Abstract:
A roof mounted retractable car cover. The cover includes front and rear cover portions independently extended and retracted into a housing. The housing preferably includes a springed retractions mechanism and the front and/or rear portions include folded panels to cover side windows of a vehicle. The housing may be integrated into a roof rack to utilized a single mounting system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/305,148 filed Mar. 8, 2016, which application is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates in particular to car covers and to retractable car covers. 
         [0003]    Car covers are commonly used to protect car finishes from the sun, wind, dust, etc. While the benefits of car covers are widely accepted, the difficulty in using these covers has prevented their wide use. Retractable car covers have been introduced to overcome this difficulty, but these also have not been widely accepted due to the difficulty in using them. 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,446 issued Nov. 15, 2005 describes such retractable cover using a hand crank system. Unfortunately, such hand crank requires the user to wind the cover into a housing while also guiding the cover, which often proved difficult. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a roof mounted retractable car cover. The cover includes front and rear cover portions independently extended and retracted into a housing. The housing preferably includes a springed retractions mechanism or a powered retraction mechanism, and the front and/or rear portions include folded panels to cover side windows of a vehicle. The housing may be integrated into a roof rack to utilized a single mounting system. 
         [0006]    In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a roof mounted retractable car cover retracted by springs into a housing. The springs are wound when the cover are extended, and lock into the extended position when the covers are fully extended. Pulling on the locked covers releases the locks allowing the springs to draw the covers back into the housing while the user guides the covers. 
         [0007]    In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a roof mounted retractable car cover retracted by a motor. One or more motors reside in the housing. A remote control allows a user to guide the covers back into the housing while operating the motor. The motors may be laterally offset forward and rearward to overlap with cover rollers. 
         [0008]    In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a roof mounted retractable car cover having folded side panels. After withdrawing the covers from the housing, the side panels are folded to the sides to cover the side windows of a vehicle. The side cover do not substantially cover portions of the vehicle below the windows, and thus does not add substantial material to the covers and does not substantially reach ahead, behind, or below the side windows, but may somewhat extend ahead, behind, or below the side windows do to differences in vehicle fits and manufacturing tolerances. The side panels are later folded back onto the horizontal portions of the covers, and the covers are then retracted back into the housing. Such side panels protect a vehicle interior from harmful sun rays, and from view. 
         [0009]    In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a roof mounted retractable car cover integrated into a roof rack. Some vehicle owners object to the appearance of a car cover housing mounted to a vehicle roof, but also desire to have a roof rack to utility. Integrating the car cover housing into the roof rack both removes any need for additional mounting features, and conceals the housing as a portion of the roof rack. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0010]    The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  shows a vehicle without a retractable cover according to the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  shows the vehicle with a retractable cover according to the present invention deployed to cover the vehicle windshield, rear window, roof, hood, and trunk lid. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  shows the vehicle with the retractable cover according to the present invention deployed to cover the vehicle windshield, rear window, side windows, roof, hood, and trunk lid. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4A  shows the retractable cover with side window covers deployed according to the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4B  shows the retractable cover with the side window covers folded according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows the retractable cover according to the present invention combined with a roof rack. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows a spiral retraction spring of the retractable cover according to the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7A  shows a top view of a gear drive motor driven retractable cover according to the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7B  shows a front view of a gear drive motor driven retractable cover according to the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  shows a front view of a belt or chain drive motor driven retractable cover according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0021]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims. 
         [0023]    Where the terms “about” or “generally” are associated with an element of the invention, it is intended to describe a feature&#39;s appearance to the human eye or human perception, and not a precise measurement. 
         [0024]    A vehicle  10  without a retractable cover according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 , the vehicle with a retractable cover  12  (see  FIGS. 4A and 4B ) deployed to cover the vehicle  10  windshield  10   a,  rear window  10   c,  roof, hood, and trunk lid is shown in  FIG. 2 , and the vehicle  10  with the retractable cover  12  deployed to cover the vehicle windshield  10   a,  rear window  10   c,  side windows  10   b,  roof, hood, and trunk lid is shown in  FIG. 3 . The cover  12  includes a front portion  12   a  configured to cover the hood  10   a  and a rear portion  12   b  configured to cover the trunk lid  11   b.  The front portion  12   a  and rear portion  12   b  are preferable deployed from a common housing  14 . In one embodiment the front and/or rear portions  12   a  and  12   b  include side portions  12   c  and  12   d  shaped to reside over the side windows  10   b.  The side portions  12   c  and  12   d  are draped over the sides of the vehicle  10  providing at least some coverage of the side windows  10   b.  In some instances, the cover  12  may be a custom fit to the vehicle  10  and cover all or nearly all of the side windows  10   b.    
         [0025]    The retractable cover  12  with side window covers  12   c  and  12   d  deployed is shown in  FIG. 4A  and the retractable cover  12  with the side window covers  12   c  folded is shown in  FIG. 4B . The side window covers  12   c  are folded over the front and rear portions  12   a  and  12   b  for retracting in the housing  14 . 
         [0026]    An embodiment of the retractable cover  12  combined with a roof rack  16  is shown in  FIG. 5 . The roof rack  16  and housing  14  are mounted as a single unit to the vehicle  10  providing the utility of a roof rack and deployable cover in a single unit. 
         [0027]    A spiral retraction spring  22  of the retractable cover  12  is shown in  FIG. 6 . The spiral retraction spring  22  resides inside the housing  14 , preferably at one end of a front and rear roller  24 . The spiral retraction spring  22  is wound by extracting the covers  12   a  and  12   b  from the housing  14  and relaxes to rotate the roller  24  to retract the cover  12  into the housing  14 . A locking mechanism  17  locks the covers  12   a  and  12   b  in the extracted position, and tugging on the covers  12   a  and  12   b  releases the locking mechanism  17  allowing a user to guide each cover  12   a  and  12   b  back into the housing  14 . An example of a locking mechanism  17  comprises wedges  18  and springs  20  biasing the wedges into an unlocked position, and quickly releasing the cover  12   a  and  12   b  urges the wedges  18  together to lock the cover  12   a  and  12   b  in the deployed position. Those skilled in the art will recognize other locking mechanisms, and any retractable cover with a similarly functioning locking mechanism is intended to come within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0028]    A top view of a gear drive motor driven retractable cover is shown in  FIG. 7A  and a front view of a gear drive motor driven retractable cover is shown in  FIG. 7B . A motor  26  drives the roller  24  to retract the covers  12  and  12   b.  The roller is driven through motor gear  28  and roller gear  30  to rotate the roller  24 . A sprague (or one way clutch  32  may reside between the roller gear  30  and the roller  24  or between the motor gear  28  and the motor  26  to allow the covers  12   a  and  12   b  to be deployed without driving the motor  26 . The motor  26  may be packaged in the housing  14  with the motor  26  retracting the front cover  12   a  offset to the rear, and the motor  26  retracting the rear cover  12   b  offset to the front, providing compact packaging. The motors  26  preferably include remote controls allowing a user to guide the covers  12   a  and  12   b  into the housing  14  while selectively powering the motor  26  retracting the front cover  12   a,  or selectively powering the motor  26  retracting the rear cover  12   b.    
         [0029]    A front view of a belt or chain  34  drive motor driven retractable cover  12  is shown in  FIG. 8 . Other than coupling the motor  26  and roller  24  with the belt or chain  34  and pulleys or sprockets  28   a  and  30   a,  the belt or chain  34  drive motor driven retractable cover  12  is similar to the gear drive motor driven retractable cover  12 . The rollers may alternatively be driven by the motors through planetary gears with or without the sprague clutches. 
         [0030]    While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.