Motor vehicle shelter
OwnerPablo Navarroinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An extendible and retractable shelter for a vehicle has a plurality of bows slidable along a pair of ground mounted tracks from an extended position to a retracted position. A flexible canvas or plastic covering is attached to the bows when extended and collapses in accordion fashion when retracted. A lazy tongs mechanism is attached to the interior faces of the bows and are loaded by tension springs. The bows are retracted by a cable and winch system, placing the springs under tension and locked by a ratchet lock. When the lock is released, the tension springs return the bows to the extended position.
Claims8
An extendible and retractable shelter for a vehicle comprising:
- a pair of parallel tracks;
- a front bow, a rear bow and a plurality of interior bows, each of said bows having a pair of substantially vertical portions and a spanning portion extending between upper ends of said vertical portions;
- means for slidably connecting lower ends of said vertical portions to said tracks;
- lazy tongs mechanisms extending from said front bow to said rear bow and attached to said interior bows, said mechanisms including a plurality of horizontally linked equilateral parallelograms, each parallelogram having a pair of vertically oriented pivoted apexes and being movable from an extended position to a retracted position to permit movement of said bows along said tracks;
- spring means attached to said lazy tongs mechanisms for biasing said mechanism to said extended position;
- means for starting movement of said bows from said retracted position, said starting means including a plurality of starter tension springs disposed between and adjacent selected ones of said pivoted apexes at an angle with respect to a vertical axis;
- cable and winch means for moving said bows to said retracted position against the biasing action of said spring means;
- and
- flexible cover means attached to and covering said bows when in said extended position.
An extendible and retractable shelter for a vehicle comprising:
- (a) a rear bow having a horizontal portion and a pair of essentially vertical portions spaced apart a distance greater than the width of said vehicle;
- (b) a pair of parallel tracks extending from lower ends of said rear bow vertical portions;
- (c) a front bow and a plurality of interior bows, each having a horizontal portion and a pair of essentially vertical portions, the lower ends of said vertical portions slidably attached to said tracks;
- (d) a pair of lazy tongs mechanisms, each having
- (i) a plurality of link rods pivotally connected to form a plurality of horizontally linked equilateral parallelograms, each having an upper vertically oriented apex and a lower vertically oriented apex;
- (ii) slide pins forming pivots at said upper vertically oriented apex,
- (iii) a vertically oriented guide attached to each of said bow vertical portions, said guide having a vertical slot for engaging one of said slide pins,
- (iv) anchor bolts forming pivots for at least some of said vertically oriented apexes, said anchor bolts attached to respective ones of said vertical portions,
- (v) a plurality of tension springs having one of said springs disposed between each of said vertically oriented apexes, and
- (vi) starter tension springs disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical between at least some of said vertically oriented apexes;
- (e) a winch assembly mounted adjacent said rear bow and having
- (i) a pair of cables, each connected to one of said front bow vertical portions,
- (ii) means for drawing said cables to move said front bow and said interior bows along said tracks from an extended position to a retracted position adjacent said rear bow, and to place said tension springs and said starter springs under tension;
- and
- (iii) locking means for maintaining said bows in said retracted position;
- and
- (f) flexible covering for covering said bows when in said extended position and attached thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.