Patent ID: 7089992

Claim:
A window shade assembly ( 17 ) for motor vehicles, comprising at least one winding shaft ( 19 ) rotatably supported in concealed relation below a covering ( 11 ) in the motor vehicle, a strip-shaped window shade ( 18 ) having one end fixed to said winding shaft ( 19 ) and being extractable and retractable through a slot ( 12 ) in said covering ( 11 ), a cover ( 15 ) movable between an open position for enabling extraction and retraction of said window shade ( 1 ) and a closed position at least partially closing said slot when said window shade is retracted, a guide ( 16 ) laterally adjacent at least one side of said window shade ( 18 ), said guide ( 16 ) having at least one guide groove ( 34 ), a tension rod ( 21 ) connected to said window shade ( 18 ) on a distant edge with respect to said winding shaft ( 19 ), said tension rod ( 21 ) having at least one guide member ( 38 ) guided in the guide groove ( 34 ) of said guide ( 16 ) during extracting and retracting movement of said window shade ( 18 ), a flexible elongated actuating element ( 23 ) moveable in said guide groove ( 34 ), at least one drive ( 20 , 27 ) for displacing the actuating element ( 23 ) along the guide groove ( 34 ) and for turning said winding shaft ( 19 ), said actuating element ( 23 ) being operable to act upon and move said tension rod ( 21 ) in a thrust direction of movement of the tension rod which extracts said window shade ( 18 ) from said slot, said actuating element ( 23 ) being operable as an incident to movement in an opposite window shade retracting direction for permitting retraction of said window shade into said slot ( 12 ), and said actuating element being operable as an incident to an over travel segment of movement in the retracting direction separate from and relative to said tension rod for positively moving said cover to said closed position following retraction of the window shade into said slot.