Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Handle – handle component – or handle adjunct – Extensible handle
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-24
2002-11-12
Mah, Chuck Y. (Department: 3676)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Handle, handle component, or handle adjunct
Extensible handle
C016S438000, C016S445000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06477739
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a retractable assist grip for a car body, which is retracted from its use position to its retracted position when it is not in use, and a mounting method thereof, and more particularly relates to pivotal type one which is retractable so as to be swung to its retracted position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There is known a conventional retractable assist grip of such kind, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Gazette No. 9-263166. In this case, respective pairs of extensions are provided on each leg of a U-shaped grip body and each corresponding part of a car body, and one pair of extensions, extending from one of the legs of the grip body or the corresponding part of the car body, are interposed between the other pair of extensions. In addition, coaxial holes are formed over the two pairs of extensions, and a damper, which is formed of an outer cylinder and an inner pin inserted into the outer cylinder and in which a high-viscosity viscidity is encapsulated, is inserted into the coaxial holes. And, the outer cylinder and the inner pin of the damper are fixed to the two pairs of extensions, one located on the grip body side and the other located on the car body side, respectively. Thus, when the grip body is swung from use to retracted position, it is urged against the swing motion by the viscosity of the viscidity in the damper thereby reducing its swinging speed.
When the swing motion of the grip body toward the retracted position is slowed down in the above manner, the grip body slowly moves from use to retracted position. Therefore, it is prevented that the grip body immediately moves to the retracted position and hits the car body hard to cause a beating sound. This provides a desired upscale image to the assist grip.
As another example of conventional pivotal type retractable assist grips, there is known an assist grip in which one leg of the grip body is supported to a bearing member through a support pin, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Gazette No. 5-96982. In this assist grip, the support pin is contacted with a frictional brake made of viscoelastic resin material. When the grip body is swung from use to retracted position, it is given sliding resistance by the frictional brake thereby reducing its swinging speed.
The former conventional example (Japanese patent Application Laid-Open Gazette No. 9-263166) can provide improved quality appearance and durability. However, in this example, since the damper formed of the outer cylinder and the inner pin is fitted as a pin into holes through the pairs of extensions of the grip body and the car body, the number of components forming the damper mechanism becomes increased, which invites a rise in cost.
On the other hand, in the latter conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Gazette No. 5-96982), it is necessary to provide, in the bearing member, a frictional brake for contacting the support pin therewith. This increases the number of components for the damping mechanism. In addition, since the swing motion of the grip body is damped by sliding resistance, this makes it difficult to give an upscale image to the swing motion and may cause a drop in durability due to friction.
Alternatively, there is a retractable assist grip easily and readily mount able to an inner panel of a car body, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,322. In this assist grip, a pair of mount bodies are each formed with a through hole and a pair of flexible engaging pieces each having a pawl at the distal end thereof are extended from the periphery of the through hole on the back of each mount body.
In mounting this assist grip to the inner panel, the mounts are presented to corresponding mounting holes of the inner panel, the pairs of flexible engaging pieces are inserted into the mounting holes, respectively, and the mount bodies are caused to abut on the peripheries of the corresponding mounting holes of the inner panel from the front side of the inner panel. Then, locking pins are inserted into the through holes of the mound bodies from the front side of the inner panel, respectively, and in this state, the grip body is swung in its retracted direction to press the locking pins into the corresponding through holes of the mount bodies. Each of the pressed locking pins pushes the pair of flexible engaging pieces apart from each other so that the pawls of the flexible engaging pieces are engaged on the periphery of the mounting hole of the inner panel from the back side thereof. Thus, the inner panel is secured in sandwich relation between the mount bodies and the pawls.
Meanwhile, for retractable assist grips, the grip body and the mounts are separate parts. Therefore, if the grip body and the mounts are carried individually into a car body assembly line and then mounted to the inner panel, this increases the number of assembly man-hours in the car body assembly line. Accordingly, the grip body and the mounts are generally carried, into the car body assembly line, in a semi-assembled condition where, as in the above conventional case, the locking pins are inserted halfway into the corresponding through holes of the mount bodies.
However, when the locking pins are kept inserted halfway into the through holes of the mount bodies, some factor may cause the locking pin to be fully pressed into or dropped out of the through hole of the mount body before the mounts are carried in the car body assembly line.
Once the locking pin has been fully pressed into the through hole, the assist grip in this state is no longer mountable to the inner panel since both the pawls are pushed apart from each other beyond the aperture of the mounting hole. In this case, though the locking pin should be pulled out of the through hole, the pulling of the locking pin is an extremely difficult work since the locking pin is forcibly pressed into the through hole,.
On the other hand, if the locking pin has been dropped out of the throughhole, it maybe lost, which makes it impossible to assemble the assist grip to the car body in the car body assembly line. Such an event constitutes a serious impediment to a smooth flow of the car body assembly line and therefore should be absolutely avoided.
A first object of the present invention is to improve a damper mechanism of a pivotal type retractable assist grip that uses a damper in which a high-viscosity viscidity is encapsulated, and more specifically not only to slow down the swing motion of the assist grip to its retracted position by an excellent damping effect of the damper in which the viscidity is encapsulated but also to reduce the number of components of the assist grip thereby resulting in cost reduction.
A second object of the present invention is to avoid any impediment to the mounting of the assist grip to a fixed body such as a car body panel by preventing the locking pin from moving to its locking position before the carriage of the assist grip into the assembly line and from dropping out of the through hole of the mount body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the first object, in the present invention, an assist grip is configured such that a damper, in which the above-mentioned high-viscosity viscidity is encapsulated, is incorporated together with a grip body and a mount.
Specifically, the present invention is directed to a retractable assist grip including: a pair of mounts fixed to fixed body such as a car body; a grip body pivotally mounted or swing motion at legs thereof onto the mounts, respectively; and urging means, provided between at least one of the legs of the grip body and the corresponding mount, for urging the grip body into swing motion from its use position to its retracted position.
Further, at least one of the pair of mounts includes a fulcrum pin extended integrally from one side thereof, a recess formed coaxially with the fulcrum pin on the opposite side of the mount, and a loose-fit pin extended integrally from the inner bottom toward the opening of the recess and coax
Miho Sugumune
Noda Hozumi
Mah Chuck Y.
Nishikawa Kasei Co., Ltd.
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Studebaker Donald R.
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