Visor

A pair of visor mounting brackets include spring clips which cooperate with the pivot axles of a visor to selectively urge the visor toward a raised stored position and hold it in such position. The visor in a preferred embodiment includes a pair of panels with a first panel mounted to the brackets to be spring-actuated to a raised stored position and a second panel slidably mounted to the first panel by interlocking arms which permit the second panel to be extended from either side of the first panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains to vehicle visors and particularly to a 
mounting system for a visor. 
Conventional automotive visors are installed such that they can pivot from 
a lowered use position adjacent the windshield to a side window if the sun 
is centering the vehicle from the side. When driving along a curved 
highway, it may be necessary to frequently move the visor from the 
windshield to the side window position while driving. This can not only be 
burdensome, but when ducking under the visor as it is moved, the driver's 
attention is distracted, creating a potentially hazardous driving 
situation. 
In order to provide simultaneous side and front window shade, visor systems 
have been proposed which employ a primary conventional visor and a 
secondary or auxiliary visor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,261,881; 2,492,074; 
2,517,872; 2,823,950; and 3,499,679 are representative of such structure. 
In these structures, an auxiliary visor is provided and is coupled 
directly to the primary visor through a pivot connection such that it can 
be moved to a variety of locations providing sun blocking along more than 
one axis of incident sunlight. Some prior art suggests providing 
conventional visors with sliding sleeves for blocking sunlight. U.S. Pat. 
Nos. 3,617,088 and 3,649,068 are representative of this "add-on" approach. 
Other visor systems provide separate side window visors which are 
permanently mounted above the side windows. U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,062, 
assigned to the present assignee, is representative of a side window visor 
installation. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
The present invention provides improved visor mounting brackets which in 
one embodiment support at least one visor panel for spring-actuated, 
snap-up storage against a vehicle roof. In the preferred embodiment, the 
mounting brackets adjustably support a first visor movable between a 
raised stored position and a lowered use position. The visor also can be 
moved to a side window for providing protection against incident light 
from the side. The brackets also include bias means which cooperate with 
the pivot axle of an auxiliary visor which is selectively urged by the 
bias means toward a raised stored position and releasably held in such 
position. The auxiliary visor preferably includes a pair of panels with a 
first panel mounted to the brackets to be spring-actuated to a raised 
stored position and a second panel slidably mounted to the first panel by 
interlocking arm means which permit the second panel to be extended from 
either side of the first panel. 
With such a system, the auxiliary visor can become the primary windshield 
visor with the sliding panel selectively movable to either side to block 
light while the primary visor is moved to the side window position. 
Alternatively, when only a front visor is necessary, the primary visor can 
be used independently of the auxiliary visor. The system provides a 
compact and attractive visor installation which has the clean, trim 
appearance of a single visor installation and improved flexibility and 
operation. These and other features, objects and advantages of the present 
invention will become apparent upon reading the following description 
thereof together with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring initially to FIGS. 1-5, there is shown the preferred embodiment 
of the invention which is shown installed in a vehicle on the passenger 
side. The visor system 8 of the present invention comprises a first or 
primary visor 10 and a second or auxiliary visor 20. Both visors 10 and 20 
are coupled between a first mounting bracket 30 and a second mounting 
bracket 40 which are mounted in spaced relationship to the roof 12 of a 
vehicle above its windshield 14. In the embodiment shown, the passenger 
side visor system is mounted to the left of the "A" pillar 11 of the 
vehicle which extends between the windshield 14 and the right side window 
15. 
As seen in the progression of visor positions, shown in FIGS. 1-5, the 
first visor 10 operates in the nature of a conventional visor, movable 
between a raised stored position, shown in FIG. 1, to a lowered windshield 
position, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The visor can then be moved to a side 
window blocking position shown in FIGS. 3-5. The second or auxiliary visor 
panel 20 is held by spring clips in brackets 30 and 40 in a raised stored 
position against the roof 12 and can be lowered for use as illustrated in 
FIGS. 4 and 5. When both visors 10 and 20 are in a raised stored position, 
as illustrated in FIG. 1, the auxiliary visor 20 is concealed between 
visor 100 and roof or headliner 12 of the vehicle; and, therefore, the 
system appears substantially the same as a conventional visor 
installation. Having briefly described the operation of the visor system, 
a detailed description of the unique visor system is now presented. 
The first or primary visor 10 may include an illuminated mirror package of 
the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,241 or a slide-out illuminated 
vanity mirror package as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,819. 
Alternatively, the visor can be a standard blank visor as illustrated. 
Visor 10 includes a polymeric core covered by a suitable upholstery 
material 17 to conform the visor to the interior decor of the vehicle in 
which it is installed. A visor pivot rod extends within the visor core 
adjacent the top edge 18 thereof to permit the visor to pivot on the visor 
rod for movement between a raised stored position and a lowered use 
position as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. The visor pivot 
rod and its connection within the body of a visor such as visor 10 is 
disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,131 entitled VISOR CONTROL, the 
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The visor pivot 
rod is itself conventional and forms no part of the present invention 
other than providing a pivotal interface between the visor body 10 and the 
pivot rod extending from an end thereof which includes an elbow which is 
pivotally coupled to mounting bracket 30. 
The auxiliary visor 20 of the preferred embodiment of the invention 
includes a visor body 50 (FIG. 6) which slidably receives an auxiliary 
sliding panel 60 (FIG. 7) which can be moved from a stored position 
illustrated in FIG. 4, substantially coextensive and aligned with body 50, 
to a first extended position, illustrated in FIG. 5 in solid lines, in 
which the auxiliary panel 60 extends immediately adjacent to the "A" 
pillar 11 of the vehicle, filling in the gap 21 shown in FIG. 4. Panel 60 
can also be moved to the left as indicated by arrow A in FIG. 5 and as 
shown in phantom lines. Thus auxiliary visor 20 provides an adjustable 
width visor with a bilaterally sliding panel to selectively block direct 
sunlight or reflections as required. The construction of the auxiliary 
visor 20 comprising body 50 and auxiliary sliding panel 60 is now 
described particularly in conjunction with FIGS. 6-13. 
Both body 50 and sliding panel 60 are generally rectangular shaped, as seen 
in FIGS. 6 and 7, and preferably are integrally molded of an opaque 
suitable polymeric material such as polycarbonate. Body 50 integrally 
includes, along its upper edge, a section defining a pivot rod 52 with a 
plurality of spaced integral ribs 51 (FIG. 10). Rod 52 terminates at 
opposite ends in D-shaped cross section stub axles 53 which, as described 
below, fit within keyed openings of each of the brackets 30 and 40 and is 
engaged by the spring clips 80, shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, for urging and 
holding visor 20 in the stored position shown in FIGS. 1-3 as the visor is 
manually rotated toward and to within about 30.degree. of its stored 
position. It is noted here that FIGS. 6 and 7 show the inside facing 
surfaces of members 50 and 60 with the outside surfaces being shown in 
FIGS. 4 and 2, respectively. 
Body 50 also includes a pair of spaced generally parallel semicylindrical 
guide channels 55 formed inwardly from but near the top and bottom edges 
of the body as best seen in FIGS. 6 and 12. Guide channels 55 receive 
complementary shaped parallel projections 65 on panel 60 for guiding, 
partially supporting, and aligning panel 60 with respect to body 50 as it 
slides between its adjusted positions. As seen in FIG. 6, the channels 55 
extend the full width of body 50. 
As best seen in FIG. 9, each of the end posts 53 can include a plurality of 
spaced reliefs 54 with the peripheral edges, however, defining a flat 56 
which aligns with the spring clip section 81 when the visor is in a raised 
stored position (FIG. 21) and the edges of which cam the visor toward the 
stored position as described in greater detail below. The opposite 
peripheral edges of the body 50 include a reinforcing lip 57, as best seen 
in FIG. 11, to add rigidity to the body. Edges 57 also serve as stop means 
in cooperation with sliding panel 60 to limit the lateral extension of the 
sliding panel by engaging the outer edges 70 and 72 of the interlocking 
arms 66 as seen in FIG. 7. 
Approximately along the longitudinal centerline of body 50 there is 
provided an L-shaped arm 59, as best seen in FIG. 8, having a horizontally 
outwardly extending segment 58 which extends between lips 57, as best seen 
in FIG. 6, and a vertically upwardly extending segment 59' which extends 
partially the width of body 50. As seen in FIG. 6, segment 59' terminates 
at a greater distance from the left end, as viewed in FIG. 6, than it does 
at the right end to define a slot 73 to permit assembly of the panel 60 to 
the body 50 as described in greater detail below. The function of member 
59 comprising integral elements 58 and 59' is twofold. The elongated outer 
surface of member 58 engages the inner surface 64 of panel 60 to provide 
sliding support therebetween and prevent rattling between the two 
panel-shaped members while the vertically extending segment 59' interlocks 
with the locking arm means of panel 60 for holding the two elements 
together. The side edges of body 50 includes notches 61 and 62 which 
provide access to the thumb tabs 63 of the sliding panel 60. 
The sliding panel 60 is also a generally flat rectangular panel like body 
50 and, as previously indicated, includes upper and lower longitudinally 
extending parallel spaced rounded projections 65 which are of 
complementary dimension and shape to channels 55 and slidably fit therein 
for guiding the edges of panel 60 along the inner surface of body 50. 
Panel 60 includes three vertically extending spaced parallel raised 
projections 63 located along the edge near the lower half of the panel and 
which, as seen in FIG. 4, are positioned in alignment with the notches 61 
and 62 to permit easy gripping of the edges of panel 60 for sliding the 
panel with respect to the body 50. On the inner surface 64 of panel 60, 
there is provided interlocking arms comprising a pair of downwardly 
projecting L-shaped arms 66 positioned in spaced relationship along the 
general longitudinal centerline panel 60 with a straight rectangular bar 
67 positioned therebetween and in horizontally spaced relationship as best 
seen in FIG. 7. Each of the downwardly depending L-shaped arms 66 includes 
an outwardly projecting segment 68 and a downwardly projecting segment 69 
with adjacent outer ends 70 and 72 which, when installed as described 
below, selectively engage lips 57 on body 50 to limit the travel of the 
panel 60 so that it does not become disengaged from body 50 during use. 
The length of each of the members 66 in the preferred embodiment was 
approximately 1.4 inches for panel 60 which has an overall width of 11 
inches, and the width is selected such that the downwardly extending lip 
69 of the left arm 66, as viewed in FIG. 7, will fit within the notch 73 
(FIG. 6) between lip 57 of body 50 and the end of arm 59 and particularly 
leg 59' thereof for assembly of the two panels. Bar 67 positioned 
intermediate arms 66 engages a side opposite the outwardly extending 
segment 58 of arm 59, as best seen in FIG. 22, with the L-shaped arm 66 
interlocking with arms 59, as also best seen in FIG. 22, which is a 
cross-sectional view through one of the members 66 with the panel 60 
installed on body 50. Sufficient clearance is provided to assure that the 
desired interlocking and, therefore, holding of the two panels with their 
interfaces adjacent one another is provided and yet smooth sliding 
operation is permitted with rattle-free operation assured also by the 
guide channels 55 cooperating with projections 65. 
The assembly of panel 60 to body 50 is provided by facing the inner 
surfaces of the two members and aligning the left arm 66 (as viewed in 
FIG. 7) with notch 73 and sliding the panel until the arm 66 interlocks 
with arm 59. Subsequently, sliding panel 60 is moved with respect to body 
50 until bar 67 slides under leg 58. The somewhat flexible panel 60 is 
advanced until the second arm 66 interengages arm 59 and the edge 72 of 
the second leg 66 of panel 60 clears lip 57 after which both panels assume 
their normal undeflected configuration, and edges 70 and 72 will 
selectively engage lips 57 to limit the subsequent opposed sliding motion 
of panel 60 within body 50. Once assembled, typically there is no need to 
disassemble the panel 60 from body 50; however, it can be achieved by 
pulling the panel 60 toward gap 73 and lifting edge 72 above lip 57 and 
subsequently sliding panel 60 outwardly therefrom while raising it away 
from body 50. The guide channels 55 may alternatively be formed as panel 
60 with the projections 65 on body 50 as long as the sliding guiding 
interface is provided. Also, any generally concave and convex shape other 
than the preferred semicylindrical shape can be employed as long as 
sufficient depth for interengagement is provided to resist skewing of 
panel 60 from body 50 away from the longitudinal axis of these elongated 
members. The assembled visor 20 is mounted to the unique mounting brackets 
and spring clips of the present invention to provide the snap-up storing 
and holding operation now described in connection with FIGS. 14-21. 
Mounting bracket 30 is cast or molded of a suitable material such as a zinc 
alloy. Bracket 30 includes a body 32 having a pair of recessed stepped 
mounting apertures 33 spanning opposite sides of a tapered central 
aperture 34 for receiving the elbow end 31 (FIG. 5) of the visor pivot rod 
for visor 10. The elbow end is held within the tapered aperture 34 by 
conventional means such as a spring and locking nut. Integrally molded to 
body 32 is a rod end and spring clip receiving boss 35 which is aligned 
when bracket 30 is secured to the vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 1-5, to be 
above and generally parallel to the upper edge of windshield 14 with a 
centrally extending longitudinal configurated aperture 36 shaped to 
receive one of the spring mounting clips 80 through a slot 37 formed 
laterally of aperture 36 and communicating therewith as best seen in FIG. 
18. Boss 35 includes a lower support floor 38 which includes, as perhaps 
best seen in the installed inverted view of FIG. 21, an elongated ledge 39 
formed therein over which the locking edge 82 of clip 80 is extended for 
holding the clip to the bracket. 
Clip 80 (FIGS. 14-16) is a generally C-shaped clip made of spring metal and 
having a length of approximately one inch with a first generally flat end 
segment 81 which extends across a chordal segment of the generally 
cylindrical aperture 36, as best seen in FIG. 21, to engage the flat 
surface 56 of the stub axle 53 which is extended within the aperture 36. 
Segment 81 integrally is coupled by curved wall 83 and top wall 84 to the 
locking edge 82, in a generally C-shaped configuration as best seen in 
FIG. 14. The clip is installed, as illustrated in FIG. 16, by sliding the 
clip forwardly into the slot 37 with surface 81 extending under the top 
surface 31 of boss 35 and with the lower leg 84 extending over support leg 
38 until locking lip 82 snaps over ledge 39 to hold the clip in place. 
Mounting bracket 40 is molded of a resilient polymeric material such as a 
polycarbonate and includes a mounting boss 45 which is of substantially 
identical construction but which has an opening 46 which faces toward and 
is axially aligned with opening 36 in bracket 30 when the brackets are 
installed. Bracket 40 includes a front section 42 which includes an open 
elongated cylindrical socket 44 for releasably receiving the secondary 
support rod 13 of the primary visor 10 as seen in FIGS. 1-5. The base of 
bracket 40 includes a locator pin and flange 43 which extends within an 
aperture formed in the sheet metal portion of roof 12 and a recessed screw 
receiving aperture 45 for conventionally securing bracket 40 to the roof 
of the vehicle. Clip receiving boss 45 other than having opening 46 is an 
opposite direction as boss 35 of bracket 30 is of substantially identical 
construction, and reference to FIGS. 18 and 21 is had for the relationship 
of the structural elements thereof to receive a clip 80 which is similarly 
positioned within clip receiving boss 45 of bracket 40. 
With spring biasing clips 80 located in each of the brackets 30 and 40, the 
brackets are positioned over the stub ends 53 of visor 20; and with visor 
30 attached to the brackets, the system is ready for installation in a 
vehicle. As best seen in FIG. 21, which shows the mounting boss 35 or 45 
in the position in which it would be installed in a vehicle, the flat 56 
on the left stub axle 35 of the visor 20 is shown which cooperates with 
spring clip leg 81 to hold the visor in the plane indicated by dashed line 
B which is approximately the angle of the roof line 12 above windshield 
14. As can be appreciated, as the visor 20 is lowered by rotation in a 
counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 21 by arrow C, the upper left 
corner 56' of stub axle 53 urges against leg 81 of clip 80 expanding the 
clip which provides a compressive force against the remaining cylindrical 
surface of axle 53 for holding the visor 20 in a selected lowered 
position. As the visor is returned toward the stored position against the 
vehicle headliner, the now expanded spring clip 80 provides a force 
against the edge 56' of each of the stub axles 53 which tends to rotate 
the visor in a direction opposite arrow C toward the stored position 
indicated by plane B in FIG. 21. Thus, with the mounting brackets of the 
present invention, the auxiliary visor 20 is urged toward the stored 
position, illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, and held in the stored position by the 
resilient spring clips 80. 
Once the primary visor 10 is lowered and moved to the side, as shown in 
FIG. 3, the auxiliary visor 20 can be lowered from its stored position, as 
seen in FIGS. 1-3, in which it is hidden behind visor 10 when stored, to a 
lowered use position as shown in FIG. 4. The auxiliary visor panel 60 can 
be extended to either side as necessary to fill gap 21 between visors 10 
and 20 or between the vehicle's rearview mirror and body 50 by grasping 
tabs 63 and extending panel 60 as shown in FIG. 5. Thus the use of panel 
60 effectively provides a variable width auxiliary visor 20 which 
cooperates with the primary visor to block incident light from 
interferring with the driver's or passenger's vision. Although a passenger 
side installation is shown, it is understood that the driver's side 
installation is essentially the same with the parts reversed. 
It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various 
modifications of the preferred embodiment of the invention can be made 
without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by 
the appended claims.