GB1568727A

GB1568727A - Sun visor with mirror for use within vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB1568727A
Application number: GB3806777A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Priority date: 1976-09-27
Filing date: 1977-09-13
Publication date: 1980-06-04
Also published as: FR2365454A1; JPS5347211U; DE2742318A1; FR2365454B1

Description

(54) A SUN VISOR WITH MIRROR FOR USE WITHIN VEHICLE (71) We, NISSAN MOTOR COMPANY, LIMITED, a corporation organized under the laws of Japan, of No. 2, Takaramachi, Kanagawaku, Yokohama City, Japan, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a sun visor for a motor vehicle and more particularly to a sun visor which is provided with a vanity mirror.

As is well known mirrors are often disposed on the sun visors of motor vehicles for the convenience of the front seat passenger or driver. One arrangement proposed for mounting the mirror on the sun visor is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. As seen the letter S denotes the sun visor proper while the numeral 1 denotes the mirror which is inserted and retained in the body of the sun visor through a holder. The holder made of a thermoplastic resin 2 is fixedly disposed about the mirror so that the mirror is snugly retained therein. The numeral 3 denotes a skin or cover member which is made of a suitable flexible fabric such as vinyl plastic. A frame 7 is arranged within the visor to provide rigidity, strength and shape and is so constructed as be rotatably or pivotably connected through a connecting member (not shown) to a supporting member 11 which in turn is fixedly attached to the body of the vehicle usually at locations near the top corners of the front windshield. This support member 11 is shown in Fig. 1. A suitable padding 8 is arranged to be supported by the frame and tightly covered with the cover 3. Now as seen in Fig. 2 the skin or cover 3 is cut so as to form an opening which has a length and width slightly less than the length and width of the mirror 1 and the holder 2. The purpose of this arrangement is to conceal the edges of the mirror 1.

However while the finished product is quite nice in appearance this arrangement has suffered from several drawbacks.

One of these drawbacks is that during the insertion of the mirror 1 and the holder 2 into the recess provided in the padding 8, the skin or cover 3 is often torn and simultane- ously it is quite difficult to securely bond the holder adequately and firmly in the correct position due to the rather difficult insertion procedure. With the passing of time the carefully cut edges of the cover 3 are likely to curl and greatly reduce the aesthetic appearance of the visor and the combination of the mirror and holder are apt to fly cut of the visor upon sudden impact or shock such as that caused by a collision the vehicle. A further and rather important drawback of this arrangement is that the surface of the mirror is uncovered and directly exposed to the interior of the motor vehicle in which it is mounted. While this arrangement is advantageous because of the clarity of the reflection thus obtained, glass fragments and particles are in fact apt to fly through the compartment of the vehicle during a collision or the like when something strikes the mirror with sufficient force to break it, despite the fact that precautions such as bonding the back of the mirror to the holder 2 may be taken to prevent same.

To over come the above mentioned drawbacks a second arrangement shown in Fig. 3 has been proposed. In this arrangement a plate of metal or fibre board 5 is disposed in the visor and fixedly attached to the frame 7.

The mirror 1 and the holder, denoted in this case by the numeral 2 are covered with a cover 4 (shown in Fig. 3 where the cover 4 is opened a little) and fixedly attached to the frame 7 via rivets or other suitable fastening means.

This arrangement while solving the drawbacks encountered by the afore described prior art has itself suffered from other drawbacks. The most outstanding of these drawbacks is that the whole arrangement, while being very secure and not apt to fly to pieces during a collision or the like, is quite heavy and rather rigid and therefore likely to inflict rather severe injuries on an occupant of the vehicle should the person be hurled against same. Furthermore the supporting member fixedly attached to the body of the vehicle for supporting the sun visor must be accordingly stronger and gener ally more robust to provide on the combination a long and useful life. Thus there still remains a need for a light weight sun visor which is easy to assemble and is safe in that excessively rigid members are not used in its construction and glass fragments are prevented from flying through the vehicle compartment the event of a collision or the like.

In view of the foregoing a light weight sun visor without a rigid cover for the mirror has been developed wherein the mirror is disposed on the surface of the sun visor and then a thin film of transparent plastic resin which has suitable opaque or coloured portions to conceal the actual edges of the mirror is overlaid on the mirror and bonded or welded to the surrounding surface of the cover or skin of the visor. Alternatively a recess is formed in the sun visor and the surface of the mirror arranged so as to be flush with the surface of the visor and the aforementioned thin film of transparent plastic resin is bonded or welded on the surface of the sun visor.

Hence it is an object of the present invention to provide a sun visor which has a mirror, which is very easy to assemble, is light and unfailingly prevents glass fragments from flying injuriously through the compartment of the motor vehicle in the event of a collision.

According to the present invention, there is provided a sun visor for a motor vehicle, the sun visor having a mirror laid onto a flat surface of the sun visor or into a recess formed in the surface and a transparent plastic resin film disposed over the surface of the mirror and fixedly secured to portions of the flat surface surrounding the periphery of the mirror, the mirror being securely held in position by the transparent plastic resin film which is overlaid directly on the surface of the mirror in such a manner that trapped air is excluded and the mirror appears to be uncovered.

The present invention will become more clearly understood as the description of the preferred embodiments proceeds taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art sun visor with a mirror; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II - II of Fig. 1 showing a first constructional arrangement of the prior art; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line II - II of Fig. 1 but showing a second constructional arrangement of the prior art; Fig. 4 shows in cross section the constructional arrangement of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention: and Fig. 5 shows in cross section the constructional arrangement of a second embodiment of the present invention.

Let us turn our attention to Fig. 4 in which the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. As in the case of the description of the prior art the letter S is used to indicate the sun visor proper, the numeral 1 used to denote the mirror, the numeral 3 the outer covering or skin which is made of vinyl or other suitable material, the numeral 7 the frame which provides the visor with rigidity and shape and the numeral 8 padding such as foam rubber or the like. Now in this first embodiment it is preferred that the mirror I is suitably disposed directly on the surface of the cover or skin 3 and then covered with a sheet of a thin transparent plastic resin film 10. As seen this film of transparent plastic resin is arranged to be greater in length and width than the mirror 1 and thus extend beyond the edges of the mirror by a suitable predetermined amount. The film is securely overlaid on the surface of the mirror and bonded to the surrounding surface of the skin 3. The film can be thermoplastic resin so that the peripheral portion of the same can be welded to the surrounding surface of the skin 3 via high frequency welding. Of course during the process of overlaying the thin film onto the face of the mirror and the corresponding surface of the skin 3 care must be taken to ensure that there are no air bubbles or wrinkles trapped or formed under or in the film on the surface of the mirror to mar its uncovered like appearance.

To improve the appearance of the mirror it is preferred that the film 10 be formed with an opaque region or layer 9 which is so arranged as to overlay and cover the actual periphery of the mirror thus making it invisible to the human eye. This opaque layer can be arranged to be suitably coloured, and/or provided with a crepe or wrinkle finish or the like which will add to the appearance of the mirror and covering film and simultaneously conceal the actual periphery of the mirror. The remaining portion of the film may be suitably tinted, the tint being arranged to gradually increase in opacity and colour intensity to provide the afore described opaque layer.

Now when and if an accident should occur and the driver or passengers head, body, limbs or anything else strike the sun visor with sufficient force to break the mirror then it will be obvious that pieces and fragments of glass will not be able to fly through the compartment of the motor vehicle to cause injury to the occupants thereof because the entire surface of the mirror is covered with the unshatterable film 10 and thus will be retained thereunder and accordingly on the sun visor. Hence the arrangement as just described exhibits a greater degree of injury protection as compared with the prior art.

Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment according to the present invention. However since the construction details are almost identical a detailed description of same will be omitted for brevity save that of the features which differentiate this embodiment from the last.

As seen the mirror is disposed in a recess formed in the padding 8 of the sun visor and retained therein. To facilitate the insertion of the mirror into the recess (no numeral) the skin 3 may be cut and curled inward against the padding 8. Thus as shown the cut edges are retained against the padding by the simple insertion of the mirror into the recess. The thin transparent plastic resin film 10 is, as shown, laid flat on the surface of the mirror 1 and skin 3 and bonded or welded to the sur rounding surface of the skin in a manner ident ical with that of the first preferred embodiment.

Once again the retention of the glass pieces and fragments if obtained in the event of an acci dent just as in the first embodiment. Of course the tinting, colouring and wrinkle or crepe finishing of the areas or portions 9 of the film 10 which border and cover the actual periphery of the mirror as described in connection witl the first preferred embodiment may and are preferable employed in this embodiment.

Thus from the foregoing description it will be obvious that during production of the sun visor, a mirror may simply be fitted to same via the simple steps of disposing the mirror directly onto the surface of the visor or a recess suitably formed in said visor and then overlaying onto the surface of the mirror and surrounding areas of visor a thin film of trans parent plastic resin film which is in both the afore described embodiments preferably a thermoplastic resin if it is to be welded. A further outstanding feature of the present invention is found in the fact that the mirror can be added to sun visors which are currently in production without the need of major operations thereon. Hence both sun visors with mirrors and those without can be produced by the same production line without the need ol major retooling.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A sun visor for a motor vehicle, the sun visor having a mirror laid onto a flat surface of the sun visor or into a recess formed in the surface and a transparent plastic resin film disposed over the surface of the mirror and fixedly secured to portions of the flat surface surrounding the periphery of the mirror, the mirror being securely held in position by the transparent plastic resin film which is overlaid directly on the surface of the mirror in such a manner that trapped air is excluded and the mirror appears to be uncovered.

2. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said transparent plastic resin film is thermoplastic film and welded to said contiguous portion of said flat surface about said mirror.

3. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said recess has a depth corresponding to the thickness of said mirror so that the surface of said mirror is flush with said flat surface.

4. A sun visor as claimed in Claim wherein said transparent plastic resin film is provided with portions which conceal the edges of the mirror.

5. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said portions are opaque.

6. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said portions are coloured.

7. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the portions of said transparent plastic resin film which cover the edges of the mirror and the contiguous portions of said flat surface have a crepe finish.

8. A sun visor constructed and arranged substantially as described herein with reference to Fig. 3 or Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **.

motor vehicle to cause injury to the occupants thereof because the entire surface of the mirror is covered with the unshatterable film 10 and thus will be retained thereunder and accordingly on the sun visor. Hence the arrangement as just described exhibits a greater degree of injury protection as compared with the prior art.

Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment according to the present invention. However since the construction details are almost identical a detailed description of same will be omitted for brevity save that of the features which differentiate this embodiment from the last.

As seen the mirror is disposed in a recess formed in the padding 8 of the sun visor and retained therein. To facilitate the insertion of the mirror into the recess (no numeral) the skin 3 may be cut and curled inward against the padding 8. Thus as shown the cut edges are retained against the padding by the simple insertion of the mirror into the recess. The thin transparent plastic resin film 10 is, as shown, laid flat on the surface of the mirror 1 and skin 3 and bonded or welded to the sur rounding surface of the skin in a manner ident ical with that of the first preferred embodiment.

Once again the retention of the glass pieces and fragments if obtained in the event of an acci dent just as in the first embodiment. Of course the tinting, colouring and wrinkle or crepe finishing of the areas or portions 9 of the film

10 which border and cover the actual periphery of the mirror as described in connection witl the first preferred embodiment may and are preferable employed in this embodiment.

Thus from the foregoing description it will be obvious that during production of the sun visor, a mirror may simply be fitted to same via the simple steps of disposing the mirror directly onto the surface of the visor or a recess suitably formed in said visor and then overlaying onto the surface of the mirror and surrounding areas of visor a thin film of trans parent plastic resin film which is in both the afore described embodiments preferably a thermoplastic resin if it is to be welded. A further outstanding feature of the present invention is found in the fact that the mirror can be added to sun visors which are currently in production without the need of major operations thereon. Hence both sun visors with mirrors and those without can be produced by the same production line without the need ol major retooling.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A sun visor for a motor vehicle, the sun visor having a mirror laid onto a flat surface of the sun visor or into a recess formed in the surface and a transparent plastic resin film disposed over the surface of the mirror and fixedly secured to portions of the flat surface surrounding the periphery of the mirror, the mirror being securely held in position by the transparent plastic resin film which is overlaid directly on the surface of the mirror in such a manner that trapped air is excluded and the mirror appears to be uncovered.
2. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said transparent plastic resin film is thermoplastic film and welded to said contiguous portion of said flat surface about said mirror.
3. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said recess has a depth corresponding to the thickness of said mirror so that the surface of said mirror is flush with said flat surface.
4. A sun visor as claimed in Claim wherein said transparent plastic resin film is provided with portions which conceal the edges of the mirror.
5. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said portions are opaque.
6. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said portions are coloured.
7. A sun visor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the portions of said transparent plastic resin film which cover the edges of the mirror and the contiguous portions of said flat surface have a crepe finish.
8. A sun visor constructed and arranged substantially as described herein with reference to Fig. 3 or Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.