BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Land vehicles, who are sometimes called 4X4 vehicles, or, all-terrain vehicles (ATV), are sometimes required to pass through or get into relative small openings, such as a passage under a low bridge, a passage under a fallen tree, a passage under a cross pipe, or, even get into a container or an helicopter.

Some land vehicles are provided with a cage above the passengers' compartment instead of a full roof that may be a part of the vehicles' body or chassis. The cage may protect the passengers in a case of rolling over, and it may be covered with a sheet or the like in order to provide shade to the passengers against sun or rain.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a foldable cage that will reduce the vehicle's height and will enable the vehicle to overcome the above mentioned obstacles.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fast foldable cage that may be folded or erected without a need of extra tools.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried out in practice, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a foldable cage for land vehicles according to the present invention shown in a raised position on a land vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the foldable cage of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the foldable cage of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the foldable cage of Fig. 1 shown in a folded position;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the foldable cage of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a top view of the foldable cage of Fig. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Attention is drawn to the figures that show a foldable cage 10 according to the present invention mounted on a land vehicle 12. The land vehicle 12 comprises a passengers' compartment 14 in which the passengers seat within.

The foldable cage 10 comprises a front arc 16, hingedly connected at both front arc ends 18 thereof to a front portion 20 of the passengers' compartment 14, and, a rear arc 22, hingedly connected at both rear arc ends 24 thereof to a rear portion 26 of the passengers' compartment 14.

It should be noted that directional terms appearing throughout the specification and claims, e.g. "forward", "rear", "upper", "lower" etc., are used as terms of convenience to distinguish the location of various surfaces relative to each other. These terms are defined with reference to the figures, however, they are used for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.

Two longitudinal beams 28 are hingedly connected between a front arc upper portion 30 and a rear arc upper portion 32. The longitudinal beams 28 are separated apart and may be connected to each other by transverse reinforce beams 34. In the described embodiment, two transverse reinforce beams 34 are shown, i.e., a front transverse reinforce beam 36 and a rear transverse reinforce beam 38. As can be understood by a person skilled in the art, the above described construction of the foldable cage 10 enables to simultaneously recline the front arc 16 and the rear arc 22 to a "folded position", or, to raise the front and rear arcs 16, 22 to a "raised position".

In order to lock the foldable cage 10 in a "raised position", a locking bar 40 in hingedly connected, at a bar front end 42 thereof, to an upper portion of the cage. According to a preferred embodiment, the bar front end 42 is hingedly connected to the front transverse reinforce beam 36. A bar rear end 44 is detachably connected to the vehicles' chassis or body. Thus, in this position, the foldable cage 10 is safely secured in a "raised position".

In order to facilitate fast and easy raising and reclining of the foldable cage 10, preferably without using any extra tools, the bar rear end 44 is detachably secured to its position by means of a quick locking pin, having a release knob or the like, as known in the art. Thus, by pressing the release knob, the quick locking pin is released and the bar rear end 44 can be freely move forward, thus enabling fast and easy reclining of the foldable cage 10. In order to lock the foldable cage 10 in a "raised position" the process is traversed, i.e., the foldable cage 10 is lifted to a "raised position" until the bar rear end 44 gets into its locking base and the quick locking pin may be inserted and secured in its housing. Although the present invention has been described to a certain degree of particularity, it should be understood that various alterations and modifications could be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

For example, the quick locking pin does not have to be operated manually. If desired, the quick locking pin may be operated electrically, hydraulically or pneumatically.

The foldable cage does not have to fold forwardly and it may fold rearwardly in a similar manner, mutatis mutandis.

The front arc and the rear arc do not have to fold and raise simultaneously. In some embodiments, each of the arcs may be individually raised or folded, mutatis mutandis.

The front arc may be connected with the rear arc by means of one or more longitudinal beams.

The longitudinal beams do not have to be parallel to each other and other relative positions are applicable as well. The locking bar does not have to be connected at its front end to the front end transverse beam. Alternatively, the bar front end may be connected to a front portion of the foldable cage, i.e., to the front arc upper portion.

The bar rear end may be connected to a piston. In this case, when the piston is operated, i.e., extended, the locking bar is pushed forwardly and the foldable cage is brought into a folded position. When the piston is retracted, the locking bar is pulled rearwardly and the foldable cage is brought into a raised position.