The invention relates to a sunshade assembly.

A major field of application of sunshade assemblies of the type according to the invention is defined by open roof constructions for vehicles comprising a roof open- ing in a stationary roof part and a movable closure panel for opening and closing said roof opening, wherein below said roof opening there is provided such a sunshade assembly.

A known sunshade assembly comprises a guide rail comprising a fastening section, a guide channel section and a connecting section between these two. The connecting section is flexible so as to allow the guide channel section to yield when the sunscreen exerts a pulling force on the guide strips . It is an object of the present invention to further improve the prior art sunshade assembly.

For this purpose, the invention proposes the sunshade assembly according to claim 1.

Due to the feature of claim 1, only a part of the guide channel section yields which provides a good control of the yielding movements.

In one embodiment, the guide flange itself is at least partially flexible in a direction towards the opposed guide rail, so that the elastic deformation is close to where the forces are exerted.

The guide flange may be made separate of a remaining portion of the guide rail, and is preferably made from another material, for example spring steel. As a result, the guide flange may be designed specifically for its resiliency function.

An simple embodiment can be obtained if the guide flange is removably connected, in particular clipped to the remaining portion of the guide rail, for example to an adjacent, substantially horizontal portion of the guide rail.

The invention further relates to a guide rail assembly as described above, and to an open roof construction for a vehicle, comprising a roof opening in a stationary roof part and a movable closure panel for opening and closing said roof opening, wherein below said roof opening there is provided at least one sunshade assembly as described herein. Hereinafter the invention will be further elucidated with reference to the drawing schematically showing embodiments of the invention by way of example.

Fig. 1 shows, schematically and in a perspective view, a sunshade assembly applied to an open roof construc- tion;

Fig. 2 shows a transverse cross section according to the lines II-II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to that of Fig. 2 and showing an alternative embodiment of the guide channel. Firstly referring to Fig. 1, an open roof construction for a vehicle is illustrated schematically in dotted lines. Said open roof construction comprises a roof opening 1 in a stationary roof part 2 of the vehicle, such as a passenger car, and a movable closure panel 3 which, by means not illustrated in detail but known per se, can be moved for opening and closing said roof opening 1. In Fig. 1 the closure panel 3 has been illustrated in a position in which it opens the roof opening 1.

Below the roof opening 1 a sunshade assembly in accordance with the present invention is positioned. Basically, said sunshade assembly comprises a flexible sunscreen 4, a rotatable winding shaft 5 for winding and unwinding the sunscreen 4, and two opposite guide rails 6 and 7 for cooperation with two opposite longitudinal edges of the sun- screen 4. In so far the sunshade assembly has a conventional shape. Further, in a way known per se, the end of the sunscreen 4 opposite the end which is wound onto the winding shaft 5 is provided with an operating beam 8 which may be gripped manually or driven by an electric motor or the like for operating the sunscreen 4 and locating it in a desired position. The opposite ends of the operating beam 8 are guided in guides not illustrated here (extending along with or integrated into the guide rails 6, 7) . Now reference is made to Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows a cross section of one transverse edge of the sunscreen 4 and of the guide rail 7. The guide rail comprises a guide channel section 9 for cooperation with the sunscreen 4, a main section 10 which may include the operation mechanism for the closure panel and a connecting section 11 interconnecting the main section 10 and the guide channel section 9.

There is shown a side portion 12 of the sunscreen 4 which in this case is substantially inelastic at least in transverse direction. It may for example be made from a relatively thick fabric. Of course, it is possible to make a portion or the whole sunscreen from stretchable material, such as stretch textile, but this is not necessary according to the invention. The fabric may be treated so as to obtain a low frictional resistance when sliding along the guide rail 6 or 7.

Attached to the lateral outer end of each side portion 12 of the sunscreen 4 is a guide strip 13, which is thus provided on each longitudinal edge of the sunscreen 4. This guide strip 13, which is straight in cross section in this embodiment, is accommodated in the guide channel defined by the guide channel section 9 of the guide rails 6, 7. The guide channel section 9 is shaped such that the guide strip 13 is guided in the guide channel with such orienta- tion that it makes an acute angle with the main portion of the sunscreen 4 in transverse direction.

In this embodiment, in which the sunscreen portion 12 is attached to an extreme edge, in this case the upper edge, of the guide strip 13 (or at least the forces from the sunscreen are exerted on the upper edge) , the guide strip is only in contact with the guide channel section 9 in its upper portion on the side facing the sunscreen 4 (guide channel portion 9a) and in its lower portion on its side facing away from the sunscreen 4 (guide channel portion 9b) . In height direction, that is in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the guide strip 13 and within the plane of the guide strip 13, there is freedom of movement for the strip and normally the strip remains clear with its longitudinal edges from the upper and lower walls of the guide channel section 9.

The guide channel section 9 is bounded on the side facing the sunscreen 4 and facing the opposed guide rail (not shown) by a guide flange 14 having on its free end a guide edge 15. This guide edge 15, in the position shown in Fig. 2, is in contact with the lower side of the portion 12 of the sunscreen 4. The position of the guide strip 13 according to Fig. 2 is an equilibrium position to which the guide strip 13 will return after it has been displaced by external influences, for example if somebody pushes against the sunscreen from below. A second guide edge 18 substantially opposite to the guide edge 15, but preferably offset towards the opposed guide rail, may guide the sunscreen on the other, in this case upper, side so as to prevent large vertical forces on the guide strip 13.

The behaviour of the guide strip 13 in the guide channel section will be comparable to that as disclosed in the international application PCT/EP2008/061201, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. As is clearly shown in Fig. 2, the guide flange 14 is made from a separate part, in this case a part made of a different resilient material which is clipped to a horizontal flange 16 of the remaining portion of the guide channel section 9 by means of a clip portion 17 or another fixed or removable connection. The guide flange 16 is designed such that it will slightly yield under the pretension force in the sunscreen 4 so a to keep it taut, and it may yield further under temporary higher tension forces exerted by the sunscreen on the guide flange 14, for example as a result of (temperature) shrinkage. The yielding properties will also compensate production tolerances in sunscreen 4 and guide rails 6, 7 so that the sunscreen will be kept taut in every situation, and the frictional resistance of the guide strips 13 in the guide channel section 9 will be kept within tight limits .

The guide flange 14 is preferably made of spring steel or another resilient material such as plastic. The remaining part of the guide channel section 9 and preferably the guide rail 6, 7 is made from a suitable low friction material such as aluminium or plastic. The guide edge and/or guide channel may be treated to further reduce frictional resistance. Preferably both guide rails have a structure as is represented in Fig. 2, but in principle it would be pos- sible to make the opposed guide channel section with a stiff guide flange instead of such resilient guide flange 14.

Fig. 3 shows an alternative "upside down" embodiment which will work in a similar way as the first embodiment . From the foregoing it is clear that the invention provides a sunshade assembly which has a simple yet effective guide means for the sunscreen, which excels in low and constant friction properties.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described before, which may be varied within the scope of the invention as defined by the appending claims. For example, the guide flange may comprise a resiliently yieldable hinge instead of being resiliently itself. It is also possible that a portion of the guide channel section adjacent to the guide flange is resilient. It is further conceivable that only a part of the guide flange is resilient or resiliently movable. The guide strip may also be guide by two flanges, of which one or each is resiliently flexible. In principle it would be conceivable that the guide flange is slidably connected and resiliently attached to the remaining portion of the guide channel section, so that it may slide towards and away from the opposed guide rail under a spring force. The guide strip of the sunscreen may have other cross sectional shapes, such as a circular segment or other non- straight shapes.