Protective cover for motor vehicle

• US 7,159,631 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2003
• Issued: 01/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Formosa Saint Jose Corporation
• Original Assignee: Formosa Sounding Corp.
• Inventors: Yang, Ming-Shun
• Primary Examiner(s): Weaver; Sue A.
• Application Number:
  US10/649,810
• Publication Number:
  US 20050045255A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,230 Days
• Field of Search: 150/154, 150/166, 150/168, 150/167, 206/335, 296/136.01, 296/136.07, 29613611-13613, 296/95.1, 135/88.05, 135/88.07
• US Class Current: 150/166
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 11/00 Removable external protective coverings specially adapted for vehicles or parts of vehicles, e.g. parking covers covering of load on vehicles B60P7/00; guard strips for body finishing, identifying or decorating B60R13/04; tents for use as garages E04H15/00

Abstract

A protective cover for motor vehicle mainly includes a cover, at least two flexible metal rings that are lengthwise sequentially spaced at and attached to an inner side of the cover to enclose a relatively large area of the cover, and adjustable belts with hook belt fasteners spaced at a lower edge of the cover. The flexible metal rings are adapted to automatically stretch the cover for covering an upper part of a motor vehicle, and the hook belt fasteners are adapted to firmly hold the cover to a lower part of the motor vehicle. To fold and store the cover, simply fold the cover to align the metal rings with each other, and bend the aligned metal rings into several superposed smaller loops, so that the folded cover may be stored in a bag in the flat and folded state to occupy only a relatively small space.

Claims

1. A protective cover for a motor vehicle comprising:

a cover assembly selectively movable between open and closed positions and having;

a) a cover;

b) a plurality of adjustable belts, each adjustable belt of the plurality of adjustable belts being attached at a first end thereof to the periphery of the cover and having a hook belt fastener connected to a second end thereof;

c) at least two annular sleeves, each of the at least two annular sleeves being spaced apart from an adjacent annular sleeve and spaced apart from the periphery of the cover; and

d) at least two flexible metal rings, one metal ring of the at least two flexible metal rings being positioned with in each of the at least two annular sleeves, wherein the at least two flexible metal rings comprise a first circular ring configured to support the cover over a front half of the motor vehicle and a second circular ring configured to support the cover over a back half of the motor vehicle.

2. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein each of the each of the at least two annular sleeves includes a strip of cloth sewn to a bottom surface of the cover and forming a tubular space between the strip of cloth and the cover, one metal ring of the at least two flexible metal rings is located in each tubular space.

3. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein each of the each of the at least two annular sleeves includes an opening, one metal ring of the at least two flexible metal rings is selectively inserted and removed through each opening.

4. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the cover is made of a waterproof fabric.

5. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the cover has a size large enough to cover parts of the motor vehicle selected from a group consisting of an engine hood, a windshield, a roof, a rear window, a trunk lid, side windows, and any combination thereof.

6. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the at least two flexible metal rings are spaced apart along a length of the cover.

7. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein each metal ring of the at least two flexible metal rings has a flexible metal wire and a tubular connector connected to each of two opposing ends of the flexible metal wire.

8. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of adjustable belts is an extendable elastic cord.

9. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of adjustable belts has a buckle.

10. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein each hook belt fastener has a plate having a hook and a through hole.

11. The protective cover according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of elastic cords spaced apart and located on a selected peripheral portion of a periphery of the cover, one elastic cord of the plurality of elastic cords allowing each selected peripheral portion to be selectively moved between a retracted position and an expanded position.

12. The protective cover according to claim 1, further comprising a flat profiled bag, the cover assembly being selectively stored in the flat profiled bag when in the closed position.

13. The protective cover according to claim 12, wherein the flat profiled bag includes a shoulder strap.

14. The protective cover according to claim 1, wherein the at least two metal rings are configured to be aligned and folded into three smaller superimposed loops when the cover is in the closed position.