Optical: systems and elements – Mirror – With support
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-09
2001-07-17
Sikder, Mohammad (Department: 2872)
Optical: systems and elements
Mirror
With support
C359S880000, C359S871000, C359S872000, C359S846000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260977
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stay for a door mirror which is used for attaching the door mirror to a door panel of an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a stay for a door mirror of an automobile, conventionally, there have been known a one-piece type stay and a two-piece type one.
FIG. 1
is a schematic perspective view of such a one-piece type stay
10
. The stay
10
has a triangular mount plate
11
which is fixed on a door panel of the automobile, and a mirror support
12
which is laterally projected from the mount plate
11
and supports a mirror unit
50
(FIG.
2
). On the mirror support
12
, there are provided a plurality of bosses
13
for fixing the mirror unit
50
.
Ordinarily in this kind of one-piece stay, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a seal member
30
is fixed to a mount surface
11
a
, against the door panel, of the mount plate
11
by a double coated adhesive tape (double-sided adhesive tape). Further, a porous member
40
is fixed to the seal member
30
also by a double coated adhesive tape.
The seal member
30
is made of vinyl chloride (PVC), rubber and so on. The seal member
30
prevents a wind from blowing into the stay, or prevents a water from entering the stay. On the other hand, the porous member
40
can be elastically deformed to some extent, and is sandwiched between the stay and the door panel so as to further seal the inside of the stay with its elasticity.
The reason why the seal member
30
and the porous member
40
, both are intended for sealing, are separately provided are as follows. It is necessary to surely seal the complicated configuration of the mount surface
11
a
of the mount plate
11
, where the bosses for screwing and so on are provided. The following is also another reason. That is, the porous member
40
is generally formed by stamping from a sheet-like material, and therefore it can not effectively seal the complicated mount surface
11
a.
In the above conventional constitution, two members of the seal member
30
and the porous member
40
must be fixed to one stay. Further, the seal member
30
and the porous member
40
are fixed with the double coated adhesive tape. Thus, the many parts are necessary, and therefore its assembling steps are increased in number. As a result, the manufacturing cost goes up.
FIG. 3
is a schematic perspective view of the abovementioned two-piece type stay
20
. The stay
20
comprises a base
20
a
made of metal which provides necessary strength for the stay, and a base cover
20
b
made of resin which covers the base
20
a
from outside. The base
20
a
is provided with a projecting portion
22
which is laterally projected from a base plate
21
. On the other hand, the base cover
20
b
is provided with a projecting portion
26
which is laterally projected from a triangular base plate
25
. An opening
27
is formed at a region where the base plate
25
and the projecting portion
26
are connected with each other.
The projecting portion
22
of the base
20
a
is passed through the opening
27
so that the base
20
a
and the base cover
20
b
are connected with each other. Thus, the stay
20
, which is similar to the stay
10
in
FIG. 1
, is assembled. The base plates
21
and
25
are integrated so as to form a portion corresponding to the mount plate
11
of the stay
10
in FIG.
1
. The projecting portions
22
and
26
are integrated so as to form a portion corresponding to the mirror support
12
of the stay
10
. On the projecting portions
22
of the base
20
a
, there are provided a plurality of bosses
23
for fixing the mirror unit.
Also in the two-piece type stay
20
, like in the case of the one-piece type stay, there arises a problem of higher manufacturing cost due to using two members of the seal member and the porous member. Further, in the two-piece type stay, a wind-causing noise problem (i.e. occurrence of whistler, or of whistling sound) additionally arises, which will be explained below with reference to FIG.
4
.
FIG. 4
is a schematic sectional view taken along a
4
—
4
line in Fig,
3
, wherein the stay is attached to the door panel of the automobile.
In
FIG. 4
, the mirror unit is not shown. A door panel
51
, shown with an imaginary line, is one located at the most indoor side. Actually, other door panels also exist at outdoor side (stay side), and the constitution is complicated. Between the door panels and the seal member
30
, a compressed porous member is sandwiched so as to perform sealing therebetween (in
FIG. 4
, the compressed porous member is not shown). Further, another decorative panel (not shown) is attached at the indoor side of the door panel
51
.
In the two-piece type stay, air flows through a gap between two pieces. That is, air flows in from the gaps shown in
FIG. 4
(arrows A and B), and this air flow leaks into the automobile thorough an opening
31
formed on the seal member
30
(see an arrow C), causing uncomfortable wind noise to the driver. The opening
31
is formed at a location corresponding to a female tapped hole
21
a
which is formed on the base plate
21
and receives a screw (not shown) used for fixing the stay to the door panel. Although, in
FIG. 4
, for the sake of clear explanation, the gaps between the stay and the seal member
30
are largely shown for overstatement, actual gaps are more narrow. But, the air flow enters the automobile through such narrow gaps under its wind pressure.
SUMMERY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stay for door mirror wherein an effective sealing can be achieved with less number of parts, and even in the case of two-piece type one, wind noise problem can not arise.
In accomplishing this and other objects of the present invention, the first aspect of the present invention provides a stay for a door mirror, comprising: a mount plate which is fixed along a door panel; a mirror support which is supported by the mount plate and which supports a mirror unit; and a porous member which is integrally formed with the mount plate, the porous member covering a mount surface of the mount plate.
This stay is one-piece type stay, like in the conventional stay in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. This stay has a different point from the conventional stay in a point of view that a porous member, which covers a mount surface of the mount plate, is integrally formed with the mount plate (namely, with the stay). This integrally formed porous member has a function to seal and protect the mount surface. Therefore, in the stay of the present invention, the seal member which has been required conventionally is not necessary. Further, the double coated adhesive tape for fixing each member can be omitted. Thus, the number of parts and in turn the number of working steps can be decreased, so that the manufacturing cost can be more lowered than the conventional.
The second aspect of the present invention provides a stay for a door mirror, comprising: a base made of metal which provides a predetermined strength required for the stay, wherein the base comprises a mount plate which is fixed along a door panel, and wherein the base further comprises a mirror support which is supported by the mount plate and which supports a mirror unit; a base cover made of resin which covers the base; and a porous member which is formed integrally with both the base and the base cover, the porous member filling in a gap between the base and the base cover, and the porous member covering a mount surface of the mount plate.
Further, the third aspect of the present invention provides a stay for a door mirror, comprising: a base made of metal which provides a predetermined strength required for the stay, wherein the base comprises a mount plate which is fixed along a door panel, and wherein the base further comprises a mirror support which is supported by the mount plate and which supports a mirror unit; a base cover made of resin which covers the base; and a porous member which is formed integrally with the base, the porous member filling
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho
Sikder Mohammad
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