Visor mirror cover assembly

A covered vehicle accessory such as a vanity mirror visor includes a socket for receiving at least one pivot axle of the cover. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a generally C-shaped spring compressibly engages a mirror frame on one side and a cam extending from the cover on a side opposite the front of the frame. The C-shaped spring includes first and second legs which respectively engage the frame and cover. The spring is locked in place in part by a tab formed in the frame and an aperture formed in the spring for receiving the tab and mating inclined walls of the frame and leg segment of the spring. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, also, the cover includes at least one pivot axle having an extension with an electrical contact which engages an electrical contact associated with the frame to define a switch which allows the application of operating power to a lamp associated with the illuminated vanity mirror structure upon opening of the cover.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the mounting of a cover to a vehicle 
accessory such as an illuminated vanity mirror visor. 
Vanity mirrors in vehicle visors are typically covered by a decorative and 
protective cover such that when the visor is in a lowered use position for 
sun blocking, the vanity mirror is covered when the mirror is not in use 
for safety reasons. The cover can be pivoted to a snapped-open position, 
typically activating lights for illumination of the vanity mirror for use. 
The cover, therefore, provides not only a safety function, but also a 
decorative function preventing reflections from the vanity mirror when not 
in use from distracting the vehicle operator. U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,150 
issued on Mar. 24, 1992, discloses an illuminated vanity mirror visor of 
this type. 
Covers for vanity mirrors and other vehicle accessories typically have been 
molded as a single polymeric member. They usually include some form of 
bias means such that the cover will conveniently move to a snapped-open or 
snapped-closed position for ease of operation. There is a variety of 
manners by which this has been achieved in the past, including providing a 
cam directly on the pivot sockets for the visor cover as taught, for 
example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,169, issued in July, 1980. Separate 
springs anchored to a vanity mirror frame and engaging a cam member on the 
visor hinge have been used for many years by Daimler-Benz in 
commercially-available visors as well. U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,150 also 
teaches the use of a spring clip which extends between a visor core and a 
visor cover to provide snapped-open and closed visor cover operation as 
does U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,445, issued Jan. 7, 1992. A difficulty with some 
of the prior art spring-type cover controls is that they require the 
springs to be either integrally molded within the mirror frame or require 
a special and somewhat complicated mounting structure for the frame and/or 
the cover for holding the spring in place when subjected to the various 
forces encountered in use. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a 
spring-biased, snapped-open and snapped-closed cover for vehicle 
accessories such as a vanity mirror visor in which the cover and 
supporting frame are readily manufactured and assembled with the spring 
being easily added to the combination of the cover and frame and providing 
the desired control for the cover. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
The cover assembly of the present invention accomplishes these goals by 
providing a cover and frame for the cover which are pivotally mounted with 
respect to one another and which include means for receiving a bias spring 
which not only clamps the cover and frame together, but interacts with 
camming means on the cover for snapped-open and snapped-closed operation 
of the cover. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the 
cover frame is a mirror frame for a vanity mirror visor and includes 
socket means for receiving at least one pivot axle of the cover. In a 
preferred embodiment of the invention, generally C-shaped spring means 
compressibly engage the frame on one side and cam means extending from the 
cover on a side opposite the front of the frame. The C-shaped spring means 
includes first and second legs which respectively engage the frame and 
cover. Means are provided for locking the spring in place. In a preferred 
embodiment of the invention, also, the cover includes at least one pivot 
axle having an extension with electrical contact means formed thereon 
which engages an electrical contact associated with the frame to define a 
switch which allows the application of operating power to lamp means 
associated with the illuminated vanity mirror structure upon opening of 
the cover. 
The resultant structure provides a relatively inexpensive vanity mirror 
cover having ease of assembly and a minimum number of parts and employing 
relatively small but sturdy C-shaped springs for providing snapped-open 
and snapped-closed operation of the cover. These and other features, 
objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading 
the following description thereof together with reference to the 
accompanying drawings in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a vehicle accessory 
such as a visor 10 embodying the present invention and installed in a 
vehicle such as an automobile 11 with the installation shown being the 
right front passenger area adjacent windshield 12 and the "A" pillar 13. 
Visor 10 includes a pivot mounting assembly 25 for mounting the visor to 
the roof 26 of the vehicle for movement between a lowered, use position 
illustrated and a raised, stored position adjacent the roof. 
Conventionally, the mounting assembly allows the visor to pivot from the 
windshield position shown to a position adjacent the side window 17. The 
visor includes a central core 30 (FIG. 3) which can be a folded planar 
material made of polypropylene or as in the preferred embodiment, a 
fiberboard material of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,532, 
issued Apr. 16, 1992, and entitled VISOR AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME, 
the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Core 30 
integrally includes a front panel 32 and a rear panel 34 with the front 
panel including an aperture 31 for receiving an illuminated vanity mirror 
assembly 20 therein. The fold line for these integral panels is not shown 
in FIG. 3 for the sake of clearly showing the remaining elements of the 
vanity mirror assembly 20. 
Assembly 20 includes a cover 40 for a mirror 24 and mirror frame 60 with a 
pair of lenses 27 snap-in mounted into apertures 26 in the frame 60 
located on opposite sides of the mirror 24. Illumination is provided by 
lamps 28 (FIG. 3) positioned behind lenses 27. The illuminated vanity 
mirror assembly 20 is assembled to the visor core within aperture 31 
thereof by mounting tabs 52 (FIG. 4) spaced around the periphery of frame 
60 as 7 also generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,150 issued Mar. 
24, 1992, and entitled VISOR COVER HINGE, the disclosure of which is 
incorporated herein by reference. 
As seen in FIG. 3, the visor 10 includes a torque device 22 of the type 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,289, which includes tabs 23 which lock 
within slots 33 of rear core panel 34 to lock the torque device to the 
visor core. A pivot rod associated with assembly 25 (FIGS. 1 and 2) 
extends within the torque device 22, as described in the above identified 
'289 patent, for allowing the snap-up and down operation of the visor 
between a raised stored position against the vehicle roof 26 and a lowered 
use position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 while the pivot mounting device 25 
also allows the visor to be moved to the side window position. 
A pair of circuit conductors 36 and 38 define at their opposite ends, as 
best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, socket means for receiving cartridge-type 
lamps 28 with one end of conductor 38 extending orthogonally upwardly 
terminating in a switch contact 37. Contact 37 is mounted in a 
cantilevered fashion with a fixed end heat staked to frame 60 at 51 as 
seen in FIG. 7. The opposite end 37' of the deflected conductive strip 
which forms contact 37 extends through slot 78 (FIG. 8) in frame 60 and 
rests against a stop 79 which is the edge of the slot 78. As contact 39 
rotates downwardly as seen by Arrow A in FIG. 7, it slides along and bends 
contact 37 away from stop 79 in a wiping action which assures a good 
electrical connection. Switch contact 39 is coupled to a supply conductor 
39' for supplying operating power, through switch means defined by 
contacts 37 and 39 and their mounting structure, to lamps 28 when cover 40 
is raised to an open position. Conductor 36 is coupled to the vehicle's 
ground by a second electrical conductor in a conventional manner. 
The cover 40 includes an upper edge 42 to which there is mounted in spaced 
relationship a pair of mounting arm assemblies 44 and 46 which are 
substantially identical in construction with the exception that assembly 
46 includes an outwardly projecting cylindrical tab 45 over which 
cylindrical barrel contact 39 extends for providing a switch as described 
in greater detail below. 
The construction of arm assembly 46 is best seen in FIG. 7 in which spring 
clip 80 associated with arm 46 has been removed for the purpose of more 
clearly showing assembly 46. A similar spring clip 82 is employed in 
connection with arm 44 with clips 80 and 82 cooperating between cover 40 
and mirror frame 60 to provide snapped-open and snapped-closed operation 
of the cover. The clips 80 and 82 are substantially identical and are also 
described below in greater detail in conjunction with FIGS. 11 and 12. 
Turning now to FIG. 7, arm assembly 46 includes an arcuate arm 47 having a 
first end 48 integrally molded to the upper edge 42 of cover 40 on the 
inside of the cover facing frame 60. On the opposite end 49 of arcuate arm 
47, and extending laterally outwardly therefrom, is an outwardly extending 
oblong-shaped cam 56 which engages spring clip 80 as described below. 
Extending from a side of cam 56 opposite clip 80 is an axle 50 supported 
in offset relationship to cam 56 by a pair of arms 52 and 54. In FIG. 7, 
the cover is shown in a closed position with spring 80 removed to show the 
pivot axle 50 held within the socket 70 of frame 60. Socket 70 includes a 
first upwardly extending tab 72 and a second upwardly extending tab 74, 
both of which include semi-cylindrical interior facing surfaces in spaced 
relationship with a slot for receiving pivot axle 50 in snap-fitting 
engagement therebetween. Thus, the spacing between the open ends of tabs 
72 and 74 are such that the pivot axle 50 must be force-fitted within the 
resilient polymeric socket and once in its inserted position, as seen in 
FIG. 7, it is held in such position partly by the resilient curved tabs 
and partly by the compressive spring clip 80 which fits over the cover and 
frame. Cover 40 rotates about a pivot axis P (FIG. 7) which is aligned with 
pivot axle 50 of arm assembly 46 and a second axle of substantially 
identical pivot arm assembly 44 on the other side of the top of cover 40 
in offset relationship to cam 56. Thus, when cover 40 is opened to a 
position shown, as seen in FIG. 10, the camming surface 56 is on a side of 
socket 70 and pivot axle 50 opposite that shown in FIG. 7. Compressive 
spring 80 grips the frame 60 on a side opposite cam member 56, and this 
force on cam member 56 helps to hold the cover pivot axle 50 within socket 
70 and to provide a bias force in an over-center spring arrangement to 
assure that the cover moves toward and remains in a snapped-open or 
snapped-closed position. The structure and operation of the spring is 
described in greater detail below, subsequent to the following description 
of socket 70. 
As best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, frame 60 includes inclined walls 71 and 73 
which intersect at an apex at which the tabs 72 and 74 are mounted. The 
tabs are formed by a die extending through a rectangular aperture 75 at 
the intersection of walls 71 and 73, as best seen in FIG. 6. Clearance for 
the curved arm 47 (and its corresponding arm in assembly 44) is provided by 
a notch 76 formed in the upper wall 77 of cover 60 as seen in FIGS. 4-7. A 
slot 78 on a side of notch 76 opposite walls 71 and 73 provides an 
aperture through which the tip or free end 37' of contact 37 extends and 
is supported on an edge thereof as best seen in FIGS. 6-8. As described 
above, the edge 79 of slot 78 defines a stop which holds the biased spring 
electrical contact 37 in a fixed position with respect to contact 39 
attached to the extension 45 of cylindrical cam 56 of arm assembly 46. 
With the cover in a closed position, as seen in FIG. 7, a small gap 
indicated by Arrow G in FIG. 7 exists between electrical conductor 37 and 
switch contact 39, thereby preventing electrical contact with the switch. 
As the cover is opened and cam member 56 pivots about pivot axle 50 along 
axis P, the electrical switch contact 39 rotates downwardly generally 
indicated by Arrow A in FIGS. 7 and 10 to engage and deflect contact 37 as 
seen in FIG. 10 with the cover in an open position. It is noted here that 
the flat metallic conductors 36 and 38 including switch contact 37 are 
mounted to the polymeric frame 60 by a plurality of heat stake posts 51 as 
best seen in FIGS. 5 and 7 with the conductors 36 and 38 extending behind 
mirror 24 and captively held within a backing material for mirror 24. 
The socket 70 for snap receiving and captively holding the cover axles in 
connection the spring clips 80 and 82, is formed as noted above by molding 
the frame 60 to include, as seen in FIG. 6, convexly projecting walls 71 
and 73 which are concavely projecting from the opposite view shown in FIG. 
7. This recesses the socket 70 such that the support arms 52 and 56 can 
offset the pivot axle from the upper edge 42 of the cover and maintain a 
relatively flat package for the mirror assembly 20. Also, the generally 
triangular side configuration of the inclined walls 71 and 73 and the 
inner surface 81 (FIG. 7) of the frame 60 provides support for holding the 
clips 80 and 82 in position. Also, for purposes of holding the spring clips 
in place, wall 71 includes an outwardly projecting tab 83 which extends 
within an aperture 93 (FIG. 11) of each of the spring clips 80 and 82 
locking them in position as also seen in FIG. 8. 
Each of the spring clips 80 and 82 are substantially identical with spring 
clip 82 being shown in detail in FIGS. 11 and 12. As seen in these Figs., 
the spring clips include an upper leg 90 and a lower leg 92 formed in a 
generally C-shaped configuration as seen in FIG. 12. Upper leg 90 includes 
an upwardly projecting tip end 91 extending outwardly and upwardly from a 
downwardly extending section 95 in which aperture 93 is formed. Section 95 
is integral with a second section 96 of upper leg 90 which extends 
downwardly to form a shallow inverted V-shaped upper leg 90. Section 96 
terminates in a generally horizontal extending section 97 which joins with 
a vertical end wall 98 coupling legs 90 and 92. 
Leg 92 is convexly curved (as viewed from the cam side) with a downwardly 
depending tip 99 which in conjunction with curved tip 91 of leg 90 allows 
for the easy insertion of the spring clips 80 and 82 over the cover and 
frame combination, particularly over the socket 70 including walls 71 and 
73 and around the cam 56. Clips 80 and 82 are made of a suitable spring 
steel material and are dimensioned to compressibly grip the cam 56 and 
hold pivot axle 50 within socket 70 thereby assisting in holding the cover 
to the frame while, at the same time, providing an over-spring biasing 
action for the cam 56 as noted above. Thus, the gap between legs 90 and 92 
is slightly less than the spacing between the cam 56 and surfaces 71 and 73 
of the socket such that the spring compressibly clamps the cover and frame 
together once installed as seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 8-10. 
The spring clips are held in position by the tabs 83 extending through 
apertures 93 but also by the engagement of leg section 95 against wall 71 
and leg section 96 against wall section 73 with the angle between sections 
95 and 96 being substantially the same as the angle of intersection between 
walls 71 and 73 of socket 70 on frame 60. Leg 92 of the spring clips, as 
best seen in FIGS. 9 and 10, engages the cam 56 along its length with the 
cam 56 being in a position closer to end wall 98 when the cover is closed, 
as seen in FIG. 9, and closer to the distal end 99 of leg 92 when the cover 
is in an open position as shown in FIG. 10. The curved surface of lower leg 
92 provides a smooth contact area for the cam and maximum bias force in the 
center area of movement of the cam for urging the cover between open and 
closed positions with the spring being substantially undeflected when the 
cover is either open or closed but deflecting outwardly as the cover moves 
from one position to the other to provide the additional bias force 
necessary for urging the cover between the two positions. The spring clips 
provide a continuous compressive force to the cam 56 in either of the open 
or closed positions for securely holding the spring in place on the frame 
and cover and holding the cover in a rattle-free configuration in either 
the open or closed positions. 
With the system of the present invention, a unique cover-to-frame mounting 
system provides an over-center spring action for controlling cover 
movement from either snapped-open or snapped-closed positions. The system 
utilizes a minimum number of parts and assembly is easily facilitated by 
snapping a cover into place within the frame and sliding the pair of bias 
springs over the spaced pivot axles for the cover. This construction 
provides a relatively inexpensive and yet functional and durable system 
for mounting a cover to a vehicle accessory such as a vanity mirror visor. 
It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various 
modifications to the preferred embodiment as described herein can be made 
without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the 
appended claims.