Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Including means to hold or retard hinged members against...
Patent
1995-08-24
1997-02-11
Mah, Chuck Y.
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Including means to hold or retard hinged members against...
296 9712, E05C 1764, E05D 1108
Patent
active
056008694
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to a hinge for sunvisors for automobiles which, specifically, is for application in connection with sunvisors based on a body obtained by the injection-moulding of a material of low specific gravity, such as polyurethane. The body includes a reinforcing frame consisting of a metal rod whose shape matches the shape of the visor body.
It is widely known that sunvisors, such as those described above and normally fitted as standard equipment in automobiles, have a hinge which enables the user to set the sunvisor to any of its usual positions for use in a stable way. The hinge consists basically of a bent supporting pivot attached to the vehicle's structure by means of a base member fitted to it, and of a retaining spring set inside a linking body, made generally in plastic materials, which is included in the body of the visor and firmly joined to the metal reinforcing rod. The retaining spring is sized to receive snugly the horizontal arm of the supporting pivot in such a way that the visor may be rotated around that pivot. Furthermore, both the spring and the horizontal arm of the supporting pivot possess complementary means for positioning them with respect to each other ensuring greater retaining strength in the rest position(s) of the visor, i.e. moving the visor away from those positions requires the user to exert a turning torque whose value is significantly higher than that required when the visor is not occupying its rest position(s).
By way of example of embodiments of sunvisor hinges such as those described above, Spanish utility model number U 8902208 may be quoted. It describes a linking body with an essentially quadrangular prismatic shape providing a housing for fitting a retaining spring and, around its edge, a recess such as to house a metal reinforcing rod shaped with a double bend, to prevent the linking body from changing its position once the linking body has been attached to the rod.
Known embodiments of linking bodies for sunvisor hinges such as that described above all suffer, wholly or partly, from the following drawbacks. Their use requires the metal reinforcing rod to have a closed perimeter, ie. that the ends of the metal rod be joined together, generally by welding. Moreover, the linking bodies are sizeable items as a result of having to withstand the high stresses to which they are subjected when the visor is positioned by the user, said size constituting a clear limitation on performance. These drawbacks lead to high fitting and/or manufacturing costs for the sunvisor, which significantly increase the price of the finished product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sunvisor hinge which solves the above-mentioned drawbacks --i.e. one not requiring the welding of the ends of the visor's metal reinforcing rod and not being large in size --a sunvisor hinge with a new structure for automobiles is disclosed.
The sunvisor hinge of the invention comprises the following known elements. A one-piece linking body, made preferably in plastic materials, having means for its firm attachment to the metal reinforcing rod of the sunvisor body, and with a housing for snugly receiving a retaining spring. A bent supporting pivot, of whose two arms, vertical and horizontal, the vertical one is attachable to a base member fitted to the structure of the vehicle, and the horizontal one, or pivot of rotation for the sunvisor, is snugly attachable to the retaining spring housed in the linking body in such a way that the sunvisor may be rotated around the horizontal arm of the supporting pivot.
The sunvisor hinge of this invention is characterized in that the essential shape of the linking body is an elongated parallelepipedon in which two adjoining hollow longitudinal sections, one in front and one behind, are present, of similar size, separated by the wall between them. The front section, which houses the retaining spring, is open at its free end and possesses means for snugly receivin
REFERENCES:
patent: 4428612 (1984-01-01), Viertel et al.
patent: 4469367 (1984-09-01), Kuttler et al.
patent: 4854629 (1989-08-01), Hagstrom
patent: 5011211 (1991-04-01), Svensson
patent: 5039153 (1991-08-01), Lindberg et al.
patent: 5366265 (1994-11-01), Aymerich et al.
Fico I.T.M. S.A.
Mah Chuck Y.
Striker Michael J.
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