Patent ID: 8371070

Claim:
A retractable load-bearing cover apparatus, comprising: a track defining a path of travel between first and second terminus points; a plurality of sections deployable in a mutually co-planar orientation along said track in a first direction toward said first terminus point, and retractable along said track in a second direction opposite said first direction and toward said second terminus point adjacent ones of said sections being connectable to one another at locking sets at facing front and rear surfaces at respective adjacent sections; a storage system for automatically disconnecting connected sections to be independently movable with respect to one another along a storage path substantially perpendicular to said path of travel, said storage system including a plurality of discrete storage bins arrayed along said storage path, each of said storage bins being configured to receive a disconnected section to arrange said disconnected sections into a stacked configuration; a docking tray configured for supporting a disconnected section; and a storage drive for driving said docking tray into selected docking locations along said storage path at which a respective disconnected section supported by said docking tray is in alignment with a selected one of said storage bins.