Patent ID: 7971626

Claim:
A protective device for a vehicle interior, comprising: a cassette housing removably mountable on the vehicle, and an elongate winding shaft rotatably mounted on the cassette housing; a flexible sheetlike structure having a rear end thereof held to the winding shaft such that the sheetlike structure can be wound around the shaft and unwound from the shaft, the sheetlike structure having a pull-out structure fixedly attached to a front end thereof; the flexible sheetlike structure having flexible side edge regions provided adjacent opposite side edges thereof; a pair of deflecting guide structures respectively positioned adjacent opposite ends of the winding shaft directly adjacent a winding space which surrounds said winding shaft, said deflecting guide structures being arranged solely in close proximity to the cassette housing and being fastened to said cassette housing so that removal of said cassette housing from the vehicle also effects removal of said deflecting guide structures; each said deflecting guide structure engaging a respective side edge region in a force-fitting and/or form-fitting manner and applying a tensile force component to the respective side edge region which acts outward transversely with respect to the winding/unwinding direction of the sheetlike structure, whereby the pair of edge deflecting structures maintain the sheetlike structure in a taut condition transversely across the sheetlike structure at a location closely adjacent the winding shaft to facilitate winding of the sheetlike structure onto the shaft, wherein the side edges of the sheetlike structure, other than their engagement with the deflecting guide structures, are otherwise free of lateral guides when the sheetlike structure is unwound and is in an extended position.