Sag-free retractable awning

Abstract

A retractable awning having one edge of an awning canopy fixed and a movable opposite edge with the opposite edge being secured to a rotatable roll bar includes a floating mounting for the roll bar so that a bias on the roll bar urging the roll bar to rotate toward a retracted position of the awning permits the wrapped fabric on the roll bar to remain in engagement with an engagement wall of a mounting chassis so that the roll bar is prevented from sagging along its length regardless of the number of wraps of fabric about the roll bar.

1 . A retractable awning for mounting on a support surface comprising in combination:
 a flexible sheet of material anchored along an inner edge to said support surface,   an elongated roll bar connected along its length to an opposite outer edge of said flexible sheet such that rotation of said roll bar about a longitudinal axis will affect wrapping or unwrapping of said sheet around said roll bar,   a housing supporting said roll bar for reversible rotation therein, said housing being reversibly movable toward and away from said support surface while maintaining a parallel relationship with said support surface, said housing including an engagement wall against which said sheet remains engaged while wrapped on said roll bar, a bias system in said housing for biasing said roll bar in one rotative direction about said longitudinal axis to encourage said sheet to wrap about said roll bar, and a mounting system in said housing allowing the roll bar to float toward and away from said engagement wall for permitting engagement of said sheet material with said engagement surface regardless of the number of wraps of said sheet material about said roll bar.   
   
   
       2 . The awning of  claim 1  wherein said mounting system includes end caps at opposite ends of said housing having bearing surfaces along which the ends of said roll bar can translate. 
   
   
       3 . The awning of  claim 2  wherein said roll bar has bearings operatively connected to the ends thereof for rolling engagement with said bearing surfaces. 
   
   
       4 . The awning of  claim 2  wherein said bias system includes a coil spring extending longitudinally of said roll bar. 
   
   
       5 . The awning of  claim 4  wherein said coil spring is operatively fixed to said housing and to said roll bar while permitting said roll bar to rotate and in doing so, increase or decrease the tension in said coil spring depending upon the direction of rotation of said roll bar. 
   
   
       6 . The awning of  claim 5  wherein said housing is mounted on a second support surface that is movable toward and away from said first-mentioned support surface, movement of said second support surface away from said first-mentioned support surface causing said sheet to unwrap from said roll bar while simultaneously tensioning said coil spring and causing said sheet to be tensioned between said first-mentioned support surface and said roll bar. 
   
   
       7 . The awning of  claim 6  wherein said inner edge of said sheet is anchored to said first-mentioned support surface with an elongated link having a first edge secured to said inner edge of the sheet and a second edge pivotally secured to said first-mentioned support surface. 
   
   
       8 . The awning of  claim 7  wherein said second edge is pivotally connected to said first-mentioned support surface with a flexible strip of material. 
   
   
       9 . The awning of  claim 8  wherein said housing sealingly engages said link when said sheet is fully wrapped about said roll bar. 
   
   
       10 . The awning of  claim 1  wherein said housing includes a first elongated extruded face plate that is attached in longitudinal alignment with a second face plate of identical cross-section by connecting end splicer strips to adjacent ends of said face plates and interconnecting said splicer strips. 
   
   
       11 . The awning of  claim 7  wherein said link includes a first component and a longitudinally aligned second component of identical cross-section and wherein said components are interconnected by connecting splicer strips to adjacent ends of said components and interconnecting said splicer strips. 
   
   
       12 . A retractable awning comprising in combination an awning canopy having a first edge substantially fixed in position and an opposite second edge secured to a rotatable roll bar which is movable toward and away from said first edge while permitting said canopy to be wrapped onto and unwrapped from said roll bar, said roll bar being mounted to float in a translational manner as said canopy is wrapped onto or unwrapped from said roll bar and a bias system for biasing rotation of said roll bar in a direction to wrap said canopy about said roll bar to tension said canopy and cause said roll bar to translate. 
   
   
       13 . The retractable awning of  claim 12  further including an engagement wall against which said wrapped canopy is held while translating as a result of said tension in said canopy. 
   
   
       14 . The retractable awning of  claim 1  wherein said engagement wall includes a low-friction surface for engagement with said sheet material. 
   
   
       15 . The retractable awning of  claim 13  wherein said engagement wall includes a low-friction surface for engagement with said sheet material. 
   
   
       16 . The awning of  claim 5  wherein there are two of said coil springs. 
   
   
       17 . The awning of  claim 9  wherein said housing includes a low-friction surface for engagement with said link. 
   
   
       18 . The awning of  claim 1  wherein said roll bar includes two axially aligned components interconnected by a splicer tube inserted into confronting ends of said components.