Vehicle shade assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10639993-B2
Application number	US-201615383565-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2016
Priority date	Dec 19, 2016
Publication date	May 5, 2020
Grant date	May 5, 2020

Abstract

A vehicle shade assembly includes a vehicle body structure, a cover supporting structure, a cover material, an electronic display and a controller. The vehicle body structure defines an opening with a transparent material installed within the opening. The cover supporting structure is installed to the vehicle body structure adjacent to the opening. The cover material is supported to the cover supporting structure and is movable from a closed orientation covering the opening and the transparent material and an open orientation exposing the opening and the transparent material. The electronic display is installed to the cover material for movement therewith. The controller is configured to operate the display to display content thereon.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle shade assembly, comprising:
a vehicle body structure defining an opening with a transparent material installed within the opening, and includes a first hook located forward of the opening and a second hook located forward of the first hook;
a cover supporting structure installed to the vehicle body structure adjacent to the opening;
a cover material supported to the cover supporting structure, the cover material defining a rollup shade member and the cover supporting structure includes a rollup mechanism attached to the rollup shade member, the cover material being movable from a first closed orientation covering the opening and the transparent material to an open orientation exposing the opening and the transparent material and the cover material being movable from a second closed orientation covering the opening and the transparent material to the open orientation exposing the opening and the transparent material, such that the forward end of the cover material hooks to the first hook in the first closed orientation, the cover material hooks to the second hook in the second closed orientation and the cover material is rearward of and spaced apart from both the first hook and the second hook in the open orientation;
an electronic display installed to the cover material for rollup movement therewith, the electronic display being a flexible display; and
a controller configured to operate the electronic display to display content thereon.

2. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle body structure includes a roof portion with the opening being horizontally oriented along the roof portion.

3. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the electronic display includes a touch sensitive layer.

4. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the electronic display is either transparent or translucent.

5. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the electronic display includes an electronically controlled tinting layer.

6. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a passenger detection feature connected to the controller of the electronic display, and
the controller is configured to display the content at any of a plurality of displaying locations of the display where the displaying locations are defined by differing portions of the display.

7. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a control panel connected to the controller such that a vehicle occupant can input selections to the control panel, and
the controller is configured to display the content at any of a plurality of displaying locations of the display in response to input selections made by the vehicle occupant.

8. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one seat installed within a passenger compartment defined by the vehicle body structure, the seat being adjustable to a plurality of differing orientations and positions, including a forward position, a rearward position, and a plurality of reclined orientations, and
the controller is configured to automatically position the content to a portion or portions of the electronic display in response to determining an orientation and position of the at least one seat.

9. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of seats installed within a passenger compartment defined by the vehicle body structure, each of the plurality of seats having a corresponding occupancy sensor, and
the controller is configured to automatically position the content to a portion or portions of the electronic display in response to determining occupancy of each of the plurality of seats.

10. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the content displayed on the electronic display by the controller includes at least one of an entertainment video, vehicle status information from an instrument panel within the vehicle body structure and images captured by a camera installed to an exterior of the vehicle body structure.

11. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the electronic display includes a wireless communication device in communication with the controller.

12. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle body structure defines a passenger compartment having a plurality of audio speakers connected to the controller, and
the controller is configured to provide audio signals to the audio speakers corresponding to the content including separate and unique audio signals to each of the plurality of speakers.

13. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
with the cover in the first closed orientation a front end of the electronic display is approximately aligned with a front end of the opening, and with the cover in the second closed orientation a front end of the electronic display is located forward of the front end of the opening.

14. A vehicle shade assembly, comprising:
a vehicle body structure defining an opening with a transparent material installed within the opening;
a cover supporting structure installed to the vehicle body structure adjacent to the opening;
a cover material supported to the cover supporting structure, the cover material defining a rollup shade member and the cover supporting structure includes a rollup mechanism attached to the rollup shade member, the cover material being movable from a first closed orientation covering the opening and the transparent material to an open orientation exposing the opening and the transparent material and the cover material being movable from a second closed orientation covering the opening and the transparent material to the open orientation exposing the opening and the transparent material;
a flexible electronic display installed to the cover material for rollup movement therewith; and
a controller configured to operate the flexible electronic display to display content thereon.

15. The vehicle shade assembly according to claim 14 , wherein
the vehicle body structure includes a first hook located forward of the opening and a second hook located forward of the first hook, and
the forward end of the cover material hooks to the first hook in the first closed orientation, the cover material hooks to the second hook in the second closed orientation and the cover material is rearward of and spaced apart from both the first hook and the second hook in the open orientation.

Assignees

• Nissan North America Inc

Inventors

• Tan Adrian

Classifications

• B60J7/0015 Primary

  roller blind · CPC title

• G09G2340/0492

  Change of orientation of the displayed image, e.g. upside-down, mirrored · CPC title

• B60N2/22

  the back-rest being adjustable {(B60N2/2878 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G09G2340/04

  Changes in size, position or resolution of an image · CPC title

• B60K35/00 Primary

  Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles · CPC title