Garage door decorative cover assembly

A garage door decorative cover assembly for use on an exterior surface of a garage door made of a plurality of door panels permitted to rotate relative to each other when the garage door moves from a closed position to an open position includes at least one flexible cover panel, a fixing component, and a weighted holding mechanism. The flexible cover panel has a first end, a second end, a front surface and a back surface. The fixing component fixedly attaches the first end of the cover panel to the surface of the garage door, and the weighted holding mechanism couples the second end of the cover panel to the surface of the garage door such that the cover panel is coupled to the garage door is in both open and closed positions. The weight of the holding mechanism maintains the cover panel in a taut state whether the garage door is open or closed. The cover panel is provided with fanciful holiday, seasonal, or other celebratory indicia. According to another embodiment of the invention, the cover panel is multi-component, and the indicia on the several component panels, in side-by-side display on the garage door, together form a composite illustration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates broadly to flexible panels affixable to a garage 
door. More particularly, this invention relates to decorative flexible 
panels having seasonal, holiday, festive, or celebratory indicia and being 
easily removably affixed to a movable multi-panel garage door to provide 
an exterior decoration. 
2. State of the Art 
During certain times of the year, holiday, seasonal, and festive decorative 
objects are very popular. In the fall, around the time of the Halloween 
celebration, it is common to decorate one's home with decorative objects 
having a ghoulish theme, e.g., jack o'lanterns, ghosts, witches, and 
monsters. Following the Halloween celebration, and in the winter months, 
the image of Santa Claus and other Christmas themed images are everpresent 
in holiday displays. During the spring, with the approach of the Easter 
holiday, images of Easter bunnies are often included in decorative 
displays. In addition, when celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, or a 
graduation with a home-based party, it is common to decorate the home with 
a celebratory display. 
In homes having a garage, one of the largest flat surfaces on the front of 
the home is the garage door surface. Therefore, the garage door surface is 
apparently well-suited to holding a large decorative display such as a 
large decorated flexible panel; that is, unless the display hinders the 
operation of the garage door. Operation of the garage door is important 
because seasonal and holiday decorations may be displayed for a relatively 
long period of time, such as a month. 
However, permitting a garage door to be opened and closed while covered 
with a decorative panel is not easy. It will be appreciated that a 
majority of garage doors are made of hinged door panels having lateral 
wheels which ride in a track. Due to rotation at the hinges, when a garage 
door is in a partially open or open position gaps are created between the 
panels at the hinges and the vertical length across the exterior of all of 
the panels of the garage door (i.e., from the topmost door panel to the 
bottommost door panel) is relatively longer than when the door is in a 
closed position and the gaps are eliminated. Therefore, any decorative 
panel for a garage door must be able to remain on the exterior surface of 
the garage door which, in effect, changes in length as it is opened and 
closed. 
A decorative panel having sufficient extra material such that the garage 
door is permitted to move from an open position to a closed position will 
buckle when closed, and the extra material may become caught in the 
closing gaps as the door closes, potentially causing the panel to tear. 
Moreover, a loose display will have an undesirable messy appearance. On 
the other hand, a tightly held decorative panel which does not permit 
movement of the panel relative to the exterior surface of the garage door 
will either prevent the garage door from fully opening, or will cause 
inadvertent removal of the panel from the garage door or tearing of the 
panel as the garage door is opened. Either scenario is undesirable. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,390 to Davidson describes a single panel flexible 
garage door cover which permits the garage door to which it is attached to 
open and close. The panel is draped over the front of a garage door and 
has upper and lower ends which extend around the upper and lower edges, 
respectively, of the garage door to the back of the garage door. The upper 
and lower ends of the panel are tethered together with elastic cords. As a 
result, when the garage door is opened, the elasticity of the cords 
permits movement of the panel relative to the garage door to allow the 
door to open. However, the door cover has several drawbacks. First, use of 
the cover requires a complicated webbing of elastic cords through eyelets 
in the cover and around axles of the garage door wheels, a time consuming 
process. Second, when the door is an open position, the web of elastic 
cords extends between the upper and lower ends of the cover and thereby 
extends into the head room of the garage. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a decorative garage 
door cover which when attached to the surface of a garage door permits the 
garage door to open and close without the cover becoming detached. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a decorative garage door 
cover which is held taut and has a clean appearance on the garage door. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a decorative garage door 
cover which is easy to attach to a garage door. 
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a decorative garage 
door cover which is easily removable from a garage door. 
It is also an object of the invention to provide a decorative garage door 
cover which, upon removal, will not mar a garage door to which it is 
attached. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a decorative garage door 
cover which does not deplete head room in a garage when a garage door to 
which it is attached is in an open position. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a decorative garage door 
cover which is inexpensive to manufacture and can be made of light-weight 
materials. 
An additional object of the invention is to provide a decorative garage 
door cover which can be printed upon by conventional printing techniques. 
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a decorative 
garage door cover which is waterproof. 
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, a 
garage door cover assembly for use on a surface of a garage door is 
provided. The type of garage door for which the garage door cover assembly 
is designed typically has a plurality of door panels permitted to rotate 
relative to each other when the garage door moves from a closed position 
to an open position. The garage door cover assembly includes a flexible 
cover panel and at least one fixing means and at least one weighted 
holding means. The cover panel has a first end, a second end, a front 
surface, and a back surface. The front surface is preferably provided with 
fanciful holiday, seasonal, or other celebratory indicia. The fixing means 
attaches the first end of the cover panel to the surface of the garage 
door. The weighted holding means couples the second end of the cover panel 
to the surface of the garage door and includes a weight which weighs down 
the second end of the cover panel such that the cover panel is held taut 
when the garage door is in both open and closed positions. 
According to a preferred first embodiment of the invention, the cover panel 
is provided with a hole (or other receiving means) and the weighted 
holding means includes a coupling means (e.g., a self-adhesive hook) 
coupled to the surface of the garage door and an elongate flexible member 
(e.g., a string) having a first end coupled to coupling means, a central 
portion extending through the hole, and a second end coupled to the 
weight. As the garage door is opened, the portion of the elongate flexible 
member between the coupling means and the hole is increased to compensate 
for the increased vertical length of the exterior surface of the garage 
door. When the garage door is in both the open and closed positions, the 
weight maintains the cover panel in a taut condition. 
According to a second embodiment of the invention, the weighted holding 
means includes a slack elongate member coupled between the second end of 
the cover panel and the coupling means and a weight coupled to the second 
end of the cover panel. When the garage door is closed, the weight 
maintains the door cover in a taut condition, while the slack flexible 
holding member prevents the cover panel from inadvertently moving away 
from the garage door, e.g., by the wind. When the garage door is opened, 
the cover panel rides up the garage door, reducing the slack of the 
flexible holding member. 
According to a third embodiment of the invention, the garage door 
decorative cover is comprised of a plurality of cover panels. Each cover 
panel is provided with at least one fixing means and at least one weighted 
holding means. Preferably the indicia on the panels, in side-by-side 
display on the garage door, together form a composite illustration. 
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to 
those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken 
in conjunction with the provided figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Turning now to FIG. 1, a garage door cover assembly 10 is shown attached to 
a garage door 12. The garage door decorative cover assembly is generally 
comprised of a cover panel 14 having indicia 20 provided thereon, upper 
fixing means 26, and lower weighted holding means 28. As described in 
detail below, the cover panel, which is preferably made from a flexible 
waterproof plastic, is coupled to the surface 30 of the garage door 12 
with the upper fixing means 26 and weighted lower fixing means 28 such 
that the cover panel is held taut when the garage door 12 is in both open 
and closed positions. According to a preferred embodiment of the 
invention, the cover panel is made from 1-2 mil polyethylene, 
approximately 60-72 inches in height by 90 inches in width. Preferably, 
the indicia on the cover panel 14 is of a fanciful holiday, seasonal, or 
other celebratory nature. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the garage door decorative cover assembly 10 is 
adapted for attachment to a multi-panel garage door. It will be 
appreciated that multi-panel garage doors are generally made from a 
plurality of door panels, e.g., four door panels 38, 40, 42, 44 which are 
permitted to rotate relative to each other when the garage door moves from 
a closed position (FIG. 2) to an open position (FIG. 3). The surface 30 of 
the garage door is defined by an interior surface 47 facing the inside of 
the garage, an exterior surface 48, an upper edge 49 on the top surface of 
the topmost door panel 38, and a lower edge 50 on the lower surface of the 
lowermost door panel 44. 
Referring to FIG. 2, the cover panel 14 has a top portion 52, a bottom 
portion 54, a front surface 56, and a back surface 58. Each upper fixing 
means 26 (and a plurality of spaced-apart upper fixing means are 
preferably used) is preferably a piece of removable, non-marring, 
double-sided foam tape, such as Magic Removable Mounts.TM. sold by Miller 
Studios of New Philadelphia, Ohio, although other adhesives may be used. 
With respect to each piece 26 of double-sided tape, one side of the tape 
is adhered to the exterior surface 46 of the garage door at the topmost 
door panel 38. The back surface 58 of the top portion 52 of the cover 
panel 14 is adhered to the other side of the upper fixing means 26. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, and according to a preferred embodiment of the 
invention, the lower bottom portion 54 of the cover panel 14 is provided 
with one or more holes 60. Reinforcement rings 62 (e.g., plastic low 
friction washers) are preferably adhered or otherwise coupled about the 
holes and strengthen the cover panel 14 (and prevent tearing) in the area 
surrounding the holes 60. The weighted lower holding means 28 (a plurality 
of weighted lower holding means may be used) includes a garage door 
coupling means 64, a flexible elongate member 66, and a weight 68. The 
coupling means 64 is preferably a self-adhesive hook (shown in FIG. 4) or 
loop having a non-marring adhesive. The flexible elongate member 66 is 
preferably string, cord, twine, or nylon line. The weight 68 is preferably 
a small lead fishing weight (as shown in FIG. 4), a small bag of material 
such as dirt or sand, or another appropriate weight. The total weight of 
all the weights of all the weighted holding means is preferably between 
three ounces and five pounds. The coupling means 64 is attached to the 
exterior surface 48 of the garage door 14, and the elongate member 66 is 
tied to the coupling means 64 and thread through one of the holes 60. The 
elongate member 66 is then tied to the weight 68. The assembly is repeated 
for each weighted holding means 28 coupled to the cover panel 14. When the 
garage door 12 is in a closed position and the weight(s) 68 are freely 
hung from the elongate member 66, the cover panel 14 is held taut. 
Turning back to FIG. 3, as the garage door 12 is opened, the plurality of 
door panels rotate relative to each other; for example, the door panels 
may be oriented such that one or more door panels 38, 40 are relatively 
horizontal, and others of the door panels 42, 44 are oriented at some 
intermediate angle between vertical and horizontal. The relative rotation 
of the door panels 38, 40, 42, 44 creates gaps 70, 72 (FIG. 3) between the 
door panels which, in effect, increase the distance along the exterior 
surface 48 between the top edge 49 of the topmost door panel 38 and the 
bottom edge 50 of the bottommost door panel 44 relative to the distance 
along the exterior surface between the same points when the door is closed 
and all the door panels are relatively vertical. Referring to FIGS. 3, 5 
and 6, as the distance between those points increases, the cover panel 14, 
fixed to topmost door panel 38, rides up the exterior surface 48 of the 
garage door 12 causing the length of each flexible elongate member 66 
between the coupling means 64 and a hole 60 in the cover panel 14 through 
which it is thread to increase. Consequently, the length of the elongate 
members 66 between the holes 60 and the weights 68 decrease and raise the 
weights relative to the bottom edge 50 of the garage door. Moreover, as 
the garage door 12 is moved from an open position back to a closed 
position, the taut cover panel 14 is prevented from being caught in 
closing gaps 70, 72 (FIG. 3). The cover panel 14 is thereby able to 
accommodate the opening and closing of the garage door while always 
maintaining the cover panel in a taut condition. An easy-to-assemble and 
inexpensive-to-manufacture garage door decorative cover assembly is 
thereby provided. 
Turning now to FIGS. 7 and 8 and according to a second embodiment of the 
garage door cover assembly of the invention, the second weighted fixing 
means 128 includes a coupling means 164, such as a self-adhesive loop, a 
first flexible elongate member 166 tied to both the hole 160 in the cover 
panel 114 and to the coupling means 164, a weight 168, and a second 
elongate member 169 tied to both the weight 168 and the hole 160. The 
weight 168, as shown, may be a small bag filled with a relatively heavy 
material. The first elongate member 166 is of sufficient length to be 
slack when the garage door is in a closed position and to have reduced 
slack or be slightly taut when the garage door is an open position. 
As such, referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, when the garage door is opened, the 
cover panel 114 rides up the exterior surface 148 of the garage door, 
extending the previously slack portion 166a of the first flexible elongate 
member (compare FIGS. 8 and 10). The weight 168 causes the cover panel 114 
to remain taut whether the garage door is in open or closed positions and 
regardless of the amount of slack in the first elongate member 166. The 
first flexible elongate member 166 prevents the cover panel from 
inadvertently being moved away from the exterior surface of the garage 
door, e.g., as a result of a strong gust of wind. To prevent exaggerated 
windblown movement of the cover panel, the first flexible elongate member 
is preferably provided with only enough slack to permit the garage door to 
open and close without causing the removal of the cover panel from the 
garage door surface. 
Turning now to FIG. 11, a third embodiment of a garage door decorative 
cover assembly 210 of the invention is shown. The garage door cover 
assembly is substantially similar to the first embodiment, with the 
difference being that the cover panel is comprised of a plurality of 
smaller component panels 214a, 214b, 214c. Each panel is preferably 
provided with indicia 220a, 220b, 220c and together form a composite 
illustration. The fixing means and weighted holding means for the 
component panels may be of any of the previously or subsequently described 
fixing means and weighted holding means, respectively. 
In the previous embodiments, the fixing means has been described as being 
coupled to the exterior surface of the garage door. Referring now to FIG. 
12, it will be appreciated that the fixing means 226 and the top portion 
252 of the cover panel 214 may alternatively be coupled to the top surface 
249 of the garage door 212. As another alternative, referring to FIG. 13, 
the fixing means 226a may couple the top portion 252 of the cover panel 
214 to the interior surface 247 of the garage door 212. 
Moreover, with respect to the previous embodiments, the holding means has 
included a coupling means that has been described as being coupled to the 
exterior surface of the garage door. Referring now to FIG. 14, the 
coupling means 264 of the weighted holding means 228 may also be coupled 
to the bottom surface 250 of the garage door 212. Where the coupling means 
is coupled at the bottom surface 250, the coupling means is preferably 
relatively flat (so as not to obstruct the garage door from flushly 
closing) and may be a piece of adhesive to which an elongate flexible 
member will sufficiently adhere. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 15, the 
coupling means 264a of the holding means 228a can be coupled to the 
interior surface 247 of the garage door 212. In addition, referring to 
FIG. 16, the coupling means 264b of the holding means 228b may also be a 
hook or other structure which fits around the bottom surface 250 of the 
garage door 212 and which includes an attachment portion 274b to which an 
elongate flexible member 266 can be attached, e.g., by tying. 
There have been described and illustrated herein several embodiments of a 
garage door decorative cover. While particular embodiments of the 
invention has been described, it is not intended that the invention be 
limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope 
as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Thus, 
while in one embodiment the decorative cover is shown as comprising three 
flexible cover panels, for ease of manufacture and especially for ease of 
printing indicia thereon, it will be appreciated that the decorative cover 
may be made from two or more than three panels as well. Furthermore while 
particular types of materials have been disclosed, it will be understood 
that other materials can be used as well. For example, and not by way of 
limitation, while polyethylene plastic is disclosed as a preferred 
material for the cover panels, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, paper, 
fabric, and other materials can also be used. Also, while the coupling 
means has been disclosed as being an adhesive, a hook, or a loop, it will 
be appreciated that other coupling means can likewise be used. For 
example, staples, tacks, nails, etc., may each be used as coupling means. 
Moreover, while in each embodiment, the weighted holding means is shown to 
include a coupling means to couple a lower end of the cover panel to the 
garage door, it will be appreciated that the lower end need not be coupled 
to the garage door and that the weight may simply hold the lower end of 
the cover panel against the garage door. In addition, while the cover 
panel has been described as having at least one hole provided therein for 
receiving the elongate flexible member, it will be appreciated that the 
cover panel need not have one or more holes and that other receiving means 
for receiving the elongate flexible member can be used. For example, clip 
members, hook members, loop members, etc., couplable to the cover panel 
and having an attachment portion for receiving the flexible member can 
also be used. Moreover, a weight does not need to be hung from the cover 
panel, as the weight can be directly attached to the cover panel, e.g., a 
ballast can be attached to the lower portion of the cover panel. It will 
therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other 
modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating 
from its spirit and scope as so claimed.