Patent Publication Number: US-4584632-A

Title: Mirror or mirrored cabinet

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a mirror on a mirrored cabinet with at least one lamp mounted at the side. 
     Mounting lamps on mirrors or mirrored cabinets with lamps mounted at the side has always caused problems. The lamps have for a long time been attached directly to the mirror or mirrored cabinet, which is a difficult measure in that it necessitates processing the mirror glass itself. Specifically, the glass has to be drilled through in order to attach and secure the lamps. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to thoroughly improve a mirror or mirrored cabinet of the aforesaid generic type to the extent that the lamp or lamps can be mounted more simply and easily. 
     This object is attained in accordance with the invention in that the mirror or mirrored cabinet is suspended from an assembly rail that can be secured toward the wall and a lamp mount, which supports the lamps, is secured to and can be released from the front of the assembly rail. 
     Since the lamps in this design are mounted outside of the actual mirrored area, the mirror glass is no longer called upon for attaching them. It is no longer necessary to drill through the glass with the concomitant risk of damaging the mirror. 
     Another advantage of the invention is that it is now possible to mount lamps subsequently with no problem. 
     The lamp mount can be made in two parts, consisting of a molding that is flush with the assembly rail and of a lamp socket that is attached to the assembly rail more or less perpendicular to the molding. 
     The assembly rail can be designed to be telescoping and slide apart, with the assembly rail consisting of an intermediate and of two headers that are attached to it in such a way as to slide longitudinally. 
     In a preferred embodiment, lamp terminals and a plug can be attached to each leader, and a plug can be attached to each lamp socket. 
     The intermediate and header can be made out of extruded sections, and the moldings and lamp sockets can be castings. 
     Hanger strips with hangers that point downward can be attached to the rear of the mirror or mirrored cabinet. Preferably, the hanger strips can be attached to the mirror or mirrored cabinet with double-sided adhesive tape. Alternatively, a hanger rail that parallels the assembly rail can be fastened to the back of the mirror or mirrored cabinet. The hanger rail can be fastened to the mirror or mirrored cabinet with double-sided adhesive tape. 
     Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, wherein: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembly rail with two lamp mounts and a schematically indicated mirror attached to the assembly rail in accordance with the invention, 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the front of the assembly rail in FIG. 1, and 
     FIG. 3 is a vertical section through a mirror suspended on an assembly rail in another embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A mirror 10, incompletely illustrated in FIG. 1 for simplicity&#39;s sake, is suspended from an assembly rail 11 that has lamp mounts 12 on the front. 
     Hanger strips 14 are attached to the back of mirror 10 with double-sided adhesive tape 13. For simplicity&#39;s sake only one hanger strip 14 is illustrated, before final attachment to the rear of mirror 10, in FIG. 1. 
     Each hanger strip 14 has several hangers 15 pointing down on the back to allow mirror 10 to be fastened to assembly rail 11. 
     The assembly rail 11 in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is telescoping and consists of an intermediate 16 and of two headers 17. 
     Headers 17 have been slid over the front ends of intermediate 16 and can be secured to in different positions by means of screws 18 that pass through slots 19 in header 17. The overall length of assembly rail 11 can accordingly be varied over a wide range. 
     Lamp mounts 12 are in two parts, consisting of a molding 20 that is flush with assembly rail 11 and of a lamp socket 21 that is attached to the assembly rail more or less perpendicular to the molding. 
     Moldings 20 are inserted into the front ends of header 17 and secured with screws 22. 
     Lamp terminals 23 with a plug 24 attached to them are fastened into headers 17. 
     Another plug 25 that constitutes a mate for each plug 24 is fastened to each lamp socket 21. 
     Plugs 24 and 25 are connected together once intermediate 16 and headers 17 are fastened together, moldings 20 have been connected, and lamp sockets 21 secured. 
     The only remaining operation is to establish an electric connection to lamp terminals 23. No additional wiring needs to be conducted or further connections established in order to complete the installation. 
     Assembly rail 11 with the lamp mounts 12 attached to it is now mounted in a known way on an interior wall and mirror 10 is suspended from the rail by means of hanger strips 14. 
     Both intermediate 16 and headers 17 are made out of extruded sections. 
     The advantage of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that it can easily be adjusted to mirrors of any size. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a hanger rail 26 that parallels the axis of assembly rail 11 on the back of mirror 10 can also be employed to suspend the mirror from the rail. Hanger rail 26 is also attached to the back of the mirror with double-sided adhesive tape 13. 
     The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 also employs a single-part assembly rail 11 made out of an extruded section. Lamp mounts 12 are attached to its front ends as in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 although this is not illustrated in FIG. 3 for simplicity&#39;s sake. 
     The moldings 20 and lamp sockets 21 in this embodiment preferably consist of light-metal castings with the visible surfaces plated for the sake of appearance. 
     A mirrored cabinet instead of a mirror 10 can of course also be suspended as described and provided with lamps at the side. 
     It will be appreciated that the instant specification and claims are set forth by way of illustration and not limitation, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.