U.S. patent application number 12/842788 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-26 for sunshade.
This patent application is currently assigned to MACAUTO INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Paul Lin.
Application Number | 20120018105 12/842788 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45492594 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120018105 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Paul |
January 26, 2012 |
SUNSHADE
Abstract
A sunshade includes a roller and a screen. The roller has an
intermediate portion, two end portions extending respectively from
opposite ends of the intermediate portion, and a screen-stretching
portion disposed on an outer surrounding surface of the
intermediate portion. The screen has a main body and two lateral
portions. The main body is wound on the screen-stretching portion
and the intermediate portion of the roller and has opposite ends.
The lateral portions are connected respectively to the opposite
ends of the main body and are wound respectively on the end
portions of the roller.
Inventors: |
Lin; Paul; (Tainan Hsien,
TW) |
Assignee: |
MACAUTO INDUSTRIAL CO.,
LTD.
Tainan Hsien
TW
|
Family ID: |
45492594 |
Appl. No.: |
12/842788 |
Filed: |
July 23, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
160/238 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E06B 9/44 20130101; E06B
9/40 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
160/238 |
International
Class: |
A47G 5/02 20060101
A47G005/02 |
Claims
1. A sunshade comprising: a roller extending along an axial
direction and having an intermediate portion, two end portions
extending respectively from axially opposite ends of said
intermediate portion in the axial direction, and a
screen-stretching portion disposed on an outer surrounding surface
of said intermediate portion; and a screen having a main body that
is wound on said screen-stretching portion and said intermediate
portion of said roller and that has opposite ends in the axial
direction, and two lateral portions that are connected respectively
to said opposite ends of said main body and that are wound
respectively on said end portions of said roller.
2. The sunshade as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
screen-stretching portion surrounds said intermediate portion of
said roller with an axial length equal to that of said intermediate
portion, said screen-stretching portion having a pair of side parts
that are opposite to each other in the axial direction, and a
middle part that interconnects said side parts, and outer diameter
of said screen-stretching portion increasing gradually from said
side parts toward said middle pat.
3. The sunshade as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
screen-stretching portion of said roller has an end connected
integrally to a longitudinal edge of said main body of said screen,
and an opposite end connected fixedly to and wound on said outer
surrounding surface of said intermediate portion of said roller.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a sunshade, more particularly to a
sunshade including a screen wound on a roller.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a conventional sunshade 1 is
shown to comprise a roller 11, a screen 12, and a side strip 13.
The roller 11 extends along an axial direction (X) and has two end
portions 111. The screen 12 has a main body 121 wound on the roller
11 and having opposite ends in the axial direction (X). The screen
further has two lateral portions 122 connected respectively to the
opposite ends of the main body 121 and wound respectively on the
end portions 111 of the roller 11. The side strip 13 is connected
to a distal edge of the screen 12.
[0005] The lateral portions 122 of the screen 12 are used for
stretching tautly the main body 121 of the screen 12 when the
conventional sunshade 1 is at an extended state (see FIG. 3), where
the screen 12 is unwound from the roller 11. However, since the
lateral portions 122 are thicker than the main body 121, when the
conventional sunshade 1 is at a retracted state (see FIGS. 1 and
2), where the screen 12 is wound on the roller 11, the screen 12 is
not able to be wound on the roller 11 smoothly and compactly, and
may result in creases on the main body 121 of the screen 12 (see
FIG. 1), particularly at portions adjacent to the lateral portions
122.
[0006] Moreover, when the conventional sunshade 1 is at the
retracted state and under external conditions such as humidity and
temperature during delivery of the conventional sunshade 1, the
creases may not be eliminated. Therefore, when the conventional
sunshade 1 is at the extended state again, the creases on the main
body 121 affect adversely the visual aesthetic quality of the
conventional sunshade 1.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Therefore, the object of the invention is to provide a
sunshade capable of alleviating the above drawbacks of the prior
art.
[0008] Accordingly, a sunshade of the present invention comprises a
roller and a screen. The roller extends along an axial direction
and has an intermediate portion, two end portions, and a
screen-stretching portion. The end portions extend respectively
from axially opposite ends of the intermediate portion in the axial
direction. The screen-stretching portion is disposed on an outer
surrounding surface of the intermediate portion. The screen has a
main body and two lateral portions. The main body is wound on the
screen-stretching portion and the intermediate portion of the
roller and has opposite ends in the axial direction. The lateral
portions are connected respectively to the opposite ends of the
main body and are wound respectively on the end portions of the
roller.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Other features and advantages of the invention will become
apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of
which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a conventional
sunshade at a retracted state;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a fragmentary partly sectional view of the
conventional sunshade at the retracted state;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the conventional
sunshade at an extended state;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a first
preferred embodiment of a sunshade according to the present
invention at an extended state;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary partly sectional view of the first
preferred embodiment at a retracted state;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a second
preferred embodiment of the sunshade according to the present
invention at the extended state;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a fragmentary partly sectional view of the second
preferred embodiment at the retracted state; and
[0017] FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a third
preferred embodiment of the sunshade according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0018] Before the invention is described in greater detail with
reference to the accompanying embodiments, it should be noted
herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference
numerals throughout the disclosure.
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a first preferred embodiment of
a sunshade according to the present invention comprises a roller 2
and a screen 4.
[0020] The roller 2 extends along an axial direction (X) and has an
intermediate portion 21, two end portions 22, and three
spaced-apart screen-stretching portions 23. The end port ions 22
extend respectively from axially opposite ends of the intermediate
portion 21 in the axial direction (X). In this embodiment, each of
the screen-stretching port ions 23 is configured as a C-ring that
is disposed fixedly on an outer surrounding surface 211 of the
intermediate portion 21 and that clamps the intermediate portion 21
therein, such that an outer diameter of the parts of the roller 2
at which the screen-stretching portions 23 surround the
intermediate portion 21 is larger than that of the end portions
22.
[0021] The screen 4 is wound on the roller 2 and is formed with a
longitudinal edge 413 connected fixedly to the roller 2 and clamped
between the roller 2 and the screen-stretching portions 23. The
screen 4 has a main body 41 and two lateral portions 42. The main
body 41 is wound on the screen-stretching portions 23 and the
intermediate portion 21 of the roller 2 and has opposite ends 411
in the axial direction (X). The lateral portions 42 are connected
respectively to the opposite ends 411 of the main body 41 and are
wound respectively on the end portions 22 of the roller 2 (see FIG.
5). The screen 4 is operable between the retracted state, where the
main body 41 is wound on the roller 2, and the extended state,
where the main body 41 is unwound from the roller 2. The lateral
portions 2 of the screen 4 have a hardness greater than that of the
main body 41 so as to stretch tautly the main body 41 when the
sunshade is at the extended state.
[0022] By virtue of the screen-stretching portions 23 of the roller
2, when the sunshade of the invention is at the retracted state,
the main body 41 of the screen 4 is stretched so that the screen 4
can be wound on the roller 2 compactly and evenly without resulting
in creases on the main body 41. In addition, the lateral portions
42 of the screen 4 are also wound respectively on the end portions
22 of the roller 2 compactly and evenly when the sunshade of the
invention is at the retracted state (see FIG. 5). As a result, the
screen 4 of the sunshade of this invention can be unwound from the
roller 2 without creases left thereon. Therefore, compared to the
conventional sunshade 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, the sunshade of this
invention ensures the visual aesthetic quality of the sunshade
during use.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a second preferred embodiment of
the sunshade according to the present invention has a structure
similar to that of the first embodiment. The main difference
between this embodiment and the first embodiment resides in the
following. In this embodiment, the roller 2 includes one
screen-stretching portion 23 that surrounds the intermediate
portion 21 of the roller 2 with an axial length equal to that of
the intermediate portion 21 of the roller 2. The screen-stretching
portion 23 has a pair of side parts 231 that are opposite to each
other in the axial direction (X), and a middle part 232 that
interconnects the side parts 231. An outer diameter of the
screen-stretching portion 23 of the roller 2 is configured to
increase gradually from the side parts 231 toward the middle part
232. The second preferred embodiment has the same advantages as
those of the first preferred embodiment.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 8, a third preferred embodiment of the
sunshade according to the present invention has a structure similar
to that of the first embodiment. The main difference between this
embodiment and the first embodiment resides in the following. In
this embodiment, the screen-stretching portion 23 is shaped as an
isosceles trapezium, and has an end 233 connected integrally to the
longitudinal edge 413 of the screen 4, and an opposite end 234
shorter than the end 233 and connected fixedly to and wound on the
outer surrounding surface 211 of the intermediate portion 21 of the
roller 2. It should be noted herein that the shape of the
screen-stretching portion 23 is not limited to the isosceles
trapezium in other embodiments of this invention. The third
preferred embodiment has the same advantages as those of the first
preferred embodiment.
[0025] While the invention has been described in connection with
what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments,
it is understood that this invention is not limited to the
disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements
included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation
so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent
arrangements.
* * * * *