Positioning system with star member rotatable within and slidable along a channel

A positioning system which is used for positioning a sun visor extension or other element, comprises a star member having a hub with a plurality of radially extending circumferentially spaced resilient vanes connected thereto. A channel member having a pair of elongated parallel walls frictionally receives the star member and is in frictional contact with at least some of the vanes. This permits the star member to be slid along the channel member. The star member can also rotate with respect to the channel member through the slight bending of the vanes which are in contact with the walls. A bore extends through the hub for receiving the elongated arm of a paddle shaped visor extension. With the channel connected to the sun visor of a vehicle, the paddle extension can be translated and rotated into any desired position.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates in general to positioning and coupling 
apparatus, and in particular to a new and useful positioner which is 
capable of positively positioning one element with respect to another at a 
multiplicity of orientations. The invention is used in particular for 
positioning a sun visor extension but may be used in a wide variety of 
other applications. 
Existing sun visors employed in land, sea and air vehicles are unable to 
prevent blinding glare when the sun is ahead and low on the horizon, which 
occurs during hours when the sun is rising and setting. Forward sun glare 
causes partial and sometimes complete loss of forward vision which causes 
fear and discomfort, and can place a vehicle and its occupants in danger 
of collisions with other vehicles or immovable roadside objects, with 
resulting injuries and fatalties as well as property damage. 
Existing sun visors fail to overcome sun glare because they cannot be made 
big enough to do so without at the same time blocking a driver's vision of 
everything else ahead. Attempts to overcome the problem in the form of 
visor-wide dark filter flip-down attachments have proven unsatisfactory 
and have failed to achieve even a fingerhold in the marketplace. 
However, an opaque auxiliary shield or paddle attachment will work, and 
would be useful if it could be manipulated and positioned easily and 
quickly with a minimum of attention. This is particularly important in the 
environment of a moving vehicle. An optimally effective embodiment of this 
concept calls for coefficients of friction between the various cooperating 
system members to be as low as possible, but at the same time consistent 
with the strict requirement that once the paddle or other suspended object 
is moved to a desired spatical position it will remain there despite any 
external forces. One such source is constant--i.e. gravity. Others are 
intermittent, such as vehicle vibrations, and in particular vertical 
shaking and jolting caused by unevenness, bumps, depressions and holes in 
the roadway. 
When the movement of a system member is confined to the horizontal plane, a 
relatively low level of friction can provide positional stability. But 
where a member's movement is vertical or has a vertical component (vector) 
or where it can rotate in a vertical plane and is asymmetrically loaded, 
it is subject to gravity and inertial momentum and therefore requires a 
higher level of friction to maintain the required positional stability. 
If, as in the case of the present invention, a cooperating member functions 
in both the horizontal and vertical planes, it would be advantageous to 
find means whereby the friction obtained during the horizontal movement 
will be less than that obtained during the vertical or rotational 
movement. Such means have been devised and comprise a key part of the 
present invention, as will be described in the following. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One object of the present invention is to provide a positioning system 
which can be used to mount an auxiliary sun visor extension onto an 
existing sun visor in a vehicle, and to position the extension in any 
desired orientation with respect to the visor. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a positioning 
system which can be used to position any two elements with respect to each 
other at a variety of orientations. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a circular 
bearing or coupler member which, when mounted captively in a channel, 
requires higher force to be rotated than to be translated. 
According to the present invention, a star member comprising a hub and a 
plurality of circumferentially spaced radially extending vanes is 
frictionally held between the parallel walls of a channel member. An 
element which is to be held at a variety of orientations with respect to 
the star member and to the channel member is engaged with the hub. If the 
hub carries an even number of vanes, two adjacent vanes lightly contact 
each wall on either side of the hub for centering the hub in the channel 
and for permitting low friction sliding of the hub along the channel. 
Where an odd number of vanes are provided on the hub, two vanes engage one 
wall on one side of the hub and a single vane engages the wall on the 
opposite side of the hub. The vane length is chosen so that the OD of the 
star member is slightly greater than the distance between the walls of the 
channel member. 
Either the vanes, the channel member or both are made of somewhat resilient 
material such as plastic so that the star member may be rotated in the 
channel. Rotation causes slight bending in the vanes or spreading of the 
walls so that a new combination of vanes contact the walls. The rotational 
movement of the vanes is resisted to a greater extent than the lateral 
movement of the star member along the channel. According to one embodiment 
of the invention, a sun visor extension is provided in the form of a 
paddle having an elongated arm connected thereto. The elongated arm is 
frictionally engaged into a hole extending through the hub of the star 
member. In this way, the paddle can be moved transversely to the hub along 
its arm. In addition, the paddle can be rotated or laterally moved by 
rotating or sliding the star member with respect to the channel. 
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are 
pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part 
of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its 
operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference 
is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which the 
preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied in FIGS. 1 
and 2 comprises a positioning system having a star member generally 
designated 10 which is advantageously constructed of hard yet resilient 
plastic. Star member 10 is frictionally held between the parallel 
elongated walls 22, 22 of a channel member generally designated 20. 
Star member 10 comprises a hub 12 having a base extending into the channel 
member 20. A plurality of circumferentially spaced radially extending 
resilient vanes 14 are connected to the base of the hub. In the 
illustrated embodiments, an even number (16) of vanes 14 are provided so 
that two vanes frictionally engage each wall 22, on opposite sides of the 
hub 12. This is a low friction engagement so that the star member 10 can 
easily be slid along the channel 20 in the direction of double arrow B. As 
best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, star member 10 is trapped within the channel 
of channel member 20 by covers 24 which extend over the walls 22 of the 
channel member. 
In addition to laterally moving the star member in the channel member, the 
star member may be rotated to a multiplicity of rotational positions. 
Rotation is achieved by turning the hub 12 on its axis in the direction of 
arrow A in FIG. 2. This causes two of the vanes 14a, 14a which were in 
contact with the walls 22, 22 to flex slightly until these vanes pass the 
wall. A stable or "rest" position is reached when the flexed vanes 14a 
pass their dead center position with respect to the walls 22. This returns 
the star member to a condition where two vanes are in low friction contact 
with each of the walls on opposite sides of the hub. It will be understood 
that the star member can be rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise. 
The channel member 20 may also be made of resilient plastic so that, in 
addition to bending of the vanes 14a, or instead of such bending, the 
walls 22 may spread slightly to permit rotation of the star member. 
As shown in FIG. 3, hub 12 includes a transverse bore 16 therethrough which 
frictionally receives the elongated arm 32 of a sun visor extension 
generally designated 30. Tabs 36 are provided at the end of the arm 32 to 
retain the arm in the hub 12. Arm 32 is advantageously made of plastic 
material and includes a longitudinally extending groove 34 which permits 
the arm to compress slightly to improve the frictional engagement between 
the arm and the hub 12. 
Arm 32 has a circular cross section so that it can be rotated with respect 
to the hub. Alternatively, the arm may have an oval or polygonal cross 
section which precludes relative rotation between the arm and the hub, but 
which continues to permit the arm to slide parallel to its axis and with 
respect to the hub. 
FIG. 5 shows how the channel member 20 can be connected by a pair of metal 
clips 27 which are clipped somewhat like clothes pins to the bottom edge 
of a sun visor 80 of a vehicle. The sun visor extension 30 which includes 
a paddle 38 connected to an arm 32, can be rotated in the direction of 
arrow A, and slid laterally with respect to the visor in the direction of 
arrow B. In addition, the paddle 38 can be moved along its arm 32 in the 
direction of arrow C. This provides a multiplicity of relative positions 
between the paddle 38 and the visor 80 so that the paddle can be brought 
into any desired position for blocking sun which has not been blocked by 
the visor. 
FIG. 4 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein the star 
member 60 is used to position a pair of channel members 40, 50 with 
respect to each other. The star member includes a hub 66 which has 
opposite ends which each carry a plurality of radially extending 
circumferentially spaced vanes 62 and 64. As with the embodiment of FIG. 
1, the star member 60 can be moved under low friction along the length of 
either channel member 40 or 50 with rotation between these members being 
possible through the use of somewhat higher force. 
While the specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and 
described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the 
invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied 
otherwise without departing from such principles.