight on a vehicle 70.
In use, the panel 12 is placed on a vehicle 70 such as a car or small truck and secured in placed with the straps 62. If ice or snow accumulates on the panel, the user will turn the heating element 40 on to melt the snow or ice from the panel 12. The panel 12 is then removed from the vehicle 70 so that it can be driven. The bottom layer 32 protects the vehicle 70 finish while the middle layer 34 offers protection from impacts to the vehicle 70.
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.
