Vehicle tire sun shield and method of installing same

In combination with a normally inflated, load bearing, resilient vehicle tire having a deformed flattened ground engaging portion defined as a "load flat;" a tire sun shield comprising a generally radially extending circular front face of a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of a tire to be shielded with an axially extending skirt fixedly joined to the outer periphery of said front face, said front face and said skirt being of sun ray shielding material and defining a shallow generally cup-shaped shield member conformed to snugly receive the tire of a vehicle wheel with said front face overlying the outer side portions of the tire and said skirt overlying at least the axially outer portion of the tire tread, said shield member having an opening therein through said skirt and the lower portion of said front face wherein the edges of said opening are defined by an edge extending generally along a chord of the circular front face and opposed gripping edges extending generally axially across said skirt from the opposite ends of said horizontal edge, the distance between the opposed gripping edges being slightly less than the length of the "load flat" of the tire and the gripping edges of the skirt being incrementally forced apart so that the shield is stressed and the tire is tightly gripped by the shield.

A method of installing a tire sun shield upon the load-supporting inflatable, resilient tire on the wheel of a parked vehicle, which tire is flattened at its lower end by the load it bears, comprising:

• removing the load from the wheel so that it returns to its cylindrical non-loaded state;
• placing a sun shield having a generally radially extending circular front face of a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the tire to be shielded with an axially extending skirt joined to the outer periphery of said front face over the front face of the wheel, in shielding relationship with the tire, said shield member having an opening of predetermined extent less than the "load flat" of the tire therein through said skirt and the lower portion of said front face wherein the edges of said opening are defined by a horizontal edge extending along a chord of the circular front face and opposed gripping edges extending generally axially entirely across said skirt from the opposite ends of said horizontal edge;
• and reapplying the load to the tire to incrementally separate the gripping edges and cause the tire to be tightly gripped by the shield.