US 12,240,302 B2
Tarpaulin protection devices
Keven Boutin, Drummondville (CA); Etienne Brunet, Drummondville (CA); and Kendrick Martin, La Prairie (CA)
Assigned to FABRICATION ELCARGO INC., Saint-Hyacinthe (CA)
Appl. No. 17/770,597
Filed by FABRICATION ELCARGO INC., Saint-Hyacinthe (CA)
PCT Filed Dec. 17, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/062073
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 20, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/124174, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 24, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/950,631, filed on Dec. 19, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0289008 A1, Sep. 15, 2022
Int. Cl. B60J 7/10 (2006.01); B60J 7/06 (2006.01); B60J 7/08 (2006.01)
CPC B60J 7/102 (2013.01) [B60J 7/062 (2013.01); B60J 7/068 (2013.01); B60J 7/085 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle container movable by a vehicle, the vehicle container comprising
a bottom wall and a peripheral wall extending upwardly therefrom, the peripheral wall being terminated opposed the bottom wall by a peripheral wall top edge delimiting a container top aperture, the peripheral wall defining a wall rear end located at a rear of the container when the container is moved by the vehicle;
a tarpaulin movable between extended and retracted configurations, wherein, in the extended configuration, the tarpaulin is mounted to the container extending across the container top aperture, and in the retracted configuration, the tarpaulin is withdrawn from at least part of the container top aperture to allow access to the container, the tarpaulin defining a tarpaulin rear end edge; and
a flutter reducer operatively coupled to the tarpaulin so that when the tarpaulin is in the extended configuration and the container is moved by the vehicle, the flutter reducer limits movements of the tarpaulin at the tarpaulin rear end edge to reduce flutter due to relative wind caused by movement through air of the covered vehicle container;
wherein the flutter reducer includes a reinforcement member more rigid than the tarpaulin mounted to the tarpaulin at the tarpaulin rear end edge and extending along only part of a length of the tarpaulin, the reinforcement member being operatively coupled to the tarpaulin for reducing longitudinal bending of the tarpaulin.