Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Automobile
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-13
2001-12-04
Cariaso, Alan (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Automobile
C362S137000, C362S375000, C362S368000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325527
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vanity mirror attached to a sun visor for automotive vehicles, and more particularly to a vanity mirror having a simple construction and an improved reliance in operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, an automotive vehicle is provided with sun visors mounted in the interior of the vehicle in front of the driver's and passenger's seats, respectively. Each of the sun visors is hingably coupled to a hinge bar hingably mounted to a body of the vehicle in order to shield the eyes of the driver or passenger from the rays of the sun incident to the interior of the vehicle, thereby preventing him from being blinded by the sun light. In addition to such a main function for shielding the driver or passenger from the rays of the sun, many of sun visors have additional functions, for example, a function for allowing the passenger to conveniently view his face image reflected by a mirror attached to the rear surface of the sun visor in the interior of the vehicle. Such a mirror, which is attached to the rear surface of the sun visor, is called a “vanity mirror”.
However, it is impossible to normally use such a vanity mirror in cloudy weather or at night because the image reflected by the vanity mirror is dark. In order to solve this problem, the vanity mirror is generally provided with a lamp at one side thereof. Typically, a cover is also provided to cover the vanity mirror along with the lamp. The cover is hingably mounted to the sun visor. Such a cover serves to protect the passenger from broken pieces of the vanity mirror and lamp which may shatter when an accident occurs. Generally, the cover also functions as a switching actuator for switching on and off the lamp.
These vanity mirror, lamp, and cover are assembled together into a single assembly which is mounted to the rear surface of the sun visor.
An example of a conventional vanity mirror is illustrated in FIG.
13
. As shown in
FIG. 13
, the vanity mirror includes a mirror body
201
having two openings
202
and
203
with different sizes. A mirror
204
is fitted in the larger opening, namely, the opening
202
. A double-sided adhesive tape
205
is attached to the rear surface of the mirror
204
. In the smaller opening
203
, a lamp is mounted to the mirror body
201
. The lamp includes a lamp body
210
fitted in the smaller opening
203
, an electric bulb
207
mounted to the lamp body
210
by means of a mounting bracket
206
, a lens
208
mounted to a front end of the lamp body
210
in front of the electric bulb
207
, and a switch
209
mounted to an upper end of the lamp body
210
. A rear cover
211
is mounted to the rear end of the mirror body
201
. A front cover
212
is also mounted to the front end of the mirror body
201
at opposite sides of its upper end by means of a pair of pins
213
in such a fashion that it can hinge about the pins
213
between an opened position and a closed position. The front cover
212
is resiliently supported by a pair of plate springs
214
disposed at opposite lateral ends of the mirror body
201
so that it can be maintained in a completely opened or closed state. The front cover
212
is configured to depress the switch
209
at its opened position, thereby turning on the electric bulb
207
. The vanity mirror having the above mentioned assembly is mounted to the rear surface of a sun visor.
When the user turns the sun visor downwardly to expose the rear surface of the sun visor, the vanity mirror is accessible. In this state, opening the cover
212
causes the electric bulb
207
to be turned on. Even in the dark interior of the vehicle, the user can clearly view his face image reflected by the mirror
204
by virtue of the light emitted from the electric bulb
207
.
Meanwhile, it is desirable for the vanity mirror to have a thin, simple, and light construction, taking into consideration the fact that the vanity mirror is mounted to a planar sun visor. It is also important for the vanity mirror to be stably maintained at its opened state in order to prevent the ON state of the switch achieved in accordance with the opened state of the vanity mirror from being unintentionally released, that is, to maintain the ON state of the electric bulb.
However, the above mentioned conventional vanity mirror has a thick and heavy construction due to a complexity in construction caused by an increased number of constituting elements. For example, the lamp body
210
including the electric bulb
207
is separate from the mirror body
210
. The rear cover
211
is also mounted to the rear surface of the mirror body
201
. In addition to such a thick and heavy construction, the conventional vanity mirror has various drawbacks. That is, the mounted state of the plate springs
214
, which are fitted in holes formed at the rear surface of the mirror body
201
near opposite lateral ends of the mirror body
201
, is unstable. For this reason, the plate springs
214
may be easily separated from their mounted positions, thereby causing the cover
212
to be unstable in its opened state. This results in a problem in that the electric bulb
207
may be unintentionally turned off during its use. The bracket
206
serves not only to hold the electric bulb
207
, but also as an electric line for supplying current to the electric bulb
207
. For this reason, the bracket
206
has a complicated construction. Such a complicated construction of the bracket
206
results in a complexity in the inner construction of the lamp body
210
for providing a mounting area for the bracket
206
. As a result, there is a difficulty in the manufacture of the lamp body
210
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above mentioned problems, and an object of the invention is to provide a vanity mirror of a sun visor for an automotive vehicle which has a simple, light and thin construction using constituting elements simplified in construction and decreased in number while being capable of providing a stable mounting of plate springs adapted to maintain a cover at its opened or closed position, thereby allowing the cover to be stably maintained in its opened state, so that the electric bulb of a lamp adapted to be turned on and off in accordance with the opened and closed positions of the cover is prevented from being unintentionally turned off during its use.
In accordance with the present invention, this object is accomplished by providing A vanity mirror of a sun visor for an automotive vehicle comprising: a mirror body fitted in a recess provided at the sun visor and mounted with a mirror, the mirror body having a pair of recessed spring fitting portions at respective upper corners thereof and an engagement protrusion at one lateral end thereof; a lamp body integral with the mirror body, the lamp body being mounted with a main lamp holding bracket, an additional lamp holding bracket coupled to the main lamp holding bracket, an electric bulb held by the lamp holding brackets, and a lens while having circular holes; a cover hingably coupled to the mirror body in such a fashion that it is hinged between an opened position thereof and a closed position thereof, the cover having, at respective upper corners thereof, a pair of hinge portions hingably fitted in the spring fitting portions of the mirror body; a pair of plate springs respectively fitted in the spring fitting portions of the mirror body and adapted to urge the hinge portions of the cover so that the cover is maintained in an opened or closed state; a mirror-end base plate mounted in the recess of the sun visor and provided with a groove for receiving the engagement protrusion of the mirror body; and a lamp-end base plate mounted in the recess of the sun visor and provided with cylindrical columns fitted in the circular holes of the lamp body, the cylindrical columns supporting the main lamp holding bracket by set screws threadedly coupled thereto via the main lamp holding bracket; whereby the mirror bo
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Cariaso Alan
Kia Motors Corporation
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