Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Complementary to vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-14
2001-04-17
Cronin, Stephen K. (Department: 3727)
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Complementary to vehicle
C224S483000, C206S005000, C296S037700
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216930
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a container for storing spectacles and for building into a vehicle, having the features of the preamble of claim
1
.
Such a container is known from EP 0 602 342 B1. The known container is used to store spectacles in a motor vehicle so that they can be picked up easily by the driver. Storage is dust-free. For aesthetic reasons, the spectacles should be concealed from view during storage.
The known container has a housing that is open at one side, which can be mounted in a motor vehicle, for example on or in a recess in the dashboard. The known container has a housing lid that is attached pivotably to the housing and which is connected via a coupling member to a carriage that is guided displaceably in the housing and moves the carriage to the open side of the housing when the housing lid is opened. Attached pivotably to the carriage is a receiving compartment for insertion of a pair of spectacles, which receiving compartment is pivoted, by way of a cranked lever of the coupling member, out of a position parallel with the carriage to a position inclined relative to the carriage after the carriage has been displaced. A pair of spectacles can be inserted or removed when the receiving compartment is in that inclined position.
The known container has the disadvantage that it is made up in a complicated manner of a large number of individual parts. A further disadvantage is that the spectacles lie loosely in the container, resulting in rattling noises while driving. In addition, as a result of continuous vehicle vibrations, the spectacles lying loosely in the container rub continuously against the receiving compartment, resulting in abrasion marks on the spectacles and on their lenses.
The problem underlying the invention is accordingly so to construct a container of the type mentioned at the beginning that a pair of spectacles is stored therein without rattling.
The problem is solved according to the invention by the features of claim
1
. The container according to the invention has a box-like housing that is preferably open at one of its two large sides, which housing is closable by a pivotably attached housing lid. The housing lid is at the same time in the form of a receiving compartment for a pair of spectacles that can be placed therein. An elastic band mounted in the housing presses a pair of spectacles inserted into the housing lid against the inside of the housing lid when it is closed, so that the spectacles are held securely. This prevents the spectacles from moving in the closed container and causing rattling noises. Since the holding action prevents relative movement between the spectacles and the container, abrasion marks on the spectacles are avoided. A further advantage is that the container consists essentially of only three parts, namely the housing, the housing lid and the elastic band.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the elastic band is in the form of a rubber band which, when the housing lid is closed, extends in the housing approximately parallel with the housing lid and either spaced therefrom or not. As it is closed, the housing lid draws closer to the elastic band by such a distance that a space between the housing lid and the elastic band becomes narrower than the thickness of the spectacles. A pair of spectacles inserted into the housing lid is thereby pressed against the inside of the housing lid by the elastic band when the housing lid is closed and is thus held securely between the housing lid and the elastic band. As it opens, the housing lid moves away from the band so that the holding action is released and the spectacles can be removed from the housing lid that forms a receiving compartment for the spectacles. The elastic band is not in the way during removal or insertion of the spectacles. That embodiment of the invention provides holding of the spectacles in simple manner. The elastic band is moreover “spectacle-friendly”.
In a further development of the invention, one end of the band is attached to the housing and another end of the band is attached to the housing lid so that the band acts as a tension spring element that pivots the housing lid. The band can be attached in such a manner that it draws the housing lid to its open position or to its closed position. It is also possible for the elastic band to be so attached to the housing and to the housing lid that, as it pivots the housing lid out of the closed position to the open position and vice versa, the elastic band crosses a pivotal axis of the housing lid. In that manner it is possible, as is known per se, for example, from the folding stand of a two-wheel vehicle, for the elastic band to draw the housing lid into the open position after it has crossed the pivotal axis of the housing lid in the opening direction and to draw the housing lid into the closed position after it has crossed the pivotal axis in the closing direction and thereby to hold the housing lid in both the open position and the closed position. The use of the elastic band as a tension spring element obviates the need for an additional drive element to pivot the housing lid.
An embodiment of the invention comprises a spectacle holder which is mounted on the inside of the housing lid and is spaced therefrom so that the spectacles can be inserted into the space between the spectacle holder and the housing lid. In a further development of that embodiment of the invention, the spectacle holder has free spaces in the region of spectacle hinges of a pair of spectacles inserted in the housing lid. As a result, it is possible to insert the spectacles into the housing lid with the spectacle arms still open and only thereafter to close them, that is to say lay them against the spectacle frame. The closed spectacle arms lie on an outer side of the spectacle holder remote from the housing lid. The elastic band or the spring element engages the closed spectacle arms after the container has been closed and presses them against the spectacle frame so that the spectacles together with their spectacle arms are held securely between the elastic band and the housing lid. That embodiment of the invention has the advantage that a pair of spectacles can be taken off and inserted into the housing lid with the spectacle arms still open, that is to say projecting from the spectacle frame. The spectacles no longer need to be held in one hand in order to close the spectacle arms since the spectacles are fixed in the housing lid. This applies correspondingly to removal of the spectacles from the container and putting them on.
In an embodiment of the invention, the housing lid has a rest for the nose bridge of the spectacles to be inserted therein. Moreover, a support is provided on which a lower rim of the spectacle frame of an inserted pair of spectacles, that is to say a point of the circumference of the spectacle lenses, comes to rest. The distance between the rest for the nose bridge and the support for the spectacle frame is adjustable in order to be able to adapt the container according to the invention to different pairs of spectacles.
In an embodiment of the invention there is provided a catch device that can be unlocked, which locks the housing lid in its closed position. By activation of the catch device, the housing lid can be opened or is pivoted open by the elastic band. The pivoting movement is preferably damped by means of a damping element.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2927685 (1960-03-01), Abbott
patent: 3381806 (1968-05-01), McDonagh
patent: 3845799 (1974-11-01), Mittell
patent: 4469365 (1984-09-01), Marcus et al.
patent: 4576320 (1986-03-01), Mead
patent: 5261582 (1993-11-01), Mathews et al.
patent: 5312029 (1994-05-01), Tuber
patent: 5403058 (1995-04-01), Fischer
patent: 5775761 (1998-07-01), Asami et al.
patent: 0153502 (1984-12-01), None
patent: 0 602 342 A1 (1994-06-01), None
patent: 94/18032 (1994-08-01), None
Funk Walter
Karrer Friedrich
Plocher Bernd
Schmidt Michael
Cronin Stephen K.
Fischerwerke Arthur Fischer GmbH & Co. KG
Striker Michael J.
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