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Add-on wrap-around dashboard

  • US 5,259,655 A
  • Filed: 10/02/1992
  • Issued: 11/09/1993
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. For use in connection with a pre-existing dashboard in a semi-tractor cab, said dashboard being of a stock configuration having a steering column projecting from said dashboard into said cab, said dashboard having at least one pre-existing instrument panel normally mounted to a portion of a frontal region of said dashboard adjacent one side of said steering column, and wherein said instrument panel carries a plurality of dashboard instruments, and further, said instrument panel and said instruments being detachable and movable as a unit away from said frontal region into said cab without making any electrical disconnections of said instruments, an add-on dashboard accessory for remounting and repositioning said instrument panel closer to the location where a driver of said semi-tractor normally sits, for providing said driver with better access to said instruments, said dashboard accessory comprising:

  • a hollow housing that is mountable to said frontal region of said dashboard, said housing being sized and shaped in a manner such that, when said housing is mounted to said frontal region, said housing covers substantially only the portion of said frontal region where said instrument panel was normally mounted thereto, and when so mounted, said housing projecting from said dashboard, and further, said housing having at least one panel opening in a frontal face area of said housing, said panel opening being sized and shaped for remounting said instrument panel therein, to thereby simultaneously reposition said instrument panel and said instruments carried thereby closer to said vehicle driver, and in use, said instrument panel and said instruments are first detached as a unit from said frontal region of said dashboard, thereby defining an opening in said dashboard, said dashboard opening being at least partially surrounded by a peripheral border lip region of said dashboard, and said housing is thereafter mounted to said frontal region, followed by mounting said instrument panel and said instruments as a unit to said panel opening in said frontal face area of said housing, to thereby reposition said instrument panel closer to said vehicle driver, and further, said housing being mounted to said frontal region by at least being connected to certain spaced-apart areas of said border lip region.

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