Component, in particular sun visor designed for use in a vehicle and method for producing a component

The present invention relates to parts designed for use in vehicles, in particular sun visors.

In particular, such parts used inside vehicles are well known. On the one hand, such parts must be lightweight and cost effective. On the other hand, their assemblies must be cost-effective and also have a long life, sometimes during extreme conditions with respect to temperature and oscillation conditions and / or vibration conditions. Must be one. Moreover, at the end of their useful life, such parts must also be readily available, especially completely, for the effective utilization (recycling) of the material. Finally, such parts must be designed to be aesthetically pleasing and attractive, especially when they are often in the normal field of view of the vehicle user.

According to well-known parts, it is common to use so-called snap-in joints-or clip joints for external fixation of individual parts to the structural elements of the part. Such snap-in joints generally engage the insert element within the corresponding recess of the part, and the insert element also snaps within the area of the recess during connection, with the part itself being biased first. Be in. Here, the insertion motion is arranged substantially perpendicular to the surface and / or surface of the generally covered part (as well as the insertion element and depression).

To ensure stable retention, there are generally multiple such insert elements, and multiple insert elements are always first, during assembly, before multiple insert elements can be snapped in at the end. The result is that they must be aligned within the corresponding depression. Since these two steps are movements in the same direction (ie, inserting the insert element into the depression), the two steps can be combined so that, for example, one of the multiple insert elements has already snapped in. On the other hand, the other insert element must be further aligned, which may no longer be possible because one insert element has already been snapped in. Therefore, conventional well-known parts are difficult to assemble, difficult to automate, and costly because, for example, the defective product rate is high.

<p> Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide components designed for use in vehicles that avoid the drawbacks of prior art, in particular sun visors.</p>

<p> This object is achieved by parts designed for use in vehicles, in particular sun visors, according to the invention, where the parts consist of structural parts and cover elements, the cover elements being structural parts with removable connections. The connecting motion of the cover element with respect to the structural portion is provided to result in a connection in a substantially tangential direction with respect to at least one main extension direction of the cover element. As a result, during assembly of the part, it is easy to place the cover element clearly with respect to the structural part first, and by relative motion, it can be placed in the first direction, followed by the connection, and the cover element is placed in another direction, That is, it can move substantially tangentially to the main extension direction.</p><p> According to the present invention, the cover element has at least one main extension direction on a substantially planar and / or substantially cylindrical circumferential, and the connecting motion is substantially planar and / or substantially cylindrical. It is desirable to be done on the surface. Generally, the cover element is used, for example, to cover the edge of the other element that is placed oppositely within or on the part, and when the part is fully assembled, the cover element is with the rest of the part. Has a special extension of the planned joint surface. The planned joint surface can be substantially flat and at least one main extension direction of the cover element extends substantially in one plane. On the other hand, this planned joint surface can be curved in one or two spatial directions. Due to the curvature in one spatial direction, the planned joint surface corresponds to the cylindrical peripheral surface. Due to the curvature in the two spatial directions, the planned joint surface corresponds to the spherical shell. In each of these cases, according to the invention, the cover element can be moved with respect to the remaining parts, in particular with respect to structural portions within the planned joint plane, eg, plane, cylindrical perimeter or spherical shell.</p><p> In addition, it is desirable that at least one first slide element of the structural part or cover element be placed within a planar or cylindrical peripheral surface. According to the present invention, such a sliding element is preferably used as a stop for a positioning motion performed during the first generation step of the part.</p><p> It is desirable for at least one first slide element to work with at least one second slide element to lock the cover element to the structural portion, at least for movement perpendicular to the plane or cylindrical peripheral surface. As a result, it is easy to achieve a lock between the cover element and the structural part.</p><p> Further, with respect to movement within a planar or cylindrical peripheral surface, it would be advantageous if a snap-in connection was provided between the cover element and the structural portion to lock the cover element with respect to the structural component. As a result, the connection of structural parts can be locked relative to the cover element in additional directions.</p><p> Further, it is desirable that the snap-in connection portion can be reversibly removed. Then, the connection can be removed if necessary. Here, it must be taken into account that, as a result, the accidental removal of the connection can result in a large error.</p><p> Moreover, the snap-in connection is advantageous because it can only be irreversibly removed. As a result, it is ensured that the connection cannot be opened substantially accidentally. The connection can only be separated by breaking at least part of the snap-in connection.</p><p> Particularly desirable if the cover element is provided in a frame shape and the component is a sun visor with a mirror, the cover element is provided to cover at least the edge area of the mirror. In this case, it is easy to make an aesthetic cover, especially a sealed bordered transition area, and / or, in particular, a cover around the mirror.</p><p> Another subject of the invention is, in particular, a method of manufacturing a part according to the invention, in which at least one first slide element and at least one second slide element come into contact with each other at least partially in the first step. As such, the cover element and the structural portion are arranged, and in the second step, the connecting motion of the cover element with respect to the structural portion is performed substantially tangentially to at least one main extension direction of the cover element. As a result, the manufacture of such parts can be improved, especially accelerated and cost reduced.</p>

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the examples shown in the drawings.

As an example of the component 2 according to the present invention, a perspective view of the sun visor 2 is shown in FIG. The sun visor 2 has a cover element 1 that encloses the mirror area not numbered in FIG. 1 and / or covers at least a partial edge area within the mirror area. The mirror may be provided as a cosmetic mirror or the like, and in particular, a lighting device may be provided, but the lighting device does not have to be essential. Further, according to the present invention, the mirror area and / or the mirror may be provided with an unreferenced cover in addition to the cover element.

Illustrated in an exploded view in FIG. 2 to clarify the structure of the sun visor 2 and / or part 2, in particular the decorative material 5 and (at least) one compact 4 are visible. As an example of the component 2 according to the present invention, the sun visor 2 is composed of a decorative material 5 and a molded body 4 on the upper surface and the lower surface thereof, respectively. In this example, the structural part 3 is placed between the moldings 4 and on the moldings the leads of the structural parts, such as electrical structural elements and / or parts 2 and / or sun visor 2 (reference numbers in FIG. 2). Not shown in.) Are arranged. The presence of the top and bottom surfaces of the sun visor 2 is because the sun visor 2 generally has visible surfaces on both sides, i.e., the folded position of the sun visor allows the user to see the bottom and top surfaces. Because. According to the present invention, this feature need not be provided in every part of a vehicle, especially an automobile. For example, for part 2 provided to decorate the door or another part in the car, the part can have only one visible surface. In this case, such a part 2 can have only one molded body 4 and one decorative material 5.

Only the top surface of the sun visor 2 will be described in detail below. The upper surface of the sun visor 2 includes a molded body 4 and a decorative material 5, and the decorative material 5 (also the molded body 4 in the example) has an opening. The opening in the decorative material 5 is indicated by reference number 53, and the opening in the molded body 4 is indicated by reference number 43. The sun visor 2 as an example of component 2 has openings 43, 53, especially for a mirror provided on one side. However, in another part 2, the corresponding opening 43 could be used for other purposes. According to the present invention, the decorative material 5 has an edge region 51 around the opening 53, in which the decorative material 5 must finally be fixed to the molded body 4 (so, for example, the decorative material 5 is not wrinkled). .). For example, this can be caused by bending the decorative material 5 back or by an additional anchoring element 6.

An exploded view of FIG. 3 illustrates the essential elements that ensure the electrical and mechanical functionality of part 2, which is substantially all integrated within structural part 3 and / or mounted on top. To. For example, the slide cover 8, the cover spring 9, the mirror 10, the pivot device 11, the pivot spring 12, and the electrical connection unit are fixed to the structural part 3, and the electrical connection units are, for example, two connectors 13 and two. It consists of a lead wire 14 and one switch 15. The pivot device 11 and the pivot spring 12 allow the sun visor 2 to be pivotally positioned.

The rear surface of the cover element 1 (that is, the surface of the cover element 1 facing away from the visible surface) is the main extension direction 250 of the cover element 1 and the direction 25 provided substantially tangentially to the main extension direction 250. Is illustrated in FIG. 4 with the indication of. The cover element 1 has a plurality of first slide elements 16, 17, and 18, for example, four of them are provided, for example, on the longitudinal side of the cover element 1 configured in a frame shape, and reference numbers are provided. Displayed by 16, for example, three are provided on one of the narrow sides of cover element 1 and are indicated by reference number 17, for example, two are provided on the other of the narrow sides of cover element 1 and have a reference number. Displayed at 18. The first slide elements 16, 17, and 18 are considered to be irrelevant to the position of the cover element 1 in the following description. That is, according to the present invention, only one first slide element 16 can be provided. The cover element 1 also has a first snap-in element 22.

In this example, cover element 1 has a first main extension direction 250 and another main extension direction 260, both of which extend to form a plane 240. Apart from local recesses and / or protrusions, the plane 240 is designed to form a joint surface with the remaining part 2 and the surface is at least partially covered by the cover element 1.

The front surface of structural portion 3 of component 2 according to the invention (ie, the surface that will be at least partially covered by the covering element) is shown in FIG. Structural part 3 has a second snap-in element 23 that cooperates with a first snap-in element 22. Further, the structural portion 3 has a receiving portion adapted to the cover portion 1, for example, having a frame shape receiving portion for the cover element 1 (the cover element is also, for example, a frame shape). Structural part 3 also has a plurality of second slide elements 19, 20, 21 of which four are provided, for example, on the longitudinal side of the frame shape receiving portion, respectively, and are indicated by reference numeral 19. , 3 are provided, for example, on one side of the narrow side of the frame shape receiving portion and are indicated by reference number 20, and two are provided, for example, on the other side of the narrow side of the frame shape receiving portion, and are indicated by reference number 21. Shown.

The connecting motion between the structural part 3 and the cover element 1 and / or the connecting slide element is shown enlarged in FIGS. 6a and 6b, reference number 16 being used, for example, for the first slide element. And reference number 19 is used, for example, for the second slide element.

The state before performing the slide exercise 26 is shown in FIG. 6a. The first slide element 16 is not yet engaged with the second slide element 19, and the cover element 1 is oriented perpendicular to the plane 240 (not shown separately by reference number in the drawings) with respect to structural part 3. Not locked yet. According to the present invention, the slide elements 16 and 19 can be in contact with the slide surface 100 in this state so that a stop is formed in a direction perpendicular to the plane.

The connecting motion 26 performed in the direction 25, which is tangential to one of the main extension directions 250 of the cover element 1, reaches the state shown in FIG. 6b, and the cover element 1 is locked with respect to the motion perpendicular to the plane 240. To.

The snap-in connection of the first snap-in element 22 with the second snap-in element 23 is shown in FIG. 7 to lock the cover element 1 for a motion that is tangential to the main extension direction 250 in the direction 25. Shown in enlarged view. In addition to cover element 1, structural part 3, first snap-in element 22, second snap-in element 23, molded body 4 (for top and bottom, respectively), decorative material 5 (for top and bottom, respectively). , Mirror 10, slide cover 8 and anchoring element 6 are also shown.

<figref num="1">A perspective view of a sun visor as an example of a component according to the present invention is shown.</figref><figref num="2">An exploded view of the structure of the sun visor and / or part is shown, in particular the cover element is visible.</figref><figref num="3">An exploded view of the essential elements that ensure the electrical and mechanical function of the part is shown.</figref><figref num="4">The rear surface of the cover element is shown with indications of the main extension direction of the cover element and the substantially tangential direction.</figref><figref num="5">The front surface of the structural part of the part according to the present invention is shown.</figref><figref num="6">Figures 6a and 6b show enlarged views of the connecting motion and / or the connecting elements.</figref><figref num="7">The enlarged view of the snap-in connection part which locks the cover element with respect to the movement in the direction of the connection movement is shown.</figref>

Code description

1 Cover element 2 Parts and / or sun visor 3 Structural part 4 Mold 5 Decorative material 6 Fixing element 8 Slide cover 9 Cover spring 10 Mirror 11 Pivot device 12 Pivot spring 13 Connector 14 Lead wire 15 Switch 16, 17, 18th 1 Slide element 19, 20, 21 2nd slide element 22 1st snap-in element 23 2nd snap-in element 25 Tangent direction 26 Connecting movement 41 Edge 43 Opening in molding body 51 Edge area 53 Opening in decorative material 100 Slide surface 240 Plane 250 Main extension direction 260 Another main extension direction