Optical: systems and elements – Mirror – Mounted on vehicle having handlebars
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-26
2004-09-21
Cherry, Euncha P. (Department: 2872)
Optical: systems and elements
Mirror
Mounted on vehicle having handlebars
Reexamination Certificate
active
06793354
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vanity mirror device for a trunk, which is mounted on a trunk lid mounted to a motorcycle or the like and which is used to give care to personal appearance, and particularly to an improvement in a vanity mirror device including a back plate of a vanity mirror, which is carried on a pivot mounted on a trunk lid, so that it can be turned between a housed position in which the vanity mirror is superposed on an inner wall of the trunk lid and any use position, and a clip means mounted on the back plate for grasping a retaining shaft provided on the inner wall of the trunk lid in the housed position of the back plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional vanity mirror device for a trunk, a clip means is constructed of a pair of clip pieces rising in parallel from a back of a back plate so that a retaining shaft provided on a trunk lid is resiliently grasped by the clip pieces, thereby retaining a vanity mirror in a housed position.
There are the following two conflicting requirements for the clip means: a force for retaining the vanity mirror is increased so that the vanity mirror is prevented from voluntarily turning due to a vibration or the like in the housed state of the vanity mirror, on one hand, and the vanity mirror can be easily returned to the housed position after use, on the other hand. In the conventional vanity mirror device, it is difficult to satisfy these requirements simultaneously.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vanity mirror device for a trunk, wherein the above two requirements can be satisfied, and the vanity mirror can be easily returned to the housed position, while increasing the force for retaining the vanity mirror in the housed state thereof.
To achieve the above object, according to a first feature of the present invention, there is provided a vanity mirror device for a trunk, comprising: a back plate of a vanity mirror, which is carried on a pivot mounted on an inner wall of a trunk lid, so that it can be turned between a housed position in which the vanity mirror is superposed on the inner wall of the trunk lid and any use position; and a clip means mounted on the back plate for grasping a retaining shaft provided on the inner wall of the trunk lid in the housed position of the back plate, wherein the clip means is constructed of at least a pair of clip pieces comprising: a pair of resilient finger portions rising from the back plate and intersecting each other immediately before the retaining shaft; and claw portions formed at tip ends of the resilient finger portions and brought into engagement with one side of the retaining shaft opposite from base ends of the resilient finger portions by resilient forces of the resilient finger portions.
With the first feature, when the retaining shaft is pushed into between the claw portions, the resilient finger portions are flexed to widen the space between the claw portions, so that the retaining shaft can be pushed into between the claw portions by a relatively small force. On the other hand, when the clip pieces grasping the retaining shaft are pulled away from the retaining shaft, the resilient finger portions are flexed to narrow the space between the claw portions, so that the frictional resistance between the claw portions and the retaining shaft is increased, leading to an increase in forces of the clip pieces for retaining the retaining shaft. Thus, it is possible to increase the retaining forces in the housed position of the vanity mirror, while enabling the easy returning of the vanity mirror from the use position to the housed position.
According to a second feature of the present invention, in addition to the first feature, the back plate is made of a synthetic resin, and has crank-shaped slits defined therein so that each of the clip pieces is formed by a portion of the back plate.
With the second feature, the integral formation of the back plate and the clip pieces can be carried out easily.
According to a third feature of the present invention, in addition to the second feature, finger-put portions are provided at corners of the back plate spaced apart from the clip pieces in an axial direction of the retaining shaft so that a user can put his fingers on the finger-put portions to turn the vanity mirror to the use position.
With the third feature, to operate the vanity mirror from the housed position to any use position, the user pulls the finger-put portion at left or right corner of a lower portion of the back plate to provide a slight resilient deformation to the back plate made of the synthetic resin, whereby the claw portions of the pair of clip pieces are disengaged from the retaining shaft sequentially from one side. Therefore, the clip pieces can be disengaged from the retaining shaft by a relatively small operating force.
According to a fourth feature of the present invention, in addition to any of the first to third features, the vanity mirror is constructed by coupling a mirror support supporting the mirror to the back plate, and a cushion member is interposed between the back plate and the mirror support.
With the fourth feature, even when the vanity mirror has been returned vigorously from the use position to the housed position, a shock force generated at that time can be absorbed by the cushion member between the back plate and the mirror, thereby suppressing the generation of an abnormal sound due to the shock vibration of the back plate.
According to a fifth feature of the present invention, in addition to the first feature, a pair of bearing members rotatably supported on the pivot are secured to the back plate of the vanity mirror, and a retaining member is mounted to the back plate, the retaining member comprising a pair of resilient clamping plates which are connected to each other into a U-shape and which are capable of clamping opposite sides of the pivot between the bearing members to retain the vanity mirror in any use position.
With the fifth feature, when the user turns the vanity mirror, the bearing members on the back plate are turned about the pivot, so that the pair of resilient clamping plates of the retaining member simultaneously rotate and continue to clamp an outer peripheral surface of the pivot while sliding thereon. If the user then releases his hand from the vanity mirror at a desired use position, the resilient clamping plates opposed to each other generates a rotational resistance due to the friction between the clamping plates and the pivot by their clamping forces, whereby the vanity mirror can be retained at the use position. Especially, the resilient clamping plates always exhibit constant clamping forces to the pivot, and hence the rotational resistance to the pivot is always stabilized, irrespective of the magnitude of the frictional resistance between the bearing members and the pivot. Therefore, the vanity mirror can be reliably retained at any use position, leading to an enhancement in assemblability. Moreover, the retaining member is placed utilizing a relatively large space between the pair of bearing members, and hence an increase in size of the vanity mirror device can be avoided.
According to a sixth feature of the present invention, in addition to the fifth feature, a tip end of each of the resilient clamping plates is divided by a plurality of slits into a plurality of resilient pieces each of which is independently brought into pressure-contact with the pivot.
With the sixth feature, each of the resilient clamping plates can be reliably brought over its entire width into pressure-contact with the pivot, whereby the frictional resistance between each of the resilient clamping plates and the pivot can be further stabilized. In addition, the force of pressure-contact between each resilient clamping plate and the pivot can be regulated by adjusting the width of the slits.
According to a seventh feature of the present invention, in addition to the fifth or sixth feature, the reta
Kusakari Hidehiko
Oomori Hiroyasu
Arent & Fox PLLC
Cherry Euncha P.
Honda Access Corporation
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