A sun visor system for a motor vehicle, a motor vehicle, and a method

Abstract

A sun visor system (12) for a motor vehicle (10), comprising a sun visor (14), a mount (16) via which the sun visor (14) can be movably mounted in an interior (18) of the motor vehicle (10), and an ac

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of automobiles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sun visor system for a motor vehicle. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a corresponding motor vehicle and a method for adjusting a sun visor arranged in an interior of a motor vehicle. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] A motor vehicle known from the state of the art may comprise sun visors. Such a sun visor may be arranged in the area of the windshield and may provide an effective way to block the sun. The sun visor may work very well on flat roads, however when driving uphill or downhill the sun visor may potentially block the driver's field of view and the driver must manually adjust the sun visor to get a better field of view. This may distract the driver while driving. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a sun visor system for a motor vehicle, a corresponding motor vehicle, as well as a method for adjusting a sun visor arranged in an interior of a motor vehicle, by which safety of the motor vehicle can be particularly increased.

[0004] This object is solved by a sun visor system for a motor vehicle, a corresponding motor vehicle, as well as a method for adjusting a sun visor arranged in an interior of a motor vehicle according to the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are presented in the dependent claims.

[0005] One aspect of the invention relates to a sun visor system for a motor vehicle. Preferably, the motor vehicle is designed as a passenger car. The sun visor system comprises a sun visor, which may be referred to as sun visor body or cover element. The sun visor enables sun light, in particular sunrays, to be blocked so as not to cause glare for a vehicle occupant, in particular a driver of the motor vehicle. This may ensure that the driver has a good view, in particular through the windshield, of the road ahead.

[0006] The sun visor system comprises at least one mounting device via which the sun visor is to be mounted in a movable manner, in particular between at least two positions, in an interior of the motor vehicle. This means that the sun visor is capable of being mounted or is mounted in a movable manner in the interior of the motor vehicle via the said mounting device. In other words, the sun visor is designed adjustable, in particular at least between the two said positions. The interior of the motor vehicle may be referred to as a passenger compartment of the motor vehicle. Furthermore, the sun visor system comprises at least one actuator, which is capable of actuating the said movement of the sun visor, in particular at least between the two said positions. In other words, the sun visor is capable of being moved or is moved by the actuator.

[0007] In particular, to increase safety of the motor vehicle, for example safety against being glared by the sun and / or against a distraction of the driver, the sun visor system comprises at least one sensor device, which is capable of detecting or detects an inclination, in particular a current inclination, of a roadway. This means that the sensor device is capable of sensing or senses the said inclination. The current inclination may be referred to as actual inclination. The said inclination of the roadway may be understood as a slope, a gradient, or a grade of the said roadway. The said roadway may be understood as a roadway, in particular a road, on which the motor vehicle is driving. Furthermore, the sun visor system comprises at least one electronic computing device, which is capable of controlling or is controlling the actuator as a function of the said inclination of the roadway detected by the said sensor device in order to move the sun visor, in particular as a function of the detected inclination of the roadway, for example from an initial position to a target position. In other words, the electronic computing device, the sensor device, and the actuator are coupled to each other such that when the sensor device detects the inclination of the roadway, in particular a change of the inclination of the roadway, the electronic computing device affects the actuator to move the sun visor. This means that the sun visor is automatically adaptive, in particular on the basis of the detected inclination of the roadway. Therefore, the sun visor may be referred to as adaptive sun visor. One of the said two positions may be the said initial position and the other one of the said two positions may be the target position.

[0008] In the present invention, it is possible to provide a system to automatically adjust the sun visor, in particular an angle of the sun visor, based on the grade (slope) of the road. As a result, the driver of the motor vehicle does not have to manually adjust the sun visor when driving uphill or downhill. Therefore, the driver may have the most optimal field of view of the road. Furthermore, a risk of accidents may be reduced because a distraction of the driver while manually adjusting the sun visor may be avoided. This means that a risk of collision may be reduced. In addition, a comfort of the motor vehicle can be particularly increased.

[0009] According to an embodiment the sun visor is capable of being pivoted or is pivoted about a pivot axis via the said mounting device.

[0010] In another embodiment, the sensor device is capable of determining, in particular detecting, or determines, in particular detects, a future inclination of the roadway, wherein the electronic computing device is capable of controlling or controls the actuator as a function of the determined future inclination of the roadway in order to move the sun visor, in particular as a function of the determined future inclination of the roadway. Alternatively or additionally, the electronic computing device is capable of determining or determines the future inclination of the roadway on the basis of route information, wherein the electronic computing device is capable of controlling the actuator as a function of the determined future inclination of the roadway in order to move the sun visor.

[0011] In another embodiment, the sun visor device comprises at least one second sensor device, which is capable of detecting or detects a sun incidence angle. The electronic computing device is capable of controlling or controls the actuator as a function of the angle detected by the second sensor device in order to move the sun visor, in particular as a function of the detected sun incidence angle.

[0012] In another embodiment, the sun visor system comprises at least one position detection device for detecting a position, in particular a current position, of the sun visor.

[0013] In another embodiment, the sun visor system is configured to perform the following steps. Detecting an initial position of the sun visor by the position detection device. Detecting an initial inclination of the roadway by the sensor device when moving the sun visor into the initial position. Moving the sun visor from the initial position, in particular into a target position, by the actuator when it is determined by the electronic computing device that the current inclination of the roadway detected by the sensor device is different from the initial inclination of the roadway.

[0014] Another aspect of the invention relates to a motor vehicle, comprising at least the sun visor system according to the first aspect of the invention. Advantageous embodiments of the motor vehicle are to be regarded as advantageous embodiments of the sun visor system and vice versa.

[0015] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for, in particular automatically, adjusting a sun visor in an interior of a motor vehicle. The method may be understood as a method for operating a sun visor system according to the first aspect of the invention. Advantageous embodiments of the method are to be regarded as advantageous embodiments of the sun visor system and vice versa.

[0016] An inclination, in particular a current inclination, of a roadway is detected by a sensor device and an actuator is controlled by an electronic computing device as a function of the inclination of the roadway detected by the sensor device. As a result, the sun visor, which is mounted in a movable manner via a mounting device, is moved, in particular as a function of the detected inclination of the roadway, by the actuator, for example into a target position.

[0017] Further advantages, features, and details of the invention derive from the following description of preferred embodiments as well as from the drawings. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figures and / or shown in the figures alone can be employed not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and / or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0019] The drawings show in:

[0020] Fig. 1 a schematic side view of a motor vehicle comprising an embodiment of a sun visor system; and

[0021] Fig. 2 a schematic view of components of an embodiment of a sun visor system.

[0022] In the figures the same elements or elements having the same function are indicated by the same reference signs. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0024] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawing and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

[0025] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion so that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus preceded by “comprises” or “comprise” does not or do not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

[0026] In the following detailed description of the embodiment of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that forms part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the disclosure may be practiced. This embodiment is described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0027] Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view according to an embodiment of a motor vehicle 10. The motor vehicle 10 comprises a sun visor system 12. The sun visor system 12 comprises a sun visor 14 and a mounting device 16 via which the sun visor 14 is to be mounted or is mounted in a movable manner in an interior 18 of the motor vehicle 10. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the sun visor 14 may be arranged in an upper area of the interior 18 of the motor vehicle in a front section of the said interior 18, preferably close to a windshield 19. Furthermore, the sun visor system 12 comprises an actuator 20, which is capable of actuating or actuates the said movement of the sun visor 14. In Fig. 1, the sun visor 14 is in a first position 22. However, the sun visor 14 is also shown in a second position 24, which is illustrated with dashed lines. The sun visor 14 is capable of being moved or is moved by the actuator 20 at least between the two positions 22, 24.

[0028] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the said movement between the two positions 22, 24 is a swivel movement. This means that the sun visor is capable of being pivoted or is pivoted about a pivot axis 26 via the said mounting device 16. Therefore, the first position 22 may be referred to as first swivel position or first angle and the second position 24 may be referred to as second swivel position or second angle. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the sun visor 14 is capable of blocking sunrays 28 emitted by the sun 30 in order to prevent the driver of the motor vehicle 10 from being dazzled.

[0029] For example, the sun visor 14 is attached to a body component of the motor vehicle 10 via the said mounting device 16. The said movement of the sun visor 14 may be understood as a movement of the sun visor 14 relative to the body component.

[0030] In order to increase safety of the motor vehicle 10 and / or to increase a comfort of the motor vehicle 10, the sun visor system comprises at least one sensor device 32, which is capable of detecting an inclination 34 of a roadway 36. Fig. 2 illustrates components of the sun visor system 12 in a very schematic manner, for example the said sensor device 32. Furthermore, the sun visor system 12 comprises an electronic computing device 38, which is capable of controlling or controls the actuator 20 as a function of the inclination 34 of the roadway 36 detected by the sensor device 32 in order to move the sun visor 14, in particular in order to pivot the sun visor 14 about the axis of rotation. As a result, the sun visor 14 can automatically be adjusted, for example by moving the sun visor 14 in the second position 24, which may be a target position.

[0031] The detection of the inclination 34 of the roadway 36 may be understood as a road slope estimation, which may be done by fusing data from various sensors, in particular from various sensors of the sensor device 32. This may be realized by fusing measurements from a three-axis accelerometer or gyroscope, respectively. In this case angular velocities and a tilt angle of the motor vehicle may be measured along with a GPS sensor. The road slope estimation may be realized by a method as described in Gautam Shetty, Sabir Hossain, Chuan Hu and Xianke Lin, “Road Slope Prediction and Vehicle Dynamics Control for Autonomous Vehicles”.

[0032] The electronic computing device 38 may be understood as a data processing device, which comprises processing circuitry. Therefore, the electronic computing device 38 may be referred to as a computing unit. The electronic computing device 38 may, in particular, process data to perform computing operations. This may also include operations to perform indexed accesses to a data structure.

[0033] In particular, the electronic computing device 38 may include one or more computers, one or more microcontrollers, and / or one or more integrated circuits, for example, one or more application-specific integrated circuits, ASIC, one or more field-programmable gate arrays, FPGA, and / or one or more systems on a chip, SoC. The electronic computing device 38 may also include one or more processors, for example one or more microprocessors, one or more central processing units, CPU, one or more graphics processing units, GPU, and / or one or more signal processors, in particular one or more digital signal processors, DSP. The electronic computing device 38 may also include a physical or a virtual cluster of computers or other of said units.

[0034] In various embodiments, the electronic computing device 38 includes one or more hardware and / or software interfaces and / or one or more memory units. A memory unit may be implemented as a volatile data memory, for example a dynamic random access memory, DRAM, or a static random access memory, SRAM, or as a non-volatile data memory, for example a read-only memory, ROM, a programmable read-only memory, PROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory, EPROM, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM, a flash memory or flash EEPROM, a ferroelectric random access memory, FRAM, a magnetoresistive random access memory, MRAM, or a phase-change random access memory, PCRAM.

[0035] According to an embodiment, the sensor device 32 is, in particular additionally, capable of determining or determines a future inclination 34 of the roadway 36 and / or the electronic computing device 38 is capable of determining or is determining the future inclination 34 of the roadway 36 on the basis of route information. The electronic computing device 38 is capable of controlling or controls the actuator as a function of the determined future inclination 34 by the sensor device 32 and / or the electronic computing device 38 in order to move, in particular to pivot, the sun visor 14. Therefore, sensor information and / or map information informative about upcoming road grade may be used to preadjust the sun visor 14 right in time, for example similar to Mercedes Benz Magic Body Control System. This may especially be helpful for speed bumps or other short-term disturbances, where a follow control would have too high a latency to actually help.

[0036] In another embodiment the sun visor 14 is automatically adjusted based on sensing the sun 30 and its angle. Therefore, the sun visor system 12 may comprise at least one second sensor device 40, which is capable of detecting or detects a sun incidence angle 42, and the electronic computing device 38 is capable of controlling or controls the actuator 20 as a function of the angle 42 detected by the second sensor device 40 in order to move, in particular to pivot, the sun visor 14. Preferably, a control algorithm is used to adjust the sun visor 14 to the right position. This means that another input to the adjusting of the sun visor 14 or the sun visor angle, respectively, may be an estimation of the sun angle, which can be calculated with the help of illumination sensors as described in CN 111 688 451 B. A pitch angle of the motor vehicle (represents the grade of the road) may then be used as an additional input to the electronic computing device 38 to precondition for faster reaction. This means that it becomes clear that the sun visor system 12 may be focused on the aspect of adjusting the sun visor 14 based on sun angle and slope of the road.

[0037] Preferably, the sun visor system 12 is configured to perform the following steps or performs the following steps, respectively: • Detecting an initial position 44, in particular an initial angular position, of the sun visor 14 by a position detecting device 46. For example, the initial position 44 is the first position 22. This means that a first step may include getting a current visual angle, for example, when the sun visor 14 is manually deployed by a person, in particular by the driver. The value of the current visual angle may be stored. • Detecting an initial inclination 34 of the roadway 36 by the sensor device 32 when moving, in particular pivoting, the sun visor 14 into the initial position 44. This means that a second step may include getting and / or storing the grade of the road when the sun visor 14 is deployed. • Moving the sun visor 14, in particular about the pivot axis 26, from the initial position 44, in particular into a target position 48, by the actuator 20 when it is determined by the electronic computing device 38 that the current inclination 34 of the roadway 36 detected by the sensor device 32 is different from the initial inclination 34 of the roadway 36. This means that a third step may include continuously tracking or monitoring, respectively, the grade of the road and detect a change in grade. If any difference in grade is detected, a respective visual delta angle may be calculated by the electronic computing device 38 and the sun visor 14 may be adjusted. The target position 48 may be the second position 24.

[0038] It becomes clear that the sun visor system may contain a position sensor (encoders) which provides the current angle of the sun visor 14 and a motor to control the sun visor. The following steps may be executed: • get and store current deployed position of the sun visor 14 (deg) • get and store current slope value theta_slope (deg) • calculate sun incidence angle thetha sun (deg) • if going uphill: o new visor angle = deployed_angle + theta_slope ■ move sun visor 14 forward • if going downhill: o new visor angle = deployed_angle - theta_slope ■ move sun visor 14 backward. Reference Signs 10 12 14 16 18 19 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 motor vehicle sun visor system sun visor mounting device interior of the motor vehicle windshield actuator first position second position pivot axis sunray sun sensor device inclination of the roadway roadway electronic computing device sensor device sun incident angle initial position position detecting device target position

Claims

1. A sun visor system (12) for a motor vehicle (10), comprising a sun visor (14), a mounting device (16) via which the sun visor (12) is to be mounted in a movable manner in an interior (18) of the motor vehicle (10), and an actuator (20) which is capable of actuating the movement of the sun visor (14), characterized in thatthe sun visor system (12) comprises at least one sensor device (32), which is capable of detecting an inclination (34) of a roadway (36), and an electronic computing device (38), which is capable of controlling the actuator (20) as a function of the inclination (34) of the roadway (36) detected by the sensor device (32) in order to move the sun visor (14).

2. The sun visor system (12) according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe sun visor (14) is capable of being pivoted about a pivot axis (26) via the mounting device (16).

3. The sun visor system (12) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in thatthe sensor device (32) is capable of determining a future inclination (34) of the roadway (36) and / or the electronic computing device (38) is capable of determining the future inclination (34) of the roadway (36) on the basis of route information, wherein the electronic computing device (38) is capable of controlling the actuator (20) as a function of the determined future inclination (34) of the roadway (36) in order to move the sun visor (14).

4. The sun visor system (12) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in thatthe sun visor system (12) comprises at least one second sensor device (40), which is capable of detecting a sun incidence angle (42), and the electronic computing device (38) is capable of controlling the actuator (20) as a function of the angle (42) detected by the second sensor device (40) in order to move the sun visor (14).

5. The sun visor system (12) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in thatthe sun visor system (12) comprises a position detection device (46) for detecting a position of the sun visor (14).

6. The sun visor system (12) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in thatthe sun visor system (12) is configured to perform the following steps:• Detecting an initial position (44) of the sun visor (14) by the position detecting device (46);• Detecting an initial inclination (34) of the roadway (36) by the sensor device (32) when moving the sun visor (14) into the initial position (44);• Moving the sun visor (14) from the initial position (44) by the actuator (20) when it is determined by the electronic computing device (38) that the current inclination (34) of the roadway (36) detected by the sensor device (32) is different from the initial inclination (34) of the roadway (36).

7. A motor vehicle (10), comprising at least the sun visor system (12) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. Method for adjusting a sun visor (14) arranged in an interior (18) of a motor vehicle (10), in which an inclination (34) of a roadway (36) is detected by a sensor device (32) and an actuator (20) is controlled by an electronic computing device (38) as a function of the inclination (34) of the roadway (36) detected by the sensor device (32), whereby the sun visor (14), which is mounted in a movable manner via a mounting device (16), is moved by the actuator (20).

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