ROLLER BLIND ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE BODY, AND METHOD FOR ASSEMBLING THE ROLLER BLIND ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A roller blind assembly to shade an opening in the vehicle body having a roller blind web which can be rolled up on a winding roller, and at least one support element for rotatably mounting the winding roller on the vehicle body. According to one approach the support element has a standardized section which is designed to be used with multiple different vehicle models, and a vehicle-specific section which is designed to be used with one specific model of the different vehicle models, so that the standardized section combined with the vehicle-specific section provides a vehicle-specific support element. A method for assembling such a roller blind assembly is provided.

Claims

1. A roller blind assembly to shade an opening in a vehicle body comprising: a roller blind web which can be rolled up on a winding roller, as well as at least one support element for rotatably mounting the winding roller on the vehicle body, the support element comprising a standardized section which is designed to be used with multiple different vehicle models, and a vehicle-specific section which is configured for with one specific model of different vehicle models.

2. The roller blind assembly according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle-specific section has a recess for mounting the winding roller, and wherein the recess establishes the vehicle-specific positioning of the winding shaft relative to the vehicle body.

3. The roller blind assembly according to claim 2, wherein the recess for mounting the winding roller has a bearing pin which engages in an opening on an end side of the winding shaft, and the winding shaft is rotatably mounted on the bearing pin or together with said bearing pin.

4. The roller blind assembly according to claim 1, wherein the standardized section is arranged on a guide rail for lateral guiding of the roller blind web, and the vehicle-specific section is arranged on a side of the standardized section facing away from the guide rail in a horizontal direction.

5. The roller blind assembly according to claim 1 wherein the standardized section is arranged on a frame side part of a rectangular frame of the roller blind assembly, wherein the frame is provided in order to surround at least partially an opening in the vehicle body, and wherein the vehicle-specific section is arranged on the standardized section on a side of the standardized section facing away from the frame side part in a horizontal direction.

6. The roller blind assembly according to claim 1, wherein the roller blind assembly has two support elements.

7. The roller blind assembly according to claim 1, wherein the standardized and/or the vehicle-specific section comprises a plastic injection molded part.

8. The roller blind assembly according to claim 1, wherein the support element is designed in at least two parts, with the standardized section as a first part and the vehicle-specific section as a second part.

9. The roller blind assembly according to claim 8, wherein the standardized section and the vehicle-specific section are connected to one another in a connection area.

10. A method for the assembly of a roller blind assembly according to claim 1 and/or for the installation of such a roller blind assembly on a vehicle body, comprising the step of: selecting the vehicle-specific section in accordance with the specific vehicle model, and combining the vehicle-specific section with the standardized section.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the vehicle-specific section has a recess for mounting the winding roller, and by the selection of the vehicle-specific section in accordance with the specific vehicle model, the vehicle-specific positioning of the winding shaft is established relative to the vehicle body.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of combining the vehicle-specific section with the standardized section is to obtain a vehicle-specific support element, and later further comprising mounting the support element on a guide rail or on a frame side part of the roller blind assembly.

Description

[0018] Below, the invention is explained in further detail as an example in reference to the appended figures. In the figures:

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an inventive support element;

[0020] FIG. 2 shows a side view on the support element of FIG. 1; and

[0021] FIG. 3 shows a view from the top onto the support element of FIG. 1.

[0022] FIG. 1 shows a support element 10 according to this invention.

[0023] The support element 10 is used for mounting a winding roller, not shown in further detail, wherefore the support element 10 has a bearing pin 22 which is rotatably arranged on the support element 10 and designed to engage in a winding roller in order to rotatably mount said winding roller. Here, the bearing pin 22 can engage in a corresponding opening in an end surface of the winding roller, and the bearing pin 22 is oriented substantially along the rotation axis 24 of the winding roller, wherein the rotation axis of the winding roller runs through a center axis of the bearing pin.

[0024] According to this invention, the support element 10 has a standardized section 12 which is connected to a vehicle-specific section 14. By means of the standardized section 12, the support element 10 can be arranged on a guide rail, not shown, or a frame, also not shown. For this purpose, the standardized section 12 has a connection section 16, in which an opening 20 is provided in order to produce a screw connection or a rivet connection with the guide rail or the frame side part. Both the standardized section 12 and the vehicle-specific section 14 of the support element 10 are designed as injection molded parts, preferably as plastic injection-molded parts. The frame side part or the guide rail, on which the support element 10 is fastened via the connection section 16, is arranged along a side area of an opening in a vehicle body. In the mounted state, the support element 10 has a winding roller on which a roller blind web is wound and from which it can be unwound in order to shade an opening in the vehicle body, wherein the opening is preferably tightly closed with a transparent cover, or, in an embodiment, it is designed so that it can be opened or closed as desired with a displaceable cover.

[0025] FIGS. 2 and 3 show the support element 10 of FIG. 1. in a side view and in a view from the top. According to this invention, the standardized section 12 of the support element 10 and the vehicle-specific section 14 are connected to one another in a connection area 18 (see view from the top of FIG. 3). The support element 10 is thus designed to have at least two parts and thus preferably it comprises further parts, such as the bearing pin 22 which is rotatably mounted on as separate component in the vehicle-specific section 14 of the support element 10.

[0026] In the side view of FIG. 2, a longitudinal direction of the vehicle is marked with the direction arrow x, and a vertical direction (perpendicular to the vehicle roof) is marked with the direction arrow z. In the represented embodiment, a roller blind web, not shown, is unwound from the winding shaft against the travel direction x towards the rear. Depending on the vehicle model or equipment variant of a specific vehicle model, there is an optimal position here for the winding roller and thus for the bearing pin 22 in the x direction and in the y direction. The positioning in the z direction occurs here taking into consideration the existing installation space of the installation of the roller blind assembly in the vehicle body, wherein, for example, in order to increase the headroom, the bearing pin 22 is arranged to be shifted as far as possible upward in the z direction, so that the available installation space is optimally used. The positioning of the bearing pin 22 in the x direction is selected in such a manner that an optimal distance relative to the lateral guide rail of the roller blind assembly is achieved. Because of these requirements, for each vehicle model, a specific positioning of the bearing pin 22 in the z direction and the x direction has to be carried out. In order to avoid having to develop and produce a whole support element 10 (and with it the corresponding molding tools) for each different vehicle model, the standardized section 12 of the support element 10 is designed so that it can be used for different vehicle models, while the exact positioning in the x direction and in the z direction of the bearing pin 22 is achieved by the vehicle-specific section 14. Since the vehicle-specific section 14 of the support element 10 is considerably less complex than the whole support element 10, this leads to a considerable cost reduction, since, for the adaptation to a different vehicle model, only the vehicle-specific section 14 has to be changed. The vehicle-specific section 14 of the support element 10 is thus used as an adaptive element of the support element 10.

[0027] As already explained, the standardized section 12 of the support element 10 and the vehicle-specific section 14 are connected to one another in the connection area 18. The connection can here be produced by a catch mechanism, screw connection, riveting or gluing.

[0028] In the assembly of the roller blind assembly, the standardized section 12 can first be connected to the vehicle-specific section 14, and only in the connected state can be arranged on a frame side part or on a guide rail of the roller blind assembly. Alternatively, the standardized section can also first be arranged on the guide rail or on the frame side part, and, at a later time, the vehicle-specific section 14 together with the bearing pin 22 and optionally even with the already stuck-on winding roller together with the roller blind web can be arranged on the standardized section 12 of the support element 10. In principle it would also be possible that the vehicle-specific section 14, together with the winding roller arranged on the bearing pin 22 and with the roller blind web, is subsequently fastened on a standardized section which is already installed on the vehicle.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0029] 10 Support element [0030] 12 Standardized section of 10 [0031] 14 Vehicle-specific section of 10 [0032] 16 Connection section [0033] 18 Connection area [0034] 20 Opening [0035] 22 Bearing pin [0036] 24 Rotation axis