CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a non-provisional application of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/521,195, filed on Jun. 16, 2017, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of Invention

The present invention relates to furniture covers and, more particularly, to a retractable outdoor furniture cover.

(2) Description of Related Art

Outdoor furniture used on patios and decks, for instance, can often be susceptible to elements such as rain and sun when exposed for extended periods of time. This exposure can cause wear and damage over time, so furniture covers are often used during periods of non-use. Furniture covers can be designed to fit a variety of furniture types, such as couches and reclining chairs, and can prevent the damage of sun and precipitation. However, these furniture covers are often bulky and large. This makes them time consuming to put on and hard to manage individually.

Thus, a continuing need exists for an outdoor furniture cover that is easier to put on, thereby reducing the time it takes to use.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to furniture cover and, more specifically, a retractable outdoor furniture cover for protecting outdoor furniture during periods of non-use. The retractable furniture cover includes a housing and a retractable material attached with the housing that can be selectively drawn from the housing or retracted into the housing. In various aspects, the housing is built into the piece of outdoor furniture, the piece of outdoor furniture having a back, with the housing connected with the back of the piece of outdoor furniture.

In other aspects, a shade support is attached with the piece of outdoor furniture. The shade support is pivotally connected with the piece of outdoor furniture to transition between a first position and a second position, such that when in the second position, the shade support maintains the retractable material upright in a sustained elevated position above a seating area of the piece of outdoor such that a space exists between the piece of outdoor furniture and the retractable material to accommodate a user.

In yet another aspect, the piece of outdoor furniture includes two front legs and two rear legs, and further comprises a ball and socket wheel attached with each of the rear legs. In another aspect, the ball and socket wheels are attached with the front legs as well, or any combination thereof.

In yet another aspect, the shade support is a u-shaped bar.

Further and in another aspect, the piece of outdoor furniture includes a top surface, with a recess formed in the top surface to accommodate the shade support when in a first position.

Finally, as can be appreciated by one in the art, the present invention also comprises a method for forming and using the invention described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the various aspects of the invention in conjunction with reference to the following drawings, where:

FIG. 1A is an illustration of the retractable outdoor furniture cover, in one possible form, while rolled into a housing to attach to a piece of furniture;

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional, side-view illustration taken from a section as depicted in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a top-view illustration, depicting the retractable outdoor furniture cover in a housing, and placement of the housing with respect to a couch according to various embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a top-view illustration of the retractable outdoor furniture cover in both an retracted and expanded position;

FIG. 4 is a top-view illustration of the retractable outdoor furniture cover, depicting an aspect in which the retractable outdoor furniture cover is attached with a reclining chair according to various embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a top-view illustration of the retractable outdoor furniture cover attached to a reclining chair, demonstrating the retracted and expanded positions;

FIG. 6A is an elevated-view illustration of a secondary use for the retractable outdoor furniture cover, depicting a shade support in a first position;

FIG. 6B is an elevated-view illustration of the secondary use for the retractable outdoor furniture cover, depicting the shade support being moved into position and the cover being pulled to engage with the shade support;

FIG. 6C is an elevated-view illustration of the secondary use for the retractable outdoor furniture cover, depicting the shade support in a second position, such that the cover is secured with the shade support to form a temporary shade structure; and

FIG. 7 is an elevated-view illustration of the retractable outdoor furniture cover in the expanded position, while securing to the end of the chair to provide full coverage of the furniture, and showing the wheels attached to the legs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to furniture covers and, more particularly, to a retractable outdoor furniture cover. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and to incorporate it in the context of particular applications. Various modifications, as well as a variety of uses in different applications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to a wide range of embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments presented, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without necessarily being limited to these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. All the features disclosed in this specification, (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is only one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

Furthermore, any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. Section 12, Paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” or “act of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, Paragraph 6.

Please note, if used, the labels left, right, front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise and counter clockwise have been used for convenience purposes only and are not intended to imply any particular fixed direction. Instead, they are used to reflect relative locations and/or directions between various portions of an object.

(1) Description

The present invention relates to furniture covers and, more particularly, to a retractable outdoor furniture cover. The outdoor furniture cover is used to allow a user to easily draw out the retractable cover and cover any desired outdoor patio furniture. As a non-limiting example and as depicted in FIG. 1A, the outdoor furniture cover 100 is composed of a retractable material 102 (such as a spring actuated vinyl roller shade as is commonly used for window coverings) which can be attached with a housing 104 or other component (such as wound around a rod, etc.) for affixing with patio furniture. A non-limiting example of such a retractable material 102 is the Levolor® roller shade, produced by Levolor, Inc., located at 3 Glenlake Parkway NE, 10th Floor Atlanta, Ga. 30328.

The housing 104 or component can be built into the patio furniture or separately formed and attached with patio furniture using any suitable mechanism or device 106, such as clips, screws, etc. In various embodiments, the outdoor furniture cover 100 can include a handle 108 attached to the end of the retractable material 102 for ease of pulling the retractable material 102 out of the housing 104. The drawings submitted herewith provide a few non-limiting examples of a retractable outdoor furniture cover 100. Importantly, the retractable outdoor furniture cover 100 is any suitable mechanism or device that allows the retractable material 102 (e.g., sunshade, plastic, tarp, canvas, etc.) to retract or be selectively drawn from the housing 104 to cover the outdoor furniture.

For further understanding, FIG. 1B provides a cross-sectional side-view illustration of the retractable outdoor furniture cover 100, depicting the retractable material 102 as rolled up within the housing 104.

The retractable cover 100, as described above, can be designed for use on any type of outdoor furniture. As a non-limiting example and as shown in FIG. 2, the cover housing 104 can be used on a couch 200. The housing 104 can be attached or built-in to the back face of the couch 200 (or any other furniture), in order to have full range of coverage when extended. As shown in FIG. 3, once attached, the retractable material 102 can be pulled out of the housing 104 to cover the couch 200 completely. To assist the retractable material 102 from withdrawing back into the housing, Velcro or some other suitable fastener or mechanism can be attached with retractable material 102 and/or furniture to affix the retractable material 102 in the expanded position. As a non-limiting example, the furniture (e.g., couch 200) can include a tab or clip 202, allowing the handle 108 to easily wrap around and become affixed with the clip 202. Thus, as depicted, when the retractable material 102 is withdraw and the handle 108 is wrapped around the clip 202, the retractable material 102 remains affixed in the expanded position.

As noted above, the retractable outdoor furniture cover 100 can be implemented in any suitable outdoor furniture. As another non-limiting example, the retractable outdoor furniture cover 100 can be used on an outdoor reclining chair as well. Shown in FIG. 4, the cover housing 104 can be attached or built-in to the back of the chair 400. Similar to the process described above, depicted in FIG. 5, the retractable material 102 can be pulled out of the housing 104 to cover the full length of the reclining chair.

In some aspects and as depicted in FIGS. 6A through 6C, the outdoor furniture (e.g., chair 400) and retractable cover 100 can be also be formed to include a shade support 600 that allows the retractable material 102 to also operate as a sunshade. As shown in FIGS. 6A through 6C, the shade support 600 is any suitable mechanism or device that is operable for maintaining the retractable material 102 in an elevated positioned above a seating area 602 of the chair 400 such that a space exists between the chair 400 and retractable material 102 to accommodate a user. In this aspect, the retractable material 102 then operates as a sunshade to provide partial shade to a user sitting on the chair 400. As a non-limiting example, the shade support 600 can be a u-shaped bar that is pivotally attachable with a mechanism 604 with the chair 400. In this aspect, the shade support 600 can be rotated upwards (or in the desired direction depending on the particular shade support 600 shape or configuration) into a desirable position to engage with the cover 100 and protect the user from the sun. The cover 100 can be formed to include any suitable attachment mechanism 606 (e.g., hook and loop fasteners, etc.) that allows a user to easily attach the retractable material 102 with the end of the shade support 600. For example and as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, when the shade support 600 is positioned next to the retractable material 102, the attachment mechanism 606 can simply wrap around the shade support 600 to affix with the retractable material 102 and maintain the retractable material 102 in the desired position and maintain the shade support 600 in the second or use position. In some aspects, to prevent the shade support 600 from simply dropping down toward the chair 400, the mechanism 604 that allows for rotation of the shade support 600 can be sticky or otherwise strong enough (i.e., resistant to rotation when not forcibly rotating the shade support 600) to simply maintain the shade support 600 in the desired position. In other aspects, the mechanism 604 can be a pivoting hinge with periodic detents to selectively stop the rotation of the shade support 600 in the desired position.

As yet another non-limiting example and only as shown in FIG. 6C for illustrative purposes, a stop bar 608 can be pivotally connected with the shade support 600, with a corresponding receptacle 610 formed on the chair 400 or otherwise attached with the chair 400 to receive the stop bar 608. Thus, in this non-limiting example, a user would lift the shade support 600 and then pivot the stop bar 608 and nest the stop bar 608 into the receptacle 610 to fix the shade support 600 in the elevated position.

In some aspects and as shown in FIGS. 6A and 7, the chair 400 can be formed to include a recess 612 to accommodate the shade support 600 when in the rest or first position. For example, a channel can be formed in a top surface of the chair to receive the shade support 600 when positioned upon the chair 400. As yet another example, the top surface of the chair 400 can be formed of slats, with the slats spaced such that a recess exists between the slats to receive the shade support 600.

In various aspects, when the sunshade is not in use, the cover 100 can be rolled back into the housing (as shown in FIG. 6A) or rolled out to cover the reclining chair 400 (as shown in FIG. 7). In such a case, the shade support 600 can rotate down to rest on chair 400, as seen in FIG. 7, or on the side of the chair 400 or any other location depending on the actual shape and configuration of the shade support 600. When the retractable material 102 is in the expanded position, as shown in FIG. 7, the retractable material 102 can be affixed with the chair 400 using any suitable mechanism or device. As a non-limiting example, the same the attachment mechanism 606 that was used to attach with the shade support 600 can also be used to affix the retractable material 102 with the chair 100. For example, hook and loop fasteners (or snaps, etc.) can be used to affix the retractable material 102 with the end of the chair 400 to cover the surface of the chair 400 and protect the chair 400 for weather elements. It should be noted the cover 100 and shade support 600 described herein can be formed and sold with any suitable outdoor furniture, or separately sold as a kit that can be affixed with a pre-existing outdoor furniture piece using the necessary hardware as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

It shall also be noted that the furniture with the retractable cover 100 can also have wheels attached. As seen in FIG. 6, the wheels 702 are any suitable mechanism or device that allows a user to selectively roll the chair 400 to the desired location. The wheels 702 can be attached with two or any desired numbered of legs 704 of the chair 400. In one aspect, the rear two legs 704 have wheels 704, while the front two legs do not, allowing the user to lift the front of the chair 400 to roll the chair 400 to the desired location. However, desirably and in yet another aspect, all of the legs 704 have wheels 702. When weight by the user is put upon the chair 400, the weight helps to lock the wheels 702 to prevent further rolling.

In various aspects, the wheels 704 are configured as a rolling mechanism inside of a housing (e.g. ball and socket wheels). As a non-limiting example, the wheels are bearings housed in a flange, such as the Hudson Bearing LPBT-1 Series, produced by Hudson Bearings, LLC, located at 7060 Huntley Rd, Columbus, Ohio 43229.

Finally, while this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the invention may have other applications in other environments. It should be noted that many embodiments and implementations are possible. Further, the following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the specific embodiments described above. In addition, any recitation of “means for” is intended to evoke a means-plus-function reading of an element and a claim, whereas, any elements that do not specifically use the recitation “means for”, are not intended to be read as means-plus-function elements, even if the claim otherwise includes the word “means”. Further, while particular method steps have been recited in a particular order, the method steps may occur in any desired order and fall within the scope of the present invention.