Abstract:
A visor has a curvilinear section which is pivotally mounted to the header rail of a vehicle and, when in a stored position, conforms closely to the geometry of the header rail. It is mounted to allow the visor to pivot away from the windshield toward the driver or passenger, lowering the visor to provide sun-blocking protection. It can be rotated further until it extends through the open area of the roof, when the roof is removed, to provide sun-blocking above the header rail. The curvilinear visor body may also include a glare shield which can be extended from the lower edge of the visor to provide additional sun-blocking protection.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/503,381 entitled VISOR SYSTEM FOR CONVERTIBLES, filed on Jun. 30, 2011, by Brian R. Dexter, et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to visors and particularly a visor which can be mounted to the header rail of an open-roof vehicle. 
         [0003]    A recent trend in sport vehicles, such as the Jeer Wrangler JK, is to provide removable tops to provide an open, convertible-like feel for the occupants. To date, such vehicles have employed conventional visors mounted to the header rail extending between the A-pillars of the vehicle. Such vehicles do not have conventional headliners with pockets allowing conventional visors to nest therein. As a result, conventional visors, when mounted to such a vehicle, appear somewhat ungainly and need to be moved when the top is being installed or removed since the roof latching mechanism must clear the visor area. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention improves upon existing visors employed in vehicles with detachable roofs by integrating a curved panel visor which attaches to a header rail of the vehicle in a manner in which the visor panel follows the curve of the windshield header rail, providing a smooth clean appearance for the visor installation. The visor is hinged at the top and can be lowered from a stowed position in a direction rearwardly away from the windshield to a use position. It is capable of further movement upwardly above the roof line for deflecting sunlight when entering at a higher angle, thereby providing sun-blocking protection both above and below the header rail. 
         [0005]    In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the visor may include a secondary glare shield which rotates from a nested position coplanar with the visor panel to an extended position to provide additional sun-blocking protection for the visor. In some embodiments, additional features, such as a vanity mirror, can be provided. In a most preferred embodiment, the visor is integrated into a two or three visor system which extends across the header rail and forms a unitary structure which provides a smooth clean appearance to the area above the windshield and functional sun-blocking protection with the roof in place or the roof removed. 
         [0006]    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. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vehicle embodying the visor system of the present invention, shown with the visors in a stowed position; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the vehicle shown in  FIG. 1 , shown with the visors in a fully rotated use position above the vehicle header rail; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the driver&#39;s side visor, shown in a lowered use position and with an extended glare shield; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the visor shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of a visor system with driver and passenger visors; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a cutaway top perspective view from a direction above and forward of the vehicle windshield, showing the components of the integrated visor system. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0013]    Referring initially to  FIGS. 1-3 , there is shown a vehicle  10  with an open roof  12  formed by the removal of a roof panel (not shown). The vehicle may be one of several models, including, as an example only, a Jeep® Wrangler® JK made by Chrysler Corporation. The vehicle includes a pair of A-pillars  14  on either side of the windshield  16 , a windshield header rail  18  extending between the A-pillars, and side support bars  20 ,  22  extending rearwardly and joined to a rear cross support structure (not shown). The vehicle includes a rearview mirror assembly  24  mounted to the windshield in the typical center area, as seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         [0014]    The improved visor of the present invention may include a single visor, a pair of visors, or a three visors in an overall system, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The visor system  60 , shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , includes three visors  30 ,  40 , and  50 , corresponding to the driver&#39;s side visor, a center visor, and a passenger&#39;s side visor. Each of the visors are hinged along their top edges  31 ,  41 , and  51  to pivot downwardly and away from the windshield from the stowed position, shown in  FIG. 1  in a direction indicated by arrow A in  FIG. 1 , to a typical use position as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . They are pivotally mounted on pivot rods, as described below, such that they can be extended further, as shown in  FIG. 2 , to extend above the header rail  18  and the roof line of the vehicle to provide sun-blocking protection when the sun is at a higher elevation above the header rail  18  of the vehicle. 
         [0015]    The particular vehicle shown includes latches  11 ,  13 , and  15  for latching the roof panel (not shown) in a secure position to the header rail  18 . To accommodate access to the latches, each of the visors  30 ,  40 , and  50  include a rectangular aperture  32 ,  42 , and  52 , respectively, providing access for the roof latching mechanism to engage the latches  11 ,  13 , and  15 , respectively. The apertures  32 ,  42 , and  52  may be enclosed by a snap-in cover  28  ( FIG. 6 ) if desired when the roof is not installed to provide a more finished appearance to the installation. 
         [0016]    Each of the visors  30 ,  40 , and  50  are integrally molded panels having a substantially flat lower section  34 ,  44 , and  54  and a curved upper section  36 ,  46 , and  56 , as seen in the figures. The curved visor bodies are shaped to conform to the header rail to provide a smooth continuous line across the top of the windshield, as seen in  FIG. 1 . The upper edges  31 ,  41 , and  51  of each of the visors includes an insert-molded pivot rod, such as rods  72  and  74 , shown in the exploded view of  FIG. 5  and in the assembled view of  FIG. 6 . The visor panels  30 ,  40 , and  50  are molded of a suitable polymeric material, such as PVC, polycarbonate, ABS, or other polymeric material which is suitable for use in automotive applications. The visor rods  72  and  74  and a corresponding rod for the center visor  40  (not shown) are fixed with respect to the visor panels and rotate with respect to the header assembly  80 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . The visors may be constructed to include a fabric or polymeric film body by molding or fabricating a frame from wire or the polymeric material and covering the frame with an opaque fabric or film. Such alternate construction is illustrated in  FIG. 3  in phantom lines, showing frame  38  covered by fabric  39 . The visor  30 , as seen in  FIG. 3 , may optionally include a slide-out lateral extension  37  from one side to fill any gap of the visor coverage between the vehicle&#39;s A-pillar  14  and header rail  18 . 
         [0017]    The header assembly  80  includes a left mounting bracket  82  by the driver&#39;s side, a right mounting bracket  84  by the passenger&#39;s side, and a center console  100  extending between the two visors  30  and  50 . The brackets  82  and  84  are secured to the A-pillars in the corners, as illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 , and support torque clips  90  and  92 , which include bifurcated fingers  91 ,  93 , and  95 , which engage flats  75  ( FIG. 5 ) on opposite sides of the pivot rods  72 ,  74 , when installed as shown in  FIG. 6 . Fingers  91  and  93  on the torque clips  90  and  92  are on one side of pivot rods  72  and  74 , while the center finger  95  is on the opposite side, thereby compressively gripping the pivot rods  72  and  74  with a force sufficient to hold the relatively lightweight molded visor panels  30  and  50  in a desired fixed position. The center console  100  includes mounting clips  102 ,  104  for securing a center section of the assembly  80  to the header rail  18  in suitable sockets formed therein. Likewise mounting brackets  82  and  84  include mounting clips  85  for attachment to the header rail, as well as clips  87  for receiving fasteners (not shown) for securing the brackets to the A-pillars of the vehicle. The inward ends  71  and  73  of the pivot rods  72  and  74 , respectively, are engaged by torque nuts  96 , which are mounted to console  100  within the header assembly  80 , for supporting the ends of the integrated pivot rods of both of the visors. The flats on pivot rods  72 ,  74  are positioned to hold the visor in a stowed position as seen in  FIG. 1 , a desired lower position as shown in  FIGS. 3-4 , or in the raised position as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0018]    Either or both of the visors  30  and  50  of the visor system  60  may include an auxiliary glare shield  62 , which is pivotally mounted to the lower end  33  or  53  of the respective visor by pivot connection  64 . Pivot connection  64  can be conventional and is shown schematically in the figures. The pivot connection can be alternately staggered cylindrical extrusions on the visor panels  30  and auxiliary glare shield  62 , which inter-fit and receive a pivot pin, permitting sufficient frictional engagement to allow the glare shield to remain in a selected adjusted position. Alternatively, the glare shield  62  may be of the construction and mounted to visors  30  and  50  in a manner such as taught in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/530,226 filed on Jun. 22, 2012, entitled R OTATABLE  G LARE  S HIELD FOR A  V ISOR , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The glare shield  62  may be made of any suitable material including opaque, transparent, tinted, translucent, polarized, or phototropic panels, as desired, for additional sun-screening protection, as illustrated in  FIGS. 3-5 . Each of the visors  30  and  50  may include auxiliary content, such as a vanity mirror covered with a sliding cover, such as cover  58  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , or other visor content where room permits. 
         [0019]    Thus, with the visor system of the present invention, a relatively inexpensive, lightweight and durable visor or visors are provided for an open-roof vehicle and one which uniquely pivots from a front windshield position rearwardly for use with or without the roof in place on the vehicle. When the roof is removed, the visor can pivot beyond the horizontal position to block incoming sunlight above the roof line of the vehicle. 
         [0020]    It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the invention as described herein can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.