Patent Publication Number: US-2007094947-A1

Title: Portable garage

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      1. Field  
      This disclosure relates to protective covers for vehicles and more particularly to a portable shelter for a vehicle from the sun and light rain.  
      2. General Background  
      Many awning type sun shades for vehicles have been developed, but these typically do not completely shield the vehicle while at the same time being fully collapsible and portable.  
     SUMMARY  
      The portable garage of the present disclosure comprises a tubular frame with a removable flexible roof, two opposing removable flexible side walls, a rear flexible end wall, and a front flexible end wall with a zipper closed roll-up door. The tubular frame is preferably made of metal or plastic tubular sections telescopically joined together. The roof, side walls and end walls are preferably made of a plastic fabric that is waterproof and resistant to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Each side wall has a pair of flexible windows with cover flaps and a pair of mesh storage pocket panels. 
    
    
     DRAWINGS  
      The above-mentioned features and objects of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the portable garage in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure showing the door in an open position.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the portable garage shown in  FIG. 1  with the front end wall and one side wall removed.  
       FIG. 3  is an inside perspective view from the front end of the portable garage shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of one of the attachments of the roof to the frame of the portable garage shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged partial perspective view of a front end corner of the portable garage shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the portable garage shown in  FIG. 1  with the door closed.  
       FIG. 7  is an exploded view of interlocking tubular sections in accordance with the present disclosure. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      A portable garage  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in a perspective view in  FIGS. 1 through 3  and  6 . The garage  100  has a tubular metal frame  102 , a removable flexible roof  104 , a pair of side walls  106 , a rear end wall  108 , and a front end wall  110 .  
      The frame  102  as shown has six legs  103 . The frame  102  is constructed with a series of straight tube sections  112  that telescopically fit together or within either T shaped corner joint members  114  or cross shaped intermediate joint members  116 . Each of the tube sections  112  is preferably a coated thin wall steel tube. Each of the joint members  114  and  116  is preferably a coated thin wall steel tubular structure. Each joint member  114  has a curved tube portion  118  and a straight tube portion  120  welded to the curved tube portion  118 . Each of the joint members  116  similarly has a curved tube portion  118  and has two straight tube portions  120  welded to the curved tube portion  118 .  
      When the frame  102  is assembled together as is shown in  FIG. 3 , it forms a rectangular enclosure frame with a central roof ridge  122  and two parallel sidewall edge members  124  and generally vertical legs  103  extending downward from the edge members  124 . The roof  104  is preferably fastened to the edge members  124  of the frame  102  via a strip of anchor fabric  126  and loop and ball fasteners  135  as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      The strip of fabric  126  has an upper edge  130  sewn, heat welded, or otherwise fastened to the roof  104  and extends along the length of the roof  104  above the sidewall edge member  124 . The strip of fabric  126  is preferably a polyethylene fabric that is heat welded to the roof  104 . The strip  126  has a series of spaced grommets  128  along its length through which the loop end  133  of loop and ball fasteners  135  are passed. Each loop end  133  is then pulled around the edge member  124  as shown in  FIG. 4  and stretched over the ball  137  of the fastener  135  to secure the strip  126  to the edge member  124 .  
      Each side wall  106  is preferably removably fastened to the frame  102  similarly via elastic loop and ball fasteners  135  looped through grommets long the edges of the side wall  106  and around the adjacent frame edge members  124  and legs  103 . The upper edge of each side wall  106  fits underneath the valence  134  so that the roof  104  can shed rain and the side walls  106  and end walls  108  and  110  may be selectively removed entirely leaving only the roof  104  in place on the frame  102 , forming a simple canopy. Each end wall  108  and  110  is fastened to the frame  102  via elastic loop and ball fasteners  135 .  
      The frame  102  is preferably anchored to the ground or other generally horizontal support surface via a plurality of anchor hooks  139  which each pass through a grommet  141  in the valence  134  and hook over the edge members  124  as shown in  FIG. 2 . A guy line  143  extends from the anchor hook  139  to a ground stake  145  which is preferably screwed into the ground to anchor the frame  102  in place.  
      Each side wall  106  has a pair of horizontally spaced transparent plastic windows  136 . Each window  136  is covered on its exterior side by a portion of the side wall  106  defined by vertical and horizontal slits through the side wall  106  to form a flap  138  that can be rolled up to permit light into the enclosure of the garage  100 . The flap  138  preferably may be held down or up via hook and loop fasteners. The flap  138  may be located so as to roll up along the exterior of the side wall or alternatively on the interior of the side wall  106 . Optionally, an additional flap  138  may be provided on the opposing side of the window such that the window has both an inner and an outer rollup flap  138 .  
      Each side wall  106  also preferably has at least a pair of spaced mesh pockets sewn, heat welded, or otherwise secured to the side walls  106  and/or the end wall  110 . These pockets  140 , preferably on the interior of the side wall  106 , permit handy storage locations for various items such as vehicle washing materials etc.  
      Referring now specifically to  FIGS. 1, 5  and  6 , the front end wall of the garage  100  is shown. The front wall  108  has a zipper closed roll up door panel  142  shown in an open position in  FIG. 1  and closed position in  FIG. 6 . Zippers  144  run from the top of the door  142  to the bottom edge of the garage  100 . When the zippers  144  are unzipped, the door  142  may be raised by pulling on cords  146 . One of the cords  146  passes through one pulley  148  and loops below the door  142  and back to the top of the panel  142 . The other cord  146  passes through the same pulley  148  and through another pulley  148  adjacent the other edge of the door panel  142  before looping down around the bottom edge of the door panel  142  and back to the top of the door panel  142 .  
      The bottom edge  150  of the door panel  142  is preferably stiffened and weighted so that the door panel  142  will naturally roll up when the cords  146  are pulled to raise the door panel  142 . The bottom edge  150  of the door panel  142  is preferably folded over and sewn or otherwise fastened together to form a tubular passage through which a rod, dowel, or other elongated stiffener may be inserted for this purpose.  
      Although not shown in  FIGS. 1-6 , each of the legs  103  can be inserted into a flat disk shaped fitting for fastening to concrete or staked to the ground. The roof  104 , sides  106  and ends  108  and  110  is preferably made of a plastic canvas or other fabric material. Alternatively a fabric such as a polyurethane coated rip-stop nylon may be used. The frame may alternatively be formed with plastic tubular pipe and the loop and ball fasteners  135  may be replaced with buckle/strap fasteners or straps having patches of hook and loop closure fabric secured thereto. Alternatively the fasteners  135  may be replaced with a strip of material having hooks on one surface of the strip and loops on the opposite surface such that when the strip is threaded through the grommets and the ends are overlapped around the edge members  124  or posts  103  the hooks engage the loops to hold the fasteners and thus the roof to the edge members  124 .  
      Each of the legs  103  is preferably formed of a pair of identical tubular members  200  shown in  FIG. 7 , each having at one end a reduced diameter portion  202  and a dimple  204  in the opposite end of the tubular member  200 . The reduced diameter portion  202  has an “L” shaped groove  206  in the surface with its long leg  208  extending axially from the open end of the tubular member  200 . The dimple  204  is located at a position spaced from the opposite end and sized such that when the reduced diameter portion  202  of one member  200  is inserted fully into the opposite end of another tubular member  200 , the joined members  200  may be oppositely twisted to cause the dimple to ride in the short leg  210  of the groove to axially interlock the two tubular members  200  together. Similarly, the portion of the corner members  114  and cross members  116  that receive the upper ends of the legs  103  have corresponding dimples  204  so that the legs  103  can be interlocked into the corresponding corner or cross members  114  and  116 . Each section of the roof portion of the frame  102  is also preferably formed by two or more interlocking tubular members  200  as shown in  FIG. 7 . However, the corner and cross members that receive these sections  200  directed toward or forming the ridge preferably do not include dimples  204 .  
      While the apparatus has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure need not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. The present disclosure includes any and all embodiments of the following claims.