GB2334930A - Ball joint for mounting a sun visor in a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The sun visor 1 is mounted adjacent to the vehicle's front windscreen by a ball joint which allows multi-axis rotation of the visor about the joint. The joint has a ball 6 attached to the vehicle by a rigid mounting 5 and a cup 2 which is attached to the visor by a rigid mounting 3. The ball may have a number of recesses or grooves (see Figure 2) that cooperate with corresponding pips or detents in the cup to stabilise the orientations into which the visor is rotated. The cup is shaped to provide the widest angles of rotation for the visor and this is enhanced by a cut out area 12 in the cup. The cup may be temporarily deformed to envelop the ball therein or alternatively magnetism, adhesives or suction may be used to provide the coupling between the ball and cup. The joint may be made from plastic or metal and the contact surfaces of the ball and cup coated with a low friction material. Instead of the cup being mounted to the visor as shown in the Figure the cup may be secured to the vehicle whilst the visor is provided with the ball.

Description

A SUN VISOR ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to a sun visor assembly and more particularly such an assembly for a motor vehicle.

Generally, a sun visor is advisable within a motor vehicle in order to eliminate glare when driving towards a rising or waning sun. Essentially a sun visor comprises a section of opaque material which can be rotated into an appropriate orientation to shield a driver's eyes from glare. It will also be understood that in addition to being located to prevent glare through the windscreen of a motor vehicle that occasionally the sun visor may be used to shield glare through a side window.

It will be appreciated from above that in order to allow such configurations of the sun visor that a hinge mechanism is required which can accommodate a wide variation in visor orientations. Typically, as illustrated in US patent No. 5580117, two hinging mechanisms are provided in order to accommodate the two principal axes of rotation. Thus, it will be appreciated that combination of two hinge mechanisms on respective axes of rotation can precipitate installation problems and adds to cost.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a retaining arm for a sun visor used in a motor vehicle which is both simpler to install and cheaper.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a sun visor assembly for a motor vehicle wherein a ball arm is rigidly mounted to a panel of a motor vehicle or a sun visor and a cup element is rigidly mounted to a corresponding panel or a sun visor, said ball element and said cup element forming a ball joint to allow multi-axis rotation of the said sun visor relative to said panel.

The cup element may be retained upon said ball element by said cup element enveloping an effective proportion of said ball element. Said cup element being appropriately transiently deformed to facilitate such envelopment and also to disengage from such retention about the ball element.

The ball element may include surface features such as detents or grooves to act in association with said cup element to indicate and/or provide configurations of said ball joint which are more robustly stable.

The ball element and the cup element may be made from metal or plastics material and the respective contact surfaces between said ball element and said cup element may be coated with a low friction material.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a schematic side elevation of a sun visor assembly.

A sun visor 1 is coupled to a cup element 2 through a rigid mounting 3.

A motor vehicle panel 4 such as that adjacent to the front windscreen of such a vehicle includes a rigid mounting 5 upon which a ball element 6 is located.

The ball element 6 and mounting 5 can be secured to the motor vehicle during manufacture at the so-called body in white (BIW) stage prior to application of paint and trim features. At such a stage it will be appreciated that a weld or adhesive application of the mount 5 to the panel 4 is convenient whilst if applied subsequently after the BIW stage it may be necessary to use more sympathetic securing means in order to mitigate the possibility of damage or at least unsightly appearance. Such application may result in a less rigid mounting. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that application during the trim stage which is necessary with prior hinge arrangements can add to manufacturing costs.

In the present invention the ball joint created by the cup 2 and ball element 6 is only produced at the assembly stage. Furthermore, that assembly stage merely involves deformation of the cup to envelope an appropriate proportion of the ball 6 to ensure retention. This is a quick procedure in comparison with prior mounting staging necessary for hinges.

The cup element 2 through mounting 3 is secured to the sun visor 1 during a component manufacturing stage rather than during motor vehicle assembly, thus again diminishing assembly time for the motor vehicle and so manufacturing costs. It will be appreciated that it is much easier to incorporate the cup element 2 through mounting 3 into the sun visor at a manufacturing stage when it may be included in any moulding, eliminating any assembly stage. The mounting 3 can be secured in the sun visor 1 using a screw thread or lateral anchor elements extending from the mounting 3.

An example of such anchoring is illustrated by the broken lines 7.

It is important that both the ball element 6 through mounting 5 and the cup element 2 through mounting 3 are rigidly secured as it will be appreciated the compressive force necessary to ensure envelopment by the cup 2 of an appropriate proportion of the ball element 6 may precipitate stresses which could result in damage or failure of the sun visor assembly.

Typically, the opposite end of the sun visor to the ball joint created by cup 2 and ball 6 will be retained by a clip. However, in accordance with the present invention the ball 6 and cup 2 may incorporate appropriate reciprocal detent and recess areas to ensure positive retention of a sun visor configuration. Furthermore , by entrance of a detent into a recess whether it be cup detent into ball recess or vice versa there will be a simple positive tactile indication to the manipulator of the sun visor of such configuration being attained.

Figure 2 illustrates a ball element 10 which includes grooves 11 appropriately located to correspond with pips or detents in a cup element such that these pips or detents are relieved from compressive abutment with the surface of the ball element 6 by relief into these grooves 11. Thus, the sun visor has preferable orientations with the cup element so located.

Such preferred positions will be more stable than others and so more acceptable within a motor vehicle jostled by road surface variation and other factors. It will be appreciated that a relatively large load can be placed about the pivot of the ball joint. This is partly the reason why traditionally a clip has been placed at the far end of the sun visor. Such problems of instability can be compounded by wear and provision of easy slide surfaces for the engagement of the ball 6 and the cup element 2. Provision of detents can substantially relieve such problems.

The cup element 2 is generally shaped to provide the widest angles of rotation possible for the sun visor 1. Thus, the cup 2 may include cut-out areas 12 to allow a greater range of rotation. However, retention of the cup element 2 about the ball 6 should be ensured by provision of sufficient engagement between that element 2 and the ball 6. As indicated previously, the cup element 2 will be temporarily deformed in order to envelop a sufficient proportion of the ball 6 for retention after deformation relief. Thus, the cup element 2 will normally be of a plastics material.

As an alternative to envelopment coupling between the cup element and the ball 6 it may be possible to use an alternative means of association between the element 2, 6 such as magnetism, adhesive compounds and suction. Furthermore, the cup element 2 could be augmented with additional gripper elements 14 denoted by broken line in order to ensure capture engagement of the cup 2 on the ball 6. The gripper elements 14 could be secured to the cup element 2 by adhesive but it will be appreciated that consideration must then be given for the potential lack of a convenient means for disassembling the sun visor assembly.

It will be appreciated that the elements 2, 6 could be mounted with the ball element 6 associated with the panel and the cup element 2 with the sun visor as described above or vice versa.

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS 1. A sun visor assembly for a motor vehicle wherein a ball element is rigidly mounted to either a panel of a motor vehicle or a sun visor and a cup element is rigidly mounted to a corresponding panel or a sun visor, said ball element and said cup element forming a ball joint to allow multi-axis rotation of said sun visor relative to said panel.
2. 2. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the cup element is retained upon said ball element by said cup element enveloping a proportion of said ball element.
3. 3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the cup element is appropriately deformable to facilitate envelopment of said ball element and to allow disengagement by deformation thereof.
4. 4. A sun visor assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the ball element includes surface features such as detents or grooves to act in association with reciprocal features within said cup element to provide either a tactile indicator of configuration and/or provide more robust configurations of said ball joint between said ball element and said cup element and therefore of said sun visor assembly.
5. 5. A sun visor assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.