Self coiling roll-up car cover

Abstract

A self roll-up car cover has a built-in spring between waterproof sheets or a synthetic sheet with a built-in memory to return to a spiral shape when rolled out of the spiral configuration and then released. The rear half of the cover has an end rod and a central opening that allows it to be hooked over a trunk lock mechanism and kept secure when the trunk is then shut. The front half of the cover has a lead rope or belt with two hooks for securing under the hood of the vehicle or any other edged surface. The tension in the cover keeps it stretched out and the overlapping portion of the front and back covers maintains at least a portion of the cover elevated above the vehicle.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An self-coiling roll-up vehicle cover for covering a top of a vehicle, the cover comprising: 
 a vehicle cover comprising a front cover and a rear cover each having a built-in tension means for normally maintaining the cover in a rolled up spiral configuration, the front cover and the rear cover overlapping in a mutually engaging double spiral roll so that the front cover and rear cover are normally biased to roll up together in the double spiral roll with each cover having an overlapping end and a free end, so that the front cover and the rear cover are capable of being unrolled from the double spiral roll with the free end of the front cover unrolling in an opposite direction to the free end of the rear cover, the cover capable of rolling up by itself in the double spiral for storage and capable of being stretched out to cover a vehicle;    a rear vehicle attaching means secured to the free end of the rear cover for removably attaching the free end of the rear cover to a rear end of the vehicle;    a front vehicle attaching means secured to the free end of the front cover so that the free end of the front cover is capable of being attached to a front of a vehicle;    wherein with the vehicle cover in the rolled up double spiral configuration, the free end of one of the front and rear covers is capable of being attached to one end of the vehicle and the free end of the other of the front and rear covers is capable of being pulled toward the other end of the vehicle causing the cover to unroll from the double spiral configuration and the free end of the other of the front and rear covers is capable of being attached to the other end of the vehicle, thereby covering a top of the vehicle with the double spiral configuration over a portion of the vehicle elevating at least a portion of the vehicle cover above the vehicle and the built-in tension means causing both of the covers to remain in a taught condition and further causing the vehicle cover to roll up into the double spiral configuration upon release of the free end of one of the covers.    
     
     
         2 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the rear vehicle attaching means comprises an end portion of the free end of the rear cover sufficiently narrow to fit within a trunk opening on the vehicle and further comprising a rigid element along a far edge of the free end of the rear cover, the rear cover being provided with an opening in a center portion of the free end, the opening capable of fitting over a locking mechanism of the trunk, so that the free end of the rear cover is capable of being hooked over the locking mechanism and the trunk closed with the rear end of the cover locked in the trunk to retain the rear end of the cover therein.  
     
     
         3 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the two overlapping portions of the cover are apportioned such that the double spiral configuration is positioned on a roof of the vehicle upon attaching the free ends of the covers to the vehicle so that the double spiral configuration maintains at least a portion of the vehicle cover in an elevated position above the roof of the vehicle thereby creating an air space between the cover and the roof of the vehicle.  
     
     
         4 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the front vehicle attaching means comprises a rigid rod attached across a far edge of the free end of the front cover and a hook means for attaching the front end of the cover to the front of the vehicle.  
     
     
         5 . The vehicle cover of  claim 4  wherein the hook means comprises a cord means having at least one hook capable of hooking onto an element on the front of the vehicle.  
     
     
         6 . The vehicle cover of  claim 5  wherein the cord means has two hooks attached thereto, the hooks having non-scratching surfaces and configurations such that they are capable of hooking under a hood of the vehicle without scratching the vehicle.  
     
     
         7 . The vehicle cover of  claim 5  wherein the cord means has two hooks attached thereto, the hooks having non-scratching surfaces and configurations such that they are capable of hooking under a front bumper of the vehicle without scratching the vehicle.  
     
     
         8 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the vehicle cover further comprises a means for adjusting the width of the vehicle cover to accommodate vehicles of varying widths.  
     
     
         9 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the front cover and the rear cover each comprise two overlapping mating strips of material with built-in tension means positioned side by side along the length of the vehicle cover so that the two separate overlapping mating strips of material are capable of overlapping to a greater or lesser degree thereby enabling the width of the vehicle cover to be adjusted to accommodate vehicles of various widths..  
     
     
         10 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the built-in tension means comprises a series of spiral spring elements aligned in parallel along the length of the front cover and the rear cover and further comprising a top and a bottom layer of material secured together sandwiching the spring elements therebetween.  
     
     
         11 . The vehicle cover of  claim 10  wherein at least the top layer of material is a waterproof material.  
     
     
         12 . The vehicle cover of  claim 1  wherein the front cover and the bottom cover are each fabricated of a sheet synthetic material and the built-in tension means comprises the built-in memory of the material to be in a spiral configuration and to return to the spiral configuration when rolled out of the spiral configuration and then released.