Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02474315 2004-07-15
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
(00011 The present invention relates to a control knob for vents in automotive
ventilation systems.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a closed control knob for
vents, which closed control
knob can be constructed as a single, molded piece with an integral resilient
member.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(00021 Automotive ventilation systems typically include one or more vents with
vertical vanes and
horizontal louvers which can be adjusted by a passenger to dirE;ct the airflow
from the vent in a desired
direction andlor which can, in some cases, be closed to block the airflow from
the vent. The designers
and stylists of automotive interiors have several concerns when designing a
vent, namely: ease of
operation; appearance; reliability; and the cost of assembly and manufacture
of the vent.
(00031 A design which is commonly employed to control vents is a closed
control knob which has a
passage to slidably receive a center louver across the front of the vent and
which has fingers which
extend into the vent to engage a central vane therein. The louvers of the vent
are interconnected to each
other such that moving the center louver moves the other louvers a similar
amount and the vanes of the
vent are interconnected in a similar fashion such that movement of the center
vane moves the other
vanes by a similar amount. The forgers of the knob engage the center vane such
that, left or right
movement of the knob along the center louver turns the center vane and
correspondingly turns all of the
vanes left or right. Further, by moving the knob up or down to tilt the center
louver up or down, the
other louvers are correspondingly tilted up or dov~m.
100041 While this design is widely employed in the automotive industry, it
suffers from
disadvantages. In particular, as it is desired that the vanes and louvers of
the vent remain in position,
once adjusted by a passenger, it is necessary to provide a degree of
frictional resistance to movement of
the knob along the louver. To date, such frictional resistance has been
provided by a metal spring or
other separate resilient member -which acts between the knob and the louver.
However, when such a
spring or resilient member is employed with the knob, the spring and/or
resilient member must be
assembled into the knob, which increases the cost of the vent. Further, such
knobs must be assembled
from two or more components to permit installation of the spring or resilient
member into the knob and
this can lead to failure of the knob assembly at one or more of the assembly
joints if a glued, snapped or
welded joint fails.
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CA 02474315 2004-07-15
(0005) Further, if the spring or resilient member acts against the top or
bottom side of the louver,
rather than against an edge of the louver, a visible track, groove or other
non-aesthetic feature must be
formed on the louver, resulting in a vent which is less attractive than may be
desired.
(0006) Previous attempts to overcome the disadvantages of requiring a separate
spring or resilient
member have been open knob designs, wherein the knob is generally U-shaped,
having an open side
into which the louver is snapped to engage the knob. These open knob designs
have included an
integrally formed spring but such previous solutions have not been well
received as it is possible in use
to detach the knob from the louver, by a user applying too much pressure to
the knob, resulting in
failure of the knob and vent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
(0007) It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel closed
control knob for a vent
which obviates or mitigates at least one disadvantage of the prior art.
(00081 According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a closed control knob
for controlling vanes and louvers in a vent, the control knob comprising: an
enclosed passage through
which a louver to be controlled can slidably extend; a pair of fingers
extending from said control knob
to engage at least one vane to be controlled; a resilient member, integrally
formed with said control
knob, to act between said control knob and said louver to generate a
frictional force therebetween, the
frictional force acting to maintain the control knob in its current position
on said louver; and an aperture
to allow said resilient member to be integrally molded with said control knob.
(0009) Preferably, the resilient member comprises a generally bow-shaped
member, the ends of the
bow-shaped member being cannected to the control knob and the portion of the
member between the
ends being cantilevered therefrom and being resiliently deformable to act
between the control knob and
the louver.
(00101 The present invention provides a control knob for a vent having vanes
and louvers includes a
resilient member integrally molded within the control knob. The resilient
member acts between the
control knob and the louver on which it is mounted to provide a frictional
force to retain the knob in the
position it is placed by a passenger in a vehicle of other user. By integrally
forming the resilient
member with the control knob, assembly is simplified and failure of glued,
snapped or welded jointa is
avoided.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T HE DRAWINGS
(00111 Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described,
by way of example
only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the front and side of a single piece
closed control knob on
a center louver and vane of a vent in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention;
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the back and top of the single piece
control knob and
louver and vane of Figure l;
Figur a 3 shows a perspective exploded view of the top and front of the single
piece control knob
and louver and vane of Figure l;
Figure 4 shows a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure l;
Figure 5 shows a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 2;
Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the underside of the single piece control
knob and louver
of Figure l; and
Figur a 7 shows a sectional view similar to that of Figure 4 of another
embodiment of the present
invention with two resilient members.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[00121 A vent control knob with an integral resilient member in accordance
with the pre:~ent
invention is indicated generally at 20 in Figures l, 2 and 3. As illustrated,
control knob 20 ha:> an
enclosed passage 22 through which louver 24 passes and is thus a closed
control knob. A vane 28 is
connected to control knob 20 via a pair of fingers 32 extending rearwardly
from knob 20 and engaging a
rod 36 connected to vane 28. Control knob 20 includes an aperture 38 extending
therethrough and the
front of which can be closed with a trim or accent piece, such as chromed
insert 40, for aesthetic
reasons. Aperture 3 8 permits a resilient member, discussed below, to be
integrally molded within knob
20. Control knob20 can be slid along louver 24 to move rod 36, and thus turn
vane 28, and the other
vanes (not shown), as desired.
[00131 As best seen in Figures 4 and 5, passage 22, through control knob 20,
includes an integrally
formed resilient member, in this embodiment spring 48, which acts between
control knob 20 and the
front of louver 24 and which forces louver 24 against a pair of bosses 52,
located one at each end of
passage 22. Spring 48 is generally bow-shaped with the ends S6 of the bow
being attached to control
knob 20 and the center bow portion 60 being cantilevered out from. ends 56
such that center bow
portion 60 is resiliently deformed when louver 24 is inserted into passage 22,
as described below.
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[00141 In conjunction with the frictional force generated between the center
bow portion 60 of
spring 48 and the front of louver 24 and between louver 24 and bosses 52,
spring 48 creates a frictional
force to maintain control knob 20 in the position it is placed in by a
passenger using control knob 20 to
adjust a vent. To enhance the feel and operation of control knob 20, louver 24
preferably includes a
raised track portion 64, best seen in Figures 3 and 4, along its front edge
for the center bow portion 60
of spring 48 to act against and which also serves to limit the portions of
knob 20 which actually contact
louver 24, thus assiting in preventing movement of knob 20 along louver 24
from scratching portions
of louver 24 which would be visible to users. Track portion 64 is shorter in
length than the width of
control knob 20 so that track portion 64 is not visible to vehicle passengers
as it is always located
within control knob 20.
[ooisl As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, control knob 20,
including a resilient member,
such a.s spring 48, can be molded as an integral member avoiding the need for
a separate step of
assembling spring 48 within conhol knob 20 and avoiding the need for a
separate assembly step and/or
the need fox welded, snapped together or glued joints in control knob 20.
[00161 As will also be apparent to those of skill in the art, the resilient
member can be formed in a
variety of manners without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, one or
more cantilevered resilient arms can be formed within control knob 20 to act
between control knob 20
and louver 24.
As shown in Figure 6, control knob 20 includes a spring tab 68a and 68b on
each opposed
edge of its underside and spring tabs 68a, 68b run in a track 72, which is
formed, on the underside of
louver 24. One end of track 72 includes an end stop 76 against which spring
tab 68a on control knob 20
will abut to prevent further movement of control knob 20 in that direction.
The other end of track 72
includes a second end stop 80 which spring tab 68b will abut to prevent
further movement of control
knob 20 in that direction.
[o01s1 As shown, end stop 80 includes a ramped back portion 84 to allow
assembly of control knob
20 onto louver 24. Specifically, during assembiy louver 24 is slid into
passage 22 of control knob 20,
from right to left in the orientation shown in Figure 6, such that first
spring tab 68a rides up ramp
portion 84 of end stop 80 and then snaps down into track 72, and as louver 24
is further inserted into
passage 22, spring tab 68b will ride up ramped portion 84 of end stop 80 and
then snap down into track
72.
[ooi91 Once louver 24 has been inserted into passage 22 to the extent wherein
both spring tabs 68a
and 68b are in track 72, control knob 20 can be moved horizontally along track
72 within a range
limited by a respective spring tab 6$a, 68b abutting a respective end stop 76,
80.
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[00201 Figure 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention which
includes two resilient
members 100. Each member 100 has a first end 104 fixed to control knob 20 and
a cantilevered end
108 which acts against louver 24. As will be apparent, the actual shape of
members 100 is not
particularly limited provided that cantilevered ends 108 are resiliently
biased against louver 24.
(0021] As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, while the embodiment
illustrated herein has
control knob 20 mounted to a horizontal louver, the present invention is not
so limited and can be
advantageously employed with vents with vertical louvers and horizontal vanes,
or in other
configurations as desired.
(00221 By incorporating a molded resilient member within control knob 20 to
provide a frictional
force between control knob 20 and louver 24, an advantageous 'vent control
knob is obtained.
Fabrication and assembly are simplified as it is not required to mount a
spring or resilient member
inside the control knob, nor is it required to glue, snap or weld a multi-part
knob together. Further, as
the resulting control knob is a. single piece, it is more reliable then multi-
piece knobs.
(00231 The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to be
examples of the
present invention and alterations and modifications may be effected thereto,
by those of skill iv the art,
without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined solely by
the claims appended
hereto.
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