U.S. patent application number 10/083244 was filed with the patent office on 2003-08-28 for modular sun visor and method of assembling same.
Invention is credited to Tiesler, John M..
Application Number | 20030160473 10/083244 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22177095 |
Filed Date | 2003-08-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030160473 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tiesler, John M. |
August 28, 2003 |
MODULAR SUN VISOR AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING SAME
Abstract
A modular sun visor includes upper and lower visor bezels
configured to be attached to different sized visor blades. The
upper and lower visor bezels are snapped together and capture one
of the visor blades between them. The visor blade is then heat
staked to the bezels. An elbow arm is pivotally connected to at
least one of the visor bezels, and is also pivotally connected to a
vehicle. The sun visor is further selectively attachable to the
vehicle at a center support. When a sun visor is required for a
different make or model of vehicle, only the visor blade is
changed; thus, production and inventory costs are reduced.
Inventors: |
Tiesler, John M.; (Harrison
Township, MI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BROOKS & KUSHMAN P.C. / LEAR CORPORATION
1000 TOWN CENTER TWENTY-SECOND FLOOR
SOUTHFIELD
MI
48075
US
|
Family ID: |
22177095 |
Appl. No.: |
10/083244 |
Filed: |
February 25, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
296/97.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60J 3/0282
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
296/97.1 |
International
Class: |
B60J 003/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A sun visor assembly for use in a vehicle, comprising: a first
visor bezel; a second visor bezel attached to the first bezel; and
a visor blade at least partially captured between the first and
second visor bezels.
2. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, wherein a portion of the
visor blade is sonic welded to at least one of the visor
bezels.
3. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, wherein a portion of the
visor blade is heat staked to at least one of the visor bezels.
4. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, further comprising an elbow
rod for pivotally attaching the sun visor assembly to the
vehicle.
5. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, further comprising a support
rod molded into one of the visor bezels and attachable to a sun
visor support.
6. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, further comprising a vanity
subassembly including a mirror, a vanity bezel, and a vanity
lid.
7. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, wherein the visor blade
comprises a visor blade subassembly, including a first visor blade
portion attached to a second visor blade portion.
8. The sun visor assembly of claim 1, wherein one of the visor
bezels comprises a storage portion and a door portion, the door
portion having a first position for allowing access to the storage
portion and a second position for covering the storage portion.
9. A system of modular sun visors, comprising: a plurality of first
visor bezels; a plurality of second visor bezels, each of the
second visor bezels being configured to mate with any one of the
first visor bezels; and a plurality of visor blades, each of the
visor blades differing from the other visor blades by at least one
dimension, and each of the visor blades being capturable by any two
of the mating first and second visor bezels.
10. The system of modular sun visors of claim 9, wherein each of
the first visor bezels includes a support portion.
11. The system of modular sun visors of claim 10, wherein each of
the second visor bezels includes a support portion configured to be
in substantial alignment with the support portion of a mating first
visor bezel.
12. The system of modular sun visor of claim 11, further comprising
a plurality of support rods, each support rod being configured to
be substantially disposed in the support portion of any first or
second visor bezel.
13. The system of modular sun visors of claim 9 for use in a
vehicle, further comprising a plurality of elbow rod assemblies,
each of the elbow rod assemblies having a first portion configured
to be pivotally attachable to any of the mating first and second
visor bezels, and each of the elbow rod assemblies having a second
portion configured to be pivotally attachable to the vehicle.
14. The system of modular sun visors of claim 9, further comprising
a plurality of vanity assemblies configured to be attachable to any
one of the first or second visor bezels.
15. The system of modular sun visors of claim 14, wherein each of
the vanity assemblies comprises a mirror, a vanity bezel, and a
vanity lid.
16. The system of modular sun visors of claim 9, wherein each of
the visor blades comprises a visor blade subassembly, including a
first visor blade portion attached to a second visor blade
portion.
17. The system of modular sun visors of claim 9, wherein each of
the first visor bezels comprises a storage portion and a door
portion, the door portion having a first position for allowing
access to the storage portion and a second position for covering
the storage portion.
18. A method of assembling a sun visor for a vehicle, comprising:
providing a first visor bezel having a support portion and
configured to be attached to any visor blade chosen from an
inventory of differently sized visor blades; choosing a visor blade
from the inventory of differently sized visor blades; and capturing
the chosen visor blade between the first visor bezel and a second
visor bezel, the second visor bezel having a support portion
configured to be in substantial alignment with the support portion
of the first visor bezel when the chosen visor blade is captured
between the two visor bezels.
19. The method of assembling a sun visor of claim 18, further
comprising pivotally attaching a first portion of an elbow rod
subassembly to at least one of the visor bezels.
20. The method of assembling the sun visor of claim 19 to a
vehicle, further comprising attaching a second portion of the elbow
rod subassembly to the vehicle.
21. The method of assembling a sun visor of claim 18, further
comprising attaching a support rod to the support portion of at
least one of the visor bezels.
22. The method of assembling a sun visor of claim 18, further
comprising attaching a vanity subassembly to one of the visor
bezels.
23. The method of assembling a sun visor of claim 18, further
comprising sonic welding the captured visor blade to at least one
of the visor bezels.
24. The method of assembling a sun visor of claim 18, further
comprising heat staking the captured visor blade to at least one of
the visor bezels.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a modular sun visor and a
method of assembling a sun visor.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] The use of sun visors in vehicles is well known. Attached to
the vehicle roof adjacent to the windshield, sun visors are made in
various sizes and are made from a variety of materials. Typical sun
visors comprise a stiff inner core, often made of a rigid polymer,
surrounded by a cloth covering. Because of the wide variation in
the size of vehicles, many different sizes of sun visors are
necessary to accommodate the needs of vehicle manufacturers. In a
standard manufacturing process, each different size of sun visor
may require different tooling, which adds to production costs. In
addition, inventory costs can increase as the many different sizes
of sun visors are warehoused.
[0005] One attempt to make a sun visor more modular, and therefore
increase the number of components common to different sizes of sun
visors, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,985 issued to
Twietineyer et al. on Oct. 17, 2000. Twietmeyer et al. describes a
sun visor with a variety of modular core components covered with an
outer covering. The core components can be assembled such that they
can be used in visor assemblies for a number of different makes and
models of vehicles. However, in order to accommodate different
sizes of outer coverings, the core component assemblies must
themselves be manufactured in different lengths. Hence, at least
some of the shortcomings of prior art sun visors remains.
[0006] Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a modular sun visor
that overcomes the shortcomings of prior art sun visors by further
reducing the number of differently sized components that are
required to produce sun visors of different sizes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a
modular sun visor that can be used on a wide variety of vehicle
makes and models.
[0008] It is another aspect of the invention to provide a modular
sun visor that reduces tooling changes and production setup time
for the sun visor manufacturer.
[0009] It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a modular
sun visor that reduces production and inventory costs.
[0010] Accordingly, a sun visor assembly for use in a vehicle is
provided that comprises a first visor bezel and a second visor
bezel. The second visor bezel is attached to the first visor bezel.
A visor blade is at least partially captured between the two visor
bezels.
[0011] Another aspect of the invention provides a system of modular
sun visors that comprises a plurality of first visor bezels. A
plurality of second visor bezels are each configured to mate with
any one of the first visor bezels. The system also includes a
plurality of visor blades, each one differing from the others by at
least one dimension. Each of the visor blades can be captured by
any two of the mating first and second visor bezels.
[0012] A further aspect of the invention provides a method of
assembling a sun visor for a vehicle that comprises providing a
first visor bezel that has a support portion. The first visor bezel
is configured to be attached to any visor blade chosen from an
inventory of differently sized visor blades. The method further
includes choosing a visor blade from the inventory of differently
sized visor blades and capturing the chosen visor blade between the
first visor bezel and a second visor bezel. The second visor bezel
has a support portion that is configured to be in substantial
alignment with the support portion of the first visor bezel when
the chosen visor blade is captured between the two visor
bezels.
[0013] The above object and other objects, features, and advantages
of the present invention are readily apparent from the following
detailed description and best mode for carrying out the invention
when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a sun visor
assembly in accordance with the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sun visor assembly
attached to a roof portion of the interior of a vehicle;
[0016] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a vanity
subassembly used in various embodiments of the present
invention;
[0017] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an illuminated
vanity subassembly used in various embodiments of the present
invention;
[0018] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an illuminated
vanity subassembly having a dimmer switch used in various
embodiments of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of the sun
visor assembly of FIG. 1;
[0020] FIG. 6a is a sectional view of the sun visor assembly shown
in FIG. 6;
[0021] FIG. 6b is a different sectional view of the sun visor
assembly shown in FIG. 6;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a partially exploded perspective view of a lower
visor bezel having a storage compartment and a storage compartment
door; and
[0023] FIG. 7a is a partial sectional view of a sun visor assembly
having a lower visor bezel configured with a storage
compartment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0024] FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a sun visor
assembly 10 in accordance with the present invention. Included in
the sun visor assembly 10 is a first, or lower visor bezel 12, a
second, or upper visor bezel 14, and a visor blade subassembly 16.
The lower and upper bezels 12, 14 are typically made from a molded
heat resistant polymer such as a high heat acrylonitrile butadiene
styrene (HH ABS), though the use of other materials is
contemplated. The upper visor bezel 14 includes a vanity
subassembly (see FIGS. 4 and 6a) that has been removed from this
view for clarity. The visor blade subassembly 16 includes a first,
or lower visor blade portion 18 and a second, or upper visor blade
portion 20. The lower and upper visor blade portions 18, 20 are
typically made from a molded polymer such as a high crystalline
polypropylene (HCPP), and are then covered with a cloth material
(not shown). Of course other materials can be used, including
polymers molded with a finished surface to obviate the need for the
cloth covering.
[0025] The lower visor bezel 12 and the upper visor bezel 14 are
configured to snap together. Snaps 22 on the first visor bezel 12
attach to mating elements (not shown) on the second visor bezel 14.
Each of the visor blade portions 18, 20 includes a cutout 24, 26.
The cutouts 24, 26 allow the snaps 22 to traverse at least a
portion of the thickness of the visor blade subassembly 16 and mate
with their corresponding elements on the second visor bezel 14.
When the first visor bezel 12 is snapped together with the second
visor bezel 14, the visor blade subassembly 16 is captured between
them. After the visor blade subassembly 16 is captured, it is heat
staked to the two visor bezels 12, 14. Although heat staking is the
preferred method, other methods of attachment are also
contemplated, including sonic welding and adhesives.
[0026] The visor blade subassembly 16 is chosen based on the
requirements of the vehicle into which the sun visor assembly 10 is
to be installed. Although visor blade subassemblies such as 16 may
have different widths or lengths to accommodate the requirements of
different vehicles, the cutouts, shown as 24, 26 on the visor blade
subassembly 16, will have substantially the same dimensions. This
allows the lower and upper visor bezels 12, 14 to be used with sun
visor subassemblies in many different makes and models of vehicles.
The cutouts 24, 26 not only allow the snaps 22 to mate with their
corresponding elements on the second visor bezel 14, but also
reduce the weight and the amount of material required to produce
the visor blade subassembly 16. It should be noted however, that a
visor blade subassembly need not have cutouts to accommodate the
snaps 22. As an alternative to cutouts, the visor blade subassembly
can be manufactured with a series of holes aligned with the snaps
22 to allow the two visor bezels 12, 14 to snap together.
[0027] Also included in the sun visor assembly 10 is an elbow rod
subassembly 28. The elbow rod subassembly 28 includes an elbow rod
30 that has a first, or horizontal portion 32 and a second, or
vertical portion 34. The horizontal portion 32 of the elbow rod 30
is attached to the first and second visor bezels 12, 14 with a
detent carrier 36 and a detent clip 38. This type of attachment
allows a vehicle occupant to pivot the visor blade subassembly 16
about the horizontal portion 32 of the elbow rod 30. Another type
of elbow rod subassembly that can be used in the present invention
is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,644 issued to Tiesler et al. on
Apr. 24, 2001. Tiesler et al. describes an elbow rod subassembly
that allows for lateral movement of a sun visor, thereby providing
additional flexibility in positioning the sun visor.
[0028] Turning to FIG. 2, it is seen that the vertical portion 34
of the elbow rod 30 attaches to a roof portion 40 of a vehicle. The
vertical portion 34 attaches to an outboard bezel 42, which is
attached to an outboard clip 44 using screws 46, see FIG. 1. The
outboard clip 44 snaps into the roof portion 40 of the vehicle. A
trim cap 48 covers the outboard bezel 42 to present a finished
surface to the vehicle occupants. A portion of a wiring harness 50
is also shown in FIG. 1. Because the second portion 34 of the elbow
rod 30 contains an opening 52, wires can be fed through the opening
52 to accommodate electrical components in the sun visor assembly
10, as discussed below.
[0029] The sun visor assembly 10 also includes a support rod 54
that attaches to a support 55 that is mounted to the roof portion
40 of a vehicle, as shown in FIG. 2. The support rod 54 and the
support 55 are commonly referred to as a "center support rod" and a
"center support," respectively. In this embodiment, the center
support rod 54 is molded into a support portion 56 (or center
support portion) of the lower visor bezel 12. The upper visor bezel
14 also contains a (center) support portion 58 that is
substantially aligned with the center support portion 54 of the
first visor bezel 12 when the two visor bezels are snapped
together. The center support 55 is configured to hold the center
support rod when the sun visor assembly 10 is adjacent to a
windshield 60, but allows a vehicle occupant to pivot the sun visor
assembly 10 to a position adjacent to a side window (not shown). A
center support clip 62 is snapped into the roof portion 40 of the
vehicle and a screw 64 secures the center support 55 to the center
support clip 62.
[0030] Because the size of the first and second visor bezels 12, 14
remains constant despite the use of differently sized visor blade
assemblies, the distance between a center point 66 on the center
support rod 54 and the second portion 34 of the elbow rod 30 also
remains constant. This allows the center support 55 to be attached
to the roof portion 40 in the same location on many different makes
and models of vehicles. This helps to reduce both design and
production costs for vehicle manufacturers by eliminating one of
the variables encountered when changing vehicle platforms. In
addition, the vehicle manufacturer need not produce or inventory
different sizes of center supports, since the center support 55
will accommodate all of the sun visor assemblies made in accordance
with the present invention. Thus a clear benefit is realized both
by the manufacturer of the sun visor assembly 10 and the
manufacturer of the vehicle. Not only are production costs reduced
because there are fewer differently sized components to produce,
but inventory costs are lowered as well, since there are fewer
differently sized components to warehouse.
[0031] Another advantage of the present invention is that a vanity
subassembly, such as 68 shown in FIG. 3, can be attached to any
upper visor bezel to be used with any of the sun visor assemblies
made in accordance with the present invention. Included in the
vanity subassembly 68 is a mirror 70, which is at least partially
held in place by a vanity bezel 72. Also part of the vanity
subassembly 68 is a vanity lid 74 that pivots on hinges 76. Vanity
lid springs 78 keep the vanity lid 74 closed when the mirror 70 is
not being accessed by a vehicle occupant. The vanity subassembly 68
represents only one of a number of different types of vanity
subassemblies that can be used in the present invention.
[0032] A somewhat more elaborate vanity subassembly 80 is shown in
FIG. 4. The vanity subassembly 80 includes many of the same
components used in the vanity subassembly 68 shown in FIG. 3. For
example the mirror 70, the vanity lid 74, and the vanity lid
springs 78 are all common to both vanity subassemblies 68, 80. The
vanity subassembly 80 however, includes an electrical subassembly
82 that has two light bulbs 84. The wiring 85 of the electrical
subassembly 82 is fed through the opening 52, see FIG. 1, of the
vertical portion 34 of the elbow rod 30 for connection to a power
supply (not shown). A vanity bezel 86 includes openings 88 that
allow the light from the light bulbs 84 to illuminate an area in
front of the vanity subassembly 80 when the vanity lid 74 is in the
open position. Lenses 90 cover the openings 88 of the vanity bezel
86 to protect the light bulbs 84. FIG. 5 shows another vanity
subassembly 92 that represents only a slight variation over the
vanity subassembly 80 shown in FIG. 4. An electrical subassembly 94
includes light bulbs 84 as before; however, in this embodiment a
dimmer switch subassembly 96 is also included. A vanity bezel 98
has openings 100 to allow the light from the light bulbs 84 to
illuminate the area in front of the vanity subassembly 92, and it
also has a slot 102 to facilitate access to the dimmer switch
subassembly 96.
[0033] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the sun visor assembly
10, with sections 6a and 6b shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b, respectively.
As seen in FIGS. 6a and 6b, the visor blade subassembly 16 is
captured between the two visor bezels 12, 14. The visor blade
subassembly 16 is heat staked to the visor bezels 12, 14 at an
attachment point 104. The elbow rod 30 pivots inside the detent
carrier 36 that is installed between the lower and upper visor
bezels 12, 14. The vanity subassembly 80 is attached to the upper
visor bezel 14 with snaps 106, only one of which is visible in this
view. The vanity bezel 86 holds the mirror 70 in place. The mirror
70 is illuminated by light bulbs 80, only one of which is seen in
this view. The vanity lid 74, which is shown in solid lines in the
closed position and in phantom lines in the open position,
selectively covers the mirror 70.
[0034] FIG. 7 shows a lower visor bezel 108 configured with a
storage compartment 110. The storage compartment 110 is convenient
for storing maps, papers, and other small items. A storage
compartment door 112 is attached to the lower visor bezel 108 at
hinges 114. This allows the door 112 to be pivoted from a closed
position to an open position to allow access to the storage
compartment 110. A pair of spring clips 116 ensures that the door
112 will remain closed unless a vehicle occupant is holding it
open. The hinge and spring mechanism is illustrated in the partial
sectional view shown in FIG. 7a. In this view, the storage
compartment 110 is covered by the door 112, which is held in the
closed position by the spring clips 116, only one of which is
visible in this view. The lower visor bezel 108 is configured to
mate with any of the upper visor bezels in any of the other
embodiments. This means that the mounting locations for the
completed sun visor assembly is the same as for any other
embodiment of the invention. This further illustrates the benefits
of the present invention which allows one of the components, such
as the lower visor bezel, to be modified to suit the particular
needs of a customer's specific application, while maintaining
compatibility with the other sun visor components. Thus, the
present invention strikes a balance between commonizing components
to help reduce production and inventory costs, and allowing enough
flexibility to suit the needs of different customers.
[0035] While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and
described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and
describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words
used in the specification are words of description rather than
limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *