Head Unit Glare Shield

A customer reached out recently requesting a sun shield with custom dimensions for the aftermarket head unit display in his car. The inspiration came from popular sun shields you can purchase for your tablet, making it easier to use as a drone control display outside. These shields are designed for the user to only have clear visibility of the screen from one edge, often with the tablet positioned in a horizontal orientation.

This is not ideal for a vehicle head unit, where the driver is usually viewing from the side of the screen, which would be blocked by these off-the-shelf glare shields. Dimensions for the display were provided, along with requests for heights of the different sides of the glare shield (see the image above). The highest edge faces the passenger side, (to block glare from the sun on this side), while the side closes to the driver is the shortest, to maximize viewing angles.

Slots on the “bottom” of the glare shield allow the headunit to securely slot into the shield, reducing the need for adhesive or other mounting mechanisms.

This project was printed from PETG, which I have used for other products that are intended for continual use inside of vehicles. It offers high heat resistance, good durability under continued UV exposure, and general flexibilty and impact resistance to protect against random accidents inside the car.