A SUN VISOR DEVICE FOR SHADING THE REAR WINDOW OF AN AUTOMOBILE

Abstract: A sun visor device for shading the rear window (5) of an automobile comprises a seat member (1), a shade roller (2) having an elongated cylindrical housing (20) and a retractable shade body (21) received within the cylindrical housing (20), a gripping member (3) and a stay rod (4). The shade body (21) of the shade roller (2) can be pulled out from the cylindrical housing (20) of the shade roller (2) and stretched between the seat member (1) and the gripping member (3). The seat member (1) and gripping member (3) are respectively, fixedly disposed on a platform (6) located under the rear window (5) of the automobile and an inside rubber rib (8) connected to the roof panel (7) of the automobile and biased by the stay rod (4) connected therebetween. Whereby, the sun visor device can be quickly and easily installed and dismantled without the need of drilling holes in the interior surface of the automobile.

Description: This invention relates to a sun visor device, more particularly to a sun visor device for shading the rear window of an automobile which can be easily and quickly installed and dismantled. Referring now to Figs.1 and 2, a conventional sun visor device comprises a shade roller A and a hanger B. The shade roller A has a retractable shade body A1 which can be pulled out by means of a pull shank A2 having a hole A21 formed therein. The shade roller A is affixed to a platform C1 interposed between the rear window C2 of an automobile C and the back of rear seat C3 of the automobile C by means of two fastening supports A3 which are fastened to the platform C1 by screws A4. The hanger B is provided with a hook B1 and is fixed to the roof panel C4 of the automobile C by a screw D. In this respect, the shade body A1 can be stretched so as to shade the rear window C2 of the automobile C when the hole A21 of the pull shank A2 is grasped by the hook B1. This kind of sun visor device suffers from the following disadvantages: (1) To respectively fix the fasten support A3 and the hanger B to the platform C1 and the roof panel C4 of the automobile C, the screws A4, D must be screwed into the body of the automobile C. In this way, the interior surface of the automobile C will be damaged by drilling. (2) It takes a lot of labour to install such a sun visor device since the installation of the sun visor device comprises the steps of precisely drilling holes in the platform C1 and the roof panel C4 at predetermined positions, respectively aligning the screws A4 and D with the holes drilled in the platform C1 and the roof panel C4, and screwing the screws into the drilled holes. Such a complicated installation procedure naturally increases labour costs. It is therefore a main object of this invention to provide a sun visor device which can be both easily and quickly installed and dismantled without the need for drilling holes in the interior surface of the automobile. DE-U-7632407 discloses a sun visor device for shading the rear window of an automobile, the automobile having a platform interposed between the rear window and the back of the rear seat of the automobile, the sun visor device comprising a shade roller comprising a retractable shade body and an elongate housing for receiving the retractable shade body, the shade body having a pull member connected to the end of the retractable shade body so that the retractable shade body can be pulled out from the elongate housing by the pull member; and a gripping member housing a concave portion adapted to retain the pull member of the shade roller, whereby the shade body (21) can be pulled out from the shade roller (2) and stretched between the support (1) and the gripping member (3); and according to the present invention, such a sun visor is characterised by a stay rod having a first and a second end; a support having a bottom side and a top side, the bottom side having plurality of protrusions formed thereon so as to achieve frictional contact between the support and the platform of the automobile, the top side having a cavity for receiving the first end of the stay rod and a concave portion adapted to transversely hold and retain the elongate housing of the shade roller; and the gripping member further having a top side and a bottom side, the top side of the gripping member being shaped to abut against an inside rubber rib protruding between the roof panel of the automobile and the rear window, the bottom side of the gripping member having a cavity for receiving the second end of the stay rod; whereby the support and the gripping member are respectively, fixedly disposed on the platform and the inside rubber rib and biased by the stay rod which is connected therebetween. Thus, according to this invention the sun visor can be both easily and quickly installed by making the stay rod bias between the support and the gripping member which are respectively and fixedly disposed on the platform and the inside rubber rib. Besides, the sun visor device can also be dismantled by releasing the stress exerted on the stay rod. Further developments in line with claim 1 are referred to in the dependent claims. In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a exploded perspective view of a conventional sun visor device. Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of the conventional sun visor device showing said conventional sun visor device in an operation position. Fig. 3 is a exploded view of a preferred embodiment of a sun visor device according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a support of the sun visor device according to the present invention. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a gripping member of the sun visor device according to the present invention. Fig. 6 is a schematic side view of a preferred embodiment of a sun visor device according to the present invention showing the sun visor device in an operation position. Fig. 7 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of a sun visor device according to the present invention showing the sun visor device in an operation position. Referring to Fig. 3, an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of a sun visor device according to the present invention is shown. The sun visor device comprises a support 1, a shade roller 2 having an elongate cylindrical housing 20, a retractable shade body 21 (see Fig. 7) which is received within said cylindrical housing 20, a gripping member 3, and a stay rod 4. The support 1 has a bottom side 10 and a top side 11. Yhe cottom side of support 1 has rows of triangular ribs 12 protruding therefrom and ribs 12 are tilted in the same direction, in a manner as best shown in Fig. 4. A cavity 13 and a concave portion 14 are both formed on top side 11 of support 1. Cavity 13 accepts on end of rod 4 and concave portion 14 is adapted to transversely receive the elongate cylindrical housing 20 of the shade roller 2. The retractable shade body 21 of the shade roller 2 has a pull member 22 connected at one end thereof so that the retractable shade body 21 can be pulled out from the elongate cylindrical housing 20 by pull member 22. Pull member 22 is a flexible flat strip 221 attached at one end to a rectangular shaped portion 23 which is in turn attached at one end to the shade body 21. Referring to Fig. 5, a perspective view of the gripping member 3 having a top side 35 and a bottom side 36 is shown. A concave portion 31 with a arcuate surface is formed on top side 35 of the gripping member 3. Bottom side 36 of gripping member 3 has a cavity 32 and a transverse through bore 33 with a groove 331 which opens onto the bottom side 36 of gripping member 3. A notch 34, longitudinally communicated with transverse through bore 33, has a jaw 341 which opens onto the bottom side 36 of gripping member 3. In this respect, rectangular portion 23 and flexible flat strip 221 of the pull member 22 can be respectively inserted into and be retained by the transverse through bore 33 and the notch 34 since the width of groove 331 of the transverse through bore 33 and jaw 341 of the notch 34 are respectively narrower than the broader sides of rectangular portion 23 and flexible flat strip 221 of the pull member 22. That is, if the narrower sides of rectangular portion 23 and flexible flat strip 221 of the pull member 22 are respectively facing groove 331 of the transverse through bore 33 and jaw 341 of the notch 34, they can respectively pass through groove 331 and jaw 341. If the broader sides of rectangular portion 23 and flexible flat strip 221 of the pull member 22 are respectively facing the groove 331 and the jaw 341, they will not be able to respectively pass through groove 331 and jaw 341. The assembled sun visor device for shading the rear window of an automobile is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Shade body 21 of the shade roller 2 is pulled out from elongate cylindrical housing 20 of shade roller 2 and stretched between support 1 and the gripping member 3 which are respectively and fixedly disposed on a platform 6 located under the rear window 5 of the automobile and an inside rubber rib 8 connected to the roof panel 7 of the automobile and biased by stay rod 4 which is connected therebetween, wherein said platform 6 is usually provided with layer of soft cloth thereon. In this case, support 1 is first disposed on the soft cloth surface of said platform 6 with rows of triangular ribs 12 tilted rearward, (in a direction indicated by arrow R in Fig.6). One end of the stay rod 4 is inserted into the cavity 13 of support 1 and the other end of stay rod 4 is inserted into cavity 32 of the gripping member 3 so as to force concave portion 31 of gripping member 3 to fixedly abut against the inside rubber rib 8. The support 1 is then pushed forwardly, in a direction indicated by arrow F, along platform 6 until the support cannot be moved further. In this respect, the stay rod is rearwardly inclined and is biased between support 1 and gripping member 3. Meanwhile, the support 1 firmly abuts against platform 6 achieving a frictional contact between the rows of triangular ribs 12 and the soft cloth surface of the platform 6. Next, the shade body is pulled out from housing 20 and stretched so as to screen rear window 5 by pull member 22 when rectangular portion 23 and flexible flat strip 221 of the pull member 22 are respectively inserted into and are retained by transverse through bore 33 and notch 34 in a manner as described hereinbefore. When the sun device is not in use, retractable shade body 21 can be received into cylindrical housing 20 of the shade roller 2 by turning the narrower sides of flexible flat strip 221 and rectangular portion 23 of the pull member 22, in turn, to face the jaw 341 of notch 34 and the groove 331 of transverse through bore 33 and then releasing pull member 22 from gripping member 3. Moreover, support 1, gripping member 3 and stay rod 4 can be dismantled by moving support 1 either left of right, (in the directions indicated by arrow S1, S2 in Fig.7), so as to release the force exerted on the platform 6. It can be seen that this invention offers an extremely simple and easy way to install and dismantle the sun visor device without the need of drilling hole in the interior surface of the automobile.

Claims: 1. A sun visor device for shading the rear window (5) of an automobile,the automobile having a platform (6) interposed between the rear window (5) and the back of the rear seat of the automobile, the sun visor device comprising a shade roller (2) comprising a retractable shade body (21) and an elongate housing (20) for receiving the retractable shade body (21), the shade body (21) having a pull member (22) connected to the end of the retractable shade body (21) so that the retractable shade body (21) can be pulled out from the elongate housing (20) by the pull member (22); and a gripping member (3) housing a concave portion adapted to retain the pull member (22) of the shade roller (2); whereby the shade body (21) can be pulled out from the shade roller (2) and stretched between the support (1) and the gripping member (3); characterised by a stay rod (4) having a first and a second end; a support (1) having a bottom side (10) and a top side (11), the bottom side (10) having a plurality of protrusions (12) formed thereon so as to achieve frictional contact between the support (1) and the platform (6) of the automobile, the top side (11) having a cavity (13) for receiving the first end of the stay rod (4) and a concave portion (14) adapted to transversely hold and retain the elongate housing (20) of the shade roller (2); and the gripping member (3) further having a top side (35) and a bottom side (36), the top side (35) of the gripping member (3) being shaped to abut against an inside rubber rib (8) protruding between the roof panel (7) of the automobile and the rear window (5), the bottom side (36) of the gripping member (3) having a cavity (32) for receiving the second end of the stay rod (4); whereby the support (1) and the gripping member (3) are respectively, fixedly disposed on the platform (6) and the inside rubber rib (8) and biased by the stay rod (4) which is connected therebetween. 2. A sun visor device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of protrusions (12) formed on the bottom side (10) of the support (1) are rows of triangular ribs (12). 3. A sun visor device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the pull member (22) of the shade roller (2) has a flexible flat strip (221) longitudinally connected with a rectangular portion (23), and the concave portion of the gripping member (3) is a transverse through bore (33) with a groove (331) which opens onto the bottom side (36) of the gripping member (3) and the bottom side (36) of the gripping member (3) has a notch (34) longitudinally communicated with the groove (331) of the transverse through bore (33) having a jaw (341) which opens onto the bottom side (36) of the gripping member (3), so that the rectangular portion (23) and the flexible flat strip (221) of the pull member (22) can respectively be inserted into and be retained by the transverse through bore (33) and the notch (34) of the gripping member (3) since the width of the groove (331) of the transverse through bore (33) and the jaw (341) of the notch (34) are respectively narrower than the broader sides of the rectangular portion (23) and the pull member (22).

Inventors: LIN, YUNG-CHING, LIN, YUNG-CHIN
Applicants: LIN, YUNG-CHING
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B60J1
IPC codes: B60J1