Garage door opening screen enclosure

A garage door opening screened enclosure for preventing debris and pests from entering a garage through an open garage door opening. The garage door opening screened enclosure includes a garage structure with a garage door opening. A housing is coupled to the exterior of the garage structure and is positioned above the top of the garage door opening. The housing has an elongate lower slot extending along the top of the garage door opening. An elongate rod is rotatably mounted in the housing to permit free rotation about an axis of the rod. The top edge of a screen enclosure is coupled to the rod so that the screen enclosure downwardly depends from the rod through the lower slot of the housing. A pair of elongate guide rails are coupled to the exterior of the garage structure on either side of the garage door opening. Each of the guide rails has an elongate guide channel extending therealong. One side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide channel of the one guide rail and the other side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide channel of the other guide rail.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to garage door opening screened enclosures 
and more particularly pertains to a new garage door opening screened 
enclosure for preventing debris and pests from entering a garage through 
an open garage door opening. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of garage door opening screened enclosures is known in the prior 
art. More specifically, garage door opening screened enclosures heretofore 
devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected 
and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of 
designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for 
the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,673,019; 5,050,660; 3021,896; 
4,231,412; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 374,487; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,967. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new garage door 
opening screened enclosure. The inventive device includes a garage 
structure with a garage door opening. A housing is coupled to the exterior 
of the garage structure and is positioned above the top of the garage door 
opening. The housing has an elongate lower slot extending along the top of 
the garage door opening. An elongate rod is rotatably mounted in the 
housing to permit free rotation about an axis of the rod. The top edge of 
a screen enclosure is coupled to the rod so that the screen enclosure 
downwardly depends from the rod through the lower slot of the housing. A 
pair of elongate guide rails are coupled to the exterior of the garage 
structure on either side of the garage door opening. Each of the guide 
rails has an elongate guide channel extending therealong. One side edge of 
the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide channel of the 
one guide rail and the other side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably 
inserted into the guide channel of the other guide rail. 
In these respects, the garage door opening screened enclosure according to 
the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts 
and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus 
primarily developed for the purpose of preventing debris and pests from 
entering a garage through an open garage door opening. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of 
garage door opening screened enclosures now present in the prior art, the 
present invention provides a new garage door opening screened enclosure 
construction wherein the same can be utilized for preventing debris and 
pests from entering a garage through an open garage door opening. 
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described 
subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new garage door opening 
screened enclosure apparatus and method which has many of the advantages 
of the garage door opening screened enclosures mentioned heretofore and 
many novel features that result in a new garage door opening screened 
enclosure which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even 
implied by any of the prior art garage door opening screened enclosures, 
either alone or in any combination thereof. 
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a garage 
structure with a garage door opening. A housing is coupled to the exterior 
of the garage structure and is positioned above the top of the garage door 
opening. The housing has an elongate lower slot extending along the top of 
the garage door opening. An elongate rod is rotatably mounted in the 
housing to permit free rotation about an axis of the rod. The top edge of 
a screen enclosure is coupled to the rod so that the screen enclosure 
downwardly depends from the rod through the lower slot of the housing. A 
pair of elongate guide rails are coupled to the exterior of the garage 
structure on either side of the garage door opening. Each of the guide 
rails has an elongate guide channel extending therealong. One side edge of 
the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide channel of the 
one guide rail and the other side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably 
inserted into the guide channel of the other guide rail. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention 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 invention that will be described hereinafter and which 
will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new garage 
door opening screened enclosure apparatus and method which has many of the 
advantages of the garage door opening screened enclosures mentioned 
heretofore and many novel features that result in a new garage door 
opening screened enclosure which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, 
suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art garage door opening 
screened enclosures, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new garage door 
opening screened enclosure which may be easily and efficiently 
manufactured and marketed. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new garage 
door opening screened enclosure which is of a durable and reliable 
construction. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new garage 
door opening screened enclosure which is susceptible of a low cost of 
manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly 
is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby 
making such garage door opening screened enclosure economically available 
to the buying public. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
garage door opening screened enclosure which provides in the apparatuses 
and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while 
simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated 
therewith. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new garage 
door opening screened enclosure for preventing debris and pests from 
entering a garage through an open garage door opening. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new garage door 
opening screened enclosure which includes a garage structure with a garage 
door opening. A housing is coupled to the exterior of the garage structure 
and is positioned above the top of the garage door opening. The housing 
has an elongate lower slot extending along the top of the garage door 
opening. An elongate rod is rotatably mounted in the housing to permit 
free rotation about an axis of the rod. The top edge of a screen enclosure 
is coupled to the rod so that the screen enclosure downwardly depends from 
the rod through the lower slot of the housing. A pair of elongate guide 
rails are coupled to the exterior of the garage structure on either side 
of the garage door opening. Each of the guide rails has an elongate guide 
channel extending therealong. One side edge of the screen enclosure is 
slidably inserted into the guide channel of the one guide rail and the 
other side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the 
guide channel of the other guide rail. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
garage door opening screened enclosure that is retractable to permit 
passage through the garage door opening. 
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
garage door opening screened enclosure that is mounted to the exterior of 
the garage structure so that the garage door may be lowered behind the 
screened enclosure without hindrance from the screen enclosure. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 4 
thereof, a new garage door opening screened enclosure embodying the 
principles and concepts of the present invention will be described. 
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the invention generally comprises 
a garage structure with a garage door opening. A housing is coupled to the 
exterior of the garage structure and is positioned above the top of the 
garage door opening. The housing has an elongate lower slot extending 
along the top of the garage door opening. An elongate rod is rotatably 
mounted in the housing to permit free rotation about an axis of the rod. 
The top edge of a screen enclosure is coupled to the rod so that the 
screen enclosure downwardly depends from the rod through the lower slot of 
the housing. A pair of elongate guide rails are coupled to the exterior of 
the garage structure on either side of the garage door opening. Each of 
the guide rails has an elongate guide channel extending therealong. One 
side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide 
channel of the one guide rail and the other side edge of the screen 
enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide channel of the other guide 
rail. 
In closer detail, the garage structure 10 has an interior 11, an exterior 
12, and a generally rectangular garage door opening 13 between the 
interior and the exterior of the garage structure. Typically, a garage 
door is mounted to the interior of the garage structure to retractably 
close the garage door opening. The garage door opening of the garage 
structure has an outer perimeter comprising generally horizontal top and 
bottom, and a pair of generally vertical sides extending between the top 
and bottom of the garage door opening. The top and bottom of the garage 
door opening are preferably extended substantially parallel to one another 
and the sides of the garage door opening are preferably extended 
substantially parallel to one another and substantially perpendicular to 
the top and bottom of the garage door opening. 
A generally rectangular housing 14 is coupled to the exterior of the garage 
structure and is positioned above the top of the garage door opening. The 
housing has an elongate lower slot 15 extending along the top of the 
garage door opening. The lower slot of the housing has a pair of opposite 
ends with one of the ends of the lower slot positioned adjacent one of the 
sides of the garage and the other end of the lower slot positioned 
adjacent the other of the sides of the garage door opening. 
An elongate rod 16 is rotatably mounted in the housing to permit free 
rotation about an axis of the rod. The rod is extended along the lower 
slot of the housing. Preferably, the rod has a pair of opposite ends 
rotatably mounted to the housing to rotatably mount the rod in the 
housing. 
A generally rectangular flexible screen enclosure 17 has generally straight 
top and bottom edges and a pair of generally straight side edges extending 
between the top and bottom edges of the screen enclosure. The screen 
enclosure has a plurality of apertures of a predetermine size therethrough 
to prevent passage of objects therethrough greater than the predetermined 
size of the apertures. Ideally, the screen enclosure comprises a flexible 
mesh screen material. This permits a breezed to pass through the screen 
enclosure but blocks passage debris, such as blowing leaves, and of pests, 
such as insects and rodents, through the screen enclosure. The top edge of 
the screen enclosure is coupled to the rod so that the rest of the screen 
enclosure is downwardly depended from the rod through the lower slot of 
the housing. One of the sides edges of the screen enclosure is positioned 
adjacent one of the sides of the garage door opening. The other of the 
side edges of the screen enclosure is positioned adjacent the other of the 
sides of the garage door opening. 
A pair of elongate guide rails 18,19 are coupled to the exterior of the 
garage structure. One of guide rails is positioned adjacent one of the 
sides of the garage door opening and the other guide rail is positioned 
adjacent the other side of the garage door opening. As illustrated in FIG. 
1, the guide rails are extended substantially vertically along the 
associated side of the garage door opening between the top and bottom of 
the garage door opening. With reference to FIG. 4, each of the guide rails 
has an elongate guide channel 20 extending along the associated side of 
the garage door opening between the top and bottom of the garage door 
opening. The one side edge of the screen enclosure is slidably inserted 
into the guide channel of the one guide rail and the other side edge of 
the screen enclosure is slidably inserted into the guide channel of the 
other guide rail. 
In use, the screen enclosure is positionable between an open position and a 
closed position. When in the closed position, the screen enclosure 
substantially covers the garage door opening. When in the open position, 
the garage door opening is substantially unblocked by the screen 
enclosure. In use, rotation of the rod in a first direction winds the 
screen enclosure about the rod to retract the screen enclosure into the 
housing to position the screen enclosure towards the open position. 
Conversely, rotation of the rod in a second direction unwinds the screen 
enclosure from about the rod to downwardly extend the screen enclosure 
from the housing towards the closed position. As the screen enclosure 
moved between the open and closed positioned, the side edges of the screen 
member slide along the elongate channels of the guide rails. 
Preferably, an elongate bar 21 is coupled to the bottom edge of the screen 
member and extended between the side edges of the screen member. The bar 
has a pair of opposite ends. One of the ends of the bar is positioned 
adjacent one of the side edges of the screen enclosure and the other end 
of the bar is positioned adjacent the other of the side edges of the 
screen enclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 4, each of the ends of the bar 
has an extent 22 outwardly extending from the associated side edge of the 
screen enclosure. 
Each of the extents of the bar is slidably inserted into the guide channel 
of the adjacent guide rail to permit sliding of the extents in their 
associated guide channel when the screen enclosure is moved between the 
open and closed positions. In use, the bar is positioned adjacent the 
bottom of the garage door opening when the screen is positioned in the 
closed position. When the screen enclosure is positioned in the open 
position, the bar is positioned adjacent the lower slot of the housing. 
Ideally, a spaced apart pair of magnets 23 are coupled to the bar and a 
spaced apart pair of magnetizable metal plates 24 are coupled to the 
bottom of the garage door opening. The magnets are magnetically coupled to 
the magnetizable metal plates when the screen enclosure is positioned in 
the closed position to help hold the bottom edge of the screen enclosure 
to the bottom of the garage door opening against breezes that would 
otherwise blow open the screen enclosure. 
As illustrated in FIG. 5, a motor 25 is provided in the housing for 
rotating the rod about the axis of the rod in both the first and second 
directions. The motor is preferably located adjacent one of the ends of 
the lower slot. The motor is preferably coupled to one of the ends of the 
rod to rotate the rod about the axis of the rod. A controller 26 is 
electrically connected to the motor for selectively controlling the 
direction the motor rotates the rod. The controller is mounted to the 
garage structure. Optionally the controller may be a remote controller and 
be placed in a remote location, such as a user's vehicle, so that the user 
can open and close the screen enclosure while in their vehicle. The motor 
is electrically connected to an electrical power supply 27 to provide 
energy to the motor to rotate the rod. 
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the 
present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. 
Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and 
operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, 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 the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention 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 invention.