RV privacy and sunscreen

A removable, flexible, easily stored, combination privacy/sunscreen for use on the windshield and adjacent side windows of a recreational vehicle to limit light and outside viewing into the vehicle while permitting outside viewing from inside the vehicle. A sheet of flexible cloth material is shaped to fit over the outside of the windshield and adjacent side windows of the vehicle and includes means for releasably attaching the sheet to the vehicle in the above-described position. The sheet is of a non-woven material and comprises a plurality of closely spaced rows disposed on and bonded to a plurality of columns with the rows and columns disposed at right angles to one another and offset from one another. The material forming the rows is thicker and closer spaced than the material forming the columns and, further, forms a tortuous path for the passage of light therethrough which limits the maximum light passage area of the sheet to less than 30%. The preferred combination screen has a center portion for fitting over the windshield of the vehicle and a pair of outer portions attached to and carried by the center portion for fitting over vehicle side windows adjacent the windshield with the rows of the outer portions being angled with respect to the rows of the center portion such that the rows and columns of all the portions are disposed horizontally and vertically, respectively, when the screen is in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: 
The present invention relates to privacy and shade window coverings and, 
more particularly, to a combination privacy and sunscreen for use on 
windows of recreational vehicles to limit light and outside viewing from 
entry into the vehicle while permitting viewing from inside the vehicle 
comprising, a sheet of flexible cloth material shaped to fit over the 
outside of the windshield and adjacent side windows of the vehicle and 
including means for releasably attaching the sheet to the vehicle in the 
above-described position, the sheet being of a non-woven material and 
comprising a plurality of closely spaced rows disposed on and bonded to a 
plurality of columns with the rows and columns disposed at right angles to 
one another and offset from one another, the material forming the rows 
being thicker and closer spaced than the material forming the columns and 
further forming a tortuous path for the passage of light therethrough 
which limits the maximum light passage area of the sheet to less than 30%. 
Recreational vehicles (RVs) such as that generally indicated as 10 in FIG. 
1 have been available for a number of years now. RVs such that of FIG. 1 
are generally open throughout from the windshield 12 to the back side 
window 14. This is opposed to camper "shells" which fit on the back of a 
pickup truck wherein the driver's cab is separate from the living area and 
usually connected by a "boot" replacing the rear window of the truck which 
is easily closed off for privacy. When an RV such as 10 is parked for 
camping purposes, it is desirable to block the entry of the sun's rays so 
as to prevent the so-called "greenhouse effect" within the RV 10 which 
tends to turn the interior into a hothouse. Moreover, it is also desirable 
to provide privacy for the occupants. 
Various conventional and specialized window coverings according to the 
prior art can be used on windows such as back side window 14 which are 
removed from the driver's compartment at 16. When such prior art coverings 
are employed in the windows of the driver's compartment 16, the results 
are undesirable to say the least. For example, in FIG. 2 draw drapes 18 
are shown attached to the windshield 12 and driver's side window 20. As 
can be appreciated, the major problem with the drapes 18 is their 
interference with vision at the sides of the windshield 12 and window 20 
when they are "opened". There is just too much material to store out of 
the way. Moreover, when closed for privacy, they also block the view of 
the occupants from looking out. 
As shown in FIG. 3, similar problems occur with the use of roll 
windowshades 22 and venetian blinds 24. Since the windshield 12 is 
generally curved, a plurality of roll windowshades must be used, and there 
is no looking out once the windowshades 22 have been lowered. Similarly, 
as can be seen with reference to FIG. 3, venetian blind 24 is rectangular 
and is not adapted for use with the non-rectangular windows (or the 
slanted windshield 12 for that matter) which are normally used for the 
side windows 20 of the driver's compartment 16. Venetian blind-slatted 
insect screening is also unworkable because it is flexible only in the 
vertical direction as with a true venetian blind and, therefore, cannot 
adapt to a curved windshield. 
The prior art approach to the above-described problem has been the use of 
an opaque screen 26 over the windshield 12 and driver's side windows 20 
adjacent thereto - either as a single unit as shown in FIG. 4 or as three 
separate pieces for the windshield and side windows, respectively. The 
screen 26 is generally of heavy vinyl material such as that known as 
Naugahide.RTM.. The screen 26 is attached over the window areas after the 
vehicle is parked by way of snap fasteners, or the like. As can be 
appreciated, while blocking undesired sun's rays and affording privacy, 
the screen 26 completely blocks all light from entry into the vehicle and 
prevents the occupants from looking out. 
Wherefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a privacy 
sunshade which is light weight and flexible for easy out of the way 
storage and which can be disposed over the windshield and adjacent side 
windows of a recreational vehicle so that undesired outside viewing into 
the vehicle and the entry of undesired sun's rays are prevented while 
light to a desired level is permitted entry and the occupants are able to 
see out. 
SUMMARY 
The foregoing object has been achieved in the combination privacy and 
sunscreen for use on windows of recreational vehicles of the present 
invention comprising, a sheet of flexible cloth material shaped to fit 
over the outside of the windshield and adjacent side windows of the 
vehicle and including means for releasably attaching the sheet to the 
vehicle in the above-described position. The sheet is of a non-woven 
material and comprises a plurality of closely spaced rows disposed on and 
bonded to a plurality of columns with the rows and columns disposed at 
right angles to one another and offset from one another. The material 
forming the rows is thicker and closer spaced than the material forming 
the columns and thus forms a tortuous path for the passage of light 
therethrough which limits the maximum light passage area of the sheet to 
less than 30%. 
In the preferred embodiment, the screen is particularly adapted for use on 
the windshield and adjacent driving compartment side windows. For that 
purpose, the screen has a center portion for fitting over the windshield 
of the vehicle and a pair of outer portions for fitting over vehicle side 
windows adjacent the windshield. The rows of the outer portions are angled 
with respect to the rows of the center portion such that the rows and 
columns of all the portions are disposed horizontally and vertically, 
respectively, over both the windshield and the side windows when the 
screen is positioned over the windshield and adjacent side windows for use 
.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The present invention is based on the recognition that a particular 
material could achieve the desired objects and provide additional benefits 
over that of its usual use if incorporated into an RV privacy sunscreen. 
As shown in FIG. 5, a non-woven material sold simply under the designation 
"outdoor material" by Intex Plastics company is intended for use in 
outdoor furniture such as the sling chair 28 wherein the material 30 is 
draped between the ends of chair frame 32 to form a sling surface upon 
which an occupant sits. The material 30 is non-woven; that is, it is laid 
up of parallel spaced rows perpendicularly disposed across parallel spaced 
columns which are then bonded together. The result is a plastic-like cloth 
which is lightweight, flexible, and can be sewn. Moreover, the non-woven 
structure provides benefits when adapted to the non-intended used of the 
present invention. 
A segment of the outdoor material 30 is shown enlarged and simplified in 
FIG. 6. A greatly enlarged cross-section thereof is further shown in FIG. 
7. As can be seen from the figures, the material 30 is comprised of a 
plurality of rows 34 and columns 36 of polyester which are at right angles 
to one another and offset from one another. The polyester rows and columns 
34, 36 are held together with a bonding coating 38 on both sides of vinyl 
plastic. Moreover, the material of the rows 34 is thicker and set closer 
together than the material of the columns 36 such that as a result, as 
best seen with respect to FIG. 7, a tortuous path is formed for the 
passage of light rays 42 therethrough whereby the light passage area of 
the material for light rays perpendicular to the surface thereof is about 
30% whereas light rays off the perpendicular see a light passage area 
increasingly less than 30% and, in fact, quickly approaching closer to 
15%. In effect, when employed for the present purpose, the "outdoor 
material", which was intended to be used as a structural, 
weight-supporting or awning/umbrella material, or the like, acts in the 
manner of a bi-directionally flexible thin-slatted venetian blind-like 
material. 
A preferred combined windshield/adjacent side windows privacy sunscreen 44 
according to the present invention and as made from the above-described 
preferred material 30 is shown in plan view in FIG. 8 and as attached to 
an RV 10 in FIG. 9. As with the prior art opaque screen 26 of FIG. 4, the 
windshield and adjacent side windows could be covered with separate 
screens, if desired. For preferred operation, i.e. maximum privacy and 
rejection of sun's rays 40 while permitting easy occupant viewing out, the 
rows 34 and columns 36 are disposed horizontally and vertically, 
respectively, over the windshield 12 and the side windows. This 
orientation places the sunfiltering material 36 with a minimized open area 
presented to outside viewers and high overhead mid-day sun so as to 
maximize those rejection features. Thus, as indicated by the arrows in 
FIG. 9, the occupants can see out (as indicated by the arrows 46) because 
of being so closed to the openings between the rows 38 and columns 40 
while viewing into the RV 10 (as indicated by the arrows 48) is diminished 
because of the distance of outside viewers from the material 36 and the 
illumination of the broad non-open area thereof due to the sun's rays 30 
thereon and the sun's rays 30, themselves, are substantially blocked 
except for a desirable level of lighting within the RV 10 therefrom. 
In the preferred embodiment of the privacy sunscreen 44 of the present 
invention as shown in FIG. 8, the sunscreen 44 is comprised of three 
portions stitched together at 58. This is necessary so that when wrapped 
around the windshield 12 and side windows 20 the thicker, closely-spaced 
rows 34 will be horizontally disposed as desired. To accomplish this, as 
can be seen in FIG. 8, the center portion 60 which fits over the 
windshield 12 has its rows 34 horizontal while the two outer portions 62 
which fit over the sidewindows 20 have their rows 34 angled with respect 
to the rows 34 of the center portion 60. Additionally in the preferred 
embodiment, the outer periphery 50 is folded over and stitched at 52 to 
form a strengthened periphery to which the fasteners 54 are attached by 
which the privacy sunscreen 44 is attached to the RV 10. In the preferred 
embodiment, fasteners 54 comprise first portions of both snaps and touch 
fastener material are attached in combination to the strengthened 
periphery of the privacy sunscreen 44 at spaced points, as indicated. This 
allows the RV's owner to employ mating second portions 56 of either type 
as best suits his needs.