Patent ID: 8857366

Claim:
A retractable canopy system for manual operation in mounted attachment upon a boat structure, comprising: a roller member adapted to rotate upon a central axis; a sheet of canvas material fastened to said roller member and wrapped about the central axis thereof in a retracted state; actuator means operatively connected to the boat structure for deploying said sheet of canvas material from said roller member, said actuator means including a paired set of tubular members telescopically assembled and normally contained coaxially in a retracted position subject to outbound spring loading forces to promote an extended telescopic movement and a first crossbar member forwardly mounted upon the paired set of tubular members and operatively connected to said sheet of canvas material to normally maintain tension thereon during telescopic movement of the paired set of tubular members and thereby draw the canvas from its retracted state upon a gradual release of the outbound spring loading forces upon the paired set of tubular members; and a mechanical gear box assembly mounted upon said actuator means and operatively connected to said roller member along the central axis thereof to control rotation in either direction by reducing the outbound spring loading forces applied to said roller member and gradually releasing the extended telescopic movement of the paired set of tubular members for manually controlling deployment of said sheet of canvas material.