Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Plural and/or with rigid closure – Diverse types
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-08
2001-01-30
Purol, David M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Plural and/or with rigid closure
Diverse types
C296S214000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179034
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of automobile accessories in general, and in particular to an internally mounted screen arrangement for vehicle sunroofs.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,285,383; 4,398,586; 4,799,422; and 5,299,616, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse vehicle sun screen arrangements.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical vehicle sunroof screen arrangement that is mounted on the interior of a vehicle so as to maintain the aerodynamic profile of the exterior of the vehicle and further allow the sunroof mechanism to function in the normal manner when the screen arrangement is in place.
As most owners of vehicles equipped with sunroofs are all too well aware, one of the major disadvantages of having a sunroof is the fact that leaves, debris, and flying insects can enter into the interior of the vehicle through the sunroof opening.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved type of internally mounted sun screen arrangement for vehicle sunroofs that can quickly and easily be mounted and installed within the passenger compartment of a vehicle, and the provision of such an arrangement is a stated objective of the present invention.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, the screen arrangement for the interior of vehicles equipped with a retractable roof panel that defines a sunroof opening comprises in general, a track unit suspended from the interior surface of the roof of the vehicle, a screen unit slidably disposed in said track unit, and a latching unit operatively associated with both the screen unit and the track unit for captively engaging the screen unit beneath the sunroof opening.
As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the screen unit comprises a screen member fabricated from a sheet of flexible screen material which is suspended by a framework which is slidably received in said track unit.
In addition, the track unit comprises a pair of track members which are provided with a pivoted connection that allows the track members
20
to swing downwardly to remove the screen member
30
for cleaning.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4104825 (1978-08-01), Hosmer
patent: 4285383 (1981-08-01), Steenburgh
patent: 4398586 (1983-08-01), Hall
patent: 4717200 (1988-01-01), Kruger
patent: 4799422 (1989-01-01), Birt
patent: 5149170 (1992-09-01), Matsubara et al.
patent: 5299616 (1994-04-01), Sholtz
patent: 5609387 (1997-03-01), Stallfort et al.
patent: 5810429 (1998-09-01), Jardin et al.
patent: 5984405 (1999-11-01), Ciacci
Henderson & Sturm LLP
Purol David M.
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