Patent Publication Number: US-2002000274-A1

Title: Cover with weighted base for protecting objects

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention generally relates to a protective cover, having a weighted base, and more particularly to a cover for protecting garbage bags from animals, vandalism or simply from getting blown away by the wind, when left outside.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] Use of cover means to protect objects is well known. Depending upon the nature and size of the object, the shape and the material used in constructing the cover will vary. For example to provide cover for food to protect it from insects or dust, a dome shaped cover made of glass, plastic or wire mesh is quite commonly used. The earliest forms of pile covering systems simply used large sheets of canvas to protect the contents of piles from wind, rain etc. In recent years, a trend away from canvas to synthetic fabrics has taken place. Materials such as polyethylene and nylon have proven more suitable for pile coverings due to reduced weight, greater maneuverability on the pile during installation and lower cost. These synthetic materials are also more water resistant. Most of these covers use a conventional weight or weight retaining strap webbing arrangement which has to be anchored or dug into the ground for securing the cover in one place to protect objects from being subjected to gusts of wind.  
       [0003] Another type of protection offered, particularly for garbage bags to be left outside for pickup, is to keep the bags secured in a large plastic container with a lid to protect the garbage from animals etc. In most residential neighborhoods garbage pick-up takes place once a week. People are supposed to keep garbage in bags in the garage or other convenient place and take all the bags outside to curbside the morning of the garbage pick-up day. Transporting all the garbage bags at once may be a problem for some people, especially the elderly. To deal with this problem one might wish to take the garbage out the night before or at leisure time. However, a problem may occur if the garbage is left outside overnight, in that animals looking for food can often tear the plastic bags and scatter the garbage in the process. Garbage bags left outside may also be susceptible to vandalism, or can get blown away by a strong wind and may inflict danger to drivers on the road. To protect garbage bags, plastic bins with covers are used extensively. The problem with these bins, is that, when full it may be difficult for most people to carry them to the pick up location and when emptied the bins themselves may get blown away for their light weight construction and box-like or canister-like shape. Furthermore, they require more space for storage.  
       [0004] To overcome the above-mentioned problems, it is, therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stable, inexpensive covering for objects, such as filled garbage bags, and provide protection from wind, animals, vandalism or any other external interference.  
       [0005] A further object of the invention is to provide a self-contained covering which is easy to store and transport.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006] According to the present invention, there is provided a cover for covering an object or an area, comprising: a hollow body made of a sheet material and having a peripheral lower edge; weight means arranged along at least some portions of the peripheral lower edge of the body; means for securing said weight means to the peripheral edge of said body, the securing means being formed by an annular bead formed from part of the peripheral edge of the body and arranged to contain the weight means, said bead and the weight means contained therein forming a weighted peripheral base of the cover; wherein the weighted base of the cover holds the cover securely over an object or area on a ground, floor or other surface on which the cover is placed to limit movement of the cover due to external forces.  
       [0007] According to one embodiment of the invention there is provided a generally conical shaped cover made of a material such as tarpaulin, rubberized plastic and the like with a weighted base around the periphery, which is generally circular in shape. In this embodiment a plurality of covers can be stacked one on top of another in a nested relationship for storage.  
       [0008] The base of the cover is formed with an annular bead or a hollow sleeve formed from part of the peripheral edge of the cover and surrounds the circumference of the cover. The sleeve is filled with a weight generally arranged continuously around the entire peripheral edge of the body. The cross-section of the hollow sleeve is preferably generally circular in shape and may be filled with a weighting material such as a metal chain, flexible steel rope, heavy beads connected together in a flexible manner or any other material meeting the weight requirement.  
       [0009] It is important, but not absolutely critical, that the peripheral skirt should not be absolutely rigid but rather possess an element of resilience. Thus the weighted periphery of the skirt can conform to ground contours and will assist in securing the cover as a whole more firmly to the ground than would be the case if the skirt consisted of rigid non-resilient material. The provision of weight within the lower part of the skirt will also thus facilitate the stabilization of the cover when subjected to external wind forces and the like.  
       [0010] The weighting material normally extends along the full lower edge of the cover, and in the preferred form, extends along all peripheral edges as a continuous flexible weight. This provides means for securing the edges of the cover to the supporting material which may be a ground surface, a floor, etc. Although a circular weighted base has been described, it is to be understood that such shape is illustrative and the cover may be provided in any shape desired, such as oblong, rectangular or of any other polygonal shape. The height and the circumference of the cover may vary according to the object or objects to be covered thereby, which may constitute, for instance a filled garbage bag awaiting pick-up, soil, building material, equipment, tackle for a sports person or fisherman, or a picnic.  
       [0011] The cover is generally provided with a handle on top part of the cover and one or more handles on each side. The provision of handles constitutes a practical feature in facilitating movement of the cover from one position to another.  
       [0012] In another embodiment of the present invention, the cover may be made of rigid sheeting material and can be of any shape, such as a dome shaped, conical etc. In this embodiment, a plurality of cover, when not in use, may be stacked one on top of another.  
       [0013] If desired, the cover may be made of transparent or translucent plastic or be provided with one or more transparent panels, so that the covered object may be observed, or the presence or otherwise of an object may be noted.  
       [0014] Thus, the present invention provides a relatively inexpensive and useful protective covering for protection of an object, such as a filled garbage bag, left in an exposed location. The shape of the cover may be rigid, flexible, conical, dome shaped or any other convenient shape or size depending upon the particular requirements, thereby providing a self-contained covering which is easy to store and transport. The lower edge of the cover and the weight means contained therein are generally made of resilient material and the weight means extends continuously around the lower periphery of such covering. The weighted base holds the covering in position against disarrangement by wind or other extraneous forces and rests on the ground or floor in a substantially continuous contact therewith, even when the surface of the ground is uneven.  
       [0015] In addition, it will be obvious that this invention is not to be limited to the exact description disclosed and that changes in detail and construction may be made therein within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0016] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
     [0017]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cover with weighted base according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0018]FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view partly in cross-section of the weighted base according to the embodiment of FIG. 1; and  
     [0019]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cover according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0020] The apparatus of this invention is best understood by reference to the attached drawings. One embodiment of the invention is illustrated by FIG. 1 and comprises a generally conical shaped cover ( 1 ) having a skirt-like portion ( 1   a ) with a weighted base ( 2 ) around the lower periphery, which is generally circular in shape. The generally conical shape of the cover ( 1 ) is important to ensure that the cover does not act as a wind buffer but rather provides minimal wind resistance.  
     [0021] A particular feature of the invention is described with the help of FIG. 2, where a cross-section of the weighted base ( 2 ) has been shown. At the base of the cover ( 1 ) there is provided a tubular weighted sleeve ( 2   a ) which terminates the lower surface of the skirt-like portion ( 1   a ) of the conically shaped cover ( 1 ) and extends around the circumference of the cover. The peripheral skirt ( 1   a ) may be of rigid construction or consist of resilient material. The lower periphery of the skirt region is formed as a hollow tubular sleeve ( 2   a ) which may be filled with a weighting material ( 3 ) such as a metal chain, or other flexible ballast means. Thus the weighted base ( 2 ) will assist in securing the cover as a whole more firmly to the ground than would be the case if the skirt consisted of rigid non-resilient material. The provision of weight within the lower part of the skirt will also thus facilitate the stabilization of the garbage bag cover ( 1 ) when subjected to external wind forces and the like. The cross-section of the tubular sleeve ( 2   a ) is preferably generally circular or oval in shape.  
     [0022] Handles ( 4 ) are provided on the cover ( 1 ) in FIG. 1 to afford a practical feature in facilitating movement of the cover from one position to the other. It is of course possible that a shape alternative to the general conical shape provided might be found workable, provided that the characteristic of ready wind deflection is inherent in the alternative shape. FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, where the cover ( 5 ) is collapsible and is made of flexible sheeting material of any desired shape, such as dome shaped, conical etc. In this embodiment, when the cover is not in use, because of its resilient construction, it may be flattened and therefore requires less space for storage.  
     [0023] While various embodiments of the invention have been described in the foregoing, it is believed that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.