FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to vehicles. More particularly it relates to covers for protecting vehicles from hail or other falling objects.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Hailstorms can cause significant damage to property and especially vehicles. Although it is generally small, hail has been reported to be as large as golf balls or even larger. Inevitably, some vehicles do get caught out in unprotected areas during hailstorms and then get battered by the hail. This leads to increased insurance claims for hail damage.

Protective car covers are well known in the art. However, few of the known covers are suitable for protecting a vehicle from hail. Generally car covers protect a vehicle from the sun, rain, snow, ice or dust and also prevent minor surface scratches. But these types of material covers do not provide adequate protection against severe hail storms or are inadequate for some other reason.

The Inventor is aware of a hail cover for a vehicle which comprises protective netting having a plurality of adjustable straps, the ends of which have hooks, for securing the straps to the wheel wells and the front and rear bumpers of the vehicle. The cover further includes a plurality of foam runners which support the netting in spaced apart relationship with the top of the vehicle. The straps hold the net in a taut condition to prevent sagging between the runners. A drawback of this cover is that the hooks cause damage to the paintwork of the vehicle and prevent access to the boot, doors and bonnet during use. The foam runners are large and unwieldy and take up a lot of space.

The Inventor desires a protective vehicle cover which at least alleviates some of the above drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In accordance with the invention there is provided a protective vehicle cover for protecting a vehicle from hail or other falling objects, the cover including: a body having a top face and an opposing, operatively inner, bottom face, the top face defining an operatively upper surface, the body further including a plurality of inflatable ribs; and

mounting formations which are attached to the body and are configured to mount to a vehicle surface; wherein, in use, the ribs keep the upper surface of the body in spaced apart relationship with the vehicle surface by raising the upper surface from the vehicle surface.

The mounting formations may include a plurality of suction fasteners or suction cups. The suction cups may mount directly to the ribs and may be slideably displaceable relative to the ribs. The suction cups may be removably attached to the ribs of the body, each suction cup including a ring-like attachment formation which is removably fastened around a rib of the body in a configuration which allows the suction cup to slide lengthwise along the rib.

The mounting formations may include a plurality of elongate straps, a length of each of which is adjustable, a suction cup being attached to an end portion of each strap. Each strap may include hook and loop fasteners which facilitate length adjustment of the strap.

The vehicle cover may include an inlet for inflation of the ribs, the inlet being connectable to a pressurised gas source which serves to inflate the ribs. The gas source may be a pressurised gas canister which is connectable or detachably connected to the inlet. The ribs may be disposed on the bottom face of the body. The cover may include at least one gas inflator which is connectable or detachably connected to the body. The inflator may be in the form of a pressurised canister containing air or other gases suitable for inflating the ribs. The cover may include a perforated upper sheet which defines the upper surface, the ribs being attached to a bottom surface of the sheet. At least one of the perforations in the upper sheet may be sized to allow a conventional vehicle aerial to pass through it.

The ribs may comprise a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart, inflatable transverse ribs and at least two laterally spaced apart, inflatable longitudinal ribs, the ribs collectively forming a grid which, when inflated, defines a number of air pockets between bordering ribs and the upper sheet.

At least a portion of the cover, operatively positioned over a windscreen of the vehicle may be transparent.

The cover may further include at least one attachment formation in the form of an anti-theft cable or rope which is attached to the body or to a suction fastener of the cover. The cable may be a steel cable which is covered by a protective plastic layer or housing which prevents marring or damage to the paintwork of the vehicle. In a preferred embodiment, the cover includes at least two attachment formations in the form of a pair of anti-theft cables, one end of each cable being attached to a suction fastener. A free end of each cable may terminate in a swollen or enlarged head which serves to anchor the cable to the vehicle. In order to hold the cover fast to the vehicle, a door is closed over the free end of each cable thus trapping the head of each cable between the door and the body of the vehicle preventing unauthorised removal of the cover. In severe storms the cables will provide increased stability to the cover and prevent it from becoming detached from the vehicle.

The cover may include a pressure release valve which is configured to open automatically and vent air to atmosphere in the event that the cover is over inflated, past a predetermined threshold value. In addition, the cover may include at least one deflation valve which facilitates quick deflation of the cover when it needs to be stowed away. The invention extends to a kit for a vehicle, the kit including:

a protective vehicle cover for protecting a vehicle from hail or other falling objects as described above; and

at least one gas inflator in the form of a pressurised gas canister for inflating the cover prior to use.

The body may be formed from polymeric material. The cover as a whole may be transparent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a protective vehicle cover in accordance with the invention, from below;

Figure 2 shows a top plan view of the cover of figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a side view of the cover of figure 1 , mounted to a vehicle;

Figure 4 shows a partial section taken along lines C-C shown in figure

2; and

Figure 5 shows an end view of the cover. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXAMPLE EMBODIMENT

In the figures, reference numeral 10 refers generally to a protective vehicle cover in accordance with the invention for protecting a vehicle 8 (see figure 3) from hail or other falling objects. The cover 10 includes an elongate body which includes an upper sheet 12 or membrane made of polymeric material and inflatable ribs 13 which are disposed on an operative!y bottom face of the sheet 12. The cover 10 further includes a plurality of mounting formations in the form of suction cups 15 which are attached to the body and allow the cover 10 to be secured over an upper surface of the vehicle 8 (see figure 3). Some suction cups 15 are directly mounted to ribs 13 of the cover 10. Other cups 15 are attached to the upper sheet 12 of the cover 10 by way of straps 9. A length of each strap is adjustable by virtue of the fact that an end portion of each strap 9 includes hook and loop fastening material also known as VELCRO. Each strap 9 passes through an opening in a mounting portion of the suction cup 15 and folds back over itself and is secured in place by the VELCRO.

The inflatable ribs 13 comprise a series of longitudinally spaced apart, transverse ribs 13a, a pair of laterally spaced apart, longitudinal ribs 13b and a peripheral or bordering rib 13c. The ribs 13 divide the upper sheet 12 into square segments 1 1 . In order to facilitate inflation/deflation of the ribs 13, the body has an inlet 24 which is connectable to a pressurised gas canister 19 (see figure 3) and a pair of openable deflation valves 25 (see figure 2) provided at one end of the cover 10 on an outer periphery of the bordering rib 13c. The deflation valves 25 allow quick deflation of the cover 10 when opened.

The canister 19 may be detachable from the inlet 24 of the cover 10 and, accordingly, the inlet 24 may have a closable valve (not shown) to prevent deflation once the canister 19 has been detached from the cover 10. In order to prevent over inflation which could lead to rupture, the cover 10 includes a pressure release valve 23 which is configured temporarily to open to vent pressurised air to atmosphere in the event that the pressure inside the ribs 13 exceeds a predetermined value. The pressure release valve 23 may be configured to open once the pressure of the cover 10 exceeds approximately 2 PSI (about 14 kPa). The valve 23 closes automatically as soon as the pressure falls below the predetermined threshold pressure value. In order to prevent the build up of water on top of the cover 10 during use, which weighs down the upper sheet 12 of the cover, thus reducing its effectiveness in protecting the vehicle 8, each segment 1 1 of the upper sheet 12 includes perforations 17 or holes. In the example embodiment illustrated, five perforations 17 are formed in each segment 1 1 . At least one of the five perforations 17 in each segment 1 1 has a diameter of 10 mm in order to accommodate an aerial of the vehicle therethrough. The remaining four perforations 17 have a diameter of approximately 6 mm. Pairs of laterally spaced apart suction cups 15 are attached to a number of the transverse ribs 13a. The suction cups 1 5 are attached around a portion of the rib 13a extending between the bordering rib 13c and one of the longitudinal ribs 13b by way of a ring-like attachment formation 26 (see figure 4) which allows the suction cup 1 5 to slide lengthwise along the rib 13a. This increases the versatility of the cover 10. When the ribs 13 are inflated, the suction cups 1 5 protrude downwardly beyond the ribs 1 3, as can best be seen in figures 3 and 4, to facilitate attachment of the cups 1 5 to the vehicle 8. The suction cups 15 may be removably attached to the ribs 13a. The cover 10 further includes two anti-theft cables 22. Each cable 22 has a protective non-marring housing or sheath which prevents the cables 22 from marring the paintwork of the vehicle 8. One end of each cable 22 is secured to a suction cup 1 5 which is detachably mounted to a rib 13a and an opposite free end of each cable 22 has a swollen or bulbous head or stop 27 (see figure 1 ) which operatively serves to anchor the cover 10 to the vehicle 8 in addition to the straps 9 and suction cups 1 5. Whilst installing the cover 1 0, the head 27 of each cable 22 is closed in a door opening of the vehicle 8, on either side. This serves to hold the cover 10 in place whilst it is being inflated/deflated and also prevents theft of the cover 10 when left unattended.

Although this has not been clearly illustrated in the drawings, a portion of the body of the cover 10 which ordinarily covers a windscreen of the vehicle 8 may be transparent to provide at least a measure of visibility to a user seated within the vehicle 8. An advantage of the cover 10 is that it can be folded up and conveniently stowed in the boot of the vehicle 8. If there are reports of a hailstorm, the owner simply removes the cover 10 from the boot, unfolds it and positions it over the top of the vehicle 8 with the upper sheet 12 facing upward and the suction cups 15 facing downward. It is to be appreciated that the cover 10 may be produced in different sizes and dimensions in order to suit different vehicles. It is not necessary for the cover 10 to cover the sides of the vehicle 8 as the majority of hail damage is to the upper surface of the vehicle although in an alternative embodiment the cover could include a downwardly depending skirt to cover the sides.

The owner then secures a cable 22 to each side of the vehicle 8 by closing the heads 27 of the cables 22 in the door bays hence securing the cover 10 to the vehicle 8 and preventing unauthorised removal of the cover 10. Once the cover 10 has been correctly positioned to cover the top of the vehicle 8, pressure is applied to each of the suction cups 15 to ensure that they hold fast to the vehicle 8. The straps 9 are adjusted to a required length by way of the hook and loop fastening material and the cups 15 attached to the ends of the straps 9 are secured to the body of the vehicle 8 as desired. In the event that the vehicle has an aerial which is not retractable, the aerial can be guided through one of the perforations 17 in the upper sheet 12. The owner then connects the canister 19 to the inlet 24 and inflates the ribs 13. As the ribs 13 inflate they become turgid and lift the upper sheet 12 from the vehicle creating air pockets 20 underneath each segment 11 of the sheet. The ribs 13 hence serve to keep the upper sheet 12 in spaced apart relationship with the upper surface of the vehicle. Accordingly, if hail or other objects strike the cover 10, the impact is absorbed by the upper sheet 12 and damage to the vehicle 8 is averted.

Due to the fact that the ribs 13 inflate, the cover 10 is light and compact, and when not in use, it can easily be stowed in the boot of the vehicle. The cover 10 is quick to install and does not require power to inflate. In other words, use of the pressurised canister 19 for inflation purposes obviates the need for a hand or electrical pump which is either labour intensive or requires power to operate. Through use of the suction cups 15, the vehicle doors remain accessible even with the cover installed, Even the boot and bonnet are accessible due to the fact that the cover is flexible which is a further advantage of the cover 10.