1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo - Blackberry with Crimson interior 12

A sun visor is a component of an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

located on the interior just above the

windshield The windshield (American English and Canadian English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from t ...

(also known as the shield). They are designed with a hinged flap that is adjustable to help shade the eyes of drivers and passengers from the glare of sunlight.

Design

Starting in 1924, automobiles such as the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

began to include an exterior sun visor on its closed body versions. Other early automobiles also had externally attached sun visors to their windshields until 1931, when interior mounts were introduced. As automobile design advanced with windshields mounted on an angle to lessen wind resistance, the outside or "cadet-type" sun visors were no longer seen on cars starting from 1932. Henceforth, sun visors were mounted inside the vehicle, making the hinged flap easier to reach and adjust. Most modern cars have two sun visors, one for the driver's side and a second for the passenger's side, with the

rear-view mirror A rear-view mirror (or rearview mirror) is a, usually plane mirror, flat, mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's rear window (rear windshield). In cars, the rear-view mirror ...

often mounted in between the two sun visors. Each visor can be lowered to help block light from the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

entering through the windshield. Some are designed so they can be released from one bracket and be turned towards the side window, covering a small part of the window at the top to block the sunlight shining onto the side of the face. Some current visors can also be extended along the side window to block sunlight all of the way to the "B" pillar to block the light for the driver or passenger. The sun visor's flap or core is typically made from

pressboard Masonite board Back side of a masonite board Isorel, Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation, Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...

with a piece of metal for its attachment onto a mounting bracket. Some are made of molded substrates or

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

. The mounting bracket is often a metal rod with a slight bend in the middle and a bracket that attaches it with screws to the sheet metal above the headliner. The bend in the rod serves to hold the visor flap in the desired position. The visor flap is covered with a material, most often to complement the interior of the vehicle. Padding on the sun visors became popular for the extra protection afforded to passengers. Such safety improvements included Ford's 1956

Lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and Cardiopulmonary ...

package and the

seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...

s, as well as padded dash and visors that were offered by 1957 on Rambler cars. Some sun visors may incorporate a vanity

mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

for the passenger's convenience. For many years, a visor mounted mirror was among popular dealer-added accessories that provided high-profit margins with the sales staff receiving extra incentives to sell them. In some cases, a flip-up or sliding cover over the mirror automatically turns on vanity lights, which can be adjusted with a

dimmer A dimmer is a device connected to a light fixture and used to lower the brightness of the Lighting, light. By changing the voltage waveform applied to the lamp, it is possible to lower the Luminous intensity, intensity of the light output. Al ...

control (see image). Visors are also available as an option or as a standard item from manufacturers with a built-in remote garage door control, often referred to as a universal garage door opener. Aftermarket exterior sun visors are available for trucks as cab visors. Manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers are offering new sun visors with electronic features such as USB input slots and GPS systems.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun Visor Auto parts Car windows

Design

See also

References