Protective Edge Weighted Cover Cloth

Abstract

A protective cover cloth having continuous flexible weights secured along at least two opposed edges for securing the cover against wind blowing, etc... The cover cloth may be made from insulated materials and heated for curing concrete. Sand, shot or other particulate material, possibly in individual bags, is inserted in a wide hem or tubes attached along the edges of the cover.

Description

Cover cloths, which include tarpaulins, drop cloths, blankets, sheets, wrapping and the like, have many uses both inside and outside various types of structures. A few of such pieces include coverings for objects during painting, protection of various items from adverse weather conditions, protection for stored items and the like. All such coverings are sheet like material, and as such, they are subject to being disarranged from their spread-out covering position over the desired area by many different factors. People, vehicles, wind and the like can cause a disarray of the coverings so as to expose the covered objects.

It is, therefore, an object and advantage of the present invention to provide a covering having at least two opposed, continuously weighted edges which tend to hold the covering in a spread-out position.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive and simple means for holding a covering spread over any desired area against disarrangement by wind or other extraneous forces.

Still another object and advantage of the invention is to provide a covering which has attached weights providing self-contained hold-down means.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a rectangular covering having four edges containing continuous flexible weight material for securing such covering in a spreadout condition.

An additional object of the invention is to provide insulated and/or heated rectangular covering having flexible weight means continuously extending around the periphery of such covering for securing the covering in spread-out position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a selfcontained covering for securing the same over desired areas, but which is sufficiently light for easy transportation and still provide a secure covering over a desired area under adverse conditions.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readily ascertained by referring to the following description and appended illustrations in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the rectangular covering according to the invention illustrating one form of weighting means extending completely around the periphery of the rectangular covering;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device of FIG. 1 taken along section lines 2--2;

FIG. 3 is a modified form of a rectangular cover showing continuous weighting on two opposed edges of the covering;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a modified form of covering providing an insulating covering for curing concrete and the like;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a rectangular covering including a weighted flexible periphery and including heating wires in the insulated body; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional detail view of a modified form of securing means for flexible weighting material along the edge of a cover cloth.

In the device illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a rectangular sheet material cover 10 may be formed of any size and any desired material. For example, the cover may be made from cloth of woven, natural or synthetic fibers, may be of continuous sheet material such as synthetic plastic film or the like, may be of metal covered sheet material such as aluminum foil on canvas, or the like, or may be of any desired flexible cloth-like material used for covering any object. The sheet-like material may be made in any size and generally is made rectangular for ease of manufacture and use.

Opposed edges 12 and 14 are folded back along themselves and are sewn together to form a pocket or wide hem which extends along the length of the cloth 10. In a similar manner, edges 16 and 18 are folded back along themselves and are sewn to form an elongated pocket along the edge of the cloth. As shown in FIG. 2, edge 12 is folded back along itself and sewn by stitching 13 extending along the edge and in the same manner, edge 14 is folded back along itself and is stitched at 15, both forming an elongated pocket along the edge. In a similar manner, the edges 16 and 18 are folded and stitched to form an elongated pocket. The pocket at edge 12 is filled with sand, shot, or other granular or particulate weighting material 20 and the pocket at edge 14 is likewise filled with a similar material 21. The weighting material 20 and 21 is preferably granular so as to form a continuous weight which is flexible and easy to handle. The pockets at edges 16 and 18 are similarly filled with the particulate material. With the pockets sewn tight, the cloth may be spread out and used to cover any desired item. The weighted edge holds the cloth from disarray by wind, people, etc. In a 12 ft. by 15 ft. canvas tarp, with the edges rolled back and sewn, about 40 to 50 pounds of sand may be placed in the tubes along the edges to provide weighting material for the canvas. If desired, small separate bags of sand may be placed in the hem formed by the turning back and stitching rather than filling the tube with free sand. By the use of the small bags, the weighting material may be made semi-permanent since a corner may be left open for removal of the bags if desired.

The modification shown in FIG. 3 includes a rectangular cover 25 having opposed edges 26 and 27 turned back upon themselves and edge 26 has stitching 28 therealong to form a tube and edge 27 has stitching 29 therealong to form a tube along that side. The ends 30 and 31 of the tube 26 may be closed after insertion of free sand, shot or particulate material, or insertion of individual bags 28a containing this material. Stitching 29a, across the tube 26, may be provided to hold the bags or loose material in position. In a similar manner, the tube 27 has its ends 32 and 33 closed after the insertion of weighting material in the edge. The size of the cloth 25 is, of course, determined by the size of the object over which it will be placed.

The modification of FIG. 4 utilizes an insulated cover 35 with edges 36 and 37 folded back upon themselves and stitched to form tubes. Weighting material 38, as described above, is placed in the tube 36 and weighting material 39 is placed in the tube 37 to form flexible edge weights for the insulated cloth 35. In a similar manner, the edge 40 is folded back upon itself and stitched to provide a tube for holding the weighting material for the cover.

The modification of FIG. 5 includes a cover or insulating blanket 45 having edges 46, 47, 48 and 49 folded back along themselves and sewn to form tubes in which weighting material is placed. The insulated blanket 45 has included therein, electric heating coils 50 to provide heat for curing cement or the like, and a connection 51, illustrated as a two prong plug, is arranged to be connected to an electrical source to provide current for the coils in the blanket 45. The heated insulated blanket is useful for curing concrete in cold weather where it is desirable to maintain the temperature of the concrete above freezing at least for its initial setting period.

The modification of FIG. 6 illustrates a cover 60 having a tube 61 extended along its edge filled with a weighting material 62. The tube 61 extends along the length of an edge of the cover 60 and is fastened by means of a plurality of snap fasteners 63 to snap fasteners 64 secured in the edge of the cover. This provides a semi-permanent means of affixing weighting tubes along all the edges of the cover. Obviously, various types of fasteners may be used to secure the tubes of weighting material along the cover edges, and these would include zippers, Velcro fasteners, and the like. Preferably, the tube should extend along the full edge of the cover to prevent bulges in the edge which permits wind to enter under the edges and disarray the spread-out cover.

The weighting materials should extend along the full edge of the drop cloths or covers, and in the preferred form, the weighting material extends along all peripheral edges as a continuous flexible weight. This provides means for securing the edges of the cloth to the supporting material, which may be the ground, floor, etc. to prevent wind from coming under the edge of the cloth, filling the same and blowing the cloth away or disarraying it from its spread-out position. As pointed out above, 40 or 50 pounds of sand are sufficient to weight a 12 .times. 15 ft. drop cloth, and in similar manner, various weights may be used for different sizes of cover cloth depending on the use for which it will be made. By having the weighting material continuous and flexible, the weighted edge conforms to the contours of the surface on which the cloth is spread, thus providing a secure means for holding the cloth down under adverse conditions.

Although a weighted, rectangular drop cloth or cover has been shown and described in this specification, it is to be understood that this shape is illustrative and the cover may be provided in any shape desired, such as circular, oblong or irregular. In addition, it is obvious that this invention is not to be limited to the exact description disclosed, and that changes in detail and construction may be made therein within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Inflatable tubes may be sewn or otherwise attached to the cover cloth for arching it over fresh concrete. For example, an inflatable tube of 2 or 3 inches diameter may be sewn around the periphery of a 12 ft. .times. 71/2 ft. drop cloth inside the weight tubes as described for the device of FIG. 1. A single inflatable tube across the center, e.g., on the center 6 feet from each end, along with the end inflatable tubes permits the cover cloth to be arched over fresh concrete.

Claims

I claim:

1. A cover cloth article for covering an object or an area, said article comprising:

a. a body of flexible sheet material;

b. flexible weight means arranged continuously along at least opposite edges of said body, said flexible weight means being a loose, particulate weight material; and

c. means for securing said weight means to the edge of said body, said securing means being at least one elongated closed tube formed from flexible material and arranged to contain the particulate material of said flexible weight means, said flexible elongated tube being joined to the edge of said body for holding the body over said object or area to prevent its disarray by extrinsic forces such as wind.

2. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 1, wherein said body of sheet material is rectangular.

3. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 1, wherein said flexible weight means is arranged continuously around the entire perimeter edge of said body.

4. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 1 wherein

said elongated flexible tube includes an edge of said body which is folded back on itself with the edge attached to said body and with the ends of said tube closed to contain the particulate weight material therein.

5. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 1, wherein said particulate weight material is sand.

6. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 1 wherein

said flexible weight means is a plurality of individual elongated bags filled with the loose particulate weight material; and

said bags are enclosed within said elongated tube.

7. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 1 wherein

said securing means includes detachable fastener means for joining said elongated tube to the edge of said body.

8. A cover cloth article as defined in claim 7, wherein

said detachable fastener means is a plurality of snap fasteners spaced along said body edge.