GB2049571A - Tonneau cover for an open-top motor car - Google Patents

Abstract

A tonneau or cockpit cover for an open-top motor car has a main portion 1 which, in use, covers the whole of the open cockpit rearwardly from a line extending widthwise of the motor car and joining the feet of the side edges of the windscreen of the motor car, or of the rear edges of fixed side windows extending rearwardly from the windscreen, where provided, said main portion 1 being securable along its side and rear edges to the motor car, a forwardly-extending flap 5 which, in use, is extended over the top of the instrument console of the motor car and secured thereto, and a flap 6 extending from the junction of said flap 5 and said main portion 1 across the whole width of the cover at the upper face thereof and which, in use, is extended upwardly and is secured to the windscreen along its upper and side edges, or to the upper edge of the windscreen and the rear edges of said fixed side windows, where provided, said main portion 1 having a central longitudinal ridge 12, whereby rain-water falling on the main portion of the cover will on flowing forwardly towards the windscreen be prevented from entering the cockpit by the flap 6 and will flow sideways from the central ridge and from the main portion of the cover. The cover may as shown be provided with a separately openable portion for access to the driver's seat, the ridge 12 being formed by a flap covering a fastener. Slits 14 for passage of seat belts may also be provided. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tonneau cover for an open-top motor car The invention relates to a tonneau or cockpit cover for an open-top sports or other motor car or for use with a motor car having a foldable hood when the latter has been folded to its open position.

Usually, the body of such a motor car has sides and doors of which the upper edges slope downwardly from the windscreen to the rear of the motor car or are substantially level. Thus when a conventional tonneau cover has been fitted, any rain-water will flow rearwardly from the cover or if the cover has a central ridge extending from front to back any rain water will flow sideways from the cover.

Open-top motor cars have now been designed having a body shape which is high at the rear and low at the front. Thus the tops of the doors and sides slope downwardly from the rear toward the windscreen. Such a motor car is the version of the TR7, manufactured by BL Cars Limited, having an open-top with a foldable hood. If a conventional flat tonneau cover were to be used with this motor car, rain-water falling on the cover would flow forwardly towards the windscreen and into the region of the top of the instrument console. An object of the invention is to provide a tonneau cover for use with the open-top version of the TR7 and other open-top motor cars of which the tops of the sides of the body slope downwardly in a forward direction.

According to the invention, a tonneau or cockpit cover for an open-top motor car has a main portion which, in use, covers the whole of the open cockpit rearwardly from a line extending widthwise of the motor car and joining the feet of the side edges of the windscreen of the motor car, or of the rear edges of fixed side windows extending rearwardly from the windscreen, where provided, said' main portion of the cover being arranged to be secured along its side and rear edges to the motor car, a forwardlyextending flap which, in use, is arranged to be extended over the top of the instrument console of the motor car and to be secured thereto, and a flap extending from the junction of said forwardlyextending flap and said' main portion of the cover across the whole width of the cover at the upper face thereof and which, in use, is extended upwardly and is secured to the windscreen along the upper and side edge of the windscreen and the rear edges of said fixed side windows, where provided, said' main portion having a central ridge which extends from front to back, whereby rain-water falling on the main portion of the cover will on flowing forwardly towards the windscreen be prevented from entering the cockpit by the upwardly-extending flap and will flow sideways from the central ridge and from the main portion ofthe cover.

The said upwardly-extending flap is preferably an integral extension of said' main portion of the cover, said forwardly-extending flap being attached to the underneath of said' main portion.

It is usual in tonneau covers for a part of the cover over the driver's seat to be openable separately from the remainder of the cover, whereby when the driver is using the car without a passenger, the remainder of the cockpit will still be covered.

The cover according to the present invention is therefore provided with a separately-openable part which, in use extends over the driver's seat and is separated from the remainder of the cover along a line extending from a position, which, in use, is above and rearward of the driver's and front pas senger's seats, forwardly through said' main portion of the cover and both said forwardly-extending and upwardly-extending flaps, said separately-openable part being secured to the remainder of the cover along the line of separation through at least said main portion and said upwardly-extending flap by a continuous fastener or fasteners.The said separately-openable part is conveniently an integral continuation of the part of the main portion of the cover which will be behind the driver's seat, in use, whereby the separately-openable part can be placed in the cockpit behind the driver's seat when not in use.

The part of the cover corresponding on the passenger's side to the said separately-openable part may be similarly placed, when not in use, behind the front passenger's seat, the part of the main portion of the cover behind the seats, in a two-seater car, remaining attached to the body of the motor car, unless the tonneau cover is to be removed c6m- pletely. The part of the' main portion of the cover behind the seats may conveniently form a cover for a foldable hood when in its folded position.

Openable slits' may be provided in the main portion of the cover adjacent the edges thereof at positions in which, when the cover is fitted on a motor car, each of said slits will be behind the back rest of a seat to permit a seat-belt to be passed through the slit, when opened, without interference by the cover of the correct functioning of the seat belt.

By way of example, a tonneau cover for an opentop, two-seater sports car of the kind which is higher at the rear and low at the front is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of the tonneau cover in the position it would occupy when covering the sports car; Figure 2 is a side view of the cover shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a under-plan view of the cover shown in Figure land Figure 4 is a perspective view of the sports car when fitted with the cover shown in Figures 1-3; but shown partly open with the driver's seat uncovered and the passenger's seat covered.

Referring to the drawings, the cover has a main portion 1, which, in use, extends over the whole cockpit of the motor car and is secured by press-studs at intervals along the side at 2 and the back at 3 of the cockpit. Where the car has a foldable hood, the rear part 4 of the cover is fitted after the hood has been fully folded-back to its open position and so the rear part of the cover forms a neat curve over the hood. If the hood has been removed or if the' motor-car does not have a hood, the rear part of the tonneau cover will be' more permanently fixed and could be packed with a cushion of, for example, foam material to provide a neatly curved 'bolster' effect.

Underneath the front edge of the main portion 1 and across the whole width there are two flaps 5, which are secured, in use, by press-studs over the top of the instrument console of the motor-car.

Instead of two flaps 5 there could be only one, but usually the part of the cover extending over the driver's seat would be separately openable and in that case the two flaps would be required, as will become evident hereinafter.

The front edge of the main portion 1 has an integral extension forming flap 6 which in use extends upwardly and is detachably secured to the upper edge of the windscreen 7 and to the rear edges 8 of side windows, where fitted, or to the side edges of the windscreen. The securing of the flap 6 is by press-studs.

As it is usual for a tonneau cover to be provided with a separately-openable part over the driver's seat to permit the motor-car to be driven while the passenger's seat remains covered, a part 10 of the main portion 1 of the cover is separated from the remainder along a line extending longitudinally of the cover between the driver's and passenger's seats and continued through the flap 6 and aligned with the line of separation between the two flaps 5. The separately-openable part 10 is however integral with the remainder of the main portion 1 along a transverse line, indicated at 9 in Figure 4 behind the driver's seat.

The part 10 is secured to the remainder of the main portion 1 of the cover along the longitudinal line by a continuous fastener 11, conveniently of the zipper type, shown in Figure 3, and covered by a flap 12, as shown in Figure 1. The fastener 11 and the flap 12 continue through the flap 6.

When the fastener 11 is closed and the cover, including the flaps 6 and 5 have been fixed in position on the motor-car, the cover is substantially tight and the cut is such that the fastener 11 covered by the flap 12 forms a longitudinal ridge.

Thus rain-water falling on the cover will flow forwardly towards the windscreen but it is deflected rearwardly again by the upstanding flap and cannot enter the interior of the car. Especially the water cannot flow onto the top of the instrument console because the upstanding flap 6 prevents this. The longitudinal ridge formed by the fastener 11 covered by the flap 12 causes the water to flow sideways from the cover.

When the motor-car is to be driven with only the driver's seat uncovered, the fastener 11 is undone and the part 10 is lifted back after undoing the press-studs holding the flap 5, the half portion of the flap6 and the part 10 along the side of the motor-car.

The portion 10, including the flap 5 and the half portion of the flap 6 thereon, is then stowed behind the driver's seat, as shown in Figure 4. As the part of the windscreen in front of the passenger's seat must not be obscured, the other half portion of the flap 6 is rolled down and secured by a strap 13 provided for the purpose.

When the passenger's seat is also to be uncovered, the remainder of the forward part of the cover is unfixed from the motor car and is similarly stowed behind the back of the passenger's seat.

To avoid the seat belts from being obstructed by the cover, slits 14 are provided in both sides at appropriate positions behind the seats. The slits have gussets underneath them to prevent rain from entering when the relevant side of the cover is closed.

The press-studs for fixing the cover can readily be fitted to a motor-car, if not already provided. A temp late may be used to ensure that the studs are placed in the correct positions.

Although the cover illustrated is for a particular motor-car, a similar cover may be used on other motor cars. For example another shape of cover, in accordance with this invention, could be provided for a vehicle having more than two seats.

Claims (7)

1. A tonneau or cockpit cover, for an open-top motor car, having a main portion which, in use, cov ers the whole of the open cockpit rearwardly from a line extending widthwise of the motor car and join ing the feet of the side edges of the windscreen of the motor car, or of the rear edges of fixed side win dows extending rearwardly from the windscreen, where provided, said' main portion of the cover being arranged to be secured along its side and rear edges to the motor car, a forwardly-extending flap which, in use, is arranged to be extended over the top of the instrument console of the motor car and to be secured thereto, and a flap extending from the junction of said forwardly-extending flap and said main portion of the cover across the whole width of the cover at the upper face thereof and which, in use, is extended upwardly and is secured to the windscreen along its upper and side edges, or to the upper edge of the windscreen and the rear edges of said fixed side windows, where provided, said' main portion having a central ridge which extends from front to back, whereby rain-waterfalling on the main portion of the cover will on flowing forwardly towards the windscreen be prevented from entering the cockpit by the upwardly-extending flap and will flow sideways from the central ridge and from the main portion of the cover.

2. A cover as claimed in Claim 1 in which said upwardly-extending flap is an integral extension of said main portion ofthe cover, said forwardly extending flap being attached to the underneath of said' main portion.

3. A cover as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 having a separately-openable part which, in use extends over the driver's seat and is seprated from the remainder of the cover along a line extending from a position which, in use, is above and rearward of the driver's and front passenger's seats forwardly through said main portion of the cover and both said forwardly extending and upwardly-extending flaps, said separately-openable part being secured to the remainder of the cover along the line of separation through at least said' main portion and said upwardly-extending flap by a continuous fastener or fasteners.

4. A cover as claimed in Claim 3 in which said separately-openable part is an integral continuation of the part of the main portion of the cover which will be behind the driver's seat, in use, whereby the separately-openable part can be placed in the cockpit behind the driver's seat when not in use.

5. A cover as claimed in any precedingclaim in which a part of the main portion of the cover at the rear thereof forms a cover for a foldable hood, in it folded position, of the motor car on which the cover is to be fitted.

6. A cover as claimed in any preceding claim in which the main portion of the cover has openable slits therein adjacent the edges of the cover at positions in which, when the cover is fitted on a motor car, each of said slits will be behind the back rest of a seat to permit a seat-belt to be passed through the slit, when opened, without interference by the cover of the correct functioning of the seat belt.

7. A tonneau or cockpit cover, for an open-top motor car, substantially as described herein-and shown in the accompanying drawings.