Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-15
2001-02-13
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S223000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186585
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle sunshade device constructed such that an opening formed in a roof of a vehicle is opened and/or closed by a sunshade for shielding a passenger compartment of the vehicle from sunlight, and more particularly to a construction for guide rails for guiding the sunshade.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 10-167378 and No. Hei. 10-167379, which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional sunshade device such as fitted on a roof of, for example, a van comprises a sunshade disposed under a light-transmissive sunroof lid for opening and/or closing a opening formed in a roof of the van for shielding a passenger compartment of the van from sunlight, and guide rails for longitudinally slidably supporting the sunshade.
The sunshade can move between a fully closed position where it closes the opening under the sunroof lid and a fully opened position where it is stored in a storing portion formed between the ceiling of the passenger compartment and the roof of the van. The guide rails each have a guide groove for guiding the sunshade along a desired locus and in which sliding members are slidably fitted which can elastically be deformed in vertical directions and are provided on both sides of the sunshade at front and rear ends thereof. The guide grooves each have a front straight portion, a rear straight portion positioned vertically higher than the front straight portion and a inclined portion disposed between the front and rear straight portions and inclined moderately upwardly toward the rear. The sunshade is stored in the storing portion while being displaced upwardly when the sliding members are moved from the front straight portions to the rear straight portions via the inclined portions (refer, for instance, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 3-70515).
With the conventional sunshade described above, for instance, when the sunshade is moved from the fully closed position to the fully opened position, with the rear sliding members entering the inclined portions, the sunshade is displaced upwardly at a rear end thereof, when the front sliding members are guided by the front straight portions so as to move horizontally therealong. This causes a difference in locus along which the front and rear sliding members move, and the deflection amount of the rear sliding members is changed at the inclined portions, the sliding operation force for the sunshade thereby becoming unstable. Thus, there is caused a problem that no smooth sliding operation of the sunshade can be obtained.
Further, a certain type of sunroof device is provided with two front and rear sunshades for shielding a passenger compartment of the vehicle from sunlight.
In a sunshade device of this type, when the opening is closed, the front and rear sunshades are disposed substantially on the same horizontal plane with a rear end of the front sunshade and a front end of the rear sunshade abutting with each other, and when the front sunshade is slid rearward from the above state, the rear sunshade is pushed rearward, and after the rear sunshade is stored in a storing portion formed in a lower portion of the roof, the abutment relationship between the front and rear sunshades is released. Thereafter only the front sunshade is moved alone further rearward, and in a fully opened state, the front sunshade and rear sunshade are stored in the storing portion with the former being stacked above the latter in a one-on-the-other fashion (refer, for instance, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei.5-60919).
With a conventional sunshade device as described above, however, in the fully opened state, the front and rear sunshades are disposed vertically with a certain gap being maintained therebetween, and this may cause a risk of producing a looseness of the two sunshades so disposed.
In order to eliminate such a risk, there is proposed a design in which a leaf spring is provided in a storing portion for two sunshades so as to bias a rear sunshade upwardly (refer, for example, to Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei.5-24437). However, in this sunshade device, both of front and rear sunshades are biased upwardly by the leaf spring, it should be necessary to prepare a large and strong leaf spring, and there is a risk that front and rear sunshades are rubbed with each other, so skin materials thereof are damaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above problems, a first object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle sunshade device that can always provide a stable sliding operation force for a sunshade to thereby enable smooth opening and closing operations of the sunshade.
In addition, a second object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle sunshade device that can securely prevent the occurrence of a floating of a rear sunshade at the time of opening, as well as a looseness of front and rear sunshades, which can also prevent the rubbing of skin materials of the sunshades, and which can allow the both sunshades to be opened and/or closed in a smooth fashion.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle sunshade device is comprising: a sunshade for opening and closing an opening formed in a roof of a vehicle; a sliding member being provided on a side of the sunshade, a longitudinal length of the sliding member being larger than a vertical length thereof and being elastically deformable in a vertical direction; and a guide rail disposed on a side of the opening, the guide rail having a guide groove including a straight portion oriented longitudinally and extending substantial horizontally and an inclined portion continuous with the straight portion, the sliding member being slidably fitted in the guide groove. In this vehicle sunshade device, a vertical gap in the inclined portion at least at an intermediate portion thereof is made larger than a vertical gap in the straight portion.
It is preferable that one of an upper surface and a lower surface of the sliding member is formed into a convexly curved surface.
Further, it is also preferable, one of an upper surface and a lower surface of the sliding member is formed into a convexly curved surface in which an apex portion is located at a center of the sliding member, and the other of the upper surface and the lower surface is formed into a wavy configuration having two convexly curved surfaces in which apex portions are located at positions closer to front and rear ends of the sliding member, respectively.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle sunshade device comprising: a front sunshade and a rear sunshade arranged one after the other in a longitudinal direction for opening and closing an opening formed in a roof of a vehicle; guiding means provided on a side of the opening for guiding the front and rear sunshades between a fully closed position where the front and rear sunshades are arranged to align with each other in a longitudinal direction to thereby close the opening and a fully opened position where the front and rear sunshades are positioned below and rearward of the opening with the front sunshade being stacked above the rear sunshade; and pushing means for pushing a front end of the rear sunshade until the rear sunshade reaches the fully opened position when the front sunshade is moved rearward. The pushing means comprises: a sliding member disposed one of the rear sunshade and the front sunshade; and a side plate disposed on the other of the rear sunshade and the front sunshade. The side plate comprises: an abutment portion provided at a rear end of the side plate, the abutment portion being to be brought into abutment with the sliding member so as to push the rear sunshade rearward; an inclined portion provided below the abutment portion inclining forwardly and downwardly to push the sliding member downwardly and rearward when the rear sunshade reaches or approaches the fully opened position; an
Ito Nobuo
Okada Hiroshi
Yamashita Yoshihiro
Foley & Lardner
Ohi Seisakusho Co. Ltd.
Pedder Dennis H.
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