Vehicle cover device

1. A vehicle cover device for protecting at least a portion of a motor vehicle, the device comprising:

a flexible cover sheet;

a car cover compartment configured to be operably attachable to the vehicle including disposed within a bumper of the vehicle and comprising a longitudinally extending cover sheet housing, which is configured to house the flexible cover sheet when in a stored state and comprising a longitudinal slot for the passage of the cover sheet through the housing; and

a cover sheet attachment mechanism configured to allow attachment of the cover sheet to the vehicle after covering of the vehicle by the cover sheet,

wherein the car cover compartment comprises a cover-sheet cleaning and retraction mechanism, which comprises a striker bar and is configured to cause the striker bar to repeatedly strike the cover sheet when the cover sheet is retracted into the housing to a non-deployed storage position.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the cover-sheet cleaning and retraction mechanism comprises a ratchet mechanism.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the ratchet mechanism has attached thereto a striker activating disk having a plurality of spaced-apart indentations distributed along the peripheral edge of the disk to operably affect intermittent raising of the striker bar.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the cover-sheet cleaning and retraction mechanism comprises a striker biasing member.

5. The device of claim 2 , wherein the striker biasing member is constituted by a leaf spring.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the cover-sheet cleaning and retraction mechanism comprises a car-cover retraction biasing member.

7. The device of claim 2 , wherein the car-cover retraction biasing member is constituted by a coil spring.

8. The device of claim 1 , comprising a pair of end caps at respective ends of the car-cover housing and the respective cover-sheet cleaning and retraction devices are received within the pair of end caps.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the housing is configured to be attachable to a bumper of the vehicle.

10. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a cover sheet heater.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the housing is configured to be receivable or housable within a bumper of the vehicle.

12. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a heater system including any one or combination of a photovoltaic power unit; a battery; and a cable configured for operable attachment to a battery of the vehicle.

13. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a handle coupled with the cover sheet.