Dual-Angle Canopy Retractable Awning for RV Slide-Outs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retractable awnings for recreational vehicles and mobile homes with slide-out units do not effectively provide shade and shelter for adjacent areas while also covering the top of the slide-out unit and serving as an awning for windows, requiring separate systems for each function.
Innovation Solution
A retractable awning system with a reversibly driven roller and inner and outer sets of pivotal support arms that extend and retract, allowing the awning canopy to form two distinct angles relative to horizontal, covering the slide-out unit's top and providing shade and shelter for adjacent areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a separate cover system is used for the slide-out unit top and a separate awning system for adjacent areas, then each function can be performed independently, but the overall system complexity increases and space utilization decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the slide-out unit cover and the adjacent area awning into a single integrated canopy structure. The canopy extends from the vehicle body, covers the slide-out unit top when retracted, and provides shade for adjacent areas when extended, eliminating the need for separate cover and awning systems
Solution Approach 2:
The single canopy structure performs multiple functions: it serves as a cover for the slide-out unit top, provides an awning for windows in the outer wall, and shades large adjacent areas for recreation. This multi-functional design replaces what would traditionally require separate dedicated systems
2Adaptability or versatility
If the awning canopy forms a single angle relative to horizontal, then the structure is simpler, but it cannot effectively cover both the slide-out unit top and provide adequate shade for adjacent areas
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into inner and outer sets of pivotal support arms with different angles. The inner support arms form a first angle for covering the slide-out unit top, while the outer support arms form a second angle for providing shade over adjacent areas. This segmentation allows each section to be optimized for its specific function
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the canopy have different orientations optimized for their local function. The inner canopy section is angled to cover the slide-out unit top effectively, while the outer canopy section is angled to provide shade for adjacent recreational areas, with each section's angle tailored to its specific coverage requirement
3Area of stationary object
If the awning is designed to cover only the slide-out unit top, then the cover function is effective, but it cannot provide adequate shade and shelter for adjacent recreation areas
Solution Approach 1:
The canopy design extends beyond the two-dimensional coverage of the slide-out unit top by adding an outer section that projects outward at a different angle. This dimensional extension allows the same canopy structure to cover the slide-out unit top while simultaneously providing shade for larger adjacent areas, effectively increasing the total covered area without proportionally increasing structural complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A retractable awning includes a roller reversibly driven and mounted within a housing for support on a support structure and both inner and outer sets of pivotally interconnected support arms for supporting an awning canopy when extended. The inner set of support arms support the canopy beneath an inner segment of the canopy adjacent the support surface and are designed to deploy before the outer set of support arms with the outer set of support arms supporting the canopy beneath an outer segment of the canopy further away from the support surface than the inner segment. Both the inner and outer sets of support arms can be partially or fully deployed to regulate the extent to which the awning is extendible away from the support surface. The outer support arms are mounted for pivotal movement within a plane forming a different angle with horizontal than the inner set of support arms so the inner segment of the canopy above the inner set of support arms when extended forms a different angle with horizontal than does the outer segment of the awning canopy overlying the outer set of support arms when extended.