2. Description of the Related Art Visor assemblies for motor vehicles provide comfort for occupants thereof by blocking unwanted light, such as sunlight, from entering a passenger compartment. A visor assembly is mounted to a headliner within the passenger compartment. Typically, the visor assembly will have a finish that complements other finished surfaces within the passenger compartment to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance. The finish is in the form of a covering that is applied over a visor core. The covering is commonly formed from cloth, vinyl, or leather.

The manufacture of the visor assemblies is labor intensive because the covering therefor must be folded or wrapped around the visor core. The folding or wrapping of the covering around the visor core is typically accomplished manually. Manual assembly results, however, in increased cycle times and inconsistencies among assembled visor assemblies.

Numerous attempts have been made to manufacture a visor assembly having a covering that is securely bound to the visor core in such a way that the assembled visor assemblies have a consistent finished appearance : For example, United States Patent 4,570, 990 to Flowerday discloses a visor including a visor core having symmetrical core halves, and an upholstery material surrounding the visor core. The upholstery material is cut to a shape similar to that of the visor core but with excess material extending around peripheral edges of the visor core. The excess material is folded over the peripheral edges of the visor core and bonded to an inside surface thereof by a bonding adhesive. Selected areas of a mating surface on both the core halves are heated to melt a visor core material. The core halves are then closed around a hinge to clamp the excess material of the upholstery material within the peripheral edges. The core halves are held together with sufficient pressure and for a period of time to allow the visor core

material to cool, allowing fusion of the core halves with the upholstery material securely held within the peripheral edges. The resulting visor has a seamless front appearance around its peripheral edge.

Summary of the Invention A visor assembly includes a first panel defining a first longitudinal side. A hinge is fixedly secured to and extends along the first longitudinal side. A second panel defines a second longitudinal side. The second panel complements the first panel and the second longitudinal side is fixedly secured to the hinge such that the second panel is folded over the first panel. A sheet of material is applied over the first and second panels. A layer of backing material covers all of the sheet of material to secure all of the sheet of material to all of the first and second panels and the hinge to uniformly and tightly cover the visor assembly.

Brief Description of the Drawings Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view, partially cut away, of a passenger compartment for a motor vehicle showing a visor assembly of one embodiment of the invention mounted to a headliner; Figure 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention partially assembled; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 in Figure 2; Figure 4 is an isolated view of a hinge of one embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 is a side view of a press utilized in the method for manufacturing one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to Figure 1, a visor assembly, generally indicated at 10, is mounted to a headliner 12 of a motor vehicle 14. The visor assembly 10 pivots about a rod 15 to selectively block unwanted light, such as sunlight, from entering a passenger compartment 16 of the motor vehicle 14.

Referring to Figure 2, the visor assembly 10 includes a first panel 18 defining a first longitudinal side 20, and a second panel 22 defining a second longitudinal side 24. The second panel 22 mirrors the first panel 18 structurally. The first 18 and second 22 panels are formed from a thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene. The first 18 and second 22 panels, which are shown to extend within the same plane in Figure 2, each include an outer side 26,28 parallel to the respective first 20 and second 24 longitudinal sides, and connecting sides 30,32 extending between the outer sides 26,28 and the respective first 20 and second 24 longitudinal sides. In addition, the first 18 and second 22 panels each include an outer panel surface 34,36 and an inner panel surface 38,40 opposite thereto, as is best seen in Figure 4.

A visor component 35 may be secured to the inner panel surface 38,40 of one of the first 18 and second 22 panels. Examples of the visor component 35 include, but are not limited to, mirror subassemblies, light subsystems, remote controls, information displays, and article holding devices. While only one visor component 35 is shown in the Figures, it will be appreciated that the visor assembly 10 may include more than one visor component 35.

Each of the outer sides 26, 28 includes a flange 42,44 extending upwardly therefrom.

The flange 42,44 includes a top portion 46,48. A plurality of locking tabs 50,52 extends upwardly from each of the flanges 42,44. The plurality of locking tabs 50 on the first panel 18 lockingly engages the plurality of locking tabs 52 on the second panel 22 to hold the panels 18, 22 together after the first panel 18 is folded over the second panel 22. In an alternative embodiment, the locking tabs 50,52 could engage the flange 42,44 opposite thereto. In this embodiment, the locking tabs 50 on the one flange 42 would not be aligned with the locking tabs 52 on the other flange 44.

Referring again to Figure 4, a hinge 54 includes a base 56 defining first 60 and second 62 hinge sides and a hinge channel 63 disposed therebetween. The first hinge side 60 is fixedly secured to the first longitudinal side 20, and the second hinge side 62 is fixedly secured to the second longitudinal side 24 so that the hinge 54 interconnects the first 18 and second 22 panels.

The hinge 54, which extends outside of the plane of the first 18 and second 22 panels, allows the first panel 18 to be folded over the second panel 22 to produce the visor assembly 10 in its fully assembled form. Similar to the first 18 and second 22 panels, the hinge 54 is formed from a thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene.

A sheet of material 64 is applied over the first 18 and second 22 panels to provide a finished appearance thereto that is complementary to the rest of the passenger compartment 16.

The sheet of material 64 may be cloth, fabric, or a similar decorative covering material. The sheet of material 64 is secured to the outer panel surface 34,36 by a layer of backing material 66.

The layer of backing covers all of the sheet of material 64 to secure all of the sheet of material 64 to all of the first 18 and second 22 panels and the hinge 54. The layer of backing material 66 may be a cloth backing or a film backing, both of which are known to those skilled in the art. A layer of adhesive material 68 is applied along an interior surface 70 of the sheet of material 64 to secure the layer of backing material 66 thereto.

Prior to folding of the first 18 and second 22 panels, the sheet of material 64 has an outer periphery that is greater than that of the first 18 and second 22 panels combined. Thus, the sheet of material 64 includes sheet ends 72 that extend beyond the outer sides 26, 28 after the sheet of material 64 is secured to the first 18 and second 22 panels. The sheet ends 72 are wrapped around the top portion 46,48 of the flange 42,44 so that the sheet ends 72 abut the inner panel surface 38,40. At the same time, a portion 73 of the sheet of material 64 is bonded to the flange 42,44 by a bonding agent 61, which is applied to the top portion 46,48 of the flange 42,44.

The sheet of material 64 includes a plurality of slits 74 so that as the sheet of material 64 is wrapped around the top portion 46, 48 of the flange 42,44, the plurality of locking tabs 50,52 extending from the flange 42,44 extends through the plurality of slits 62. Thus, the sheet of material 64 fits over the plurality of locking tabs 50,52, and is attached to the flange 42,44 by the bonding agent 61 on the top portion 46,48 of the flange 42,44. Alternatively, the sheet of material 64 will not define the plurality of slits 74, in which case the plurality of locking tabs 50, 52 will pierce the sheet of material 64 to allow the sheet of material 64 to fit over the plurality of locking tabs 50,52 and bond to the flanges 42,44.

The combination of the sheet of material 64 being adhered all along the first 18 and second 22 panels, and the sheet ends 72 of the sheet of material 64 being bonded to the top portions 46, 48 of the flanges 42,44 results in the sheet of material 64 tightly and uniformly covering the visor assembly 10.

In a method for manufacturing the visor assembly 10, the first step is securing the sheet of material 64 in a cavity 76 of a press 78. In the embodiment shown, the cavity 76 is an upper cavity half 77 and a lower cavity half 84. The sheet of material 64 is positioned within the cavity

76 such that an exterior surface 80 of the sheet of material 64 abuts the upper cavity half 77 and the sheet of material 64 extends across all of the cavity 76.

Should the manufacturing process require a layer of backing material 66 due to the material used for the sheet of material 64, the adhesive material 68 is layered onto the interior surface 70 of the sheet of material 64 prior to applying the layer of backing material 66 thereto.

The layer of backing material 66 is applied to the sheet of material 64. This is done prior to the closing of the press 78.

Regardless of whether a layer of backing material 66 is used, a molten thermoplastic material 82 is introduced or injected to a lower cavity half 84 of the press 78 by a nozzle 86. The nozzle 86 is located such that the sheet of material 64 extends between the nozzle 86 and the upper cavity half 77. The molten thermoplastic material 82 is cured to secure the sheet of material 64 thereto and to form the first 18 and second 22 panels and the hinge 54. During forming of the first 18 and second 22 panels and the hinge 54, a chemical and/or mechanical bond is created between the molten thermoplastic material 82 and, depending upon the embodiment, either the sheet of material 64 or the layer of backing material 66. Thus, the sheet of material 64 is secured to first 18 and second 22 panels and the hinge 54.

The press 78 is then opened by moving the upper cavity half 76 away from the lower cavity half 84. The sheet ends 72, which are cut to a close proximity of the cavity edges by the cavity halves 77,84, extend beyond the outer side 26,28 are wrapped around the top portion 46, 48 of the flange 42,44 so that a segment of the sheet ends 72 is bonded to the flange 42,44 by the bonding agent 61, which is coated along top portion 46,48. Alternatively, the sheet ends 72 can be coated with the bonding agent 61. The portion 73 of the sheet ends 72 that extend over the flange 42,44 and into the inner panel surface 38,40 may be further trimmed. The visor component 35 and rod 15 are mounted within the inner panel surface 38,40. The first panel 18 is then folded over the second panel 22 about the hinge 54. The plurality of locking tabs 50 extending from the flange 42 of the first panel 18 lockingly engages the plurality of locking tabs 52 extending from the flange 44 on the second panel 22 to hold the first 18 and second 22 panels together.

The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology, which has been used, is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.