WO2017125847A2

WO2017125847A2 - Protective tarp for vehicle windows, and particularly for windows of military vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2017125847A2
Application number: PCT/IB2017/050234
Authority: WO
Inventors: Innocente TOSETTO
Original assignee: Gruppo Tosetto S.R.L.
Priority date: 2016-01-18
Filing date: 2017-01-17
Publication date: 2017-07-27
Also published as: WO2017125847A3

Abstract

A protective tarp (10) for vehicle windows, and particularly for windows of military vehicles, comprising a flexible protective sheet (11), on at least part of the perimetric flap (14) of the protective sheet (11) there being magnetic bodies (15, 16, 17) for connection to a metallic frame of a window of a military vehicle.

Description

PROTECTIVE TARP FOR VEHICLE WINDOWS, AND PARTICULARLY FOR WINDOWS OF MILITARY VEHICLES

The present invention relates to a protective tarp for vehicle windows, and particularly for windows of military vehicles.

Tactical military vehicles, such as for example Iveco's Lince vehicle, are currently known and widespread which have extreme mobility and agility and are built to work in radically different environments in terms of geographical location, climate conditions and terrain characteristics, in the presence of temperatures that can vary from +49° to -32°C.

The windows of such a vehicle are generally constituted by a combination of sheets made of glass, polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, rigid polyurethane and polyethylene, with interlaid elements made of plastic material such as polyvinyl butyral, polyurethane, or ethylene vinyl acetate.

For safety reasons, the use of a laminated windshield, as well as of laminated side and rear windows, if any, is preferable since, by virtue of the presence of the interlaid elements it has a lower likelihood of release of fragments of material as a consequence of a violent impact, such as can be caused by shot of a firearm or by a fragment of an explosive device or by a generic body propelled as a consequence of an explosion.

The laminated window, however, has a severe limitation linked to the fact that it can fail or be deformed if it is exposed for long periods to medium-high temperatures and to UV rays, due to the loss of perfect functionality of the interlaid elements between the sheets; consequently, the transparency and clarity of the window might be compromised, endangering the driver; furthermore, a higher likelihood of release of fragments of material following a violent impact is determined, with consequent proportional higher risks for the people inside the vehicle.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a protective tarp for vehicle windows, particularly for windows of military vehicles, that is capable of preventing the failures and deformations of a laminated window of a vehicle exposed for long periods to medium-high temperatures and to UV rays.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a protective tarp that can be arranged easily in the configuration for use so as to cover the windows of a vehicle and can be just as easily removed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective tarp that can be stored with a compact space occupation.

This aim, as well as these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a protective tarp for vehicle windows, particularly for windows of military vehicles, according to claim 1.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the protective tarp according to the invention, illustrated by way of nonlimiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tarp according to the invention applied to a windshield of a military vehicle;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a corner portion of a tarp according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a different perspective view of the corner portion of Figure

2;

Figure 4 is a sectional side view of a detail of a protective tarp according to the invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic sectional view of a protective tarp according to the invention in a constructive variation thereof.

With reference to the cited figures, a protective tarp for vehicle windows, and particularly for windows of military vehicles, is designated generally by the reference numeral 10.

The protective tarp 10, shown by way of example in Figure 1 as installed on a windshield of a tactical military vehicle 12, comprises: - a flexible protective sheet 11 ,

- on the perimetric flap 14 of the protective sheet 11 there are magnetic bodies 15, 16, 17 for connection to a metallic frame 13 of a window, for example of a military vehicle 12.

The protective sheet 11 comprises, for example, a textile insert with a covering made of plastic material.

By way of nonlimiting example of the invention, the flexible protective sheet 11 is constituted by a fabric spread with PVC.

The textile insert of the protective sheet is constituted by a polyethylene fabric or other fabric made of similar and equivalent plastic material.

The covering made of plastic material, as an alternative to PVC, can be of the elastomeric type and can comprise chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSM); chlorosulfonated polyethylene has high mechanical properties with good resistance to abrasion, very high resistance to aging and fatigue, high resistance to UV radiation, good dielectric properties, good heat resistance and flame resistance with self-extinguishing properties, excellent impermeableness to gases and can operate at working temperatures between -40°C and +135°C (with peaks of +160°C).

The covering made of plastic material also comprises butyl rubber

(IIR); butyl rubber is generally used in the production of internal coverings for tires and air inner tubes and is also used to replace natural rubber in other cases, such as tubes, pharmaceutical stoppers and sealants of any kind; durability and resistance to atmospheric agents are the primary factors of its superiority with respect to natural rubber. It is further used as a protective agent against chemical and nuclear agents due to its high impermeableness to gases.

The magnetic bodies 15, 16, 17 are each constituted by a disk-like permanent magnet, for example made of neodymium.

In the embodiment described herein of the protective tarp 10 according to the invention, which is a nonlimiting example of said invention, the magnetic bodies 15, 16, 17 are fixed to the perimetric flap 14 of the protective sheet 11 each by means of an axial rivet 18, which passes through a corresponding through hole that is formed on the perimetric flap 14 and through an axial through hole provided in the magnetic body 15, 16, 17.

A first widened end 19 of the rivet 18 is in contact with the magnetic body 15, while the opposite second widened end 20 is arranged on the opposite side of the protective sheet 11, between said protective sheet 11 and the second widened end 20 there being an interposed tearing prevention ring 21 for protecting the protective sheet 11 against friction against the second metallic end 20 of the rivet 18.

The flap 14 is provided with a reinforcement strip 22, which is for example heat-sealed according to a technology of a known type.

The reinforcement strip 22 stiffens the perimetric flap 14, rendering the fixing of the magnetic bodies 15, 16, 17 more stable and safe by riveting.

The use of the protective tarp 10 according to the invention requires the ordered application of the magnetic bodies 15, 16, 17 to the metallic frame 13, made of iron or iron alloy or other metallic material, to which the magnetic bodies can apply their attraction force.

The protective tarp 10 has such dimensions as to be able to affect entirely a window or windshield that it is designed to cover.

The magnetic bodies 15, 16 and 17 are substantially distributed along the entire perimetric flap 14.

The protective tarp 10, thanks to the flexible sheet 11, can be folded easily when it is not in use and therefore can be stored with an extremely small space occupation.

By virtue of the covering made of plastic material, the protective tarp according to the invention can be rendered multicolored by appropriately providing said covering with plastic material of a same type but different pigmentation, for example with color combinations of a camouflage type, for example green and tan, white and tan, and other similar combinations.

Each protective tarp according to the invention can be customized for example by defining on said covering the registration plate of the vehicle to which said tarp is applied.

In a particular constructive variation, shown schematically by the sectional view of Figure 5, the protective tarp according to the invention is characterized in that the flexible protective sheet 111 comprises:

- a first outer layer 123 made of elastomerized fabric,

- a second intermediate layer 124 made of resin-coated fabric,

- and a third outer layer 125 which is opposite with respect to the first layer 120, is made of thermally insulated material and is designed to be arranged so as to face a window.

The protective sheet 111 has the goal of protecting in a special manner the window of the vehicle and of preventing the heat of the sun and ultraviolet rays from ruining it.

The first layer 123 can be constituted, by way of nonlimiting example, by an elastomerized protective technical fabric, for example made by the company Novurania.

The second resin-coated intermediate layer 124 can be constituted, by way of nonlimiting example, by the Olibond Agu SM product of the company Ovattificio Olimpia Sas.

The third thermally insulated layer 125 can be constituted, by way of nonlimiting example, by the Polymar Polyfoam3 product of the company Mehler Texnolgies.

These three layers 123, 124 and 125 are mutually joined by sewing, using a sewing machine of a per se known type.

In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects. In particular, the invention provides a protective tarp for vehicle windows, particularly for windows of military vehicles, which by preventing light radiation from reaching the protected laminated window is capable of limiting its overheating, consequently limiting the failures and deformations of said laminated window, for example of a vehicle exposed for long periods to medium-high temperatures, such as a military vehicle in a desert region.

Moreover, the protective tarp prevents the transparency and clarity of the glass from being compromised, to the full benefit of the safety of the driver.

The protective tarp according to the invention can of course also be adopted at low temperatures, with the advantage of rendering the vehicle to the windshield or other window of which it is applied immediately usable without having to remove the ice that might form on said window.

Furthermore, the invention provides a protective tarp that can be arranged easily in the configuration for use so as to cover a window of a vehicle and can be just as easily removed by virtue of the fixing system based on the adoption of magnetic bodies.

Moreover, the invention provides a protective tarp that can be stored with a reduced space occupation, since the protective tarp 10 can be folded easily.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims; all the details may further be replaced with other technical equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application no. 102016000003744 (UB2016A000301) and No. 102016000129782 (UA2016A009334), from which this application claims priority, are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

1. A protective tarp (10) for vehicle windows, and particularly for windows of military vehicles, characterized in that it comprises

- a flexible protective sheet (11),

- on at least part of the perimetric flap (14) of said protective sheet

(11) there being magnetic bodies (15, 16, 17) for connection to a metallic frame of a window of a military vehicle.

2. The protective tarp according to claim 1, characterized in that said protective sheet (11) comprises a textile insert with a covering made of plastic material.

3. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said flexible protective sheet (11) is constituted by a fabric spread with PVC.

4. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said textile insert is constituted by a polyethylene fabric or other similar and equivalent fabric made of plastic material.

5. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said covering made of plastic material is of the elastomeric type and comprises chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSM).

6. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said covering made of plastic material is of the elastomeric type and comprises butyl rubber (II ).

7. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said magnetic bodies (15, 16, 17) are each constituted by a disk-like permanent magnet.

8. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said magnetic bodies (15, 16, 17) are each fixed to the perimetric flap (14) of the protective sheet (11) by means of an axial rivet (18), which passes through a corresponding through hole formed in the perimetric flap (14) and through an axial through hole provided in the magnetic body (15, 16, 17).

9. The protective tarp according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said flexible protective sheet (111) comprises:

- a first outer layer (123) made of elastomerized fabric,

- a second intermediate layer (124) made of resin-coated fabric,

- and a third outer layer (125) which is opposite with respect to the first layer (120), is made of thermally insulated material and is designed to be arranged so as to face a window.