Patent Publication Number: US-2007102917-A1

Title: QuickFlap

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to flaps for vehicles, and more particularly to flaps for vehicles and trailers that can be easily removed and replaced.  
     BACKGROUND  
      It is well-known that trucks, particularly trucks that will haul large amounts of material, have large wheels. These large wheels tend to pick up water and debris when it is raining and tend to throw this water and debris for large distances especially when the truck is traveling at a high rate of speed. This may cause problems for other vehicles especially smaller cars that are sharing the highway with these trucks. The water and debris reach the windshields of these other vehicles, resulting in an obstructed view for the driver. An obvious solution to this problem is to require a flap to be installed behind the wheels of the trucks and trailers to extend the full width of the tire and to extend substantially the full height of the tire. This solution works sufficiently well such that most states now require the trucks to have flaps. However, one problem is that the flaps will eventually wear out and break off, requiring the replacement of the broken flap. In many cases, this procedure takes a significantly large amount of time and cost due to the fusion of the mounting hardware associated with a flap.  
     SUMMARY  
      The present invention provides a flap, which may be used for vehicles such as a car, truck or trailer, and the flap is placed behind the wheels of the vehicle so as to form a yieldable surface or baffle to which tire spray is directed and received.  
      In addition, the present invention provides a flap which is quickly and easily removed and replaced and which may be locked in position on the vehicle and readily unlocked for removal or replacement.  
      The present invention provides brackets that can be easily attached to the vehicle body and that includes a slot for receiving the flap.  
      The present invention allows the flap of the vehicle to be replaced without special tools, quickly and easily. Consequently, the flap of the vehicle if badly damaged or worn can be easily replaced by the vehicle driver instead of the vehicle driver waiting until the flap could be serviced by a professional.  
      The present invention includes a deformable holding adapter for holding the flap. The deformable holding adapter is formed to be positioned inside the bracket with the flap positioned within the slot of the bracket.  
      The present invention includes a locking apparatus to lock the deformable holding adapter and the flap within the bracket. The locking apparatus does not require any special tools in order to remove or replace the flap within the bracket.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of the bracket of the present invention showing slot or opening for flap mount;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of the deformable holding article and flap;  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a partial perspective view of the alternate deformable holding article and a standard (adapter) flap;  
       FIGS. 4   a - d  illustrate a perspective view of the locking apparatus.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a bracket  100  to hold a flap in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. The bracket  100  is positioned on the vehicle to be in back of a tire of the vehicle and at a height of approximately the top of the tire.  FIG. 1  shows the bracket  100  as a hollow housing having sidewalls  102  and top  104  and one end of the bracket  100  is connected to a attachment plate  106  to attach the bracket  100  to the vehicle or trailer. The attachment plate  106  includes holes for mounting on the vehicle. The bottom  112  of the bracket  100  includes a slot  108  to accept the flap. The slot  108  may extend substantially along the entire length of the bracket  100  or some portion of the length and or may have a stopping pin  118  to allow a shorter flap to be positioned within the bracket  100 . The bracket  100  may be formed from steel or other suitable material and may have a galvanized coating in order to avoid rust and other forms of corrosion. Additionally, the bracket  100  may be solid or laminated. The bracket  100  additionally includes a first opening  114  near one end of the bracket  100  to accept the deformable holding article and a second opening  110  positioned in each side of the side wall  102  to provide for a locking apparatus in order to secure the flap within the bracket  100 . The bracket  100  may include an area  116  of reflective material, for example dots of red/white reflector.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a flap assembly  200  of the present invention. The flap assembly  200  includes a deformable holding adapter  202  or a molded one piece or built-up assembly to hold the flap. The deformable holding adapter  202  or a molded one piece or built-up assembly is form to fit into the opening in one end of the bracket  100  and has a length that is approximately the same length of the slot of the bracket  100  or shorter utilizing a stopping pin. The flap  204  may include weaken areas  206 ,  208  which may be present in any number and which are to adjust the length of the flap  204  to correspond approximately to the height of the tire.  FIG. 2  shows the weaken area  206  near the top of the flap  204  and shows the weaken area  208  near the bottom of the flap  204 , if the flap is caught on something, part of the flap will break free instead of loosing a complete flap. The position of these weaken areas could be anywhere along the longitudinal side of the flap  204 . The weaken areas  206 ,  208  could be formed by slits or perforations in the flap  204 .  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a alternate mounting, the deformable holding adapter  300  to hold the flap  204  so that the bracket  100  will accept the deformable holding adapter  300 . The deformable holding adapter  300  includes arms  306  forming the side of the deformable holding adapter  300  and which are connected to the top  302  of the deformable holding adapter  300 . The deformable holding adapter  300  may be made from a material such as plastic or any other suitable material so that the arms  306  can be rotated as a result of the deformable characteristics of the plastic. The arms  306  on each side of the deformable holding adapter  300  rotate along the longitudinal axis so that a flap  204  can be held by the deformable holding adapter  300  and positioned within the bracket  100 . Since the flaps  204  can have varying thickness, the rotation of the arms  306  accommodates the varying thickness of the flap  204 . Optionally, the arms  306  may include a handle  304  that can be easily grasped by a user. Pins  308  can go through the flap and may lock/snap in to the other side  310  to accommodate standard flaps.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates four examples of the locking apparatus that can be used in cooperation with the bracket  100  in order to retain the deformable holding adapter  300  and the flap  204  on the bracket  100 . These examples require no special tools to lock and unlock the flap  204  on the bracket  100  Other examples of the locking apparatus  400  are within the scope of the present invention.  
       FIG. 4   a  illustrates a locking apparatus which includes a key  404  and plunger  402  such that when the key  404  is turned the plunger  402  is either extended or retracted from the opening  110  of the bracket  100 .  FIG. 4   b  illustrates another locking apparatus  400  including a cotter  406  and pin  408 .  FIG. 4   c  illustrates another locking apparatus  400  including a bolt  410  and nut  412 .  FIG. 4   d  illustrates another locking apparatus  400  having a snap-in lock including deformable arms  414  and having an extending element  416 . The deformable arms  414  keep the extending element  416  in the opening  110  until the user deforms the deformable arms  414  closed for example with a screwdriver.  
       FIG. 5  additionally shows a rain guide  510 , which may be added to guide the tire spray down the flap  504  towards the road surface and to deflect road debris back into the tire area.  
       FIG. 6  illustrates an alternate bracket  600  of the present invention. The bracket  600  includes an attachment plate  606  which is shown mounted along the longitudinal axis of the top  604  of the bracket  600 . The attachment plate  606  may extend the substantial entire length of the top  604 , or may only extend for a portion of the length of the top  604 . The bracket  600  may include an area  616  of reflective material, for example dots of red/white reflector.  
      While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.