Lid opener

Details Lid opener Lid opener

1999-03-31

2001-02-20

Marmor, Charles A (Department: 3681)

Machine element or mechanism

Control lever and linkage systems

C292S336300, C292S216000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06189400

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to lid openers for use in motor vehicles for remotely controlling or unlatching a lid, such as a filler cap, a trunk lid or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to the lid openers of a double lever type having two control levers for remotely controlling or unlatching two lid members respectively.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional lid opener will be briefly described with reference to
FIGS. 10 and 11
of the accompanying drawings.
As is seen from
FIG. 10
, the lid opener
100
shown is of a double lever type. The lid opener
100
is arranged on a vehicle floor “F”, more specifically, on a base member
102
tightly held by a cross member
104
of the vehicle body.
The lid opener
100
comprises two, viz., longer and shorter control levers
106
and
108
which are pivotally disposed about a common shaft
110
held by the base member
102
. The two control levers
106
and
108
have rear ends
106
a
and
108
a
from which respective wires
112
(
114
) extend to respective latch mechanisms of a trunk lid and a filler cap. The two control levers
106
and
108
are biased to assume horizontal rest positions by respective biasing springs
116
and
118
. When the longer control lever
106
is pulled up against the biasing force of the spring
116
, the wire
112
is driven in a direction to cancel a latched condition of the latch mechanism of the trunk lid. Upon this, the trunk lid becomes unlatched and thus can be opened. While, when the shorter control lever
108
is pulled up against the force of the spring
118
, the wire
114
is pulled to unlatch the filler cap.
For ease with which the two control levers
106
and
108
are manipulated by a driver, such lid opener
100
is arranged just beside the driver's seat, that is, in a limited space defined between the driver's seat and the driver's door.
However, due to inherency originating from the position where the lid opener
100
is located, it often happens that the lid opener
100
is strongly stepped on by the driver at his or her ingress and egress into and from the vehicle cabin, which tends to cause damages of the control levers
106
and
108
.
For eliminating such drawbacks, various measures have been hitherto proposed, which are, for example, covering the lid opener
100
with a cover member, using a much thicker metal plate as the material of the control levers
106
and
108
, locating the lid opener
100
away from such limited space, etc.,. However, even these measures have failed to provide users with satisfaction. In fact, such measures tend to induce a bulky, costly and/or ill-handy lid opener.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lid opener which is free of the above-mentioned drawbacks.
According to the present invention, there is provided a lid opener which is so constructed that when a marked stress is applied to a control lever of the lid opener due to accidental stepping by a passenger, the control lever becomes supported by at least three supporting points thereby minimizing the force actually applied to each point. Thus, undesired deformation and damage of the control lever is suppressed.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid opener for use in a vehicle having a body and a floor. The lid opener comprises a base member adapted to be secured to the body; a control lever pivotally connected to the base member, the control lever including front and rear portions which are defined with respect to the pivoted portion, the rear portion being connected through a power transmitting member to a latch mechanism of a lid member, the control lever being capable of canceling a latched condition of the latch mechanism when pivoted in a normal direction from a rest position to a work position; biasing means for biasing the control lever to assume the rest position; a first stopper structure including the rear portion of the control lever and a part of the base member, the rear portion being kept in contact with the part of the base member when the control lever assumes the rest position; and a second stopper structure including a part of the control lever and a stopper member which is defined by either one of the vehicle floor and the base member, the part of the control lever being brought into abutment with the stopper member when, upon receiving a marked stress, the control lever is pivoted from the rest position in a direction opposite to the normal direction.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid opener unit for use in a vehicle. The vehicle has a hollow cross member mounted on a vehicle floor, and the hollow cross member has in a wall thereof an opening. The lid opener unit includes a base member installed in and secured to the hollow cross member near the opening; a control lever pivotally connected to the base member, the control lever including front and rear portions which are defined with respect to the pivoted portion, the front portion being exposed to the outside through the opening, the rear portion being connected through a power transmitting member to a latch mechanism of a lid member, the control lever being capable of canceling a latched condition of the latch mechanism when pivoted in a normal direction from a rest position to a work position; biasing means for biasing the control lever in a direction to assume the rest position; a first stopper structure including the rear portion of the control lever and a part of the base member, the rear portion being kept in contact with the part of the base member when the control lever assumes the rest position; and a second stopper structure including a part of the control lever and a stopper member which is defined by either one of the vehicle floor and the base member, the part of the control lever being brought into abutment with the stopper member when, upon receiving a marked stress, the control lever is pivoted from the rest position in a direction opposite to the normal direction.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4917424 (1990-04-01), Ishihara et al.
patent: 2330621 (1999-04-01), None
patent: 09032386 (1997-02-01), None

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