Patent ID: 7159349

Claim:
An attachment and tensioning system for mounting on the surface of a vehicle a planar flexible material having a shaped top edge, a shaped bottom edge, a first vertical edge, a second vertical edge opposite the first vertical edge, the system comprising: a top rail securable to said surface and having a horizontally extending C-shaped slot open away from said surface for receiving the shaped top edge of the material; a floating bottom rail slidable on said surface having a first horizontally extending C-shaped slot open away from said surface for receiving the shaped bottom edge of the material and a second horizontally extending C-shaped slot also open away from said surface; a first fixed portion securable to said surface outwardly from said floating bottom rail and having a horizontally extending C-shaped slot open away from said surface; and a first lever-and-beam releasably lockable tensioner comprising a first bent lever arm having an inwardly bent shaped first end cammingly pivotably engageable in said floating bottom rail's second horizontally extending C-shaped slot and an inwardly open C-shaped slot, and a first beam having shaped ends pivotably connected to the inwardly open C-shaped slot of said first lever arm and pivotably engageable with the outwardly open C-shaped slot of said first fixed portion, whereby during mounting the first lever arm is pivoted toward said first fixed portion, thereby pulling the floating bottom rail toward said first fixed portion and releasably locking the first lever arm in place covering said first fixed portion.