Patent ID: 7793985

Claim:
A power-operated mud flap device for prohibiting foreign debris and fluids from egressing away from existing vehicle tires, said power-operated mud flap device comprising: a mud flap adapted to be positioned along a longitudinal side of an existing vehicle; and means for automatically displacing said mud flap between a raised position and a lowered position defined along a vertical plane extending adjacent to an outer face of the existing vehicle tires, the raised and lowered positions further being defined when a rectilinear top edge of said mud flap reaches maximum and minimum heights situated above the existing vehicle tires respectively, said mud flap remaining coplanar to the vertical plane when traveling between the raised and lowered positions respectively; wherein said automatic mud flap displacing means comprises a controller adapted to be electrically coupled to an existing vehicle power supply source, said controller including a user interface for generating and transmitting a control signal based upon receipt of a user input at said user interface; a power-actuated motor having an elongated and rectilinear drive shaft traveling parallel to a longitudinal length of said top edge of said mud flap, said drive shaft being responsive to said control signal and thereby selectively articulating in a reversible rotational direction; and first and second linearly adjustable driven shafts operably mated to said drive shaft respectively, each of said first and second driven shafts including a male member articulating along mutually exclusive and corresponding rotational directions respectively as said drive shaft is rotated in the reversible rotational direction respectively, each of said first and second driven shafts further including a female member threadably engaged with said male members respectively, said female members further being pivotally connected to said top edge of said mud flap; wherein said male members are rotatably inserted and extracted from said female members as said male members rotate along clockwise and counter clockwise directions respectively; wherein a spatial relationship between said drive shaft and said top edge of said mud flap is linearly increased and decreased along the vertical plane when said male members rotate in the counter clockwise and clockwise directions respectively.