US2540380A - Field cover - Google Patents

Description

, INVENOR. LOUISJ. SCHULTHEIS BY Wm ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet l L. J. SCHULTHEIS FIELD COVER Feb. 6, 1951 Filed July 51, 1948 Feb. 6, 1951 L. J. SCHULTHEIS FIELD COVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 31, 1948 INVENTOR. LOU [S If. SCH ULTH E18 ,7 l/lV/l/ll/ lEr/l/flfll ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 6, 1951 STATES Louis J Sohultheis, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Pittsburgh Waterproof Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania I App1icationJuly31, 1948',SerialNo.41,770

rt l 4 Claims. (01. 273-27) f My -invention relates to field covers particuview of one of the snap hooks; Fig. 5- shows a; Iarly suitable for use on. athletic fields such as modification of the'snap hook connection of the baseball diamonds and'football fields. This apother figures, and Fig. 6 is a view taken on the plication is a continuation,. in part, of my apline VI-VI'of Fig. 5.

plication Serial No. 793,969, filed December 26, 5 Portions or sections of a field cover are indi- 1947,n0w abandoned. cated by the numerals 8 and 9. These may be Owing to the extended areas that must be promade of canvas duck or other material suitable tectedagainst rain, the field covers have to be for turning water. The longitudinal edges of the made in sections, because of their weight and canvas strips 8 and 9 are hemmed as at to and to facilitate handling thereof. One of the prin- 10" II, and reinforcing ropes l2 are placed in the cipal objections to field covers as heretofore used. hems of each section and held in place in their that where the edges of adjacent sections meet respective sections bythe Stitching at H. Sim-f one another; rain water will flow from the surilarly, the endsof the sections are hemmed face ofythe 'canvas' downwardly past the conaround reinforcing ropes I-3, and stitched at n'ected or overlapping edges-and form pools be- 16' and it. These reinforcements I2 and [3' are pro ne'ath the covering, which may be even more vided also at those edges and ends of the section s objectionable than if no field cover at all were 8 and 9 which are not shown on the drawings. used and the rain allowed to fall-more or less Each of the sections, adjacent to the end evenly over the entire field. This objectionable thereof which is intended to have overlapping condition frequently is present even where the 20 or superposed relation to an end portion of an sections overlap one another for a considerable adjacent section has a pleat I! that contains distance at zones adjacent to their meeting edges, a bead rope Ila and stitched at I8 and I9, leavfor the reason that wind may raise the edge-of ing flap-like extended portions 26 and 2! on the the overlying section and blow rain water besections 8 and 9 respectively. Grommets 22 are neath said edge, to the ground. provided along the hemmed longitudinal edges My invention has for one of its objects the of the sections, inwardly of the reinforcing bead provision of a field cover made in sections of l2, for the attachment of rope handles 23. Simsuch form that rain which blows beneath the ilarly, grommets 24 and handles 25 are provided edge of a section that partly overlies an adjoinbehind the reinforcing ropes Ila. Looped straps ing section will be caught in a trough-like fold so 26 are riveted to the sections 8 and 9, behind the and be thereby conducted in a lateral direction, reinforcing beads 13, and straps 21 are provided to the edge of the field. at the pleats l1.

Another object of my invention is to provide When the wind and rain are blowing in the field cover sections of such form that their edges direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the can readily be connected in either of two relaflap 2| of section 9 will be placed upon the flap tive positions, depending upon the prevailing 20 as shown in Fig. 2 and the sections will be direction of the wind and the rain at the time connected at suitable intervals by snap fasteners when the cover is being used, whereby the major 28 that are carried by the loops 26 and have deportion of the water will be caught and deflected tachable connection with rings 29 in the loops 21. as above stated. It Will be seen that the snap fasteners 28 are A further object of my invention is to provide connected to the extended flaps 20 and 2! rean improved form of handle connection for field spectively and that the links 29 are connected covers, whereby they may be pulled and rolled to the plate ll, through the medium of the strap with minimum danger of tearing the fabric of loops 21. Therefore, no matter which way a which the covers are made. 46 section is turned, it will have its links 29 and In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a its snaps 28 in proper position for connection fragmentary plan view of field cover sections as to the links and snap fasteners of the adjacent placed on a field; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view taken sections. on the line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view sim- Rain which is blown or flows in the direction ilar to that of Fig. 2 but showing the overlapping indicated by the arrow of Fig. 2 will be caught edges of the cover sections in reverse relation in the pleat fold or gutter-like fold space at 3| as compared to Fig. 2, arranged to catch the and will drain laterally off the canvas. When rain when it is blowing in a direction opposite the wind is in a direction to blow the rain in the to the wind direction for which the sections of direction-indicated by the arrow of Fig. 3, the,

Fig. 2 are placed; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional 6d :fiap 20 wil1 be placed upon the flap 2| so that the water will be caught in the fold 32 and be drained laterally.

In Figs. 5 and 6, I show a somewhat different arrangement of detachable connection for the sections 8 and 9. In this arrangement, the pleats I 1 have grommets or eyelets 33 therein and the flap-like extensions and 21 have eyelets 34,instead of the loops 26 and 21 of Fig. 2 for connection with detachable fastening units. In this case, the fastening means comprise short lengths of chain 35 having pins Or rods 36 on their end links, that will be inserted through the eyelets to make detachable connections as i common with fasteners of this type.

I claim as my invention:

1. A field cover sheet having a flap-like portion on one end thereof, means for detachably connecting the endmost edge of the flap to another flap, along a line spacedbackwardly from the foremost edge of the other flap, when the first-named flap is in overlying relation to the other flap, means. for detachably connecting the sheet to the foremost edge of the other flap, along a line spaced backwardly of the foremost edge of the first-named flap, when the other flap is in overlying relation to the first-named flap, and gutter-forming means-at the second-named line. 2. A field cover sheet having a beaded pleat formed therein adjacent to one end thereof and having a flap portion that extends beyond the pleat and has a bead formed in its extremity, the pleat and head being foldable to form a gutter, and elements secured to the sheet at points immediately behind said beads, for detachable connection with similarly-formed elements of other sheets.

3. A field cover sheet having a beaded pleat formed therein adjacent to one end thereof, of sufficient depth to serve as a gutter and having a flap portion that extends beyond the pleat and has a bead formed in its extremity, and elements secured to the sheet at points immediately behind said beads, for detachable connection with similarly-formed elements of other sheets, the said means being in the form of grommets.

4. A field cover device comprising a sheet of waterproof material that has a pleated fold formed therein adjacent to one end portion of the sheet, the said end portion extending beyond the pleat, to serve as a flap, a connectin member on the pleat, means for detachably joining said member to a flap-like adjacent end portion of another similarly formed sheet when the second-named end portion is in overlying relation to the first-named flap, a connecting member on the outer end of the first-named flap, and means for detachably joinin the last-named connecting member to a pleat on a complemental sheet when the first-named flap is in overlying relation to the second flap.

LOUIS J. SCHULTHEIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,576,888 Woodward Mar. 16, 1926 1,580,396 Woodward Apr. 13, 1926 2,479,280 Tuerk Aug. 16, 1949 2,493,749 Brown, et al Jan. 10, 1950

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