Patent Application
20090079221
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1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to solar visors for vehicles, specifically to such visors which are permanently and adjustably mounted interior to the passenger cabin.
2. Prior Art
All vehicle manufacturers provide solar visors in vehicles intended for use on public roads. These visors are of various designs and sizes. However, virtually all visors are attached to the vehicles at a point between the windshield and the side windows with a pivoting means to provide solar screening for both the windshield and the side windows. Additionally, these visors pivot up and down allowing varying degrees of shielding and allowing the visors to be stowed flat against the roof of the vehicle.
Unfortunately, these visors move in an arc that conflicts with the user's head, causing the user to duck or lean to the side while manipulating the visor from windshield to side window or vice versa. This usually occurs while the user is trying to negotiate a turn since turning causes the angle of the sun to change relative to the vehicle, thereby requiring the visor adjustment. Consequently the user will frequently expose their eyes directly to the sun while performing this maneuver since the visor is essentially non-functional in the intermediate positions. When the sun is at certain angles, for example toward the opposite side of the vehicle from the user, traditional visors are completely useless for screening the sun. In fact, the user will sometimes reach across the vehicle and utilize the visor intended for use by the other passenger to block these angles.
When the sun is low in the sky the traditional visor cannot screen the sun without also blocking the user's view of signage or traffic signals which are relatively higher in the sky than the sun. Shorter users have the most trouble using traditional visors because the visor cannot be sufficiently lowered to effectively screen the sun.
One response to this dilemma has been to provide sliding extensions to the visors to increase the coverage. An extreme example of this is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,427 issued to Vandagriff on Aug. 29, 1995. Vandagriff discloses supplementary panels that extend out from the primary visor to increase the coverage. The problem with this is the visor is now larger and will interfere more with the user's head when swinging between windshield coverage and side window coverage, unless the user first collapses the extensions and then ducks to swing the visor around. Also, the increased size reduces the visibility of traffic, pedestrians and signage for the user.
Another variation has been to enable the visor to slide along the length of the rod on which it pivots. Again, this enables the visor to provide more coverage and again it requires sliding the visor back to the collapsed position before swinging the visor from side-to-side. Keep in mind that these convoluted, awkward motions distract the user from focusing on maintaining control of the vehicle and awareness of traffic and therefore represent a safety hazard. Add to this the distractions of cell phones, geographic positioning systems, eating while driving, and conversations within the vehicle and the safety issues become clear.
Various aftermarket products have attempted to solve some of these issues. One such variation is an additional visor that attaches to the vehicle's primary visor and either pivots or slides downward or outward to provide additional coverage. Another is a fixed position visor that attaches, usually with suction cups, to the inside of the windshield or to the side window to cover specific problem areas. Yet another can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,191 issued to Jia on Jun. 24, 1997, which discloses a widely adjustable arm with a small visor at the end that attaches to the existing visor or to the rear view mirror bracket and utilizes telescoping sections and ball-joints to block additional sun angles. Unfortunately, the Jia visor is used independent of the vehicle's primary visor to block specific problem areas and fails to address the inherent safety problems of the primary visor. It also suffers from not having a reasonable stowed position available and thus detracts from a clean, uncluttered vehicle cabin and becomes an eyesore as well as a distraction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,370 issued to Kim on Dec. 11, 2001 discloses a visor on an exposed track that extends from a position near the center of the windshield, curves around and terminates near the end of a vehicle side window. While this accomplishes the objective of avoiding conflicts with the user's head when repositioning the visor from windshield to side window, it does not address: 1) conditions when the problematic light source is entering from the far side of the window; 2) conditions when the angle of the problematic light is low; 3) operational problems for shorter users; and 4) conditions where the large visor surface obscures the visibility of traffic signage.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,791,699 issued to Ayersman on Feb. 10, 1931 discloses a glare shield comprised of a transparent screen colored to absorb certain light spectrum. The disclosed mounting assembly has similarities to the present invention. However, the mounting assembly is considerably more complex and not as readily adjustable as the present invention. It also does not address: 1) conditions when the angle of the problematic light is very low; 2) operational problems for shorter users; and 3) conditions where the large visor surface obscures the visibility of traffic signage.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,473,878 issued to Roy on Nov. 13, 1923 discloses a glare shield specified to optimally utilize a translucent material, with a linkage that appears to have some similarities to the present invention. However, note that it is intended to be mounted to the windshield frame and therefore does not pivot about the user. Therefore, the Roy patent does not address problematic light entering from the sides of the vehicle. It also depends on the windshield being located far enough away from the user's face to allow the visor to swing in an arc that literally swipes across the user's face.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 390,790 issued to Luce on Oct. 9, 1888 discloses a sunshade for vehicles which has some similarities to the present invention. However, the mounting assembly attaches to “one of the supports of the canopy” which indicates that the actual vertical axis pivot location is not a concern of the Luce invention. Therefore the Luce invention is not designed to be “user-centric” and, depending on the actual mounting location, will not provide adequate coverage of sun angles. It also does not address: 1) simplification of operation for ease of use; 2) conditions when the angle of the problematic light is low; 3) operational problems for shorter users; and 4) conditions where the large visor surface obscures the visibility of traffic signage.
3. Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, beside the objects and advantages of the visors described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
In accordance with the present invention a visor device comprising a visor of a reduced size and an adjustable means of attaching to the vehicle permitting the user to easily and safely manipulate the visor into any position required to shield the user from the sun by describing an essentially orbital path centric about the user.
A preferred embodiment of the visor device of the present invention is illustrated in
Horizontal extension bar 24 is attached to a vehicle attachment bracket 34 with a vertical axis pivot assembly 26 comprised of a vertical axis bushing 32 and a vertical axis retainer clip 30 which clips onto vehicle attachment bracket 34. Vehicle attachment bracket 34 is attached to the roof of the vehicle and a decorative escutcheon cover 28 snaps into place to conceal vehicle attachment bracket 34.
The manner of using the user-centric solar visor for vehicles is similar to but simpler than visors in current use. From the stowed position, one will typically choose to first pivot visor panel 10 down into a vertical orientation, indicated by directional arrow A. One may then choose to extend visor 10 vertically to the desired height and then rotate horizontal extension bar 24 to the desired azimuth, indicated by directional arrows B and C respectively. Alternatively these last two motions may be reversed or may even be performed simultaneously. Additionally, visor panel 10 may be pivoted about its centerline for fine-tuning, indicated by directional arrow D.
While operating the vehicle, the user can easily move the visor from any position to any other position to address the location of the sun or any other problem light or glare, using only one hand and without ducking or dodging. Visor panel 10 may be extended up and down, rotated around the user, and pivoted in two other axes for fine tuning.
To return visor panel 10 to a stowed position, one will typically collapse visor panel 10 vertically along extension rod 14, followed by rotating horizontal extension bar 24 to the forward position, and finally pivoting visor panel 10 up into the stowed position.
The preferred method for locating pivot assemblies 26 on an interior vehicle roof is shown in
The exact positioning of pivots 26 is ultimately affected by overall interior passenger cabin design considerations including the interior roof profiles of the vehicle. For example, to accommodate specific interior design features the arc may be limited to less than 360 degrees, the pivot locations may be adjusted closer to the side windows, and the length of horizontal extension bar 24 may be shortened. These types of design adjustments may be required to accommodate headliner mounted accessories such as map lights, sunglass holders, DVD players, etc.
This pivot positioning strategy is a key concept of the present invention. Therefore, to accommodate sunroofs and even convertibles, the pivot may need to be mounted on another assembly to maintain the positioning strategy. For a sunroof application, the vertical axis pivot assembly may be configured as an offset bracket which essentially cantilevers the pivot out into the open part of the roof. For a convertible, the pivot may be mounted on a fixed arm extending back from the windshield similar to the additional embodiment shown in
The additional embodiment shown in
In the additional embodiment shown in
From the description above, a number of advantages of my user-centric solar visor for vehicles become evident:
Accordingly, the reader will see that the user-centric solar visor of this invention can be provided as original equipment or as an aftermarket enhancement in vehicles of all types, permitting an unsurpassed ability for vehicle occupants to quickly and easily deploy and position the visor in an optimal position to block nuisance light sources. Furthermore, the visor has the additional advantages in that
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiment but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments. For example, the visor can have other shapes, such as circular, elliptical, etc.; the visor can be made of various materials including plastics, metals, fabrics, etc.; the structural elements of the attachment to the vehicle can be made of various materials including plastics, metals, etc. and may be wrapped in fabrics, plastics, rubber formulations, etc.; and the mechanism by which the visor is positioned can be accomplished with a variety of pivot assemblies, circular or elliptical guide tracks, multiply hinged arms, etc.
Thus the scope of the embodiment should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
