Abstract:
The sunshade includes a protective screen having a plurality of sections which are connected to one another by hinges, the screen being able to assume a folded position in which the sections are folded onto one another, and a deployed position in which the sections are unfolded; and resilient biasing elements associated with the screen and exerting a biasing force against the deployment of the screen from its folded position. The biasing elements include the hinges connecting the sections. A motor vehicle door including such a sunshade is described.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a sunshade for a motor vehicle, comprising: 
        a protective screen having a plurality of sections which are connected to one another by hinges, the screen being able to assume a folded position in which the sections are folded onto one another, and a deployed position in which the sections are unfolded,     resilient biasing means associated with the screen and exerting a biasing force against the deployment of the screen from its folded position.        
 
         [0004]     Such sunshades, which are generally associated with deployment and retraction mechanisms, are known in the prior art. Some of those mechanisms ensure a resilient return of the screen into the folded position by means of resilient cables.  
         [0005]     All of those mechanisms bring a substantial number of components into play, especially as it is necessary to guide the cables and as that function is performed by specific components. Those mechanisms are also fragile and subject to some malfunctioning which is caused, for example, by cables jamming or pulleys sticking.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The object of the invention is to overcome those disadvantages and to propose a sunshade structure of the type explained above which is more simple and more reliable.  
         [0007]     To that end, in a sunshade according to the invention, the biasing means comprise the hinges connecting the sections.  
         [0008]     According to other features of the invention, taken alone or in accordance with any technically possible combination: 
        the screen is composed at least partially of a shape memory material having a folded initial shape;     the initial shape of the screen is a shape folded in the manner of an accordion or in the manner of crenellations;     the screen in its initial shape also has secondary folding, according to which each section is itself folded;     the sunshade comprises means for securing to a portion of the vehicle that are arranged at an edge of the screen, and means for coupling to another portion of the vehicle that are arranged at an opposite edge of the screen and that enable the screen to be maintained in its deployed position against the resilient biasing force; and     the sunshade comprises an operating handle which is fixedly joined to the screen at an edge thereof.        
 
         [0014]     The invention relates also to a motor vehicle door comprising a casing, and a sunshade as described above which is fixedly joined to the casing.  
         [0015]     According to other optional features of the door according to the invention: 
        the casing has an opening at an upper face, and the screen is retracted into the casing in its folded position, while it projects from the casing through the opening in its deployed position;     in the folded position of the screen, the operating handle projects from the casing; and     the door comprises a window frame which is fixedly joined to the casing, and the frame is equipped with complementary coupling means which are provided to co-operate with the coupling means of the sunshade.       
 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]     Particular embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the appended drawings in which:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a partial diagrammatic perspective view of a door provided with a sunshade according to a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view, in a vertical plane, of a sunshade screen according to a second embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  showing the screen of a sunshade according to a third embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]      FIG. 1  shows, partially, a motor vehicle door  1  provided with a sunshade  3  according to the invention which may be either retracted or deployed to protect the occupants from the sun&#39;s rays passing through the glazed portion of the door.  
         [0024]     In that Figure, the door  1  is assumed to be oriented in accordance with its position mounted on the vehicle, and the indicated axis Z is assumed to be vertical. The terms used hereinafter with respect to orientation and position will be understood with reference to that mounted position and that axis.  
         [0025]     The door  1  basically comprises a hollow casing  5 , inside which equipment is accommodated, a pane of glass (not shown), a window frame  7  fixedly joined to the casing, and the sunshade  3 .  
         [0026]     On an upper face, the casing  5  is formed with an opening  9  giving access to its interior volume.  
         [0027]     The sunshade  3  comprises a protective screen  11  which can be folded and unfolded by a user, between two extreme positions, the one completely folded and the other completely deployed, in accordance with the axis Z.  
         [0028]     To that end, the protective screen  11  has a plurality of adjacent sections in the form of strips  13  which are contiguous along parallel lines  15  and which are parallel with one another and substantially horizontal.  
         [0029]     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the folding of the screen  11  is referred to as “in the manner of an accordion”, the hinges  15  (or folding lines) being located alternately on one side and the other of a centre plane of the screen.  
         [0030]     In this embodiment, the hinges  15  also define strips of the same width.  
         [0031]     Thus, in the folded position of the screen, the sections  13  are stacked on one another, and the screen has a width equal to the width of each section. The folded screen has a space requirement which is very small in terms of height and which is substantially equal to the thickness of one section multiplied by the number of sections.  
         [0032]     The strip  13 A at the lower end is integrated inside the casing  5  and is secured thereto by way of complementary securing means shown diagrammatically by dot-dash lines  19 . The complementary securing means of the sunshade and the casing  5  may operate by snap-fitting, screwing, or any other suitable securing method.  
         [0033]     The strip  13 A at the lower end is secured to the inside of the casing opposite the opening  9 .  
         [0034]     At the strip  13 B at the upper end, the screen  11  is provided with coupling means, for example in the form of bows  21 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . Correspondingly, the frame  7 , at its horizontal upper bar  23 , is provided with complementary coupling means which are in the form of hooks  25  in the example shown.  
         [0035]     In addition, the sunshade  3  comprises an operating handle  27  which is fixedly joined to the screen  11  at the strip  13 B at the upper end, the handle  27  enabling a user to unfold or fold the screen  11 .  
         [0036]     In order to return the screen  11  towards its folded position, the sunshade  3  is provided with resilient biasing means which are integrated in the screen  11  itself. According to the invention, the hinges  15  of the screen  11  exert the resilient biasing effect towards the folded position.  
         [0037]     To that end, the screen  11  is composed of a shape memory material whose initial shape corresponds to the folded position in which the sections or strips  13  are folded onto one another.  
         [0038]     It is in this manner that the deployment of the screen  11  from its folded position, under the effect of traction exerted by a user on the handle  27  in accordance with the axis Z, is effected against the resilient biasing force of the hinges  15 .  
         [0039]     It will be appreciated that the complementary coupling means  21 ,  25  enable the screen  11  to be maintained in its deployed position against the resilient biasing force of the hinges  15 . In order to return the screen  11  to its folded position from the deployed position, maintained by the coupling means, a user has only to uncouple the coupling means without any traction force subsequently being required on his/her part.  
         [0040]     In order to improve the general aesthetics of the door  1  provided with the sunshade  3 , it is provided that the screen  11 , in its folded position, is totally retracted into the casing  5 . Only the handle  27  then projects outside the casing so that it can be grasped by the user.  
         [0041]     It is of course possible to provide other glazed portions of the vehicle with a sunshade as described above, it being possible to accommodate the latter in hollow portions of the bodywork other than door casings, or in items of interior equipment. The sunshade may also be secured to the outside of such casings, bodywork portions or other items of interior equipment. In the same manner, it is possible to provide for the coupling, or more generally the securing, of the screen in the deployed position at any suitable portion of the vehicle, in particular the roof.  
         [0042]      FIG. 2  shows the screen  111  of a sunshade according to a second embodiment of the invention, in the folded configuration.  
         [0043]     The screen of that sunshade is similar to the one shown in  FIG. 1  except that the type of folding giving the screen  111  its shape is different.  
         [0044]     In this embodiment, the screen  111  is also folded in accordance with a shape in which the hinges  115  (or folding lines) are located alternately on one side and the other of a centre plane. The centre plane is symbolized by the axis Z in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0045]     Unlike the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the sections or strips  113  are not all of the same width but are alternately single-width and double-width.  
         [0046]      FIG. 3  shows the screen  211  of a sunshade according to a third embodiment of the invention, in folded configuration.  
         [0047]     In this embodiment, the screen  211  is folded in the manner of crenellations, the strips  213  which define the parallel screen sections being located alternately on one side and the other of a centre plane of the screen while the hinges  215  follow one another in pairs on one side and the other of the centre plane (indicated by the axis Z in  FIG. 3 ).  
         [0048]     The embodiments of  FIGS. 2 and 3  relate to screens that have, in the folded configuration, a major space requirement in terms of height (greater than the space requirement in terms of height of the screen folded in accordance with the solution shown in  FIG. 1 ). On the other hand, those solutions have the advantage of a very small space requirement in terms of width.  
         [0049]     Regardless of the folding adopted, in particular from among the three folding methods described above, it is possible to provide secondary folding which consists in folding each section  13 ;  113 ;  213 . This secondary folding is advantageously carried out with secondary folding lines parallel with the principal folding lines. It is of course possible to have a secondary folding method which differs from the principal folding method.  
         [0050]     Within the scope of the invention, the advantage of secondary folding is to increase the biasing force into the folded position, which is generated by the screen itself. For example, when secondary folding of the accordion type is applied to the principal folding described with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , this has the advantage of reducing the space requirement in terms of height (in accordance with the Z axis) of the screen in the folded configuration. The forms of folding in  FIGS. 2 and 3  combined with such secondary folding therefore have, simultaneously, the advantages of a very small space requirement in terms of width, a small space requirement in terms of height and an increased biasing force to the folded position. This applies in the same manner with the same effects if a secondary folding method as described with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3  is applied to a principal folding form of the accordion type.  
         [0051]     Having read the above description, it will be appreciated that the sunshade according to the invention has an extremely simplified structure compared with the sunshades of the prior art owing to the fact that the means for returning the screen into the folded position are integrated in the screen itself. The hinges, that is to say, the folding regions of the screen, themselves participate in the resilient biasing effect and render the addition of external mechanical systems to the screen superfluous in fulfilling the function of returning to the retracted or folded position.