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US 12,006,716 B2Granted
Inflatable vehicle awning
OwnerRussell M. Woolseyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Vehicle awnings comprise an inflatable frame assembly comprising a main frame member that defines a space, a left supporting frame member, and a right supporting frame member; a canopy operatively coupled to the main frame member and spanning the space; and an attachment system for attaching the vehicle awning to a vehicle.
Claims15
A vehicle awning (10) for installation on a vehicle (12), comprising:
- an inflatable frame assembly (14), comprising:
- a main frame member (16) defining a space (18) at least partially bound by the main frame member (16) and comprising:
- an elongate rear segment (20) having a left end region (22) and a right end region (24);
- a left projecting segment (26) extending from the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- and
- a right projecting segment (28) extending from the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- a left supporting frame member (30) extending from the left projecting segment (26) and having a left-support distal end region (32);
- and
- a right supporting frame member (34) extending from the right projecting segment (28) and having a right-support distal end region (36), wherein each of the main frame member (16), the left supporting frame member (30), and the right supporting frame member (34) is configured to selectively hold a pressurized volume of air;
- a canopy (38) operatively coupled to the main frame member (16) and spanning the space (18);
- and
- an attachment system (40), comprising:
- a lower left attachment assembly (42) comprising a lower left strap (44) extending from the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20) and a lower left attachment (46) operatively coupled to the lower left strap (44) and configured to engage a lower region (48) of the vehicle (12), wherein the left-support distal end region (32) is coupled to the lower left strap (44), and wherein the lower left attachment assembly (42) is configured to be selectively lengthened and shortened between the lower left attachment (46) and the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- a lower right attachment assembly (50) comprising a lower right strap (52) extending from the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20) and a lower right attachment (55) operatively coupled to the lower right strap (52) and configured to engage the lower region (48) of the vehicle (12), wherein the right-support distal end region (36) is coupled to the lower right strap (52), and wherein the lower right attachment assembly (50) is configured to be selectively lengthened and shortened between the lower right attachment (55) and the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- an upper left attachment assembly (54) extending from the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20) and configured to be selectively secured to an upper region (56) of the vehicle (12);
- and
- an upper right attachment assembly (58) extending from the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20) and configured to be selectively secured to the upper region (56) of the vehicle (12).
14 more elements
A vehicle awning (10) for installation on a vehicle (12), comprising:
- an inflatable frame assembly (14), comprising:
- a main frame member (16) defining a space (18) fully bound by the main frame member (16) and comprising:
- an elongate rear segment (20) having a left end region (22) and a right end region (24);
- a left projecting segment (26) extending from the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- a right projecting segment (28) extending from the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- and
- a front segment (60) that interconnects the left projecting segment (26) and the right projecting segment (28);
- a left supporting frame member (30) extending from the left projecting segment (26) and having a left-support distal end region (32);
- a right supporting frame member (34) extending from the right projecting segment (28) and having a right-support distal end region (36);
- a left connecting tube (64) fluidly interconnecting the left projecting segment (26) and the left supporting frame member (30);
- a right connecting tube (66) fluidly interconnecting the right projecting segment (28) and the right supporting frame member (34), wherein the main frame member (16), the left supporting frame member (30), the right supporting frame member (34), the left connecting tube (64), and the right connecting tube (66) are fluidly interconnected to define a single internal volume (62) configured to selectively hold a pressurized volume of air;
- a left valve (68) operatively coupled to the left connecting tube (64) and configured to selectively restrict and permit air flow between the left projecting segment (26) and the left supporting frame member (30);
- and
- a right valve (70) operatively coupled to the right connecting tube (66) and configured to selectively restrict and permit air flow between the right projecting segment (28) and the right supporting frame member (34);
- a canopy (38) operatively coupled to the main frame (16) and spanning the space (18);
- and
- an attachment system (40), comprising:
- a lower left attachment assembly (42) comprising a lower left strap (44) extending from the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20) and a lower left attachment (46) operatively coupled to the lower left strap (44) and configured to engage a lower region (48) of the vehicle (12), wherein the left-support distal end region (32) is slidingly coupled to the lower left strap (44) and configured to be selectively positioned along the lower left strap (44), wherein the lower left attachment assembly (42) further comprises one or more left-strap limiting structures (82) configured to be selectively positioned along the lower left strap (44) to retain the left-support distal end region (32) in a selected position along the lower left strap (44), and wherein the lower left attachment assembly (42) is configured to be selectively lengthened and shortened between the lower left attachment (46) and the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- a lower right attachment assembly (50) comprising a lower right strap (52) extending from the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20) and a lower right attachment (55) operatively coupled to the lower right strap (52) and configured to engage the lower region (48) of the vehicle (12), wherein the right-support distal end region (36) is slidingly coupled to the lower right strap (52) and is configured to be selectively positioned along the lower right strap (52), wherein the lower right attachment assembly (50) further comprises one or more right-strap limiting structures (84) configured to be selectively positioned along the lower right strap (52) to retain the right-support distal end region (36) in a selected position along the lower right strap (52), and wherein the lower right attachment assembly (50) is configured to be selectively lengthened and shortened between the lower right attachment (55) and the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20);
- an upper left attachment assembly (54) extending from the left end region (22) of the elongate rear segment (20) and configured to be selectively secured to an upper region (56) of the vehicle (12);
- and
- an upper right attachment assembly (58) extending from the right end region (24) of the elongate rear segment (20) and configured to be selectively secured to the upper region (56) of the vehicle (12).
19 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.