GB2199055A - Car shelter or port having a pivotal fold-down roof - Google Patents

Abstract

A car shelter 10 is provided by a roof surface 32 pivotally connected to two metal uprights 14, 16 via respective support brackets 20, 22. In order to maintain the roof in its raised car sheltering position (Fig. 2), respective pivoted cantilever arms 36, 38 are provided between roof members 28, 30 and angled supports 40, 42. The appearance of the car shelter may be enhanced by the addition of panelling 18 to the metal uprights 14, 16. The panelling 18 may also increase the rigidity although a beam 24 between the support brackets 20, 22 is provided for that purpose. <IMAGE>

Description

CAR SHELTER This invention relates to a car shelter especially a car shelter of the type usually positioned adjacent a side wall of a house and commonly referred to as a car port or canopy.

Car shelters of the car port type usually comprise a roof positioned substantially horizontally and projectting perpendicularly from a side wall of a house. The roof is disposed at a height such that a car can be positioned underneath it thus protecting the car from the effects of rain etc. Such car shelters are substantially cheaper and easier to construct than garages as most of the weight of the structure is carried by the existing building wall. Such car ports do have several disadvantages however. Firstly the roof constitutes an obstructionto the passage of vehicles or items, such as a caravan, which are substantially taller than the average car to the rear of the house. The car port may also obstruct daylight to windows near the car port and impede access via a ladder to the building's roof for maintenance purposes.

It is an object of the present invention therefore to provide a car shelter which is effective to protect a vehicle whilst allowing unobstructed access to the immediately adjacent building.

With this object in view the present invention provides a car shelter including a substantially vertical support having means for attachment to a substantially horizontal load bearing surface and a roof surface pivotally secured to the vertical support such that the roof can be disposed in a raised, substantially horizontal, car sheltering position and a substantially vertical lowered position.

Advantageously the substantially vertical support comprises one or more, preferably two, vertical posts.

Preferably the roof surface can be locked in the raised position by locking means preferably a toggle lever system.

Advantageously the roof surface is pivotally secured to the side wall by a cantilever system.

Preferably additional protection is provided by attaching flexible curtains to the rocf surface at its free edges.

Advantageously the roof surface is a rigid P.V.C.

sheet.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective end view of a preferred embodiment of the invention in the lowered position; and Fig. 2 is an end view of the preferred embodiment in the raised position.

Referring firstly to Fig. 1 a preferred embodiment of a car shelter according to the invention, referred to generally by the reference numeral 10, provides a vertical support in the form of a side wall 12 formed by two substantially vertical metal uprights 14, 16 and a plurality of horizontal wooden slats 18. Projecting from the uprights 14, 16 upper ends at an angle of approximately 450 are two support brackets 20, 22. These brackets 20, 22 are attached to and are spaced apart by a beam 24. Each support bracket 20, 22 has an upwardly projecting free end section 26. Pivotally attached to the respective free end section 26 of each of the support brackets 20, 22 are roof members 28, 30 which carry a roof surface 32 of, for example, rigid P.V.C. Additional structural support for the roof surface can be achieved by the provision of additional members 34 as required.Each respective roof member 28, 30 is further connected to respective pairs of cantilevered arms 36, 38 attached at one end to said roof members 28, 30 and at the other to respective angled supporting members 40, 42. The angled supporting members 40, 42 are connected between the support brackets 20, 22 and the uprights 14, 16 respectively. Each pair of arms 36, 38 has three pivotal joints 44, 46, 48, one joint 44 disposed centrally of the arms 36, 38 and the others at their respective ends. In the lowered position illustrated in Fig. 1 a car or other vehicle (not shown) may be positioned alongside the car shelter 10 without impedence and access is possible both to the vehicle's front and rear. Furthermore an adjacent building wall 50 is also accessible via, for example, a ladder.

To raise the car shelter 10, the roof surface 32 is displaced through 90" from its vertical position to a substantially horizontal position pivoting substantially about an axis provided by the beam 24. (Fig. 2). The cantilever arms 36, 38 are also displaced from their lowered position and lock to provide support for the roof surface 32. In this position a car or other vehicle (not shown) may be disposed beneath the roof surface 32 and sheltered or protected from the effects of weather. A particular advantage of this invention is that the roof surface need only be large enough to cover a vehicle's front and rear windows in order to provide shelter and the vehicle's bonnet may be left exposed.

The invention is not confined to the foregoing details and variations are possible. For example the roof surface may be sloped in the raised position to allow water drainage. The wooden slats are provided only on aesthetic merit and they could be omitted without affecting the invention or replaced by, for example, a single sheet of material. The free edge of the roof surface may be provided with latches to allow securement to the adjacent building wal-l for increased stability and rigidity. A second shelter may be provided opposite the first to provide shelter for passengers entering or leaving the vehicle.

The car shelter may have several sections each pivotable independently of the others. Although the vertical support is shown as being of two posts any other number of posts may be provided. Furthermore the vertical support may be in the form of a solid wall structure. One or more of the support members 34 could be enlarged to provide a downwardly projecting element when the canopy is raised.

An additional protection element could be attached across the support brackets 20, 22 and the beam 24.

It is also possible to position a car shelter according to the invention away from a wall such that the shelter is free standing. In this way it would be possible to use manly such shelters in a car park as individual car shelters or at the edge of a drive or road. In this disposition a side protection element, preferably flexible, may be provided depending downwardly from the roof surface's free edge. Other variations may also be possible.

Claims (6)

1. A car shelter including a substantially vertical support having means for attachment to a substantially horizontal load bearing surface and a roof surface pivotally secured to the vertical support such that the roof can be disposed in a raised, substantially horizontal, car sheltering position and a substantially vertical lowered position.

2. -A car shelter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the substantially vertical support is at least one substantially vertical post.

3. A car shelter as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein the roof surface may be locked in its raised position by locking means.

4. A car shelter as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the roof surface is pivotally secured to the vertical support by at least one pivoted cantilever arm.

5. A car shelter as claimed in any preceding claim wherein one or more flexible curtains are provided attached to the roof surface's free edges.

6. A car shelter substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.