Windshield shade

A device for protecting the interior of a vehicle from damage and heat due to radiation while the car is parked in the sunlight, comprising a horizontally drawn shade of a heat reflecting material, such as flexible metal or plastic, having a pull member with an arcuate end portion and means for pivotally supporting a housing for said shade at or near one of the A-posts of an automobile and a cooperating member to receive a locking device secured to the free end of the shade pivotally attached to the other A-post of the vehicle. The shade is biased to be reeled into the shade housing so that when the pull member is aligned and attached to the tab member, the shade extends in close adjacency to the inner surface of a windshield of an automobile and can be readily applied across the windshield when the car is parked and readily removed from operative position when it is necessary to leave a parked position. The pivotal support for the housing makes it unnecesary to position the housing and the cooperating member in exact positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
An automobile that is parked in sunshine, even for only an hour or two, at 
a place where no shade is available, becomes so hot inside the vehicle 
that it is often impossible for the driver and passengers to enter the 
car. The heat sometimes reaches a degree making it impossible to touch the 
steering wheel and metal parts within the car. This heat results from 
solar radiation, due to penetration of sun rays through the windows of the 
car. In recent years, cars intended for passenger use have practically the 
upper half of the car body composed of glass to provide good visibility. 
Parked cars must have the windows locked to avoid possible theft of 
articles and other unauthorized entry during the time the car is parked. 
Because of the damage that solar radiation causes to the interior of the 
automobile and also the heat developed when a car is parked in sunshine, 
means are required to protect the interior of the vehicle from such 
nuisances and damage. 
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS AND PRIOR ART 
Automobiles have been provided with pivotable sunvisors that cover a small 
portion of the interior of the windshield when pivoted downward and into 
close proximity of the automobile roof. Any pivoting to cut off solar 
heating decreases the area of visibility through the windshield. Auxiliary 
devices have been added to increase the area of coverage, either within 
the inner surface of the windshield or outside the automobile in close 
relation to the windows of the automobile in order to reduce the amount of 
incidental radiation that is applied to the interior of the automobile. 
For one reason or another, these prior art devices fail to provide means 
that would be readily applicable to cover the windshield when the car is 
parked for a short period of time and that is readily disassembled from 
operative position and capable of being stored within the automobile in 
readily accessible position for use whenever such use is required. 
Various patents of the prior art will be discussed to point out their 
deficiencies in this respect. While not all of the references mentioned 
are believed to be most relevant to this invention, the patents have been 
reported in a novelty search performed prior to the preparation of the 
application that matured into this patent. In order to fulfill the 
requirements of the patent statutes as to candor, all of the patents 
reported in the search report are disclosed and discussed. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,566 to Harrington shows a panel mounted to the rear of 
a front seat of a taxi to carry advertising matter for viewing by the taxi 
passengers. This device does not modify the amount of radiation received 
by the interior of the taxi when parked in sunlight. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,812 to Haugland shows a collapsible, louvered 
anti-glare device to protect the occupant of a vehicle from the glare of 
reflected light from the hood of the vehicle. Hinges connect the louvers, 
which extend horizontally, to control the height of the device. Even when 
this device is collapsed, it requires considerable space for storage, 
which interferes with the room for the feet of the passengers of an 
automobile. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,070 to Verney shows a warning sign carried in an auto 
on the forward surface of a sun visor and having its letters printed in 
mirror image to form at least one coherent word when seen in a rear view 
mirror of the preceding auto. This device does not modify the intensity of 
radiation received within a parked auto. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,435 to Rix shows a flat glare panel of small area 
attached to an upper portion of a windshield by a suction cup and shank. 
This device is capable of supporting a small plate containing advertising 
matter. Its effect on the amount of radiation received within the vehicle 
is modest. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,788 to Patzer shows a system for placing any selected 
message sign from a plurality of stored message signs into a viewing 
position within an automobile. While there may be some incidental 
interception of incoming radiation, the main purpose of this patented 
invention is to provide a message for viewing by someone in the vicinity 
of the vehicle and not to reduce the effect of incoming radiation. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,506 to Shiota shows mechanism to mount pivotable 
louvers adjacent vehicle windows. Special guide rails and gear wheels are 
provided within the vehicle to provide mechanism to move the pivotable 
louvers. This device is relatively massive and would be detrimental to gas 
mileage because of the mass of the mechanism. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,937 to Koch shows a sunshade device with spaced 
horizontal slots that are structurally reinforced. It is designed for use 
with the rear vision window of a vehicle and remains in place outside the 
vehicle. It limits the visibility of the driver along horizontal slotted 
areas. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,396 to Levy shows foldable sunshade devices that are 
unfolded to cover the inner surface of a windshield and folded to provide 
a stack of folded portions when not in use. Two sun visors engage the 
unfolded device along its upper edge while a dashboard supports its lower 
edge. Storage of the folded device is a problem because of the size of the 
rectangular portions that comprise the device. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,473 to Hildebrand shows an auxiliary sun-shade device 
movably and rotatably supported relative to a support bar on a main 
sunshade device about a horizontal axis and provided with panel members 
pivoted to one another about a vertical axis to enlarge and relocate the 
area of windshield shaded by the sun visors. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,414 to Surtin shows sunshade devices with overlapping 
slots that are held in overlapping relation by tapes. The sunshade devices 
of this patent are designed to cover substantially half of the windshield 
and leave exposed areas in between. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,978 to Brocado shows a single device adapted to be 
stored in a cylindrical container adapted to be clipped to a sun visor. 
The single device includes a mounting portion constructed to embrace the 
upper end of a vertically movably window of the vehicle to enable the 
window to support the single device when the latter extends outside its 
embraced window to provide a message for people who happen upon the 
vehicle. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,488 to Dunklinn et al uses as a heat screening device a 
perforated polymer laminated sheet fixed to the interior surface of a rear 
window of a vehicle, having a hatch back type rear panel to simulate the 
appearance of a three dimensional window louvre structure. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,513 to Sahar shows a casing carried by the roof of an 
auto. The casing stores four flexible curtains. Means is provided for 
moving stored curtains into positions covering the inner surfaces of the 
windshield, side windows and rear window of the auto and to turn the 
curtains into the casing as desired. The material for the curtains is 
flexible fabric. Such material is not the most efficient for reflecting 
incidental radiation. 
In addition to the patented devices discussed, applicant's counsel has seen 
horizontal shade means of fabric composition rigidly supported by a first 
suction cup applied to one side of an automobile windshield and a button 
rigidly fixed to a second suction cup applied to the other side of the 
windshield. Unless the suction cups are applied in precise locations, such 
shade means is difficult, if not impossible, to retain in a locked 
operative position across the windshield due to the rigidity of the 
support of said housing and said button. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides shade apparatus that is readily applied into 
its operative position to cover the interior surface of a windshield when 
a car is parked and readily disconnected from its operative position and 
easily stored in locations that will not annoy the occupants of the 
vehicle when use of the device is no longer needed. The preferred 
embodiments of the present invention utilize the opposite side end 
portions of the windshield or the opposite A-posts which form part of a 
supporting frame on to which the windshield is mounted to pivotally 
support cooperating structural elements of the retractable shade of this 
invention. These include a shade housing pivotally supported on a member 
connecting a pair of spaced suction cups attached to one windshield side 
portion or a first A-post and a cooperating tab member pivotally supported 
on a member connecting another pair of spaced suction cups attached to the 
other windshield side portion or a second A-post. The housing has an 
elongated opening and provides a storage space for a reel of a 
heat-reflecting shade of thin flexible metal or heat-reflecting plastic. 
The shade is constructed and arranged to extend from one end supported 
within the housing through the elongated opening from said housing to a 
free end. The shade is biased to be stored as a reel within the housing in 
the absence of a pulling force. A pull member having a free end of arcuate 
configuration is attached to the free end of the shade. A keyhole opening 
is provided in the pull member. The keyhole opening has a wide portion 
facing the housing opening and a narrow portion facing away from the 
narrow opening. Attachment means pivotally secures the shade housing to 
the windshield or the first A-post so the shade may be unreeled through 
the elongated opening in an essentially horizontal direction from the 
elongated opening. A second tab support member is provided on the second 
A-post, preferably on the driver's side. The second tab support member may 
be fixed or removably mounted at or adjacent to the second A-post. A tab 
member is pivotably supported on the second tab support member. A button 
constructed and arranged to be received within the wide portion of the 
keyhole opening is fixed to the pivotally supported tab member to pivot 
therewith and to be held within the narrow portion of the keyhole opening 
by the bias that tends to cause the shade to return into its coiled 
position holds the shade extended horizontally adjacent to and inside the 
inner surface of the windshield. 
The pivotal supports for the shade housing and for the tab member reduce 
the criticality of the positioning for the shade housing and said tab 
member so that it is easier to secure the cooperating button and keyhole 
opening of this invention rather than prior art devices which use rigid 
rather than pivotal support for the cooperating elements of the shade. 
This difference results from the fact that it is inconvenient, and almost 
impossible, for one person to simultaneously extend the shade from a 
rigidly supported shade housing and also change the position of a rigidly 
supported cooperating element at the time the cooperating elements (button 
and keyhole opening) are secured. It is much more convenient and readily 
possible for one person to simultaneously change the orientation of the 
shade housing from which the shade and one of the cooperating elements 
extends and also that of the pivotally supported other cooperating element 
to reach a position in which the cooperating elements are engaged to hold 
the shade extended across the windshield. In other words, while it takes 
two people to insure exact engagement of the cooperating elements of the 
prior art shade (one person to secure a single vacuum cup and to adjust 
the orientation of the extension of the shade from the location of the 
vacuum cup and the other person to fix the rigid position of a vacuum cup 
to which the cooperating element is fixed, it is convenient for a single 
person to simultaneously pivot and extend the shade and its cooperating 
element and pivot the position of the other cooperating element while the 
elements engage. 
In addition, each cooperating element of the present invention is 
positioned by a pair of suction cups rather than by a single suction cup 
as in the prior art device with which the present invention is compared. 
Therefore, it is less likely that the present invention will become 
disconnected than the prior art device. 
It is understood that the pull member may be provided with the button and 
the tab member may be provided with the keyhole opening to receive the 
button attached to the pull member. Therefore, it is a very simple matter 
to cover the interior surface of the windshield by drawing the shade of 
flexible metal or heat reflecting plastic horizontally across the 
windshield. 
The foregoing and other benefits of this invention will be understood 
better in the light of a description of a preferred embodiment that 
follows.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, a windshield is shown mounted with its side 
edges received within A-posts. One of the A-posts is located adjacent the 
passenger door of the vehicle and the other A-post on the driver's side of 
the vehicle. A flexible aluminum shade 10 is shown partly extending from a 
shade housing 12 through an elongated opening 13 (FIG. 2). The shade 10 is 
supported in rolled condition within housing 12 as a reel on shade 
supporting aluminum roll 14. A plurality of cutouts 16 is provided at the 
lower end of the aluminum roll 14. A spring loaded sleeve 18 is provided 
with a plurality of lugs 20, one for each of the cutout portions 16. 
Sleeve 18 rotates about a rod 22. 
A reversely curved elongated bar 24 is attached to an outer flat wall of 
housing 12 through a pivotable attachment 26. Reversely curved elongated 
bar is relatively flat and is provided with terminal fingers 28 have 
rounded inner edges at each longitudinal edge portion thereof. The 
terminal fingers 28 are designed to receive vacuum cups 30. Each vacuum 
cup 30 is provided with a head 32, a grooved portion or neck 34 below the 
head 32 and a shoulder 36 below the neck 34. A flexible perimeter portion 
38 forms the vacuum cup at the bottom thereof. The terminal fingers 28 
surround the necks 34 of the vacuum cups 30 to secure the vacuum cups 
thereto. Vacuum cups 30 are applied to the windshield end near the A-bar 
or directly to the A-bar, preferably on the side of the vehicle occupied 
by a passenger. While FIG. 2 shows the elongated bar 24 extending 
transversely to the length of the shade housing 12, it is understood that 
in the more usual position, shown in FIG. 1, the elongated bar 24 will be 
only angled slightly from the length of the housing 12 because of the 
manner in which the A-bars extend in automobiles and the showing in FIG. 2 
is designed to illustrate the construction of the elongated bar 24 
relative to the housing 12. 
The shade 10 has a free end (FIG. 5) suitably enforced by a bifurcated 
reinforcement edge member 40 extending entirely across the free end of the 
shade 10 and a folded tab 42 with a free end directed to the shade housing 
12. Tab 42 has an outer fold 44, that surrounds the bifurcated 
reinforcement edge member 40. A pull member 46, having a slot 48 that 
receives outer fold 44 has a keyhole opening 50. Keyhole opening 50 has a 
relatively wide portion facing the shade housing 12 and a narrow portion 
facing away from shade housing 12. 
A pulling force applied to the pull member 46 causes shade 10 to be 
extended. When the pulling force is released, shade 10 is reeled back into 
the shade housing 12. Pull member 46 has a turned end to facilitate its 
being grabbed between a thumb and forefinger of an operator. 
In order to retain the shade in its fully extended position, a pivotable 
tab member 60 provided with a button 62 having a neck 64 is pivotally 
supported on a tab support member 66. The latter is similar to the 
elongated curved bar 24 attached to the first A-post and also has a 
pivotal attachment 26 for attaching the pivotal tab member 60 to the tab 
support member 66. Terminal fingers 28 receive necks 34 of additional 
vacuum cups 30 to secure the pivotable tab members 60 through its tab 
support member 66 onto the windshield or other A-post, preferably at the 
driver's side of the vehicle. Thus, when a pulling force is applied to 
pull the pull member 46 in position wherein the wide portion of its 
keyhole opening 50 is aligned with the button 62, the button can move 
through the wide portion through the keyhole opening 50 and then upon 
release of the pulling force, tension causing the shade 10 to be reeled 
into the housing 12 holds the tab member 46 so that the narrow portion of 
the keyhole opening 50 engages the button 62 at its neck 64 so as to 
maintain the shade 10 in its horizontally extended position without 
requiring additional pulling force. 
When a car is parked and it is expected that the parked car will be subject 
to exposure to sunlight that would cause damage to the interior fabrics of 
the vehicle or heating up of the temperature within the vehicle, the shade 
10 is pulled until the pull member 46 is in a position sufficiently over 
the button 62 to enable the button 62 to engage the keyhole opening 50 
which holds the shade in its extended position until such time as the 
vehicle is ready to be reoccupied. Pivoting the pivotal tab member 60 
enables the position of the button 62 to be aligned properly with the 
position occupied by the keyhole opening 50 in pull member 46, even if the 
original orientations of the pulled shade 10 and/or pivotable tab member 
60 must be modified to attain engagement. 
It is understood, that the button 62 may be provided on pull member 46 and 
the keyhole opening 50 provided in the pivotal tab member 60, however, 
with the wide and narrow portion of keyhole opening 50 reversed in 
position with that shown in FIG. 1 so as to enable the same result to be 
obtained as in illustrated embodiment. 
In accordance with the patent statutes, the principle, preferred 
construction and mode of operation of this invention has been explained 
and what is presently considered its best embodiment has been illustrated 
and described. However, it should be understood, that within the scope of 
the claimed subject matter that follows, the invention may be practiced 
otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.