CA1300200C

CA1300200C - Automobile sunshield

Info

Publication number: CA1300200C
Application number: CA000587835A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Yu Zheng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-02-05
Filing date: 1989-01-10
Publication date: 1992-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2009-05-05
Also published as: US4815784A; DE68915297T2; IL88373A0; DE68915297D1; EP0327113A2; EP0327113B1; AU609243B2; EP0327113A3; AU2894989A; IL88373A

Abstract

AUTOMOBILE SUNSHIELD

Abstract of the Invention A collapsible elongated sun shield including, a plurality of adjacent collapsible flexible loop members.
fabric covering material for substantially covering the flexible loop members. The loop members substantially supporting the fabric in particular areas to provide for loop portions and an interconnecting portion forming a hinge between each loop portion. The loop portions of the fabric are folded on top of each other about the hinge portion to have the loop members and associated fabric overlaying each other. The overlaying loop members are collapsed by twisting and folding to form a plurality of concentric loop rings and layers of fabric to substantially reduce the size of the sunshield.

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Description

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVE:NTION

3 Field of the Invention The present invention relates to sunshields and 6 specifically to automobile sunshields or shades. The sunshield 7 of the present invention may be positioned against an interior window surface, such as the windshield, to act as a barrier and 9 protect the interior of the motor vehicle against sun rays.
This thereby reduces undesired weathering caused by sun rays and ll reduces the heat which tends to build up within the vehicle 12 interior.

14 Description of the Prior Art 16 In general, prior art automobile sunshields may be 17 positioned to shield the interior of the vehicle from either an 18 interior or exterior location. As an example, interior sun l9 shades include a foldipg cardboard windshield shade such as shown in the patent to Levy U.S. Patent No. 4,202,396. Another 21 type of interior windshield shade is a fan-like venetian blind Z2 of the type shown in Surtin U.S. Patent No. 4,332,414, or 23 Maguire U.S. Patent No, 4,606,572. These types of interior 24 ~shades have haù certain difficiencies. For example, the folding cardboard shades are bulky when folded and difficult to store.
26 When opened, the cardboard shades tend to return to the folded 27 position thereùy not providing for a complete covering of the 28 windshield7 The fan-like venetian blind shades are usually 29 mounted semi-permanently and are awkward to use, expensive in cost and again, do not provide for a full ~overage of the : ~ .

13(~ Z(10 d 1 windshield when opened to the full position.
3 In addition to the interior shades, exterior screens 4 may also be used and for example, may consist of a thin layer of ~- 5 fabric or plastic to lie on the exterior surface of the 6 windshield. This type of structure is of course subjected to 7 the elements and can quickly become dirty or damaged thereby 8 requiring frequent replacement. In addition,-films have been 9 applied to the windshield, but such films can not legally obstruct the driver's-~vision so that the films cannot be opaque 11 enough in order to adequately protect the interior of the 12 vehicle from the sun's rays.

., 14 The various existing sunshields~, including the folding boards, fan-like venetian blinds, films and screens have not 16 been successful in providing for all of the necessary ., 17 requirements for a sunshield or shade. Specifically, these 18 re~uirements are a high blockage of the suns rays and ease of 19 use and a compact size when not in use for ease of storage. The ZO present invention, therefore, provides for an improvement over , 21 the prior art sunshields and provides for a high blockage of the 22 sun's rays, a simplicity of structure, ease of use and a very 23 compact size when collapsed for storage.

SUMMARY OF THE~ INVENTION

27 In order to accomplish the objects of the present 28 invention, a sun shade is constructed of two flexible circular 29 loops which are positioned adjacent each other. The loops are ~.

1 covered by a sheet fabric material. Specifically, the loops may 2 be enclosed within shaped openings that are formed within the 3 fabric material. For example, the fabric material may include a 4 pair of sheets of fabric material which are attached together at particular positions to provide for the defined adjacent 6 openings to receive the flexible circular loops.

8 The use of the two side by side loops covered by 9 fabric creates a broad elliptical screen in the fully extended position for the sunshield of the present invention. Therefore, 11 the sunshield in the extended position may be located adjacent a 7 2 window, such as the windshield of the automobile, and with the 13 sunshield maintained in position by portions of the automobile 14 such as window trim, visors and rear view mirror. The sunshield may be positioned adjacent other windows such as the rear window 16 or side windows using any appropriate holding device. Since ~ 1 ~l 17 each of the loop members and associated sheet fabric material i8 18 independent from the other, the sheet fabric material between 19 the loops can, therefore, fold and bend in a central position 20 like a hinge. This allows for the shield in the fully extended , ' 21 position to easily adapt to different size and shaped windows ; 22 and can accommodate and substantially cover these windows to ; 23 block the suns rays.
;.

When it is desired to remove the sunshield and store ~;~26 it for later use, the two fabric covered loop members are folded ;~ 27 one on topt of the other at the fabric hinge to reduce the ~i 28 structure in hal~. The two loops now may be twisted and twisted ; 29 into a configuration so that the structure collapses upon itself to form a much smaller series of concentric loops and layers of - ( ( .~ 13~:E2~0 .
1 fabric. The size of the entire sun screen may then be reduced 2 to circular members les than a foot (1') in diameter and 3 preferably less than ten inches (10~) in diameter so that the 4 sunshield in its collapsed state may be very easily stored.

6 In addition to the above, the sunshield of the present 7 invention provides for a device having a reflecting surface to 8 reflect the sun's rays to thereby protect $he automobile _ 9 interior and to substantially reduce heat buildup within the vehicle. In addition, the present invention is simple in 11 construction so that it may be economically manufactured and 12 relatively low in cost. Because the sunshield of the present 13 invention in its extended size is large, but in its collapsed 14 state is relatively small, this enhances the usability of the device since it can be stored in an easily accessible position, 16 such as in a side pocket of the automobile door or under the car 17 seat. Because the device of the present invention uses sheet la fabric as the outer surfaces, it is apparent that this fabric 19 may be attractively printed or woven so that the sunshield can have a desirable attractive appearance when in use.

22 me collapsing aspect of the flexible loops, is 23 similar to the method of folding and storing bandsaw blades for 24 packaging and storage. In addition, a cloth hat currently sold in the Orient also includes a similar flexible circular member .
26 which can fold together to provide for storage. ~owever, these 27 devices incorporate a sinqle flexible loop having only a 28 circular shape when in the expanded position, whereas the 29 present invention provides for a pair of such flexible circular ~2 - ( ~L3002()0 1 loops, each covered in fabric and joined together so as to 2 produce for the broad elliptical shaped shield when in the 3 extended position. Although the twisting and folding of the 4 present invention is similar to the bandsaw blades and Oriental cloth hat, the present invention provides for an additional 6 co~plexity in folding together two or more flexible loops and 7 twisting and folding these loops simultaneously so as to 8 collapse all of_the loops and the fabric into a small size 9 structure.
11 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS

13 A clearer understanding of the present invention will 14 be had with reference to the following description and drawings wherein:

17 Figure 1 is a elevational view partially broken away 18 showing an automobile sunshield or shade of the present 19 invention illustrating the internal loop frame structure;
21 Figure 2 is a perspective view of the sunshield the 22 present invention in position behind an automobile windshield;

24 Figure 3 is a side view of the sunshield and the `- 25 windshield both in a partially deflected position for either 26 placement or removal and in a fully extended position for 27 shielding;

29 Figure 4 is a elevational view showing the sunshield along the side view of the vehicle;

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1 Figure 5 is an elevational view showing the sunshield 2 in the rear window of a vehicle;

4 Figure 6 is a second embodiment of the sunshield . 5 having truncated sides with rounded corners relative to the : 6 embodiment shown in Figure l;

8 Figure 7 is an elevational'view of a third embodiment ; 9 similar to the embodiment of Figure 1, but additionally showing ~ 10 flap portions and accessory attachment loops and also : ll ' illustrating how a portion of the fabric may be cut away;
:~ 12 13 Figure 8 is an elevational view of the present ; 14 invention illustrating additional loop members;
:~ 15 16 Figure 9 is a sectional view through a midpoint of one 17 of the loop members illustrating the use of two layers of ,~
18 fabric;

::-Figure 10 is a fragmentary perspective view 21 illustrating the use of a single layer of fabric with the loop 22 members;

24 Figure 11 is a cross sectional view of a sliding attachm~nt for the ends of the loop members;

Z7 Figures 12(A) through 12(F) illustrate the operation 28 of the sunshield of the present invention showing how it may be . , .
29 folded up for compact storage; and ' ~,0 13~C~ZC~`~

1 Figure 13 illus~rates a single loop member in the 2 folded up position illustrating how each single loop member is 3 folded to provide for three loop portions to thereby 4 substantially reduce the size.

: 7 As shown in Figure 1, a sunshield 20 is formed by a 9 pair of resilient loop members 22 forming frames. The loop members are retained in position by a peripheral loop portion of 11 fabric 24 which includes an internal loop retaining structure 12 26. Located between the loop retaining structures 24 and 26 is 13 an interconnecting fabric 28 or hinge portion. The fabric 28 is 14 not in tension, but the fabric portion 32 within the loop members 22 may be in tension. As an example, the internal loop 16 structure 26 may be provided by mechanically fastening _ 17 (stitching), fusing, or gluing so that the loop frame members 22 18 are retained in position. A retaining member 34 may be attached 19 at one end of the sunshield. Also, a bag can be used to store the sunshield in the collapsed state if desired. Also as shown , . . .
~ 21 in Figure 1, the flexible loop frame 22 may be formed of a .
22 flexible material such as flexible steel and with the ends held 23 together by a retaining clip 46.

Although the loops 22 are described as formed of 26 flexible steel, other materiaIs such as plastics may be used.
27 The term fabric is to be given its broadest meaning and may 28 includes woven fabrics, sheet fabrics or even films.

As shown in Figure 2 the sunshield 20 ~ay be 31 positioned behind a windshield 82 of a vehicle 6Q. The l30a~zoo ~

1 windshield is held in position ~y a window frame 64 and the 2 sunshield 20 is positioned between a dashboard 70 and a roof 74 3 of the vehicle 60. Visors 68 and rear view mirror 62 may be 4 used to help retain the sunshield 20 in position.

6 Figure 3 ill~strates a side view of the automobile 7 illustrating the sunshield 20 in dotted position being retained 8 behind the windshield 82 between the dashboard 70 and held in 9 position by the visors 68 and rear view mirror member 62. In full position shown by the reference character 38, the sunshield 11 20 is illustrated to be bent for easy placement or removal from 12 the windshield. It is to be appreciated that the sunshield 20 13 may also be left in a reclining position against the steering 14 wheel (not shown) to provide for some protection against the sun rays, but the preferred position is as shown in dotted line in 16 Figure 3.

18 Figure 4 illustrates the sunshield 20 of the present 19 invention positioned against the side of the vehicle so as to block sun rays coming in through side windows 76. Similarly, 21 Figure 5 illustrates the sunshield 20 of the present invention 22 positioned against a rear window 86 to block the sun's rays 23 passing through the rear window of the vehicle 60.

Figure 6 illustrates a second embodiment of the 26 sunshield 20 of the present invention wherein the outer 27 peripheral loop portions 24 have truncated sides with rounded 28 corners. This shape may provide for a closer approximation of 29 the windshield perimeter of some vehi~les. The shape of the sunshield 20 of Figure 6 is provided by having the internal loop ~2 .

1300ZO~P

1 frame 22 being flexible enough to follow the external fabric 2 periphery 24. As an alternative, as shown in Figure 7, 3 additional flap members 36 may be formed to provide for the 4 truncated side portions, but in the embodiment of Figure 7, the internal loop frame 22 has a circular configuration. It can be 6 seen, therefore, that the sunshield 20 of the present invention 7 may take a variety of external shapes and with these external 8 shapes, provided either by the addition of flaps such as flaps 9 36 to define the shape, or by having the peripheral loop portion 24 formed with the desired shape and with the internal loop 11 frame member 22 conforming to this peripheral loop shape.

13 Figures 6 and 7 also show additional modifications 14 that may be made to the sunshield 20 of the present invention.
For example, as shown in Figure 6, grommets 40 may be formed in 16 the fabric, both in the nontension portion 28 and the tension 17 portion 32 and with these addtional grommets used for the 18 attachment of the sun screen by accessory members such as 19 elastic members. Alternately, additional hanging loops 30 may be attached at peripheral portions around the sunshield 20 to 21 also provide for attachment means. Figure 7 also illustrates 22 that if desired, the fabric such as the tension fabric 32 may be 23 cut away, such as at positions 52 and may be attached such as 24 through the use of rivets 54.

26 Figure 8 further illustrates how the sun screen 20 may 27 be composed of a larger number of loop members such as the use 28 of three loop members as shown in Figure 8.

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1 Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the alternative use of 2 either two sheets of fabric, or a single sheet of fabric. As 3 shown in Figure 9, which is a cross sectional view of one of the 4 loops in the tension area 32, fabric on both sides wrap around the flexible internal frame loop member 22. The fraMe member 22 6 is, therefore, held in position within the two layers of fabric 7 in the tension area 32. As shown in Figure 1 O, a single fabric 8 member may be-either wrapped around the frame member 22, as 9 shown by to be portion 56, or may be formed as an external tube to contain the frame 22 and with the tube 56 attached to the 11 fabric. In either event, a single layer of fabric is used.

13 Figure 11 illustrates a specific design for the 14 retaining clip 46. It is to be appreciated that the loop 22 may be formed by bending a straight piece of material and having the 16 ends of the straight piece held together by the retaining clip 17 46. The ends of the frame 22 could be held in rigid pOSitiGn, 18 but as shown in Figure 11, ends 42 and 44 of the frame 22 may be 19 received within the retaining clip 46 to slide relative to each other. This allows for some sliding movement of the ends 42 and 21 44 to thereby facilitate the manufacture of the sunshield and 22 allow for some flexibility to accommodate any changes in size 23 within the tension loop 32.

As shown in Figures 12(A) through 12(F), the various 26 steps for folding up the sunshield 20 for storage are shown. In 27 Figure 12~A), the first step consists of folding the two tension 2~ loop portions 32 together about the nontensioned fabric portion 29 28. When the two halves are folded together, the second step, - ( ( 13Q1~20(~ .

1 as shown in Figure 12(B)o is to start to twist and fold the 2 substantially circular structure to initially collapse the loops 3 and fabric into a smaller diameter. As shown in Figure 12(C), 4 the third step is to fold in the opposite border of the circular structure upon the previous fold to further collapse the loop 6 structure with the fabric. As shown in Figure 12(D), the fourth 7 step is to continue the collapsing so that the size of the 8 collapsed structure-is a fraction of-the diameter of the initial 9 loop structure. Figure 12(E) shows the fifth step with the loops and fabric collapsed on each other to provide for a small ll essentially circular configuration having a plurality of 12 concentric loop rings and layers of fabric so that the collapsed 13 structure has a diameter which is a fraction of the diameter of 14 the structure as shown in Figure 12(A). The final step shown in Figure 12(F) is to use the elastic retaining member 34 or bag to 16 hold the collapsed structure in place.

18 Figure 13 illustrates one of the loop frame members 22 l9 in the collapsed state. As can be seen in Figure 13, the structure essentially consists of three loop rings intertwined 21 to lie flat. Of course, the actual sunshield 20 would have the 22 plurality of frame members 22 collapsed together and with the 23 fabric held in place by the collapsed loop rings. In the 24 collapsed state, the structure would have a diameter less that twelve inches (12n) and preferably less that ten inches (10n).
26 It can be seen, therefore, that in the collapsed state the 27 sunshield may be easily stored.

29 The present invention, therefore, provides for an automobile sun screen in which two or more adjacent fabric 130~20~

1 covered loops provide for an elongated shaped screen so as to 2 conform to the shape of an automobile windshield or other 3 window. To achieve the collapsed state, the sunshield is first 4 folded in half and then twisted and folded further, causing the loops to collapse within themselves which forms a much smaller 6 series of concentric loops and layers of fabric.

8 Although the invention has been described.with 9 reference to particular embodiments, it is to be appreciated that various adaptations and modifications may be made and the 11 invention is only to be limited by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A collapsible elongated sunshield including, a plurality of adjacent collapsible flexible loop members each having an expanded position and a collapsed position, a fabric covering material for substantially covering the flexible loop members in an extended state to have the adjacent loop members and fabric covering forming the elongated sunshield, the loop members substantially supporting the fabric in particular areas to provide for loop portions of the fabric maintained to assume a particular configuration in accordance with the loop members in the open position and with an interconnecting portion of the fabric forming a hinge portion between each loop portion of the fabric, and the loop portions of the fabric being foldable on top of each other about the hinge portion to have the loop members and associated fabric overlaying each other and with the overlaying loop members collapsible to the collapsible positions by twisting and folding to form a plurality of concentric loop rings and layers of fabric to substantially reduce the size of the sunshield in the collapsed state.

2. The collapsible elongated sunshield to claim 1 wherein the collapsible flexible loop members are made of metal.

3. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 wherein the loop members are each formed of an elongated member Claim 3 - Continued bent around and with end portions of the elongated member attached to form the loop.

4. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 3 wherein the end portions of the elongated loop member slide relative to each other for providing an adjustment of the size of the loop.

5. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 wherein the fabric is formed as two layers and with the loop members captured within the two layers of fabric.

6. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 wherein the fabric is formed as a single layer and with the loop members attached to the one layer of fabric.

7. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 additionally including flaps of fabric material located outside the loop portions of the fabric and the interconnecting portion of the fabric to provide for an additional sunshield area.

8. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 wherein the fabric in the loop portion has a circular configuration.

9. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 wherein the fabric in the loop portion has a truncated configuration in an outer peripheral area to more closely conform to the perimeter of a windshield.

10. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 additionally including openings in the fabric for providing attachment points for attaching the sunshield in a particular position.

11. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 additionally including straps for providing attaching the sunshield in a particular position.

12. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 including two loop portions.

13. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 including three or more portions.

14. The collapsible elongated sunshield of claim 1 including a retaining member for wrapping around the sunshield in the collapsed state.

15. A method of collapsing an elongated sunshield constructed of a plurality of collapsible flexible loop members each having an expanded position and a collapsed position and a fabric covering material for substantially covering the flexible loop members to form loop portions and with the fabric maintained to assume a particular elongated configuration in accordance with the loop members in the expanded position and with an interconnecting portion of the fabric forming a hinge portion between adjacent loop portions, the method including the following steps:

Claim 15 - Continued folding the loop portions of the fabric on top of each other about the hinge portion to have the loop members and associated fabric overlaying each other, and collapsing the overlaying loop members by twisting and folding to form a plurality of concentric loop rings and layers of fabric to substantially reduce the size of the sunshield.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the sunshield includes a retaining member and additionally including the following step:
wrapping the retaining member around the collapsed sunshield to retain the sunshield in the collapsed state for storage.