Vehicle sun shield assembly

A sun shield assembly includes a case having a mandrel received therein and a fabric is wrapped around the mandrel. The case is fixed on a top of a vehicle by first suction members and the fabric is connected to a pull rod which has second suction members. The fabric can be pulled out from the case and fixed to the body of the vehicle to cover the vehicle so that the vehicle is not directly exposed under the sun. A separation member has a slit through which the fabric extends so as to define a gap between the body of the fabric and the fabric.

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Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vehicle sun shield assembly which is connected on a top of the vehicle and the shield can be pulled to cover the vehicle.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

A conventional way to avoid high temperature captured in vehicles under the sun is to put a piece of fabric on the inside of the front windshield and the fabric has a dark-colored side which faces the interior of the vehicle, and a light-colored side facing outside. The sunshine is then reflected by the light-colored side so as to keep the interior of the vehicle from being affected by the sunshine. However, the fabric can only block a small area of the vehicle which is completely exposed under the sunshine so that the heat absorbed by the body of the vehicle is not changed.

Another conventional way is to mount a pocket like fabric to the vehicle and the fabric has a light-color outside which reflects sunshine. The fabric has many hooks which hook to an underside of the body of the vehicle. The fabric is directly in contact with the surface of the body of the vehicle so that the heat cannot be flown away. Besides, the fabric might scrub the coating of the body of the vehicle when the fabric shifts by wind.

There are many conventional sun shield assemblies which include complicated structure, cannot be easily folded to save storage space, or need to drill holes in the body of the vehicle. Most of the drivers do not satisfy the conventional sun shield assemblies.

The present invention intends to provide a sun shield assembly which is easily to be assembled and set to the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sun shield assembly which comprises a case having a mandrel received therein and a fabric has a first end fixed to the mandrel and a pull rod is connected to the other end of the fabric. The fabric is wrapped around the mandrel. A main positioning device is connected to an underside of the case and has two first suction members to position the main positioning device on top of the vehicle by the first suction members. The two first suction members can be operated by operation a link mechanism. A front positioning device is connected to the pull rod and comprises two second suction members which suck on the vehicle to position the fabric in an extended status. A separation member has a slit and the fabric extends through the separation member so as to define a gap between the fabric and the vehicle.

The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view to show the vehicle sun shield assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view to show the vehicle sun shield assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view along line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view to show the main positioning device of the vehicle sun shield assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view to show the mandrel of the vehicle sun shield assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows that the pawl is engaged with the toothed disk of the retrieving device of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows that the bead is located in the circular hole in the end member;

FIG. 9 shows that the bead is located between the notch in the shaft and the circular hole in the end member;

FIG. 10 shows the fabric is pulled out to cover the vehicle;

FIG. 11 shows the extension member connected to the case;

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of the extension member.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the vehicle sun shield assembly of the present invention comprises a case 10 having two mandrels 60 received therein and each mandrel 60 has a fabric 50 wrapped thereto. Each fabric 50 has a first end fixed to the mandrel 60 and a pull rod 31 is connected to the other end of the fabric 50. A cover 11 is mounted on the case 10 and first tubes 12 are connected on two sides of the cover 11. A plurality of second tubes 13 are connected to two inner sides of the case 10, the second tubes 13 are located slightly higher than the first tubes 12 so that the fabric 50 can be extended through gaps between the first and second tubes 12, 13 when it is pulled out from the case 10.

A main positioning device 20 is connected to an underside of the case 10 and has two first suction members 22, two first pressing members 23, a first link 21, a second link 24 and a handle 25. Two top covers 26 are respectively located on two respective tops of the first suction members 22 of the main positioning device 20 and two shanks 27 respectively extend from the two first suction members 22 and through the two top covers 26. Each shank 27 has a spring 271 mounted thereto which is biased between the first suction member 22 and the top cover 26. Two first pressing members 23 are respectively pivotably connected to the two shanks 27 which are connected to the underside of the case 10. The first link 21 is pivotably connected between the two first pressing members 23. Each first pressing member 23 includes a curved side 231 and a straight side 232. The first link 21 has two U-shaped boards 211 which are respectively eccentrically connected to the two first pressing members 23. The curved side 231 makes each first pressing member 23 easily be pivoted an angle on the top cover 26, and the straight side 232 stops the pivotal action of the first pressing member 23.

The second link 24 has two U-shaped boards 241, one of the U-shaped boards 241 of the second link 24 is connected to one of the U-shaped boards 211 on one end of the first link 21 and the other one of the U-shaped boards 241 of the second link 24 is connected to the handle 25 which is connected to a resilient rod 28 which is connected to the underside of the case 10.

A front positioning device 30 is connected to the pull rod 31 and comprises two second suction members 32 and two second pressing members 33 which are activated to compress the second suction members 32 by operation of the pull rod 31. Two top covers 34 are respectively located on two respective tops of the second suction members 32 of the front positioning device 30 and two shanks 35 respectively extend from the two second suction members 32 and through the two top covers 34. Each shank 35 has a spring 351 mounted thereto which is biased between the second suction member 32 and the top cover 34. Two second pressing members 33 are respectively pivotably connected to the two shanks 35 and the pull rod 31 is connected to the two second pressing members 33. The second pressing members 33 each have a curved side 331 and a straight side 332. The curved side 331 and the straight side 332 have the same purposes as the curved side 231 and straight side 232 of the first pressing members 23.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the user may pivot the handle 25 upward so that the two U-shaped boards 241 on two ends of the second link 24 are pivoted and also the two U-shaped boards 211 on the first link 21 are pivoted to move the first pressing members 23 to compress the first suction members 22 which suck on a top of a vehicle. The fabrics 50 are then pulled out from the case 10 by pulling the pull rods 31 and each fabric 50 extends through a slit 41 defined in a separation member 40. An end of the separation member 40 is in contact with the vehicle so as to define a gap between the body of the vehicle and the fabrics 50 as shown in FIG. 10.

The fabrics 50 are pulled to cover the vehicle and the second suction members 32 are attached on the body of the vehicle and then the pulled rods 31 are then pivoted to let the second pressing members 33 compress the top covers 34 so that the second suction members 32 are lifted and a lower pressure is formed in each of the second suction members 32. The second suction members 32 can easily suck on the vehicle.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, each the mandrel 60 includes a retrieving device 70 received therein and the retrieving device 70 includes a spring 71, a shaft 72, a bead 73 and a toothed disk 74. The spring 71 has one end fixed to collar 721 on one end of the shaft 72 and the other end of the spring 71 is connected to an end member 75 which is mounted to the other end of the shaft 72 and is fixed to the mandrel 60. A notch 723 is defined in an outer periphery of the shaft 72 and the end member 75 has a circular hole 751 which communicates with the notch 723 so that the bead 73 is capable of entering the notch 723 and the circular hole 751. The toothed disk 74 is connected to the shaft 72 and two pawls 14 biased by two springs 141 are located on the case 10 so as to be engaged with the toothed disk 74 to restrict the toothed disk 74 to rotate in one direction. A groove 722 (FIG. 1) is defined in an end of the shaft 72 and a locking member 15 is removably engaged with the groove 722 to lock the shaft 72. The locking member 15 can be removed from the groove 722 and a screwdriver is engaged with the groove 722 to adjust the spring force which controls the speed that the fabric 50 is re-wound. The mandrel 60 is cooperated with a bearing 61 at an end thereof to assist the rotation of the mandrel 60.

When retrieving the fabrics 50 and the case 10, the front positioning device 30 is first released by pulling the pull rods 31 to let the second pressing members 33 pivot as shown in FIG. 2, the second suction members 32 are easily removed from the vehicle. The mandrels 60 are rotated automatically to wrap the fabrics 50 to the mandrels 60. When the rotational speed of the mandrels 60 is too high as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the bead 73 drops and is located between the notch 723 and the circular hole 751 to stop the rotation of the mandrel 60. This can avoid the fabric 50 to generate wrinkles during retrieving process. The user simply pulls the fabric 50 a small distance to rotate the mandrel 60 in opposite direction, the bead 73 is completely received in the circular hole 751, the fabric 50 can be wrapped to the mandrel 60 by the rotation of the mandrel 60.

The handles 25 are then lifted upward to activate the second link 24 and the first link 21, the first pressing members 23 are then released form the top covers 26 so that the first suction members 22 can be removed from the vehicle. The case 10 can be stored in the trunk. The main positioning device 20 can be hid in the case 10 with only the first suction members 22 and the top covers 26 exposed.

As shown in FIG. 11, the cases 10 can be connected with each other when needed by connecting an extension member 17, wherein the case 10 has outer rails 16 on an outside thereof and an extension member 17 has inner rails 171 which are slidably engaged with the outer rails 16. The fabrics 50 can also be used as a shade.

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of the extension member 18 which includes tubes 181 and rings 182 on an outside thereof so as to be connected with ropes for setting a tent.

While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sun shield assembly comprising:

a case (10) having a mandrel (60) received therein and a fabric (50) having a first end fixed to the mandrel (60) and a pull rod (31) connected to the other end of the fabric (50), the fabric (50) wrapped around the mandrel (60);
a main positioning device (20) connected to an underside of the case (10) and having two first suction members (22), two first pressing members (23), a first link (21), a second link (24) and a handle (25) which activates the first and second links (21, 24) to move the first pressing members (23) to compress the first suction members (22) to be adapted to suck on a top of a vehicle;
a front positioning device (30) connected to the pull rod (31) and comprising two second suction members (32) and two second pressing members (33) which are activated to compress the second suction members (32) by operation of the pull rod (31), the second suction members (32) adapted to suck on the vehicle, and
the fabric (50) extending through a separation member (40) and an end of the separation member (40) adapted to be in contact with the vehicle.

2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein two top covers (26) are respectively located on two respective tops of the first suction members (22) of the main positioning device (20) and two shanks (27) respectively extend from the two first suction members (22) and through the two top covers (26), each shank (27) has a spring (271) mounted thereto which is biased between the first suction member (22) and the top cover (26), two first pressing members (23) are respectively pivotably connected to the two shanks (27) which are connected to the underside of the case (10), the first link (21) pivotably connected between the two first pressing members (23), the second link (24) has one end connected to one end of the first link (21) and the other end of the second link (24) pivotably connected to the handle (25) which is connected to a resilient rod (28) which is connected to the underside of the case (10), each first pressing member (23) includes a curved side (231) and a straight side (232), the first link (21) has two U-shaped boards (211) which are respectively eccentrically connected to the two first pressing members (23), the second link (24) has two U-shaped boards (241), one of the U-shaped boards (241) of the second link (24) is connected to one of the U-shaped boards (211) of the first link (21) and the other one of the U-shaped boards (241) of the second link (24) is connected to the handle (25).

3. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein two top covers (34) are respectively located on two respective tops of the second suction members (32) of the front positioning device (30) and two shanks (35) respectively extend from the two second suction members (32) and through the two top covers (34), each shank (35) has a spring (351) mounted thereto which is biased between the second suction member (32) and the top cover (34), two second pressing members (33) are respectively pivotably connected to the two shanks (35) and the pull rod (31) is connected to the two second pressing members (33), the second pressing members (33) each have a curved side (331) and a straight side (332).

4. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the separation member (40) includes a slit (41) through which the fabric (50) extends.

5. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cover (11) is mounted on the case (10) and first tubes (12) are connected on two sides of the cover (11), second tubes (13) are connected to two inner sides of the case (10), the fabric (50) extends through gaps between the first and second tubes (12, 13).

6. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mandrel (60) includes a retrieving device (70) which includes a spring (71), a shaft (72), a bead (73) and a toothed disk (74), the spring (71) has one end fixed to collar (721) on one end of the shaft (72) and the other end of the spring (71) is connected to an end member (75) which is mounted to the other end of the shaft (72) and is fixed to the mandrel (60), a notch (723) is defined in an outer periphery of the shaft (72) and the end member (75) has a circular hole (751) which communicates with the notch (723) so that the bead (73) is capable of entering the notch (723) and the circular hole (751), the toothed disk (74) is connected to the shaft (72) and two pawls (14) biased by two springs (141) are located on the case (10) so as to be engaged with the toothed disk (74) to restrict the toothed disk (74) to rotate in one direction, a groove (722) is defined in an end of the shaft (72) and a locking member (15) is removably engaged with the groove (722) to lock the shaft (72).

7. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the case (10) has outer rails (16) on an outside thereof and an extension member (17) has inner rails (171) which are slidably engaged with the outer rails (16).

8. The assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein extension member (17) is connected to another case (10).

9. The assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the extension member (18) includes tubes (181) and rings (182) on an outside thereof.

Patent History
Publication number: 20080135145
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 11, 2006
Publication Date: Jun 12, 2008
Inventors: Ming-Che Hsieh (Taichung County), Shiang-Yi Tseng (Taichung County)
Application Number: 11/636,538
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: For A Vehicle Exterior (150/166)
International Classification: B65D 65/02 (20060101);