Patent Publication Number: US-8522855-B2

Title: Sunshade

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 099120813, filed on Jun. 25, 2010. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a sunshade, more particularly to a sunshade which facilitates assembly thereof to a pair of mounting seats. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a conventional sunshade includes a roller  11  extending in an axial direction (X), a screen  10  wound on the roller  11 , a torque unit  13 , and a pin unit  12  spaced apart from the torque unit  13 . The pin unit  12  and the torque unit  13  are mounted in the roller  11  and extend respectively and outwardly of axially opposite ends of the roller  11 . The pin unit  12  is inserted into another mounting seat  20 ′, and the torque unit  13  has an axle  131  that extends outwardly of the roller  11  and that is inserted into a mounting seat  20 . The mounting seat  20  includes a main body  21  and a cover body  22 . The main body  21  is formed with a notch  210  for receiving the axle  131 . When assembling the sunshade to the mounting seats  20 ′,  20 , the pin unit  12  is engaged with a mounting hole  201 ′ in the mounting seat  20 ′, and the axle  131  of the torque unit  13  is twisted relative to the roller  11  before being inserted into the notch  210  of the main body  21 . Subsequently, the cover body  22  is covered on and secured to the main body  21  so as to position the axle  131  of the torque unit  13  in the notch  210 . However, the assembling procedure of the conventional sunshade to the mounting seats  20 ,  20 ′ is relatively inconvenient and time consuming. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a sunshade which can facilitate assembly thereof to a pair of mounting seats. 
     Accordingly, a sunshade of the present invention comprises: 
     a hollow roller extending in an axial direction; 
     a screen wound on the roller, and being operable to move from a wound state to an unwound state; and 
     a torque unit mounted in the roller, extending outwardly of a first end of the roller and disposed for urging movement of the screen to move from the unwound state to the wound state; and 
     a latch unit including
         a plug that is disposed in the roller at a second end of the roller opposite to the torque unit and that is formed with a pin hole,   a pin member that is movable relative to the plug in the axial direction and that has:
           a main portion extending through the pin hole of the plug; and   a diameter-enlarged portion disposed in the roller, connected fixedly to the main portion and having an outer diameter larger than that of the main portion; and   a shoulder portion formed between the main portion and the diameter-enlarged portion; and   
           a biasing member that is disposed in the roller for biasing the shoulder portion of the pin member to abut resiliently against the plug.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a partly exploded perspective view of a conventional sunshade assembly; 
         FIG. 2  is a partly exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a sunshade according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a latch unit of the preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating a pin member at a normal position; and 
         FIG. 5  is another fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating the pin member at a retracted position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 4 , a preferred embodiment of a sunshade according to the present invention is shown to comprise a hollow roller  3  extending in an axial direction (X), a screen  4 , a torque unit  6 , and a latch unit  5 . The screen  4  is wound on the roller  3 , and is operable to move from a wound state to an unwound state. The torque unit  6  is mounted in the roller  3 , extends outwardly of a first end  31  of the roller  3 , and is disposed for urging movement of the screen  4  from the unwound state to the wound state. The latch unit  5  is spaced apart from the torque unit  6  in the axial direction (X). The latch unit  5  and the torque unit  6  are adapted to be mounted respectively to a pair of mounting seats  900  (see  FIG. 2 ). Since the feature of this invention does not reside in the torque unit  6  and the screen  4 , further details of the same are omitted herein for the sake of brevity. 
     The latch unit  5  includes a plug  51 , a pin member  52 , and a biasing member  53 . The plug  51  is disposed in the roller  3  at a second end  32  of the roller  3  axially opposite to the torque unit  6 , and is formed with a pin hole  510 . The pin member  52  is movable relative to the plug  51  in the axial direction (X). The biasing member  53  is disposed in the roller  3  for biasing the pin member  52  to move toward the plug  51  in the axial direction (X). 
     The pin member  52  includes a main portion  521  that extends movably through the pin hole  510  of the plug  51 , a diameter-enlarged portion  522  that is disposed in the roller  3 , that is connected fixedly to the main portion  521  and that has an outer diameter larger than that of the main portion  521 , and a shoulder portion  523  that is formed between the main portion  521  and the diameter-enlarged portion  522  (i.e., the main portion  521  and the diameter-enlarged portion  522  are respectively distal from and proximate to the torque unit  6  in the axial direction (X)). The diameter-enlarged portion  522  has an end face  522   a  opposite to the shoulder portion  523  in the axial direction (X). 
     The plug  51  includes a fixing portion  511  engaging fittingly the second end  32  of the roller  3 , and a positioning portion  512  that extends from the fixing portion  511  in the roller  3  toward the torque unit  6 , and that has an externally threaded surrounding wall  513 . The main portion  521  of the pin member  52  extends movably through the fixing portion  511  and the positioning portion  512 . 
     The biasing member  53  is a coil spring in this embodiment, and includes an engaging segment  531 , a positioning segment  533 , and an interconnecting segment  532 . The engaging segment  531  engages threadedly the externally threaded surrounding wall  513  of the positioning portion  512  of the plug  51 . The positioning segment  533  is coupled to the end face  522   a  of the diameter-enlarged portion  522  of the pin member  52 , has an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the diameter-enlarged portion  522  and reducing gradually toward the torque unit  6  in the axial direction (X), and is disposed for biasing the shoulder portion  523  to abut resiliently against the positioning portion  512  of the plug  51  in the axial direction (X). The interconnecting segment  532  interconnects the engaging segment  531  and the positioning segment  533  and surrounds the diameter-enlarged portion  522 . 
     The plug  51  further has a block protrusion  514  formed on the positioning portion  512  thereof adjacent to the fixing portion  511 . The engaging segment  531  of the biasing member  53  has an end  530  that is axially opposite to the interconnecting segment  532  and that abuts circumferentially for positioning the engaging segment  531  relative to the positioning portion  511  of the plug  51  against the block protrusion  514 . 
     When assembling the sunshade, the torque unit  6  is twisted relative to the roller  3  and is inserted into a mounting hole  901  of a corresponding one of the mounting seats  900 . Afterward, further referring to  FIG. 5 , the pin member  52  is pressed toward the torque unit  6  from a normal position (see  FIG. 4 ) to a retracted position (see  FIG. 5 ) such that the positioning segment  533  of the biasing member  53  is brought to move toward the torque unit  6  and the interconnecting segment  532  of the biasing member  53  is stretched in the axial direction (X). Finally, the main portion  521  of the pin member  52  is aligned with a mounting hole  901  of the corresponding one of the mounting seats  900 , and is released to be inserted into the mounting hole  901  by a restoring force of the biasing member  53 . 
     It should be noted that, while the biasing member  53  is connected to the plug  51  by the engaging segment  531  thereof and is coupled to the diameter-enlarged portion  522  of the pin member  52  by the positioning segment  533  thereof, the connecting member  53  should not be limited thereto. The biasing member  53  may be connected to the plug  51  and the pin member  52  in other manner in other embodiments of this invention as long as opposite ends of the biasing members  53  are secured respectively to the diameter-enlarged portion  522  of the pin member  52  and the plug  51 . 
     To sum up, the advantage of the sunshade according to the present invention is as follows. Compared to the conventional sunshade, the configuration of the latch unit  5  makes it easy to assemble the sunshade to the mounting seats  900 . Further, the configuration of the mounting seats  900  as illustrated in  FIG. 1  may be simplified. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.