Automobile Sun Shade and Method of Making Same

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sun shade for automobile windows, and more particularly to such a shade which can be opened in a fan-like manner or folded to occupy substantially the space of a single blade.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

Removable shades have been developed for insertion between the windshield of an automobile and the dash to reflect the sunlight and thereby prevent the temperature within the automobile from rising to unacceptable levels when the automobile is left in the sunlight. For example, two such shades are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,414 which issued to Robert Surtin on June 1, 1982 and United Kingdom Design Registration No. 941,197 which was registered Mar. 22, 1969 to Siu Tung-Chow of Hong Kong. These prior art shades employ a plurality of elongated slats with elongated openings disposed in the slats between a pinned end and a free end thereof. A joinder tape is inserted through the openings to secure the slats together so that they can be opened in a fan-like manner or folded. While such prior art shades are effective in shading the interior of an automobile, there is room for improvement. For example, the joinder tape in the shade of the '414 patent is arranged so that the shade can only be opened in one direction (i.e., clockwise per FIG. 1) and when the edge of the slat forming one of the openings comes into direct contact with the tape. The ability to open the shade in one direction only is limiting and the sharp edge will tend to cause the tape to fray, thereby shortening the life of the shade. These and other disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, a shade for automobile windows and the like is provided in which a plurality of substantially elongated blades or slats are pinned together at one end and arranged to be opened in a fan-like manner or folded to occupy substantially the space of a single blade. Each of the blades defines a slot centrally located with respect to the blade edges and intermediate the ends thereof. A pair of passageways are provided in each blade on each side of the central slot. A joinder ribbon is arranged to pass from a front face of each blade through the central slot therein to the rear face of the blade, then through the passageway nearest the central slot on one side to the front face, back through the passageway nearest the outer edge on said one side to the rear face, through the central slot to the front face, then through the passageway nearest the outer edge on the other side of the slot to the rear face, back through the passageway nearest the slot on said other side of the slot to the front face, back through the central slot to the rear face, and then on to the front face of the next adjacent blade.

As an alternative, the passageways on each side of the central slot may be arranged to provide one hook on each side of the slot. The joinder ribbon is threaded through the slot in each blade so that it forms a loop adjacent the front and rear face. Each loop is then placed over a separate hook to fasten the blades together. The advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a pair of window shades in accordance with the present invention in which the two shades are joined together and overlap in the central portion of an automobile window;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of two of the blades used in the shade of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3--3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional of one of the blades of FIG. 3 showing the manner in which the joinder ribbon can be extended to form two loops, one adjacent each face of the blade;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of two of the blade members showing a different arrangement of passageways for receiving the joinder ribbon in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6--6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of two of the blade members showing another arrangement of passageways for receiving the joinder tape in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a pair of sun shade devices 10 and 11, each of which comprises a plurality of elongated blades or slats 12 and a foot 14 which is arranged to sit on the dash of an automobile. The blades 12 for each shade are pinned together at one end 16 by a pin 18, which extends through the blades and the foot 14. Two adjacent blades 12' of the shades 10 and 11 are secured together by means of a movable sleeve 20 which slides over the blades 12' to hold the shades 10 and 11 in place on an automobile dash (not shown). Each of the blades is provided with a plurality of passageways through which a joinder tape 22 extends to secure the free ends of the blades 12 together.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the passageways in each blade member 12 adapted to receive the joinder tape 22 comprise a central slot 24, a first pair of passageways 26 and 28 extending on one side of the slot 24 and a second pair of passageways 30 and 32 on the other side of the slot. As is illustrated, the pair of passageways 26 and 28 form a hook 36 and passageways 30 and 32 form a hook 38. Each hook has a lip portion 40 at the top portion thereof which lip faces away from the slot 24 as shown.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated one method of inserting the tape through the blades 12 to secure the free ends thereof together so that the blades can be opened in a fan-like manner as is shown in FIG. 1 or folded to occupy substantially the space of a single blade. The tape is doubled back on itself, as is illustrated in FIG. 4, to form a loop adjacent the front face 12a of the blade 12 and another loop adjacent the rear face 12b of the blade 12. The loop extending adjacent the front face 12a is inserted over the hook 36, as is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 3, and the loop extending adjacent the rear face 12b is mounted over the hook 38. This process is continued until the tape is threaded through each of the passageways 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 in each of the blades. The slack in the tape is then removed until the shade, when opened and the tape pulled taut, will provide only a slight overlap between adjacent blades, as is shown in FIG. 2.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the joinder tape passes from the front face 12a of the blade through the central slot 24 to the rear face of the blade, then through passageway 30 nearest the central slot, back to the front face, through passageway 32 nearest the outer edge to the rear face, through the central slot 24 to the front face of the blade, then through the passageway 28 nearest the outer edge on the right side of the slot to the rear face, back through the passageway 26 near the central slot to the front face, and then back through the central slot 24 to the rear face and to the front face of the next adjacent blade 12. The length of tape between adjacent blades determines the most open position of the blade. The blades may be closed or opened in either direction. When opened in the clockwise direction the joinder tape passing between the blades is prevented from coming into direct contact with the edge of the blade forming the central slot 24 by two thicknesses of the ribbon, as is illustrated in FIG. 4. This tends to prevent abrasion of the ribbon and lengthen the life of the shade.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, there is shown another embodiment of the present invention in which the passageways on either side of the central slot 24 are in the form of slots approximately the same size as the slot 24. These passageways are identified on the drawing by the numbers 26', 28', 30' and 32'. The tape is passed through these passageways in the same manner as was explained in connection with FIG. 3. In the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, however, the tape cannot be looped and then inserted over hooks since the passageways 26', 28', 30' and 32' do not form hooks.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention in which the outer two passageways identified by the numerals 28' and 32' are simply cutouts in the edge of each blade. The tape is threaded through the blade shown in FIG. 7 in the same manner as is illustrated in connection with FIG. 6. The window shade is collapsible, and each of the shades 10 and 11 may be stacked individually. When it is desired to use the shade, the two shades 10 and 11 may be opened in a fan-like manner with the blades 12' fastened together by means of the sleeve 20. The combined shades may then be inserted on the dash of an automobile or other surface to reflect sunlight.

There has thus been described a novel automobile sunshade. It should be apparent that changes in modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as it is defined in the appended claims.