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Vehicle protective cover including an alarm unitVehicle protective cover including an alarm unit description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060109093, Vehicle protective cover including an alarm unit. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/099,024, filed on Apr. 5, 2005, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/367,483 which was filed on Feb. 14, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,297, which claims priority of U.S. provisional application No. 60/357,231, which was filed on Feb. 15, 2002, which applications are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to vehicle security systems, and more particularly, to a vehicle security system including a protective cover incorporating an alarm unit. [0003] Many vehicle owners use a protective cover to protect their vehicle when the vehicle is not being used and as a deterrent to theft of the vehicle and its contents. Protective covers can be made from canvas or other materials and may cover substantially the entire vehicle when the vehicle is an automobile or motorcycle, or only an exposed area of the vehicle when the vehicle is a boat. Protective covers typically are held in place with an elastic shock cord that extends along the periphery of the cover for automobile or motorcycle covers, or by snaps for boat covers. Consequently, protective covers do little to deter an intruder from removing the protective cover and taking the cover or the vehicle or its contents. [0004] Accordingly, protective covers that include a security system have been proposed for producing an alarm indication to alert the owner of an intrusion, to scare a would-be thief away from the vehicle, and/or to alert others in the area that an attempted break-in is occurring. Many arrangements for detecting the movement or removal of a protective cover from a vehicle have been developed in the prior art. Typically, these systems employ switches that are attached to the vehicle and operated in response to movement or removal of the protective cover. [0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,615, issued to Wilber, discloses an alarm system for detecting movement of a protective cover for a boat. The alarm system includes a plurality of spring-biased switches that are mounted within the boat. Each switch is held in an open condition by a split edge clamp member to which is attached a cord. The cord, in turn, is attached to the protective cover when the cover is deployed over the boat. When the switch has been coupled to the protective cover by the cord, moving the protective cover pulls on the cord which, in turn, pulls the clamp member from the spring-biased switch. The switch then closes and activates an alarm device. This alarm system requires attachment of a plurality of brackets to the boat. Also, the alarm system requires a wire loop that extends around the periphery of the boat and all of the switches must be connected to this loop. Deploying the protective cover requires the user to reach beneath the cover and secure each cord to the cover. [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,025, issued to Ross, Sr., discloses a vehicle cover alarm apparatus including a spring-biased switch for operating an alarm in response to removal of a protective cover from a vehicle. The switch is maintained in the open condition by a cable which extends through a hole in the side of the vehicle and is removably attached by a clip to the deployed protective cover on the outside of the vehicle. Removing the cover releases the clip, allowing the spring-biased switch to activate an alarm device. Because the switch is mounted on the inside of the vehicle, an undesirable hole must be drilled through the vehicle for the cable to pass through. In addition, this alarm apparatus requires attachment of brackets to the vehicle. Moreover, this alarm apparatus is only capable of being used with vehicles which already have an alarm system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] The present invention provides a protective vehicle cover and vehicle cover security system. The protective vehicle cover and vehicle cover security system includes a protective cover having an inner surface and an outer surface and which is adapted to cover substantially all portions of a vehicle and at least one alarm unit removably affixed to said protective cover. An actuator cable has a first end removably coupled to the alarm unit and a second end removably coupled to the vehicle with the actuator cable untensioned. The alarm unit is triggered upon tensioning of the actuator cable by movement of the protective cover relative to the vehicle. [0008] In one embodiment, the alarm unit is a battery-operated alarm unit that is attached to the inner surface of the cover. The actuator is contained within the cover and removably couples a switch actuator of the alarm unit to the vehicle for operating a switch to activate the alarm unit producing an audible alarm. In an application for protecting a motorcycle, the cable is removably connected to a fixed portion of the motorcycle, and the alarm unit is contained within a pocket on the inner surface of the protective cover in the proximity of the point of attachment to motorcycle. [0009] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of protecting a vehicle. The method includes the steps of providing a protective cover, said protective cover adapted to cover substantially all portions of a vehicle; removably affixing the alarm unit to the protective cover; positioning the protective cover over substantially all portions of the vehicle; and arming the alarm unit by coupling an actuator of the alarm unit to the vehicle by an actuator cable with the actuator cable untensioned, wherein the alarm unit is triggered upon movement of the protective cover relative to the vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010] The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with the further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify like elements, and wherein: [0011] FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle including a security system including a protective cover incorporating an alarm unit in accordance with the invention; [0012] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a wheel of the motorcycle shown in FIG. 1 and showing the connection of the distal end of an actuator cable of the alarm unit to a wheel of the motorcycle; [0013] FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the inside of the protective cover and showing the alarm unit prior to being inserted into a pocket on an inner surface of the protective cover; [0014] FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3 with the alarm unit contained within the pocket and with the pocket shown partially broken away to show the cable extending out of the pocket; [0015] FIG. 5 is a view of the inside of the protective cover, showing a plurality of pockets for receiving one or more alarm units; [0016] FIG. 6 is a plan view of the alarm unit; and [0017] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of components of the alarm unit, and with a remote arming unit shown in phantom. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0018] Referring to FIG. 1, the security system of the present invention includes a protective cover 12 which is deployed on a vehicle 14, such as a motorcycle, and an alarm unit 16 which is located within the protective cover. In one embodiment, the alarm unit 16 can be a battery-operated unit that is removably fixed to the protective cover 12 and is coupled to the vehicle, such that the alarm unit is activated if the protective cover is moved or if an attempt is made to remove the protective cover from the vehicle. For purposes of illustration of the invention, the security system is described with reference to an application for a motorcycle. However, the protective cover can be configured in accordance with the application to fit around any vehicle, including automobiles, boats, and other types of cycles, including mopeds, scooters or bicycles, for example. [0019] The protective cover 12 is shaped to fit over and around the motorcycle. The protective cover has a closed top portion 20, a left side 22, a right side (not shown) and an open bottom 26. The bottom 26 can be drawn around the lower portion of the motorcycle by an elastic shock cord passing through grommets (not shown) in the manner known in the art. In one embodiment, the protective cover 12 is made of two materials, with the upper portion, indicated by reference number 28, being of a weather proof material, and the lower portion, indicated by reference number 30, which is located where the protective cover 12 may come into contact with the engine while the engine is hot, being of a heat resistant material. In one preferred embodiment, the upper portion 28 of the protective cover 12 can be of a solution dried polyester material, and the lower portion 30 of the protective cover 12 can be of aluminized cotton material. However, the protective cover 12 can be a one-piece member of a single material, and can be of canvas, or other materials. Continue reading about Vehicle protective cover including an alarm unit... Full patent description for Vehicle protective cover including an alarm unit Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Vehicle protective cover including an alarm unit patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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