Device for covering a surface including protective flaps
AssigneeBecoflex
InventorBenoit Coenraets
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for covering a surface and includes: (a) a covering of which each longitudinal edge is provided with a longitudinal strip ending in a flap; (b) a rotatably mounted drum capable of winding or unwinding the covering, and movable on rails placed on either side of said surface; (c) a system for continuous locking/unlocking of the flap in the rails during the translation of the drum, in which the covering includes at least one flap which makes it possible to isolate the portion of the longitudinal strip corresponding to the stuck flap portion, either from the atmosphere contained between the inner surface of the deployed covering portion and the covered surface portion, or from solar radiation.
Claims15
A device for covering a surface comprising:
- (a) a substantially rectangular cover comprising an internal face and an external face separated from one another by a thickness of the cover, and having two longitudinal edges opposite one another and two transverse edges opposite one another,
- (b) a longitudinal strip comprising an interior edge being fixed to each longitudinal edge of the cover, and comprising an exterior free edge equipped with a projecting bead extending along said edge,
- (c) rails positioned one on each side of said surface and each made of a profiled section having an opening on one face thereof and facing away from the surface to be covered, said face comprising at least one adjacent flange situated on a side adjacent to the surface that is to be covered and partially closing said opening
- (d) a drum rotatably mounted on a translation mechanism, and configured for rolling up and unrolling the cover by rotation,
- wherein the translation mechanism allowing is configured for longitudinally translating the drum in a first direction to unroll the cover from the drum and to deploy the cover over the surface to be covered with the internal face facing toward said surface and, in a second direction, to roll the cover up and to remove the cover from the surface,
- (e) wherein the surface to be covered comprises on each side a deflection surface for guiding and positioning said bead of each longitudinal strip of the cover to face the opening in the corresponding rail as the drum longitudinally translates in the first direction and the cover unrolls,
- (f) a system for continuously locking the bead of the longitudinal edges of the cover in the opening of said rails by wedging the bead under the adjacent flange of the corresponding rail as the cover is gradually unrolled as the drum longitudinally translates in the first direction, and, as the drum longitudinally translates in the second direction, to release the bead, disengaging the bead as the cover is gradually rolled up,
- wherein the cover comprises at least one flap extending along each of the longitudinal edges and configured for, when a portion of each bead is wedged under the adjacent flange of the corresponding rail, isolating the portion of the longitudinal strip that corresponds to the trapped bead portion either from the atmosphere prevailing between the internal face of the deployed cover portion and the surface portion covered, or from solar radiation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.