COVER

Abstract: A vehicle cover characterised by comprising a rigid cover member (10) movable on a parallelogram linkage (14, 16; 14a, 16a) between a lowered position in which the cover member defines a storage area, and a raised position in which access to the storage area is permitted, and means (26) for counterbalancing some or all of the weight of the cover member.

Description: COVER Technical Field This invention relates to a cover suitable for use in providing a covered storage area for a motor car, motorcycle, boat or the like (hereinafter referred to for convenience as 'vehicles'). Vehicles stored outside without a cover are susceptible to dirt including bird droppings, to theft, to accidental impact damage and vandalism, and are exposed to ambient weather conditions. Background Of The Invention In order to provide protection for cars stored outside it is known to provide a flexible fabric cover carried by a plurality of rigid 'U' shaped frame members the free ends of the arms of which are pivotally interconnected. The frame members can be pivoted to a position in which they substantially align with one another usually lying on the ground, so that the vehicle is exposed and the arrangement does not occupy much space. By pivoting the frame members away from one another, the covering is spread out to form a tent-like structure which, if erected over a car, forms a temporary covering for the car. In order to use the car, the cover must be folded up which, if the cover is wet, may be an unpleasant task. Moreover such covers are not aesthetically pleasing and provide little protection against impact damage and virtually no security. Summary Of The Invention According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle cover comprising a rigid cover member movable between a lowered position in which the cover member defines a storage area, and a raised position in which access to the storage area is permitted, and means for supporting the cover member when the cover member is in its raised position. Conveniently the cover member is shaped externally to resemble a vehicle. Preferably there is provided at least one, and desirably a plurality of legs connected to the cover member for supporting the cover member in its raised position. The or each leg may be defined by or may incorporate a generally vertically extensible ram. Alternatively said legs are pivotally connected at one end to the cover member and pivotally connected at their other ends to an anchorage. Desirably said legs define with the cover member a parallelogram linkage whereby the orientation of the cover is the same in the raised and lowered positions. Preferably there is provided resilient means, conveniently in the form of one or more gas-struts or other air-springs, urging the cover member to its raised position. Desirably said legs are generally L-shaped. Preferably the cover includes means for varying the effective weight of the cover member/leg assembly above and below the counterbalancing effect of said resilient means so as to cause the cover member to move to its lowered position or to permit the resilient means to raise the cover member. Conveniently said means includes an arrangement for transferring, on demand, weight to and from the cover member and/or the legs. Desirably said means includes a pump for transferring a liquid to a tank carried by the cover member/leg assembly to increase the weight thereof. The cover member may be shaped such that the interior thereof substantially conforms with the exterior shape of an article intended to be stored in the storage area. It will be recognised that such shaping of the interior of the cover member permits the air gap between the cover member and the article to be reduced. The cover may be provided with air heating/cooling means. By minimizing the air gap between the article and cover member, the power requirement of the heater/cooler may be relatively low. Brief Description Of The Drawings The invention will further be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cover in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the cover with the cover member thereof in a part-raised position; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side view with the cover member in a closed position; Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a modification; Figure 5 is a side view of the modification of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3 of the modification. Details Of The Preferred Embodiments The cover illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a rigid cover member 10 the interior of which (see Figures 3 and 6) is shaped so as to conform, generally, with the shape of the exterior of a motor car 12. The cover member 10 may be constructed using any suitable material, for example by vacuum moulding a plastics material or using fibreglass, from one or more sheet metal pressings, or from a fabric or sheet plastics skin supported on a relatively rigid framework. It will be recognised that where the cover member is intended to be a close fit over the car then the interior of the cover member 10 does not conform exactly with the exterior shape of the car as in order to permit movement of the cover member 10 with respect to the car, elongate recesses will be required in the cover member 10 to allow for the presence of wing mirrors, door handles or other projections provided on the car body. Further, where the cover member 10 is arranged to follow an arcuate path, the recesses are shaped or dimensioned to take such movement into account. An increased clearance between cover member and car obviates the need for such internal shaping. Referring first to Figures 1 to 3 the cover member 10 is pivotally connected to two pairs of legs 14, 16, the legs 14 being pivotally connected at one end to respective sides of cover member 10 adjacent the open, lower face thereof and inset from the opposite ends of the cover member. The other end of each of the legs 14, 16 is pivotally connected to a base 18. The base 18 which is preferably anchored to the ground may comprise a channel section steel member the base wall of which is of width slightly smaller than the width of the cover member 10, the legs 14, 16 being pivotally connected, to the upstanding side walls 20 of the channel section. Alternatively the base 18 could be defined by two parallel L- section members spaced by two or more transverse metal strips. It will be noted that the legs 14, 16 in Figures 1 to 3 are rectilinear, and while such an arrangement is desirable for simplicity, there are applications in which an alternative leg arrangement of the kind illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 is preferable. As is apparent from Figures 4 to 6 the legs 14a, 16a are generally L-shaped, the legs 14a being pivoted to the base 18 close to one end of the base, and having their opposite ends pivoted to the cover 10 substantially vertically aligned with the centre of gravity of the cover 10. The other legs 16a are shaped identically to the legs 14a and are pivoted to the base 18 adjacent the opposite end of the base, and are pivoted to the cover 10 adjacent an end of the cover. As the legs 14a are pivoted to the cover 10 close to the centre of gravity of the cover 10 then the legs 14a support substantially the whole of the weight of the cover 10 and the legs 16a act as guiding links during raising and lowering of the cover 10 relative to the base 18. Although the base 18 can take any of the forms mentioned above in relation to Figures 1 to 3, it is convenient to form the base from a pair of parallel steel box sections 18a spaced apart by the width of the vehicle 12 and located relative to one another by transversely extending front and rear plates 18b welded to, or otherwise secured to, the box sections 18a and lying in facial contact with the ground in use. Any convenient bearing arrangement can be used pivotally to mount the legs 14a, 16a to the box sections 18a, but desirably the bearing arrangements will be adjustable to accommodate wear in use. The L-shaped nature of the legs 14a, 16a facilitates positioning of the legs so that at least the front doors of the vehicle 12 are unobstructed when the vehicle is driven beneath the cover 10, and also has the advantage that the longitudinal movement of the cover 10 relative to the base 18 during raising and lowering of the cover 10 is minimised by comparison with the rectilinear legs construction of Figures 1 through 3. Referring now to both Figures 1 to 3 and 4 to 6, air spring arrangements 26 (also known as gas-struts) are connected between the walls 20 or box sections 18a and associated legs 14; 14a and/or legs 16; 16a to urge the legs to pivot to raise the cover member 10 from the base member 18, the air spring arrangements 26 counterbalancing the weight of the cover member 10. In practice it is probable that the air spring arrangements will be associated only with the legs 14 or 14a and as shown in Figures 4 and 5 will have alternative mounting points 26a on the base 18 (or if desired on the legs 14, 14a) to allow the force imposed on the legs by the arrangements 26 to be adjusted to suit different weights of member 10. The counterbalancing is preferably such that a small manual input is necessary to lift the member 10 away from the base 18, but if desired the counterbalancing could be such that the weight of the member 10 is overpowered and the cover 10 has a normally open position, latching being provided to hold the cover member in a closed position relative to the base. There may be applications where one or more of the legs is defined in part or completely by an air spring rather than having the spring as an adjunct to the leg. In use, with the car 12 stored within the cover, it will be recognised that the car is stored in a clean, dry environment the presence of the rigid cover member 10 over the car 12 also improving the security of the car. The arrangement may be such that once the cover member 10 has been lifted manually beyond a predetermined distance, the air spring arrangements 26 are able to provide a sufficiently large force to continue moving the cover member 10 until the open position illustrated in Figure 1 is reached. In this position, further movement of the cover member 10 is restricted due to the air spring arrangements 26 being fully extended and/or the provision of abutments, the force exerted by the air spring arrangements 26 in this position being sufficient to retain the cover member 10 in the raised position. In this position, the car 12 may be removed from the storage area defined by the cover member 10 and base 18 in the position illustrated in Figure 3. The cover member 10 is then moved back to its lowered position, such movement requiring the user to apply only a sufficiently large force to overcome the force exerted by the air spring arrangements 26. To return the car 12 and cover to the position illustrated in Figure 3, the cover member 10 is moved to its raised position, the car 12 is carefully positioned within the storage area, and the cover member 10 returned to its lowered position. Figure 5 illustrates a modification applicable if desired to the construction in Figures 1 to 3, in which the cover member 10 or one of the legs carries a tank 28 into which liquid can be pumped from a ground based reservoir 30 by an electric pump 32. Operating the pump to pump liquid to the tank 28 increases the effective weight of the cover member 10 so overcoming the air springs 26 and allowing the cover member 10 to pivot on the legs 14, 16; 14a, 16a to its lowered position. Reversing the pump or opening an appropriate valve to return liquid from the tank 28 reduces the weight of the cover member 10 to allow it to be raised by the air springs 26. A fixed or portable remote switching arrangement can be provided for controlling the flow to and from the tank. For added security, irrespective of how the cover member is to be moved a suitable locking mechanism may be incorporated into the base 18 and/or the cover member 10 to lock the cover member 10 is in its lowered position. Further, an alarm could be incorporated into the cover to sound an audible warning if an unauthorized attempt is made to raise the cover member 10. Rather than use air spring arrangements 26, other types of resilient support means, for example mechanical springs or torsion bars, may be used to counterbalance some or all of the weight of the cover member and legs to urge the cover member towards its raised position. As a further alternative the movement of the cover member may be automated by the provision of an electrically powered drive arrangement such as a rack and pinion or a screw-jack instead of or in addition to the resilient counterbalance arrangement. Such a drive arrangement could be activated on releasing a key operated lock, or alternatively using, for example, an infra-red remote control device, and may be capable of raising and lowering the cover member. In a modification the member 10 is supported on, or the legs 14 are movable by, extensible rams which may be hydraulic or mechanical. Where the cover member 10 is carried by the rams then preferably they will be disposed vertically to provide a vertical movement of the member 10. The interior of the cover member 10 is conveniently shaped so as to conform, generally, to the exterior shape of the car 12, such shaping being denote by the dashed line 22 in Figure 3. It will be recognised that such shaping reduces the volume of the air gap between the car 12 and cover member 10. Conveniently, an air heating and/or cooling device is provided in the cover member 10 or base 18, the device being of relatively low power but of sufficient power to control efficiently the temperature of the air within the air gap thus avoiding problems which may occur if the temperature of the car were to fall below, say, freezing point or rise above a comfortable temperature for subsequent use. The device may conveniently be controlled by a controller including a timer arranged to switch the device on at a predetermined time and switch it off after a suitable interval. Alternatively, a photo-detector could be provided to enable the device to be switched on at dawn, for example, or the drive could be controlled by one or more temperature sensors inside the cover member 10. The air temperature control and/or alarm may be powered by an internal power source, for example a battery which may be connected to a photoelectric cell to permit solar charging of the battery. A blower for circulating air within the cover could also be provided. Where the cover member 10 is shaped to conform to the shape of the car 12, it will be understood that accurate positioning of the car 12 within the storage area is necessary in order to avoid damage to the car 12 or cover on lowering the cover member 10. In order to aid such accurate positioning, longitudinal and lateral guide means may be provided. The guide means may take the form of a bar or bars rigidly secured to the base member 18 and positioned such that when the car 12 is correctly positioned, one or more of the car's tyres engage the bar providing resistance to further movement of the car 12. Such resistance provides an indication that the car 12 is correctly positioned. The base may incorporate supports or abutments which cooperate with one or more of the legs to define the limit of their movement in a raising direction, if desired the legs moving over-centre immediately before cooperating with the abutments. Rather than having side walls 20 or box sections 18a, the base 18 may be provided with individual brackets for pivotal connection to the legs 14, 16 and air spring arrangements 26, the brackets being located such that when the car is located in the storage area with the cover member 10 in its raised position, access to the car's doors is not obscured. Some form of motion damping may be applied to the legs 14, 16; 14a, 16a if desired, either by damping the pivotal movement in the respective bearings or by linking one or more damping strut between a leg and the base. It is convenient to construct the cover member 10 to be of relatively uniform thickness, thus if the interior thereof is shaped to conform to the exterior shape of a car, the outer surface of the cover member 10 also resembles a car. It is envisaged that the cover member 10 may be decorated so as for example to look like the car which, in use, is to be stored within the cover or to provide corporate advertising. Moreover the periphery of the cover 10 may be provided with a flexible skirt which engages the ground or the base 18 in the lowered position to provide a seal around the periphery of the cover 10. Rather than shape the cover member 10 for use with a specific model of car, it has been found that a single shape cover member 10 is suitable for use with a range of cars, thus a relatively small range of different cover members could be provided which permit storage of a wide range of motor cars. For example a single member 10 might suit all small hatchback cars while a second member suits ail small booted cars. Where the cover is intended for use in storing an electrically powered vehicle, the cover may be arranged to include suitable contacts to permit charging of the vehicle's batteries whilst the vehicle is stored within the cover. In one possible arrangement, a pair of spring bars are provided on the cover member or a bracket upstanding from the base and arranged to engage beneath the vehicle's bumper when the vehicle is correctly positioned within the cover, the spring bars being connected to a suitable electrical supply. Such an arrangement results in the vehicle being connected to the electrical supply automatically on positioning the vehicle within the cover, and does not require the vehicle's user to connect the plug of an electrical supply to a socket provided on the vehicle. In such an arrangement, the heater/blower arrangement and alarm system (if provided) may be powered from the same source as the charging arrangement, for example from a transformer/charger provided in an adjacent building. Where there is no electricity supply near the cover the contact arrangement on the base and the car can be used to power at least the raising mechanism of the cover. Although the description and drawings relate to the use of the cover in the storage of a car, it is envisage that similar covers could be used to store motorcycles, boats (for example motor boats) or other articles to provide improved protection against dirt and moisture, and improved security. Where the cover member is small, for example for a motor cycle, it is possible to hinge one end of the cover member to the base and to utilise a single pair of legs, or possibly a single leg, at the opposite end of the cover to support the cover member in its raised position. The or each leg might be defined at least in part by an air spring or a ram or the like.

Claims: CLAIMS 1 . A vehicle cover characterised by comprising a rigid cover member (10) movable between a lowered position in which the cover member defines a storage area, and a raised position in which access to the storage area is permitted, and means (14,16 ; 14a,16a) for supporting the cover member when the cover member is in its raised position. 2. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 1 characterised by at least one leg (14,16 ; 14a, 16a) connected to the cover member (10) for supporting the cover member in its raised position. 3. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 2 characterised in that a plurality of legs are pivotally connected at one end to the cover member and pivotally connected at their other ends to an anchorage. 4. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 3 characterised in that said legs define with the cover member a parallelogram linkage whereby the orientation of the cover is the same in the raised and lowered positions. 5. A vehicle cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 characterised by resilient means urging the cover member to its raised position. 6. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 5 characterised in that said resilient means includes one or more air-springs (26). 7. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 3 characterised in that said legs (14a, 16a) are generally L-shaped. 8. A vehicle cover as claimed in any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the cover member (10) is shaped such that the interior thereof substantially conforms with the exterior shape of an article to be stored. 9. A vehicle cover as claimed in any one of the preceding claims characterised by the provision of air heating/cooling means. 10. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 5 characterised by the provision of means for varying the effective weight of the cover member (10) above and below the counterbalancing effect of said resilient means so as to cause the cover member to move to its lowered position or to permit the resilient means to raise the cover member. 1 1. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 10 characterised in that said weight varying means includes an arrangement for transferring, on demand, weight to and from the cover member and/or the legs. 12. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 1 1 characterised in that said means includes a pump for transferring a liquid to a tank carried by the cover member/leg assembly to increase the weight thereof. 13. A vehicle cover as claimed in any one of the preceding claims characterised by the provision of an electrically operable drive arrangement for raising the cover member. 14. A vehicle cover as claimed in any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the cover member is shaped externally to resemble a vehicle. 15. A vehicle cover as claimed in claim 2 characterised in that said leg is a generally vertically extensible ram.

Inventors: MILLWARD STANLEY, MILLWARD, STANLEY
Applicants: MILLWARD STANLEY, MILLWARD, STANLEY
Application year: 1997
Main classification: E04H6
IPC codes: E04H6