Lighted/information case assembly for rearview mirrors
First Claim
1. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
- a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adpated to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case;
means for mounting said case on a support;
an opening in said bottom wall portion;
carrier means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like within said interior space, said carrier means including a rigid support and mounting means for mounting said support within said opening such that said support is generally flush with the exterior of said bottom wall portion; and
removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier means from said bottom wall opening without disassembling other portions of said mirror case.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A case assembly for vehicular rearview mirrors adapted to support lights for illuminating portions of the vehicle interior, instruments such as directional compasses or the like, and controls such as switches or instrument adjustment units. The case includes one, and preferably two, spaced, removable carrier modules fitted generally flush with the bottom of the mirror case. The carrier modules may include varying combinations of light assemblies for map reading, courtesy or console illumination, switches, and controls for compasses, clocks, electronic or other instruments. A preferred light arrangement provides illumination of areas below and outwardly of the case ends with brighter, targeted lighting areas in the lap areas of persons seated in the front seats of the vehicle.
546 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adpated to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; means for mounting said case on a support; an opening in said bottom wall portion; carrier means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like within said interior space, said carrier means including a rigid support and mounting means for mounting said support within said opening such that said support is generally flush with the exterior of said bottom wall portion; and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier means from said bottom wall opening without disassembling other portions of said mirror case. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; means for mounting said case on a support; an opening in said bottom wall portion; carrier means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like within said interior space, said carrier means including a rigid support and mounting means for mounting said rigid support within said opening such that said rigid support is generally flush with the exterior of said bottom wall portion; said carrier means also including a light assembly on the inside surface of said rigid support, said light assembly projecting into said space and including a lamp socket, a reflector in said lamp socket for directing light downwardly, an electric lamp in said lamp socket projecting into the interior of said reflector, a lens mounted below said lamp socket, reflector and lamp, and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier means from said opening; said rigid support including a control unit mounted thereon for controlling the operation of an instrument such as a directional compass, sensing unit or the like adapted to be mounted within said case, said control unit including a control element extending from said rigid support for access from the bottom of said case assembly; a directional compass means for sensing the directional heading position of said case assembly and display means for displaying the directional heading sensed by said compass means;
said control unit including compensating controls for adjusting said compass means. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; means for mounting said case on a support; an opening in said bottom wall portion; carrier means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like within said interior space, said carrier means including a rigid support and mounting means for mounting said rigid support is generally flush with the exterior of said bottom wall portion; said carrier means also including a light assembly on the inside surface of said rigid support, said light assembly projecting into said space and including a lamp socket, a reflector in said lamp socket for directing light downwardly, an electric lamp in said lamp socket projecting into the interior of said reflector, a lens mounted below said lamp socket, reflector and lamp, and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier means from said opening; said support including a light opening therethrough;
said lamp socket including a hollow framework extending upwardly from said support and aligned over said light opening, said framework having curved, downwardly diverging sides defining a reflector recess;
said reflector mounted within said reflector recess; and
lamp holder means for supporting said lamp above said reflector recess, said lamp holder means including a lamp aperture opening into said reflector recess;said support also including a plurality of upstanding mounting pegs adjacent said light opening;
said hollow framework including a base having mounting apertures receiving said mounting pegs for securing said framework over said light opening. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; means for mounting said case on a support; an opening in said bottom wall portion; carrier means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like within said interior space, said carrier means including a rigid support and mounting means for mounting said rigid support within said opening such that said rigid support is generally flush with the exterior of said bottom wall portion; said case including a pair of upstanding ribs on the inner surface of said bottom wall portion adjacent opposing sides of said opening;
said mounting means including a support flange projecting outwardly from one end of said rigid support and engaging one of said ribs, and at least one resilient flanged projection extending from the other end of said rigid support and engaging the other of said ribs;
slot means adjacent said resilient projection for inserting a tool to bend said projection to remove said support from said case. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; securing means generally at the center of said case back for mounting said case on a support; a pair of openings in said bottom wall portion, one opening on either side of said securing means; a carrier module received in each of said openings, each carrier module configured to the shape of said opening such that it generally fills said opening in which it is received and including a body, mounting means for mounting said body within one of said openings, support means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like on said body and projecting into said interior space, and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier module from said bottom wall opening and said bottom wall portion without disassembling other portions of said mirror case for access to the light, control or instrument when said module is removed. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 44)
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39. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; securing means generally at the center of said case back for mounting said case on a support; a pair of openings in said bottom wall portion, one opening on either side of said securing means; a carrier module received in each of said openings, each carrier module configured to the shape of said opening such that it generally fills said opening in which it is received and including a body, mounting menas for mounting said body within one of said openings, support means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like on said body and projecting into said interior space, and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier module from said opening and said bottom wall portion for access to the light, control or instrument when said module is removed; one of said carrier modules including a light assembly on the inside surface of said body, said light assembly projecting into said space and including a lamp socket, a reflector in said lamp socket for directing light downwardly, an electric lamp in said lamp socket projecting into the interior of said reflector, and a lens mounted below said lamp socket, reflector and lamp; said body including a light opening therethrough;
said lamp socket including a hollow framework extending upwardly from said support and aligned over said light opening, said framework having curved, downwardly diverging sides defining a reflector recess;
said reflector mounted within said reflector recess; and
lamp holder means for supporting said lamp above said reflector recess, said lamp holder means including a lamp aperture opening into said reflector recess. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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45. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; securing means generally at the center of said case back for mounting said case on a support; a pair of openings in said bottom wall portion, one opening on either side of said securing means; a carrier module received in each of said openings, each carrier module configured to the shape of said opening such that it generally fills said opening in which it is received and including a body, mounting means for mounting said body within one of said openings, support means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like on said body and projecting into said interior space, and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier module from said opening and said bottom wall portion for access to the light, control or instrument when said module is removed; said body including a control unit mounted on said support means for controlling the operation of an instrument such as a directional compass, sensing unit or the like adapted to be mounted within said case, said control unit including a control element extending from said body for access from the bottom of said case assembly; a directional compass means for sensing the directional heading position of said case assembly and display means for displaying the directional heading sensed by said compass means;
said control unit including compensating controls for adjusting said compass means.
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46. A case assembly for a vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having a back and a peripheral sidewall defining a front opening adapted to receive a mirror element, said peripheral sidewall including top, bottom and end wall portions, said back spaced from said front opening to define an interior space within said case; securing means generally at the center of said case back for mounting said case on a support; a pair of openings in said bottom wall portion, one opening on either side of said securing means; a carrier module received in each of said openings, each carrier module configured to the shape of said opening such that it generally fills said opening in which it is received and including a body, mounting means for mounting said body within one of said openings, support means for supporting a light, a control, an instrument or the like on said body and projecting into said interior space, and removal means accessible from the bottom of said case assembly for allowing removal of said carrier module from said opening and said bottom wall portion for access to the light, control or instrument when said module is removed; said case including a pair of upstanding ribs on the inner surface of said bottom wall portion adjacent opposing sides of each of said openings;
said mounting means including a support flange projecting outwardly from one end of said body and engaging one of said ribs, and at least one resilient flanged projection extending from the other end of said body and engaging the other of said ribs;
said removal means including slot means adjacent said resilient projection for inserting a tool to bend said projection to remove said support from said case. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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48. A case assembly for vehicular rearview mirror comprising:
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a mirror case having means for receiving a mirror element, a case back, a peripheral sidewall including lateral ends, and means for supporting said assembly in a vehicle; lighting means for illuminating areas adjacent said assembly; support means for supporting lighting means on said mirror case; and light directing means for directing light from said lighting means to illuminate an area below and outwardly of one lateral end of said case with a predetermined amount of light, said area including a smaller, targeted area of brighter, more intense light therewithin, said targeted area being directed and positioned generally to illuminate the lap area of a person seated in a front seat of a vehicle with said case assembly mounted in normal driver viewing position generally above the instrument panel of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification