Quick-attach mirror mounting structure facilitating assembly
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a mirror head assembly;
a mirror support assembly; and
a ball-and-socket connection including a ball section on one of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly, and including a tube and a socket on the other of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly;
the tube having an open end large enough for the ball section to fit through;
the socket being shaped to capture the ball section when in a home position in the tube, but being shiftable to a release position in the tube where the socket has room to spread to receive the ball section as the ball section is moved through the open end; and
a holding device shaped to hold the socket in the home position.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus includes a mirror head assembly including a rearwardly-extending ball section, and a mirror support assembly including a tube having a larger-diameter mid-section and a smaller-diameter tapered end section. A socket on the mirror support assembly, when in the end section, captures the ball section with friction to permit angular adjustment but with enough friction to maintain a selected angular position. A spring biases the socket from the mid-section into the end section, but is compressible so that assembly is possible by pressing the ball section against the socket, causing the socket to move from the end section into the mid-section where the ball section snaps into the socket. It is conceived that the ball section and socket components can be reversed, and also that the mirror support assembly can include a two-ball mount, with a ball-and-socket connection at each end.
34 Citations
66 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a mirror head assembly;
a mirror support assembly; and
a ball-and-socket connection including a ball section on one of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly, and including a tube and a socket on the other of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly;
the tube having an open end large enough for the ball section to fit through;
the socket being shaped to capture the ball section when in a home position in the tube, but being shiftable to a release position in the tube where the socket has room to spread to receive the ball section as the ball section is moved through the open end; and
a holding device shaped to hold the socket in the home position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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13. (cancelled)
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14. An apparatus comprising:
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a mirror head assembly including a ball section; and
a mirror support assembly including a tube having a mid-section with a larger diameter and an end section with a smaller diameter and defining an open end;
the mount support assembly further including a socket that, when in the end section, is shaped to capture the ball section with friction to maintain a selected angular position but that permits angular adjustment when the friction is overcome;
the mirror support assembly including a spring biasing the socket from the mid-section into the end section, but the spring being compressible so that by pressing the ball section against the socket, the socket can be moved from the end section into the mid-section permitting the ball section to move through the open end and snap into the socket. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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23. (cancelled)
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24. An apparatus comprising:
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a mirror head assembly;
a mirror support assembly; and
a ball-and-socket connection connecting the mirror head assembly to the mirror support assembly, the connection including a ball section, a tube with an open end larger than the ball section, a spring within the tube, and a socket biased by the spring capturing the ball section in an end of the tube for angular adjustment, the socket and ball being shiftable within the tube to move the socket away from the open end and the spring being compressible to a location where the socket is expandable to telescopingly receive the ball section for permitting assembly and disassembly. - View Dependent Claims (25, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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26. (cancelled)
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27. An apparatus comprising:
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a mirror head assembly;
a mirror support assembly; and
a ball-and-socket connection connecting the mirror head assembly to the mirror support assembly, the connection including a ball section, a tube with an end section and an open end larger than the ball section, and a socket capturing the ball section in the end section of the tube for angular adjustment, the socket and ball being shiftable within the tube to partially remove the socket from the end section so that the fingers can flex radially to telescopingly receive the ball section during assembly. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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28. A method of assembly comprising steps of:
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providing a mirror head assembly and a mirror support assembly, including a ball section on one of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly, and including a tube and a socket on the other of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly;
pressing the ball section against the socket to move the socket to a second position where the ball section can be moved inside the socket; and
moving the socket back to a closed home position where the ball section is retained in the socket with frictional engagement that allows angular adjustment but that provides sufficient force to maintain a selected angular position. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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29. A method of assembly comprising steps of:
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providing a mirror head assembly and a mirror support assembly, each including mating connecting structure preformed into the respective assemblies; and
aligning the mating connecting structure and then pressing the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly together to cause the mating connecting structure to telescopingly interlockingly engage without a need for a secondary operation to retain the mating connecting structure together.
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51. An apparatus comprising:
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a mirror head assembly;
a mirror support assembly; and
a ball-and-socket connection including a ball section on one of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly, and including a socket on the other of the mirror head assembly and the mirror support assembly;
the socket including fingers defining an opening configured to accept the ball section therethrough and into the socket, the fingers having inwardly tapered ends tapering towards the opening;
wherein the ball section abuts the inwardly tapered ends of the fingers to move the fingers outward as the ball section is moved through the opening and into the socket. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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Specification