Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Attachments – Optical-member-attachable cleaner
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-10
2001-09-18
Graham, Gary K. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Attachments
Optical-member-attachable cleaner
C015S250010, C015S250320, C239S284100, C359S507000, C359S874000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289549
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to side mirrors for vehicles and more specifically it relates to a mirror wiper with washer for cleaning debris from a vehicle's side mirrors thereby maintaining an unobstructed view for the driver.
Side mounted rear view mirrors on a vehicle, and especially on transport trucks, are exposed to rain, snow, dew, dirt and road salt. These mirrors are often smeared and dirty, partially blocking the driver's view of the traffic beside and behind their vehicle. It is not very practical for a truck driver to stop and wipe the side mirrors every time their view becomes partially obstructed even though it increasingly becomes unsafe for the driver and other drivers. Hence, there is a need for a wiper device that is mounted upon the side mirrors and operable from within the cab of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of attempted wipers for side mirrors include U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,091 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,234 to Allain; U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,542 to Tamura et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,537 to Wagenhofer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,708 to Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,381 to Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,712 to Vitaloni; U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,258 to DeGraw which are all illustrative of such prior art.
Jones (U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,091) discloses a wiper apparatus for viewing surface. Jones teaches a mounting frame supporting a viewing device and a wiper frame slidingly disposed for bi-directional linear motion relative to the viewing surface.
Allain (U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,234) discloses a wiper accessory for a side mounted rear view mirror of a vehicle. Allain teaches a wiper blade, a drive module having a rotary drive, a flexible arm for moving the blade across the surface of the rear view mirror, and an auxiliary mirror mounted on the drive module.
Tamura et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,542) discloses a mirror apparatus having wiper means. Tamura teaches a blade member, a pair of holders supporting the blade member, and a pair of stays for supporting the pair of holders.
Wagenhofer (U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,537) discloses a wiping blade device for truck rear view mirrors. Wagenhofer teaches a motorized wiping device for cleaning rear and side view mirrors of trucks, buses, trailers and other heavy vehicles.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for cleaning debris from a vehicle's side mirrors thereby maintaining an unobstructed view for the driver. The prior art devices require many moving components for the wiper arm assembly that are prone to breakage and significantly obstruct the view of the driver. In addition, many prior art devices do not have their own fluid dispensing systems making the wiper blades virtually worthless because of the smearing.
In these respects, the mirror wiper with washer according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of cleaning debris from a vehicle's side mirrors thereby maintaining an unobstructed view for the driver.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of mirror wiper devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new mirror wiper with washer construction wherein the same can be utilized for cleaning debris from a vehicle's side mirrors thereby maintaining an unobstructed view for the driver.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new mirror wiper with washer that has many of the advantages of the mirror wiper devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new mirror wiper with washer which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art mirror wiper devices, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a motor attached to the rear of a mirror frame with the drive shaft extending through an aperture within the mirror glass, a wiper blade attached to the end of the drive shaft, a pump fluidly connected to a washer reservoir on the vehicle, a dispensing nozzle adjustably positioned upon the mirror frame and fluidly connected to the pump, a control unit electrically in communication with the pump and motor for allowing the user to manually control the operation while within the vehicle. The wiper blade includes a slip clutch which allows blade to be vertically aligned on each side of the mirror glass by engaging the opposing stopper members. The control unit preferably includes a pair of power switches and a pair of fluid switches for independently controlling the left and right sides of the mirrors. The dispensing nozzle is adjustably retained to the mirror frame by a clip member that allows repositioning of the dispensing nozzle depending upon the weather conditions to ensure adequate dispensing of the washer fluid.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a mirror wiper with washer that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
Another object is to provide a mirror wiper with washer that has few moving components for the wiper arm assembly.
An additional object is to provide a mirror wiper with washer that utilizes independent pumps for distributing washer fluid to the dispensing nozzle.
A further object is to provide a mirror wiper with washer that allows the user to operate either the left or right side wiper devices depending upon weather conditions.
Another object is to provide a mirror wiper with washer that effectively cleans the surface of a side mirror of debris such as water and dirt.
A further object is to provide a mirror wiper with washer that reduces obstruction of the viewing area for a driver.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2676821 (1954-04-01), Reichelderfer
patent: 2913754 (1959-11-01), Zee
patent: 3940822 (1976-03-01), Emerick et al.
patent: 4088358 (1978-05-01), Hirsch
patent: 4611761 (1986-09-01), Pollard
patent: 4763381 (1988-08-01), Williams
patent: 5062176 (1991-11-01), Unterborn et al.
patent: 2617781 (1989-01-01), None
patent: 2025867 (1980-01-01), None
patent: 209448 (1982-12-01), None
Graham Gary K.
Neustel Michael S.
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