Abstract:
A screened door covering made from mesh screening material hanging loosely in a doorway to create a mesh barrier against dirt and insects across the doorway, while permitting easy passage by humans and animals across the barrier. The mesh screening material has a width greater than the width of the doorway. The excess material is gathered in folds on the sides of the doorway. This configuration provides a good mesh barrier across a doorway without requiring that the sides or bottom of the mesh material be mounted in a rigid frame.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/349,680, filed on Jan. 17, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention is related to a screen for mounting across a door opening. The screen hangs loosely in the door frame so that small children or pets can pass through the screen easily, but insect and debris entry is restricted. 
     The typical screen covering for a door comprises a mesh screening material mounted in a wood or metal frame similar in design and proportion to a standard door. However, this design requires the user to open the screened door in order to pass through the doorway. Some alternative designs, such as the screen assemblies described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,639 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,169, have eliminated the frame thereby allowing the screening material to hang freely in the doorway. But these designs can allow small gaps or open spaces remain along the sides of the screening material allowing the insects and debris to pass freely into through the doorway. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DEVELOPMENT 
     The present development is a screened door covering made from mesh screening material that hangs loosely in a doorway and that creates a mesh barrier along the side panels of the doorway. Because the screening material is not mounted in a frame, small children and pets can pass through the doorway easily. However, because the screened door covering is designed to create a mesh barrier along the side panels of the doorway, insects and debris are restricted from passing through the doorway. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a screened door covering made in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the screened door covering of FIG. 1 showing the folding pattern for the side folds; and 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the screened door covering of FIG. 1 before the screening material is folded and secured to the bar. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present development is a screened door covering. As shown in FIG. 1, a screened door covering  10  is designed for use in a standard doorway or door opening  90  having a top frame  92 , a hinged or fixed side  94 , an open side  96 , and a base  98 . Alternatively, the door covering  10  could be adapted for use in a larger door opening, such as a garage door, or may be used across a barn or stable doorway. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the screened door covering  10  comprises a mesh screening material  20 , a mounting bar  30 , and a means  40  for securing the mounting bar to the door top frame  92 . The mesh screening material  20  can be any material which will allow for adequate ventilation through the screening but that will prevent small insects and debris from passing through the mesh of the screening. Further, the material  20  should be sufficiently pliable that it can drape or drop in folds. The material  20  is preferably cut into an essentially rectangular shape with a top edge  22 , a bottom edge  24 , a first side edge  26  and a second side edge  28 . The material  20  has a width “w” which is slightly greater than the door opening width “W d ” or the distance between the fixed side  94  and the open side  96  of the doorway. Preferably, the material  20  has a width “w” about 5″ greater the doorway opening “w d ”. The material  20  also has a length “1” which is essentially perpendicular to the width “w”. The length “1” is preferably greater than about one-half the doorway length, “1 d ”—the distance between the top frame and the base—but less than the doorway length. The mesh screening material  20  is intended to cover a majority of the door opening  90 , although it is not necessary for the material to reach the base  98 . Optionally, the bottom edge  24  of the material  20  may be trimmed so that a hem  25  can be formed and weights  29  or similar weighting materials may be inserted in the hem. 
     The mounting bar  30  is a relatively rigid unit, such as a wooden slat or a plastic bar, having a length “1 b ” approximately equal to the doorway width, “w d ”. The mounting bar  30  defines a top  32 , a front edge  31 , a rear edge  33 , a first end  36 , a second end  34  and a bottom  35 . The rear edge  33  of the mounting bar  30  is secured to the mesh screening material  20 , such as with glue or similar adhesive, and is positioned on the mesh screening such that a small amount of mesh or remnant  42  remains along the top edge  22 , a small remnant  48  remains along the second side edge  28  and a greater remnant  46  remains along the first side edge  26  as compared to the second side remnant  48 . 
     As shown in FIG. 2, when the screening material  20  is secured to the mounting bar  30 , it is folded about the mounting bar  30 . The first side remnant  46  wraps around the first end  36  forming initially a U-shape, but it is then folded back upon itself at least one time to form an S-shape or accordion fold and is secured to the front edge  31 . The second side remnant  48  wraps around the second end  34  forming a U-shape and is secured to the front edge  31 . The top remnant  42  wraps over the top  32  of the bar  30  and is secured to the front edge  31 . Any appropriate means  49 , such as tacks, nails, screws, glue or adhesive, can be used to secure the mesh material  20  to the bar  30 . 
     The mounting bar  30  is secured to the top frame  92  with securing means  40 , such as small nails, tacks, screws, brads or similar devices. The securing means  40  protrude through the mounting bar  30  and through the top remnant  42  and into the top frame  92 , with the mounting bar  30  situated such that the second end  34  with the U-folded mesh faces the fixed side  94  and the first end  36  with the S-folded mesh faces the open side  96 . With this orientation, when the mounting bar  30  is secured to the top frame  92 , the screen material  20  hangs loosely in the doorway  90  so that small children or pets can pass through the screen easily, but insect and debris entry is restricted. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the screening material  20  may have a width “w” which allows for the material to be gathered or shirred. In this embodiment, a rod pocket (not shown) may be added in close proximity to the top edge  22 . The rod pocket can be formed by folding over the top edge  22  and basting the material in place, or by adding a relatively thin strip of fabric to the screening material  20 . The thin strip of fabric should be positioned so about ½″ of top edge  22  is visible above the strip, and should leave the first side remnant  46  and the second side remnant  48  free. The mounting bar  30  is inserted into the pocket, the material  20  is gathered so the ends  34 ,  36  of the bar are approximately at the ends of the pocket, and the remnants  46 ,  48  are wrapped and folded about the bar as in the first embodiment  10 . When the screened door cover is mounted in the doorway, the gathered edge near the top edge  22  angles outwardly slightly causing the drip line to be altered and minimizing the probability of rain water coming though the screen. 
     The screened door covering  10  can be adapted for use on different types of doorways. For example, the screen material and mounting bar may be adapted to be secured across a garage door opening with one side of the garage door opening defining the fixed side and the opposing side defining the open side. Alternatively, a screened door covering of the present invention may be used across a garage door opening by having the sides of the garage door opening define fixed sides and an essentially midpoint position of the opening define the open side. The screened door covering  10  can also be adapted for use across a barn or stable entryway. For a barn opening, the door covering  10  may be shortened to about one-half the length of the doorway. 
     From a reading of the above, one with ordinary skill in the art should be able to devise variations to the inventive features. These and other variations are believed to fall within the spirit and scope of the present development.