Patent ID: 7665500

Claim:
A temporary window covering, comprising: a pleated cover formed from a sheet of material having a plurality of horizontal creases extending across the width of the sheet thereby defining a plurality of pleats, the pleated cover being moveable between a retracted position wherein each of the pleats is substantially horizontally aligned and in contact with the adjacent pleats, an extended position wherein each of the pleats is substantially vertical and substantially vertically aligned with the other pleats, and a plurality of intermediate positions wherein at least some of the pleats are oriented between the pleats' retracted positions and the pleats' extended positions; and a bottom rail formed from a plurality of interconnected sides each having a width approximately equal to the width of the sheet and with one of the sides being attached to a bottommost pleat of the pleated cover, the sides of the bottom rail being moveable relative to each other between a packaging configuration wherein the sides of the bottom rail enclose and engage the pleated cover, with the engagement of the sides of the bottom rail preventing the covering from being extended to the extended position, and a support configuration wherein the sides of the bottom rail do not enclose the pleated cover such that the pleated cover may be extended to the extended position and to intermediate positions with the sides of the bottom rail providing structural support for the bottommost pleat.