Electrically driven sun visor

An electrically and manually operated sun visor apparatus for a vehicle having a roof and a windshield, comprising:

• a rectangularly shaped, hollow apparatus housing having a curved internal storage compartment for storing a sliding panel in a retracted position, said storage compartment including driving cylinders and supporting cylinders, said driving cylinders arranged along both walls of said storage compartment in proximity to both longitudinal edge sections of said housing and parallel to the longitudinal extension of said housing, said supporting cylinders arranged along inner portion of both said walls of said storage compartment in a parallel line to the longitudinal extension of said housing, said housing being rotatable about a pivot axle provided along one longitudinal edge section of said housing and mounted on said vehicle roof in a proximity of said vehicle windshield;
• said sliding panel having the same curvature as said storage compartment, said sliding panel mounted inside said storage compartment between said driving and said supporting cylinders and driven into extended positions and back into the retracted position by one pair of said driving cylinders over said supporting cylinders.

A method of operating a sun visor apparatus adapted for electrical displacing of a sliding panel and manual displacement of an apparatus housing, comprising the steps of:

• displacing said sliding panel into an extended position when said apparatus housing is in a retracted position by energizing a first electrical means coupled to a first pair of driving cylinders located in the front section of said apparatus housing;
• manually displacing said apparatus housing into an extended position by rotating said apparatus housing about a pivot axle and then displacing said sliding panel into the extended position by energizing a second electrical means coupled to a second pair of driving cylinders located in the lower section of said apparatus housing.