I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

A collapsible door frame with an extendable fabric cover replaces a factory door for a sport utility vehicle, providing the vehicle for operation without a door while still allowing the drive to assemble and install the collapsible door frame and extend the fabric cover to provide protection from adverse weather conditions.

2. Description of Prior Art

A preliminary review of prior art patents was conducted by the applicant which reveal prior art patents in a similar field or having similar use. However, the prior art inventions do not disclose the same or similar elements as the present utility vehicle accessory door, nor do they present the material components in a manner contemplated or anticipated in the prior art.

This is evident in certain prior art wherein the factory hard panel doors are replaced by alternative door panels (U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,379 to Lemieux, U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,054 to Martini, U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,699 to Chandler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,298 to Willis, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,056 to Hickman), and recreational vehicles which provide for on-board storage systems for the door panels, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,681 to Willis and U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,670 to Shumack.

A door flap is suspended from an upper roll bar support/cage, providing a “gull wing” which defines a frame, one or more panels, a latch and a lift-assist device such as a gas-strut, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,794,692 to Burke. A removable door skin for a vehicle mounting on a door frame member includes a flexible door panel that includes an edge and a flap, as well as a fastening means which provides a first part on the flexible door panel and a second part on the flap, shown as a hook and loop fastening material, as demonstrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,379 to Lemieux.

An open mesh door panel comprising a rigid frame member has an open mesh panel over the frame member in U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,054 to Martini, while a transparent door panel is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,699 to Chandler, using space age plastic clear panels having high impact capacity for Jeeps an earth moving machines, providing full side vision. A fabric covered door frame over a resilient skeletal framework is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,056 to Hickman, the framework being bent to conform to the door opening. Other frame and fabric door panels are shown in earlier patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,700 to Glas, U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,427 to Bright, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,224 to Hedley.

None of the above prior art patents demonstrate a replacement door for a sport utility vehicle comprising a component door frame installed within the hinges of the vehicle door opening with a fabric cover which is recoiled and deployed upon a cylindrical, spring-loaded rod integrated within the collapsible door frame and hinges, the deployed fabric door panel extending across the door frame and attached thereto, as defined within the scope of the present collapsible door frame and fabric door panel.

II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Owners of sport utility vehicles often choose to remove the doors from the vehicles for off road activities, by removing the doors from the hinges and either leaving them behind at a storage location or storing them within the vehicle. This open door provision is common, and requires the disengagement of a rod which connects the respective doors to the vehicle door frame openings, either by independent hinge pins or a common hinge pin which extends through an upper and lower hinge mount and the upper and lower door hinge.

The present collapsible door frame with an extendable fabric cover provides the collapsible door frame with a multiple component assembly which defines a door frame of the same size and configuration as the factory supplied doors and attaches in the same manner as the factory supplied doors, with the exception of a fabric door panel assembly which integrates with the upper and lower hinge mounts and the upper and lower door hinges defined within the collapsible door frame, providing a pull-out door panel which extends across the collapsible door frame and connects to the door frame by a plurality of connecting means to provide protection against adverse outdoor elements while being operated by the user until such time as the user decides to remove the collapsible door frame with an extendable fabric cover and return it to storage.

