Patent ID: 7448173

Claim:
A protective door cover adapted to cover front and back surfaces of a door when the door is hung in the door frame while permitting normal operation of the door and associated door hardware, the door cover comprising: a front panel comprising a first corrugated cardboard sheet, the front panel having one or more widthwise front panel folds extending substantially from a first front panel lengthwise edge to an opposing second front panel lengthwise edge, the first corrugated cardboard sheet comprising front and back liner boards each liner board having exposed exterior surfaces, each of the front and back liner boards sandwiching at least one undulating sheet of cardboard, the exterior surface of at least one liner board being coated with a non-abrasive exposed fiber encapsulating coating, the front panel further including a first plurality of selectively removable sections located thereon, the selectively removable sections being adapted to permit a user access to door hardware permitting complete operation of the hardware when the door protector is installed on the door; a back panel comprising a second corrugated cardboard sheet, the back panel having one or more widthwise back panel folds extending substantially from a first back panel lengthwise edge to an opposing second back panel lengthwise edge, the second corrugated cardboard sheet comprising front and back liner boards, each of the front and back liner boards having exposed exterior surfaces sandwiching at least one undulating sheet of cardboard, the exterior surface of at least one liner board being coated with the non-abrasive exposed fiber encapsulating coating, the back panel further including a second plurality of selectively removable sections located thereon, the selectively removable sections being adapted to permit a user access to door hardware permitting complete operation of the hardware when the door protector is installed on the door; and one or more saddle elements, the one or more saddle elements coupling the front and rear panels together proximate a front panel top widthwise edge and a back panel top widthwise edge; wherein the protective door cover is adapted to fold to a storage/shipping configuration having a length corresponding to the aforementioned lengthwise edges of the front and back panels that is about 50% or less than the length of the lengthwise edges.