WEIGHTED TARP

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to tarps and storage covers and more particularly pertains to a new weighted tarp for covering items and objects. The use of tarps is well known to protect outdoor objects from the elements. Tarps can be used for other reasons as well, such as to provide a clean surface on which to place items. When used outdoors, wind can easily blow a tarp away, so it is important to secure the tarp in place. This can be done with stakes or anchors of some kind, though these take considerable effort and usually are not necessary for simple covers. The more common approach is to place heavy items at the perimeter edges of the tarp, and possibly on the space within the perimeter edges. For small tarps, smaller rocks or bricks are often sufficient. However, for larger tarps that could capture or engage greater amounts of wind, heavier weights, such as cinder blocks, are often used. Such blocks are very heavy, and thus difficult to transport and an injury risk to the users. Such blocks could also damage an item under the tarp. The weighted tarp of the present application provides the increased weight and securing force of objects like cinder blocks, but without the difficulty of transport and the risk of injury to the users or items under the tarp. The weighted tarp uses bladders that can be filled with liquid, thereby enabling the user to easily move and place the weighted tarp with empty or partially-filled bladders, and then partially or fully fill the bladders to achieve a greater weight once the weighted tarp is in a desired position over an item or object, such as a vehicle, building, construction materials, or natural materials, such as dirt or rocks.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to tarps and storage covers. The prior art, as best understood, does not disclose a weighted tarp that includes a panel, a plurality of bladders attached to the panel, and fill ports. Each of the bladders is designed to be filled with at least four liters of liquid to weigh down the panel. Each of the fill ports is positioned in an associated one of the bladders to permit filling of the bladders with liquid.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above in a weighted tarp generally comprising a panel, a plurality of bladders attached to the panel, and fill ports. Each of the bladders is designed to be filled with at least four liters of liquid to weigh down the panel. Each of the fill ports is positioned in an associated one of the bladders to permit filling of the bladders with liquid.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a weighted tarp according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the embodiment in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the embodiment in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 9 thereof, a new weighted tarp embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described. It should be noted that the phrase “weighted tarp” is used herein to describe the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure shown in the figures, though the weighted tarp is at times unweighted in the sense that the bladders do not have any liquid therein. However, for clarity and to distinguish between standard tarps that do not have fillable bladders like the exemplary embodiment, the phrase “weighted tarp” will be used herein.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 9, the weighted tarp 10 generally comprises a panel 12, a plurality of bladders 14 attached to the panel 12, and fill ports 16. Each of the bladders 14 is designed to be filled with at least four liters of liquid to weigh down the panel 12. Each of the fill ports 16 is positioned in an associated one of the bladders 14 to permit filling of the bladders 14 with liquid.

For clarity, it should be noted that the bladders 14 are not filled in FIG. 1, but are fully filled in FIG. 2. FIGS. 5 and 6 show cross-sectional views of the bladders 14 filled with liquid, such as water 42. In addition, where unnecessary for an understanding of the invention, reference numerals for some duplicate components are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the panel 12 includes a plurality of perimeter edges 18. The panel 12 could be in the form of a rectangle or square, or possibly other shapes, such as a trapezoid or triangle.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of bladders 14 includes peripheral bladders 20 positioned at the perimeter edges 18 of the panel 12, and medial bladders 22 positioned at a portion of the panel 12 within the perimeter edges 18. However, in one possible embodiment, the medial bladders 22 could be omitted, as shown in FIG. 9.

Each of the peripheral bladders 20 is attached at an associated one of the perimeter edges 18 of the panel 12. Each of the peripheral bladders 20 includes a proximal side 24 coupled to an associated one of the perimeter edges 18, such that an entirety of each of the peripheral bladders 20 extends laterally outwardly from the associated perimeter edge of the panel 12. In one possible embodiment, the peripheral bladders 20 could be integrally formed into the panel 12, such that the entirety or a portion of the bladders 14 is located within the perimeter edges 18 of the panel 12.

Each of the medial bladders 22 is integrally formed in the panel 12, such as is shown in the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 5. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, each of the medial bladders 22 is positioned at a central portion 26 of the panel 12. Each of the medial bladders 22 is positioned end to end in a line along an axis of the panel 12. However, in another possible embodiment, the medial bladders 22 could be located in other positions on the panel 12 and in other alignments to produce different weighting effects.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the weighted tarp 10 also includes drain ports 28. Each of the drain ports 28 is positioned in a lower surface 30 of an associated one of the bladders 14 to permit draining of liquid. Each of the fill ports 16 is disposed in an upper surface 40 of an associated one of the bladders 14.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the weighted tarp 10 also includes vents 32 positioned in the panel 12 to permit flow of air through the panel 12. Each of the vents 32 includes an air-permeable and water-impermeable material, such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), to allow air flow but prevent liquid, such as water, from passing through the vents 32 under the panel 12.

Each of the fill ports 16 includes a one-way valve 34 to permit filling of liquid and prevent draining of liquid. The one-way valve 34 could be a duckbill valve, such as shown in FIG. 6. In one possible embodiment, the fill ports 16 could be openings covered by a cap or plug.

The bladders 14 can be virtually any size to hold any desired amount of liquid, though they should be large enough to hold down a large tarp that could catch a large amount of wind. The bladders 14 in the exemplary embodiment are designed to hold at least four liters of liquid, or about one U.S. gallon. Four liters weigh approximately four kilograms, or about 8.8 pounds. In other possible embodiments, larger bladders 14 could be used that hold eight or more liters of liquid, or about two U.S. gallons. In one possible embodiment, the bladders 14 could be about two to three feet (about 60 cm to 90 cm) long or more, and about two to six inches (about 5 cm to 15 cm) wide or more. The bladders 14 could expand to a height of about one to three inches (about 2.5 cm to 7.5 cm), or more. In another possible embodiment, the bladders 14 could have even smaller dimensions, such as about one foot (about 30 cm) length, about one inch (about 2.5 cm) width, and about one inch (about 2.5 cm) height. For example, a tubular bladder could be three feet long, four inches wide, and two inches high, or about 60 cm long, about 10 cm wide, and about 5 cm high. Such a bladder could hold approximately 18 to 20 liters, or about 4.7 to 5.2 US gallons, of liquid, which would produce a substantial weight of about 18 to 20 kilograms, or about 40 to 44 pounds.

With reference to FIG. 7, the bladder 14 could be designed as a detached structure that could be attached to any kind of tarp. The bladder 14 in FIG. 7 has a similar design as the peripheral bladders 20 of FIG. 1, but instead of being integrally formed with the tarp itself, the bladder 14 includes clamps 36 attached to the body 38. The clamps 36 are designed to be detachably connected to a perimeter edge of a tarp to weigh down the perimeter edge. While clamps 36 are shown, other connecting structures such as zippers or buttons or snaps could be used, though the clamps allow use of the bladder 14 with any tarp.

FIG. 8 shows possible uses of the weighted tarp 10 on a house 70, a vehicle 72, or a pile of dirt 74. To use the weighted tarp 10, a person takes the weighted tarp 10 with the bladders 14 not filled with any liquid, as shown in FIG. 1. At this point the weighted tarp 10 is rather light and easy to transport and position over an item to be covered. Once the weighted tarp 10 is in a desired position, the user can fill the bladders 14 with liquid, such as water. As shown in FIG. 2, the filled bladders 14 can be filled and expanded to weigh down the weighted tarp 10 to hold it in place over an object. When the user is done using the weighted tarp 10, the user can access the drain ports 28 to drain the liquid. The user does not need to only fill the bladders 14 when the weighted tarp 10 is in position on an object. Instead, the user could partially fill some or all of the bladders 14, or possibly fully fill some of the bladders 14, such as the medial bladders 22, and then draw the weighted tarp 10 over the object. The user could then finish filling the unfilled bladders 14. Since the bladders 14 are only partially filled, the weighted tarp 10 is still not so heavy that movement is difficult.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in the figures, each of the bladders 14 is elongated, though other shapes and configurations are within the scope of the disclosure. However, an elongated design has the advantage of sealing a large portion of the perimeter edges 18, thereby preventing air from blowing up under the weighted tarp 10. While the medial bladders 22 could be omitted, in the embodiments that include medial bladders 22, they can provide a weighting force in the center of the weighted tarp 10, especially along raised areas, such as the top of the pile of dirt or the roof of the vehicle shown in FIG. 8.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.