The present invention relates to car and vehicle accessories, especially temporary structures attachable to cars and vehicles .

Background to the Invention

Cars and vehicles will often be used to transport people and their belongings to sites of leisure and recreation. The bird-watcher or fisherman may drive their car or pick-up to an area where such pursuits may be freely enjoyed.

Often inclement weather lessens the enjoyment of the

activity .

Whilst the leisure-seeker may pack weatherproof clothing or a tent or other temporary free-standing structure, neither of these alternatives may be entirely satisfactory. Weatherproof clothing still provides a degree of exposure and a tent has to be assembled outside the shelter of the

vehicle, if it has been remembered should the weather

deteriorate on the journey. Although other temporary structures have been proposed, they require a good deal of modification to vehicles, additional permanent parts, or other specialisation which prevents them being for casual use. Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a temporary structure attachable to a vehicle, comprising a roof portion and an attachment portion, the attachment portion being adapted to attach to a point on the vehicle . The roof portion may be formed from a flexible material. The flexible material may be water-resistant. The flexible material may be water-proof.

The attachment portion may comprise a first end of the roof portion .

The attachment portion may further comprise attachment members extending from the first end.

The attachment members may comprise tabs.

The tabs, in use, may be trappable between selectively moving portions of the vehicle.

The tabs, in use, may be trappable between the door(s) and the door surrounds/roof of the vehicle. The tabs, in use, may be trappable between the windows and window frames of the movable windows of the car.

The tabs may be formed from the same material as the roof portion .

In use, the attachment members may attach to a first side of the vehicle, the roof portion may extend over the roof of the vehicle and extend out and away from a second side of the vehicle .

For example, the tabs may engage with the driver's side door of a car, the roof portion may then extend over the roof of the car, and extend outwardly from the passenger's side of the car. It will be understood that the opposite is

possible .

The roof portion may be a substantially quadrilateral shape.

The roof portion may be a substantially trapezoidal shape.

The temporary structure may include wall and/or floor

portions, attached to said roof portion to form a enclosed or partially enclosed structure.

Said further portions may be formed from the same material and/or substrate as the roof portion. They may be joined by any suitable joining means including: living hinges, VELCRO ® fastenings, button fastenings, zips and so forth.

The temporary structure may further include one or more mounting members.

The mounting member (s) may attach to a second portion of the roof portion located distally from the first portion. The mounting member (s) may be selectively ground-engageable on their ends located distally from the roof portion engagement side.

The mounting member (s) may be poles.

The mounting member (s) may be around 700mm - 2000mm in length .

The mounting member (s) may be around 1100mm - 1500mm in length .

The mounting member (s) may be around 1300mm in length.

The temporary structure may further include one or more tensioning member (s) .

The tensioning member (s) may be wires attachable to the temporary structure and ground-engageable.

The tensioning member (s) may be guy-ropes attachable to the temporary structure and ground-engageable. There may be one or more ground-engageable member (s) to fasten the tensioning members and/or the mounting members securely to the ground.

The ground-engageable member (s) may be pegs.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a vehicle including an attached temporary structure according to the first aspect of the present invention .

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a kit of parts for forming the temporary structure of the first aspect, the kit including at least a roof portion and an attachment portion, the attachment portion being adapted to attach to a point on the vehicle.

The kit may further include one or more mounting members.

The kit may further include one or more tensioning members.

The kit may further include one or more ground-engageable member (s) to fasten the tensioning members and/or the

mounting members securely to the ground.

It will be appreciated that the modifications and optional features of the first aspect of the invention will equally apply to the third aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of attaching a temporary structure to a vehicle comprising the steps of: - entrapping a flexible roof structure at a first end to a selectively movable portion (s) of the vehicle on a first side of said vehicle;

- folding the flexible roof structure over the roof of the vehicle;

- extending the flexible roof structure to a point

beyond the locus of the vehicle;

- supporting the flexible roof structure at a raised height at said point.

The selectively movable portions may be the doors of the vehicle .

The selectively movable portions may be the windows of the vehicle .

The vehicle may be a car.

The flexible roof structure may extend from a second side of the vehicle.

The second side may be located distally from the first side.

The roof portion may be supported by one or more mounting members .

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the various aspects of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a temporary structure according to the first aspect of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the temporary structure of Fig. 1 attached to a vehicle, resulting in the second aspect of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a further perspective view from a different perspective of the temporary structure of Fig. 1 attached to a vehicle, resulting in the second aspect of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the attachment point of the temporary structure of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of some of the components of the temporary structure of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 6 is a plan view of some further components of the temporary structure of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 7 is a perspective detail view of a mounting member supporting the temporary structure of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a second embodiment temporary structure according to the first aspect of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Fig. 1, a

temporary structure 10 is depicted. Temporary structure 10 is attachable to a vehicle C, and comprises a roof portion 12 and an attachment portion 14, the attachment portion 14 being adapted to attach to a point on the vehicle C. The

attachment portion is located at a first end 11 of the temporary structure 10.

Roof portion 12 extends from the attachment portion 14 to a second end 13 of the temporary structure 10. The temporary structure 10 once erected provides a simple shelter to the elements, be that precipitation or sunlight.

Temporary structure 10 and roof portion 12 are formed from a flexible material, in this embodiment the material is UV protected, water and rot proof, 10 x 10 per inch square weave and llOgm per metre square weight, but it will be appreciated by the skilled addressee that various materials may be used, for example a simple canvas or a plastics material or

anything which may be deemed suitable for the purpose.

It is especially desirable in this context that the flexible material is water-resistant and preferably entirely water- proof.

Temporary structure 10 and roof portion 12 are a generally trapezoidal shape, with the shorter side of the trapezoid being the attachment portion 14.

Attachment members 16 are attached to attachment portion 14 and extend from the first end 11. The attachment members 16 in the present embodiment comprise simple square tabs 16 of the same flexible material used to construct temporary structure 10. The tabs 16 are approximately 120mm on each side .

It will be appreciated by the skilled addressee that the particular construction, size and material of the attachment members 16 may be modified to suit alternative constructions and so forth.

Apertures 18 are located at both corners of roof portion 12 adjacent second end 13. The apertures 18 enable the

attachment of tensioning members 20 and/or mounting members 22 to the roof portion 12 and temporary structure 10.

Tensioning members 20 comprise guy-ropes 20 of a type that may be usable with traditional tent structures. Pegs 21 enable the guy-ropes 20 to be anchored into the ground in a known fashion, again similarly as with traditional tent structures. The guy-ropes 20 are adjustable in length to accommodate variations in the locations that the temporary structure 10 may be deployed.

Mounting members 22 comprise poles 22, again being of a type that may be usable with traditional tent structures. The poles 22 are collapsible multi-section poles 22, which when not in use may be broken down into their component sections to enable easier storage. Elongate rods 24 extend from one end of the poles 22 to enable engagement with aperture 18 and guy-ropes 20.

To erect temporary structure 10 it is laid upon the roof R of car C with the attachment portion 14 being located adjacent the passenger-side doors D. Tabs 16 should hang down

adjacent the doors D.

Doors D are opened such that tabs 16 are located adjacent the upper portion of door seals DS, see Fig. 3.

Doors D are then closed, trapping tabs 16 between doors D and door seals DS .

Roof portion 12 extends over roof R and outwardly from the driver's side of car C. Poles 22 are placed onto the ground G at appropriate points from the driver's side of car C.

Apertures 18 are mounted onto the poles 22 via the rods 24.

Guy-ropes 20 are then attached, pulled taught to tension the temporary structure 10, and then secured to ground G using pegs 21. This process may be simply reversed to dismantle the temporary structure 10.

The temporary structure 10 may be deployed on the opposite side i.e. tabs 16 trapped on the driver's side of car C and extending beyond passenger's side of car C.

The various components of temporary structure 10 may be provided in a kit of parts for stowage in car C.

A second embodiment of the present invention is depicted in Fig. 8, namely a temporary structure 110. The second embodiment is broadly similar to the first embodiment, and similar features share the same numbering scheme as used for the first embodiment, albeit prefixed with a '1' .

The major difference, is the inclusion of two further apertures 119 located along the sides of the temporary structure, approximately midway between the first and second ends. These additional apertures 119 allow additional guy- ropes 120 and pegs to be attached to provide extra tension and improve water run-off from the roof of the structure.

Modifications and improvements may be incorporated into the present invention and embodiments hereinbefore described without departing from the scope of the invention.

The temporary structure may be formed from other materials than those described, such as simple canvas, plastics, leather, silk, etc.

The purpose of the temporary structure may be modified to that of a simple sun-shade in environments where precipitation is not as widespread.

The temporary structure is not limited to use with a car, but may be deployed with other vehicles, such as pick-ups, SUVs, 4x4s, etc.

The temporary structure need not be a trapezoidal shape;

other suitable shapes may be employed. Further, different sizes may be employed as opposed to those listed, for

different sizes of vehicle and/or desired structure size.

Further, different sizes of pole or mounting member may be employed for different vehicle heights or desired height of structure .

It is envisaged possible that the temporary structure may include side-walls to more fully enclose the space under the roof portion. Such side-walls may be formed integrally with the roof portion, or may be selectively attachable/detachable using suitable attachment methods, such as zips, snap- fasteners, VELCRO® fastenings, etc.