This application claims priority to Japanese patent application serial number 2005-34436, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sun visor for a vehicle including a visor body and a pivot shaft. The visor body provides a shield inhibiting a section of light from coming into the cabin of the vehicle. The pivot shaft is inserted into the visor body and rotatably supports the visor body on an axis. More particularly, the invention relates to a sun visor for a vehicle having a slipping-off preventing structure for preventing the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft in an axial direction when the airbags deploy and impact the visor body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art a variety of sun visors for a vehicle are known, including one described in Patent Publication 1 (JP-A-2003-127662) for example.
The sun visor for a vehicle described in Patent Publication 1 includes a clip in the visor body for biasing the visor body toward a cabin ceiling. A pivot shaft is inserted into the clip. This clip has engagement pawls that protrude toward a groove formed on the pivot shaft so that the engagement pawls slidably engage with the groove. Thereby, the engagement pawls and the groove prevent the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft.
However, most of vehicles in recent years are equipped with airbags in the cabin ceiling. When the airbags deploy the visor body receives an impact from the airbags in a direction corresponding to the visor body slipping-off of the pivot shaft in the axial direction (as referred to in
As a result, this invention has as an object to provide a sun visor for a vehicle capable of preventing the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft in the axial direction when the airbags deploy, causing the visor body to receive an impact from the airbags.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to teach a sun visor for a vehicle that has a visor body and a pivot shaft inserted into the visor body. In addition, the visor body may include a joint member joining the visor body and the pivot shaft.
In one aspect of the present teachings, the joint member is expanded or contracted when the visor body is subjected to an impact force in the direction of the visor body slipping-off of the pivot shaft. Thereby the joint member inhibits the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft in the axial direction via elastic or cushioning action.
Consequently, when the visor body is subjected to a force, the force can at least be partially absorbed by the joint member. As a result, the joint member can effectively inhibit the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft. Moreover, the joint member may assist in preventing the visor body and the pivot shaft from being broken by the impact.
In another aspect of the present teachings, the joint member is made of an elastic member. The joint member has one end portion attached to the pivot shaft and extending in the axial direction of the pivot shaft. The other end portion of the joint member has an extending tip end attached to the visor body. One end portion or the other end portion of the joint member is attached to the pivot shaft or the visor body so as to rotate about the axis of the pivot shaft.
The elastic joint member elastically extends or contracts when the visor body is subjected to an impact in an axial direction. Therefore, the elastic joint member can prevent the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft in the axial direction. On the other hand, when the visor body is rotated about the pivot shaft axis relative to the pivot shaft the elastic joint member is rotated at one end portion or the other end portion about the pivot shaft axis with respect to the pivot shaft or the visor body. As a result, torsion build-up of the elastic joint member is eliminated to facilitate the rotating action of the visor body about the axis relative to the pivot shaft.
In another aspect of the present teachings, the joint member is made of a damper comprising two members, a cylinder and a piston rod inserted on one end side into the cylinder. The damper is configured such that one of the two members is attached to the pivot shaft and extends in the axial direction of the pivot shaft. The other of the two members is attached at an extending tip end to the visor body. The one member or the other member is rotatably attached to the pivot shaft or the visor body so as to rotate about the axis of the pivot shaft. Alternatively, the two members may be joined to rotate about the pivot shaft axis relative to each other.
The damper therefore extends or contracts in a cushioning manner when the visor body is subjected to an impact in an axial direction. Therefore, the damper prevents the visor body from slipping-off of the pivot shaft in the axial direction via the cushioning action. In the damper, moreover, when the visor body is rotated about the axis of the pivot shaft relative to the pivot shaft, the cylinder and the piston rod are rotated about the axis of the pivot shaft relative to the pivot shaft or the visor body. Alternatively, the cylinder and the piston rod may be rotated about the axis of the pivot shaft relative to each other. As a result, the torsion resistance of the damper can be eliminated to rotate the visor body about the axis of the pivot shaft relative to the pivot shaft.
Each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above and below may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide improved sun visors for a vehicle. Representative examples of the present invention, which examples utilize many of these additional features and teachings both separately and in conjunction with one another, will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Only the claims define the scope of the claimed invention. Therefore, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the following detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Moreover, various features of the representative examples and the dependent claims may be combined in ways that are not specifically enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.
A first representative embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Referring to
As shown in
As a result, the visor body 4 is rotated about the horizontal shaft portion 3b, as shown in
The visor body 4 is formed into a hollow or solid plate shape and equipped therein with a bearing member 5 and a clip 6 (see
The joint member 7 is an elastically extending resilient member such as a coil spring. The joint member 7 is attached at one end portion 7a to the tip end of the horizontal shaft portion 3b of the pivot shaft 3 and extends in an axial direction of the horizontal shaft portion 3b. The other end portion 7b or the extended tip end 7b is attached to the visor body 4. Here, it is preferred that at least one of the one end portion 7a or the other end portion 7b is so attached to the pivot shaft 3 or the visor body 4 as to rotate about the horizontal axis of the pivot shaft 3.
As shown in
As a result, the visor body 4 may receive the impact F1 (or force) in the direction corresponding to the visor body 4 slipping-off of the pivot shaft 3. At this time in the sun visor for a vehicle 1, as shown in
The sun visor for a vehicle 1 is constructed, as described herein. Specifically, the joint member 7, for joining the visor body 4 and the pivot shaft 3, is disposed within the visor body 4, as shown in
When the visor body 4 receives an impact, this impact can be absorbed by the joint member 7. Therefore, the joint member 7 can effectively prevent the visor body 4 from slipping-off of the pivot shaft 3. Moreover, the joint member 7 may also prevent the visor body 4 and the pivot shaft 3 from being broken by the impact.
Moreover, the joint member 7 is an elastic member that is attached at one end portion 7a to the pivot shaft 3, and at the other end portion 7b to the visor body 4. One end portion 7a or the other end portion 7b is attached to the pivot shaft 3 or the visor body 4 so as to rotate about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 3b.
As a result, the joint member 7 (or the elastic member) elastically extends or contracts when the visor body 4 receives an impact in an axial direction. When the visor body 4 is rotated about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 3b relative to the pivot shaft 3, one end portion 7a or the other end portion 7b of the joint member 7 rotates about the axis relative to the pivot shaft 3 or the visor body 4. As a result, any torsion build-up of the joint member 7 (or the elastic member) is eliminated to facilitate the rotating action of the visor body 4 about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 3b.
The second representative embodiment will now be described with reference to
The joint member 17 is exemplified by a compression spring, as shown in
As a result, the joint member 17 contracts in the direction of the horizontal shaft portion 13b of the pivot shaft 13 when the visor body 4 receives an impact F1 in a direction relative to the pivot shaft 13. Thus, the joint member 17 can elastically prevent the visor body 4 from slipping-off of the pivot shaft 13.
When the visor body 4 rotates about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 13b, one end portion 17a or the other end portion 17b of the joint member 17 rotates about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 13b relative to the pivot shaft 13 or the visor body 4. As a result, a build-up of torsion by the joint member 17 (or the elastic member) is eliminated in order to facilitate the rotating action of the visor body 4 about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 13b relative to the pivot shaft 13.
The third representative embodiment will now be described with reference to
As shown in
The piston rod 22 is rotatably joined to the cylinder 21, and therefore able to rotate about a central axis relative to the cylinder 21. The sun visor for a vehicle 1 is generally constructed as previously described. The joint member 20 (or the damper) is extended in a cushioning manner when the visor body 4 receives an impact F1 in an axial direction of the horizontal shaft portion 23b. As a result, the joint member 20 prevents the visor body 4 from slipping-off of the pivot shaft 23 in the axial direction via the cushioning action.
When the visor body 4 is rotated about the horizontal shaft portion 23b of the pivot shaft 23, the cylinder 21 and the piston rod 22 of the joint member 20 rotate about the axis relative to each other. As a result, the torsion build-up of the joint member 20 can be eliminated so as to facilitate the rotation of the visor body 4 about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 23b relative to the pivot shaft 23.
The fourth representative embodiment is described with reference to
As shown in
The sun visor for a vehicle 1 is generally constructed as described previously. Therefore, the joint member 30 (or the damper) contracts in a cushioning manner when the visor body 4 receives an impact F1 in the axial direction of the horizontal shaft portion 33b. As a result, the joint member 30 prevents the visor body 4 from slipping-off of the pivot shaft 33 in the axial direction via a cushioning action.
When the visor body 4 is turned around the horizontal shaft portion 33b of the pivot shaft 33, the joint member 30 rotates together with the intermediate member 34 about the horizontal shaft portion 33b of the pivot shaft 33. As a result of the rotatably attachment of the intermediate member 34, the torsion build-up of the joint member 30 can be eliminated in order to facilitate the rotation of the visor body 4 about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion 33b relative to the pivot shaft 33.
The present invention should not be limited to the first through fourth representative embodiments, but may be modified into the following modes, for example.
(1) In the modes of the first representative embodiment and the second representative embodiment, the spring (e.g., the coil spring or the compression spring) is utilized as a joint member. However, in another mode rubber, such as a rubber string, may be utilized as the joint member.
(2) In the modes of the third representative embodiment and the fourth representative embodiment, the piston rod is attached to the pivot shaft, and the cylinder is attached to the visor body. However, in another mode the piston rod may be attached to the visor body, and the cylinder may be attached to the pivot shaft.
(3) In the mode of the third representative embodiment, the cylinder and the piston rod are joined so as to rotate about the axis of the horizontal shaft portion relative to each other. However, in another mode the piston rod may be attached to the pivot shaft so as to rotate about the axis. Alternatively, the cylinder may be attached to the visor body so as to rotate about the axis. According to these modes, when the visor body is rotated about the horizontal shaft portion of the pivot shaft, the cylinder or the piston rod rotates about the axis relative to the pivot shaft or the visor body. As a result, possible torsion build-up of the cylinder can be eliminated in order to facilitate the rotation of the visor body about the axis relative to the pivot shaft.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-34436 | Feb 2005 | JP | national |