Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DEVICE AND METHOD FOR INSTALLING ARTICLES
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
S 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to tools and methods for installing articles,
such as sun visor clips for use in
vehicles.
1 O 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The assembly of products commonly include the attachment of articles such as
anchors, fasteners and the
like. An example of such an article is a sun visor clip to hold a sun visor in
position in a vehicle. The sun
visor clip must be oriented in position and then twisted into its operable
position. This usually means
15 pressing the sun visor clip through a passage formed though a sandwich of
several cloth and foam layers in
a ceiling panel. This is a manual task that can involve strains which can lead
to injuries to the assembly
Associates performing the task.
It would be desirable to provide novel devices and/or methods for installing
articles in a manner which
20 mitigate these injuries.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one of its aspects, the present invention provides a hand held device for
installing an article at a target
25 location. The device comprises a hand grip body and an article mounting
portion movable relative thereto
between a first position and a second position rotationally displaced from the
first position. The first
position corresponds to a position in which the article is in an unanchored
orientation at the target location.
The second position corresponds to a position in which the article is in an
anchored orientation at the target
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location. A force transfer portion is operable to transfer forces between the
hand grip body and the article
mounting portion for applying a first force component sufficient to seat the
article in position at the target
location and a second torsional force component sufficient to transfer the
article between the unanchored
and anchored orientations. The force transfer portion includes a releasable
lock portion for locking the
article mounting portion relative to the hand grip body in the first position.
In an embodiment, the hand grip body further comprises an elongate chamber
having an opening at a
peripheral region thereof and a longitudinal axis, the article mounting
portion including a shaft positioned
in the chamber to extend beyond the peripheral region and positioned for
movement along the longitudinal
axis between the first and second positions.
In an embodiment, the hand grip body includes a back wall abutting the
elongate chamber, the force
transfer portion including a spring element positioned in the cylindrical
chamber between the back wall and
the shaft.
In an embodiment, the force transfer portion includes a biasing portion to
bias the shaft toward the second
position.
In an embodiment, the biasing portion includes a compression spring acting
between the hand grip body
and the shaft.
In an embodiment, the force transfer portion includes one or more guide
elements for guiding the shaft
along the elongate chamber.
In an embodiment, the one or more guide elements are mounted on the hand grip
body and/or the shaft. If
desired, the one or more guide elements may include one or more than one
detent member and a path to
receive the detent member.
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An embodiment further comprises a force adjustment member positioned in the
body and/or on the shaft
for adjusting the bias on the shaft. Preferably, the force adjustment member
is a plate adjustably positioned
in the body. If desired, the body and the plate are threadably engaged and an
access passage is provided in
the body for accessing the plate.
In an embodiment, the releasable lock portion further comprises a trigger
mechanism for releasing the shaft
for movement between the first and second positions. Preferably, the trigger
mechanism includes a latch
movable between a first position in which the latch is engaged with the shaft
and a second position in
which the latch is disengaged with the shaft. The latch is preferably
pivotally mounted to the body which
itself includes a passage for receiving the latch. The latch may be attached
by other arrangements including
by sliding mechanisms and the like.
In an embodiment, the body has an outer surface and the trigger mechanism
further comprises a trigger
element positioned to be accessible to the outer surface.
In an embodiment, the trigger element includes a lever pivotally mounted to
the body. The trigger element
may include a button provided on the hand grip body. The trigger element may
also include a remote
switch.
In an embodiment, the biasing portion includes a pneumatic, hydraulic, and/or
electromagnetic ram unit.
More preferably, the biasing portion includes a compression or tension spring
element, in forms which may
include compressible polymeric body.
In an embodiment, the shaft has a remote end, further comprising a block
member mounted on the remote
end, the block member being arranged to receive the article. The block member
includes a surface
formation to engage the article. In one example, the surface formation is a
depression whose inner profile
is complementary with a portion of a corresponding profile of the article, but
could be made with other
provisions to engage the article. For instance, the block may be provided with
a number of projections
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extending outwardly from the surface formation in order to temporarily trap
the article. Desirably, the
block member is formed from resilient materials, such as plastics and rubbers,
but could be formed from
other materials such as metals, for example steel, aluminum or zinc.
In another of its aspects, the present invention provides a method of mounting
an article at a target location,
comprising the steps of:
- providing a hand held device with a hand grip body and an article mounting
portion movable
relative thereto between a first position and a second position;
- arranging the hand grip body and the article mounting portions so that the
first position
corresponds to a position in which the article is in an unanchored orientation
at the target
location,
- arranging the hand grip body and the article mounting portions so that the
second position
corresponds to a position in which the article is in an anchored orientation
at the target location;
- providing a force transfer portion to transfer forces between the hand grip
body and the article
mounting portion for applying a first force component sufficient to seat the
article in position at
the target location arid a second torsional force component sufficient to
transfer the article
between the unanchored and anchored orientations.; and
- orienting the force transfer portion to lock the article mounting portion
relative to the hand grip
body in the first position.
In still another of its aspects, the present invention provides a method of
mounting an article at a target
location, comprising the steps of
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- providing a hand held device with a hand grip body and an article mounting
portion movable
relative thereto between a first position and a second position;
- arranging the hand grip body and the article mounting portions so that the
first position
corresponds to a position in which the article is in an unanchored orientation
at the target
location,
- arranging the hand grip body and the article mounting portions so that the
second position
corresponds to a position in which the article is in an anchored orientation
at the target location;
- providing a force transfer portion to transfer forces between the hand grip
body and the article
mounting portion for applying a first force component sufficient to seat the
article in position at
the target location and a second torsional force component sufficient to
transfer the article
between the unanchored and anchored orientations;
- positioning the article mounting portion in the first position;
- locating an article on the article mounting portion;
- locking the article mounting portion relative to the hand grip body in the
first position;
- orienting the article mounting portion to deliver the article in the
unanchored orientation to the
target location.
- manipulating the hand grip body to deliver the first force component to
press the article into a
ready position;
- releasing the article mounting portion and manipulating the hand grip body
towards the target
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location in a manner to deliver the first and second force components to the
article mounting
portion and thereby to deliver the article mounting portion to the second
position.
In still another of this aspects, the present invention provides a hand held
device for installing an article at a
target location, comprising a hand grip body and an article mounting portion
movable relative thereto
between a first position and a second position rotationally displaced from the
first position, the first
position corresponding to a position in which the article is in an unanchored
orientation at the target
location, the second position corresponding to a position in which the article
is in an anchored orientation
at the target location, biasing means for biasing the article mounting portion
toward its second position and
releasable positioning means for fixing the position of the article mounting
portion relative to the hand grip
body in the first position.
In still another of this aspects, the present invention provides a hand held
device for installing a sun visor
clip at a target sun visor clip location in a vehicle, comprising a hand grip
body, a sun visor clip mounting
portion having a body with a recess formed therein to receive at least part of
the sun visor clip therein, the
sun visor clip mounting portion being movable relative to the hand grip body
between a first position and a
second position rotationally displaced from the first position, the first
position corresponding to a position
enabling the sun visor clip to be in an unanchored orientation at the target
sun visor clip location, the
second position corresponding to a position enabling the sun visor clip to be
in an anchored orientation at
the target sun visor clip location, a force transfer portion operable to
transfer forces between the hand grip
body and the sun visor clip mounting portion for applying a first force
component sufficient to seat the sun
visor clip in position at the target sun visor clip location and a second
torsional force component sufficient
to transfer the sun visor clip between the unanchored and anchored
orientations, the force transfer portion
including a releasable lock portion for locking the article mounting portion
relative to the hand grip body in
the first position.
In still another of this aspects, the present invention provides a hand held
device for installing a sun visor
clip at a target sun visor clip location in a vehicle, comprising a hand grip
body, a sun visor clip mounting
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portion having a body with a recess formed therein to receive at least part of
the sun visor clip therein, the
sun visor clip mounting portion being movable relative to the hand grip body
between a first position and a
second position rotationally displaced from the first position, the first
position corresponding to a position
enabling the sun visor clip to be in an unanchored orientation at the target
sun visor clip location, the
second position corresponding to a position enabling the sun visor clip to be
in an anchored orientation at
the target sun visor clip location, a force transfer portion operable to
transfer forces between the hand grip
body and the sun visor clip mounting portion for applying a first force
component sufficient to seat the sun
visor clip in position at the target sun visor clip location and a second
torsional force component sufficient
to transfer the sun visor clip between the unanchored and anchored
orientations, the force transfer portion
including a releasable lack portion for locking the article mounting portion
relative to the hand grip body in
the first position.
In still another of this aspects, the present invention provides a device for
installing an article at a target
location, comprising a hand grip body and an article mounting portion movable
relative thereto between a
first position and a second position rotationally displaced no more than about
170 degrees from the first
position, the first position corresponding to a position in which the article
is in an unanchored orientation
at the target location, the second position corresponding to a position in
which the article is in an anchored
orientation at the target location, a force transfer portion operable to
transfer forces between the hand grip
body and the article mounting portion for applying a first force component
sufficient to seat the article in
position at the target location and a second torsional force component
sufficient to transfer the article
between the unanchored and anchored orientations, the force transfer portion
including a releasable trigger
mechanism operable in a lock position under a user's gripping force to lock
the article mounting portion
relative to the hand grip body while under a load sufficient to seat the
article at the target location, the
trigger mechanism being operable to be released from the lock position when
the user releases the gripping
force to permit the article mounting portion to move from the first position
to the second position.
In still another of this aspects, the present invention provides an assembly
for installing a sun visor clip in a
vehicle at a target location, comprising a hand grip body with an elongate
chamber, the chamber having an
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opening at a peripheral region thereof and a longitudinal axis, a shaft
positioned in the chamber to extend
beyond the peripheral region and positioned for movement along the
longitudinal axis between the first and
second positions, the shaft having a remote end supporting a block member, the
block member having an
outer surface formation, a sun visor clip engaged with the outer surface
formation, the surface formation
including a depression whose inner profile is complementary with at least a
portion of the sun visor clip, a
spring element acting between the chamber and the shaft, a plurality of guide
elements on the chamber and
shaft to displace the shaft relative to the chamber between a first position
and a second position
rotationally displaced from the first position, a trigger to hold the shaft in
the first position under a normal
load sufficient to seat the clip at the target location, the trigger operable
to release the shaft under the
normal load to cause a torsional force to be exerted on the shaft.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Several preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described,
by way of example only,
1$ with reference to the appended drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device for installing articles;
Figure 2, 2a and 3 to 7 are partly sectional or schematic plan views of the
device of figure I in various
positions;
Figure 8 is a magnified fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the device
of figure 1; and
Figures 9 to 15 are partly sectional views of alternatives to the device of
figure 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The figures illustrate several devices to mount articles at a mounting
location. In this example, the article
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in question is an anchor member destined for mounting in a roof section or
other location on a vehicle. Still
more particularly, the anchor member is a clip for a sun visor as shown at 10
in figure 1. In this case, the
sun visor clip 10 has an outer mounting formation 12 and one or more anchor
formations shown at 14. In
this case, the anchor formations include flanges 14a, 14b. As will be
described, the device enables an
assembly Associate to install a sun visor clip 10 and to reduce, or perhaps
eliminate in some cases, the
"pinch" and "twist" forces otherwise required to do so.
The "pinch" force conventionally requires that the assembly Associate grip the
sun visor clip 10 between
the thumb and forefinger and pressing it into the vehicle's ceiling panel. At
the same time, the assembly
Associate must exert a "twist" force to rotate the sun visor clip I O (much in
the same way that a key is
turned in a lock mechanism). Together, the "pinch" and "twist" forces move the
sun visor clip 10 from a
first unanchored orientation to a second anchored orientation within a passage
provided behind the ceiling
panel, to cause the anchor formations on the sun visor clip to engage a
corresponding boundary regions of
the passage to hold it in place.
Thus, in figures 1 to 8, a hand held device is shown at 16 for installing the
article 10 at a target location 18
including a passageway 19a. The device 16 has a hand grip body 20 and an
article mounting portion 22
movable relative thereto between a first position shown in figures 1 to 3 and
a second position shown in
figure 5 and rotationally displaced from the first position. The first
position corresponds to a position in
which the article 10 is in an unanchored orientation at the target location
18. The second position
corresponds to a position in which the article is in an anchored orientation
in the passageway 19a at the
target location 18, with the flanges 14a, 14b braced against an inside surface
18a at the target location.
Figure 2a shows a sequence of events between the first and second positions.
Furthermore, it can be seen
that the flanges 14a, 14b are opposed and are arranged to engage the inside
surface 18a at the target
location after rotating approximately from about 10 to about 170 degrees from
the first position before it
reaches the second position, with the most desirable rotational travel in this
particular case, being about 90
degrees.
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A force transfer portion is generally shown at 26 and is operable to transfer
forces between the hand grip
body 20 and the article mounting portion 22 for applying a first force
component F1 sufficient to seat the
article in position at the target location 18 and a second torsional force F2
component sufficient to transfer
the article between the unanchored and anchored orientations. As will be
further described below, the
force transfer portion also includes a releasable lock portion 28 for locking
the article mounting portion 22
relative to the hand grip body 20 in the first position.
The article mounting portion 22 includes a shaft 30 with a remote end 30a. A
block member 32 is mounted
on the remote end 30a and is arranged to receive the article 10. The block
member 32 has a surface
formation 34 to engage the article 10. In one example, the surface formation
34 includes a depression 34a
whose inner profile is complementary with a portion of a corresponding profile
of the article 10. However,
the surface formation could be made with other provisions to engage the
article 10. For instance, the block
member 32 may be provided with a number of projections (not shown) extending
outwardly from the
surface formation 34 in order to temporarily trap the article 10. The block
member 32 is formed from
resilient materials, such as plastics and rubbers, in this case polyurethane.
However, the block member 32
may also be formed from other materials such as metals, for example steel,
aluminum or zinc.
As can be seen in figure 1, the hand grip body has an elongate chamber 38
which receives the shaft 30 for
movement along a longitudinal axis 40. The hand grip body 20 includes a back
wall 42 and the force
transfer portion 26 includes a biasing portion 44 to bias the shaft toward the
second position. In this case,
the biasing portion 44 is provided in the form of a compression spring element
46 positioned in the
elongate chamber 38 between the back wall 42 and the inner end 30b of the
shaft 30 to act between the
hand grip body 20 and the shaft 30. However, the biasing portion may include a
number of different forms
including a pneumatic and/or hydraulic ram unit and/or an electromagnetic ram
unit as described herein
below. In addition to the above described compression spring 46, the biasing
portion may also include a
tension spring element. In addition, the compression spring may be provided in
forms which include
compressible polymeric bodies as discussed below.
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The force transfer portion 26 includes one or more guide elements 52 for
guiding the shaft 30 along the
elongate chamber 38. The one or more guide elements are mounted on the hand
grip body 20 and/or the
shaft 30 and include one or more than one guide member 54 and a path 56 to
receive the guide member. In
this case, the guide member includes a pair of opposed roll pin and ball
bearing arrangements, one of which
is shown at 58 extending inwardly from the hand grip body and the path is a
pair of helical grooves 60
formed in the shaft. The roll pin and ball bearing arrangements 58 may, if
desired, be provided on the shaft
30 and the helical grooves 60 on the hand grip body 20. The roll pin and ball
bearing arrangements 58 and
helical grooves 60 may be replaced by other mechanisms such as gear
arrangements or complementary
helical formations provided on both the shaft 30 and the hand grip body 20.
Moreover, the first and second
positions may be achieved without necessarily providing a helical path.
Rather, movement may also be
changed by a combination of slots which are parallel or perpendicular or at
angles therebetween.
As can be seen if figures 1 and 8, while the compression spring element 46 is
positioned between the back
wall 42 and the inner end 30b of the shaft 30, the compression spring element
46 does not, in this
arrangement, directly bear against the back wall 42 but rather against a force
adjustment member 62
positioned in the hand grip body 20 for adjusting the bias on the shaft 30. In
this case, as seen in figure 8,
the force adjustment member 62 includes a plate 64 which is threadably engaged
with the hand grip body
which in turn provides an access passage 66 for accessing the plate 64 with an
Allan key 68 or the like.
20 In this case, the compression spring element 46 is provided to perform a
number of functions. First, the
spring rate of the compression spring element is selected to provide
sufficient spring rate to extend the shaft
to its first position. Second, it is desirable that the spring rate is
sufficient to transfer the normal force
component from the body to the shaft, thereby to avoid the shaft "bottoming
out" against the force
adjustment member 62. However, there may be cases where the shaft may engage
the adjustment member
25 62 and still provide a desirable result.
Referring to figure 1, the releasable lock portion 28 is provided, in this
case, in the form of a trigger
mechanism 70 for releasing the shaft 30 for movement between the first and
second positions. The trigger
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mechanism 70 includes a latch 72 movable between a first position in which the
latch is engaged with the
shaft 30 and a second position in which the latch 72 is disengaged with the
shaft 30. In this case, the shaft
30 is provided with a notch 30c to receive the latch 72. The latch 72 is
preferably pivotally mounted to the
hand grip body 20 by way of pivot pin 72a. The hand grip body 20 includes a
passage 74 (figure 2) for
receiving the latch 72 and a recess 75 to provide a seat for the latch 72. The
latch 72 may be attached by
other arrangements including by sliding mechanisms and the like (not shown).
It will be seen that the
hand grip body 20 has an outer surface 76 and the trigger mechanism 70 further
comprises a trigger
element 78 positioned to be accessible to the outer surface 76 and located in
the recess 75. As shown in
figure 9, the trigger element 78 may, if desired, include a button 80 provided
on the hand grip body 20. In
this case, the button has a main portion 80a with an outer end 80b and an
inner end 80c engageable with the
notch under the action of a compression spring 80d outwardly biasing the main
body to a release position in
which the inner end 80c is not engaged with the notch.
An alternative device is shown at 80 in figure 10 in which a trigger element
is provided in the form of a
remote switch 82 to activate a hydraulic ram unit 84. The hydraulic ram unit
84 has a controller 86 which
controls the pressure in a hydraulic cylinder 88, itself integrally formed
within a hand grip body 90.
Referring once again to figure 1, the device 16 is used as follows. First, the
assembly Associate or other
user determines that the shaft 30 is in its outer position corresponding to
the first position of the mounting
portion 22.
Referring to figure 2, the user then locates a sun visor clip 10 in the
depression 34a provided on the surface
formation 34 of the block member 32. The user then grips the hand grip body 20
and locks the shaft 30 in
the fn~st position by gripping and/or depressing the trigger element 78 with
his thumb (or for that matter the
fingers or palm) to engage the latch 72 with the notch 30c on the shaft 30,
with a sufficient force to hold the
latch 72 in the notch 30c.
Referring to figure 3, while maintaining the trigger element 78 engaged with
his thumb, the user orients the
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device 16 to deliver the sun visor clip 10 in its unanchored orientation
adjacent the target location 18,
which in this case includes a designated passageway 19a cut through a ceiling
panel in a vehicle. The user
then delivers a Force F3 to the hand grip body 20 which is thus transferred
through the latch 72 to the shaft
30 and thus to the block member 32 and the sun visor clip 10, to press the
latter deeper into the designated
passageway 19a to a ready position. It will be appreciated that, in one
example, the sides of the notch and
latch are angled, in this case, to facilitate the release or removal of the
latch from the notch while under the
load F3 the instant the user applied force on the latch is removed. Thus, a
desirable feature of the trigger
mechanism, in this case, is the shape of the latch 82 and the notch 30c to
enable the trigger mechanism to
be released merely by releasing pressure therefrom. This is due to the fact
that the trigger is maintained in
its operative locking orientation solely by the gripping forces that the user
applies thereto. This minimizes,
if not eliminates, any chance that the nigger mechanism will become jammed
under load as the user applies
the normal force F1 to press the clip into the foam materials in the ceiling
of the vehicle.
Referring to figure 4, the user then releases the trigger element 78 and
retains the force F3 on the hand grip
body 20. The device 16 delivers the force F3 to the sun visor clip 10 in two
components. First, the normal
force F1 is transferred from the hand grip body 20, through the compression
spring element 46, to the shaft
30 and thus to the block member 32 and sun visor clip 10 to maintain it in its
proper "depth" in the
passageway to ensure that the anchor formations 14 on the clip can engage the
corresponding boundary
regions of the passage. The force F 1 must be sufficient to overcome the
spring force of spring 42 to cause
a relative movement between the shaft 30 and the elongate member 38. Thus, a
torsional force F2 is
exerted on the shaft 30 by the transfer of forces from the hand grip body 20
through the guide members 54
and the helical groves 60, through the shaft 30 to the block member 32 and
thus to the sun visor clip 10.
This results in the shaft 30 rotating to the second position as shown in
figures 2a and 5, thus causing a
corresponding rotation of the sun visor clip 10 for the flanges 14a, 14b to
engage the corresponding
boundary regions of the passage way in the ready position.
Figure 11 shows another device 90 with a spring loaded detent ball 92 under
the biasing action of a
compression spring 94 in place of the trigger mechanism of device 16. In this
case the detent ball 92 is
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arranged to release from the corresponding notch 96 when a maximum force is
exerted on the hand grip
body.
Figure 12 shows another device 100 with no trigger mechanism, in contrast to
the previous device 16. In
this case, the spring rage for the spring should be selected to provide a
reasonable equivalent to the force
F1, as desired.
Figure 13 shows another device 110 with a trigger mechanism 112 having a
button 114 held in the hand
grip body 116 and positioned to be deployed by a user's thumb. In this case,
the trigger mechanism 112 is
operably coupled with an electromagnetic ram unit 118 which is supplied by a
power supply via a power
cable shown at 120.
Figure 14 shows another device 130 with a trigger mechanism whose button 132
is operably coupled with a
pneumatic or hydraulic ram unit 134. In this case, the button 132 communicates
with a remote controller
not shown by way of supply wires and channels shown generally at 136.
Figure 15 shows still another device 138, similarly without a trigger
mechanism as figure 12 and which
utilizes a biasing portion in the form of a compressible polymeric body 140
formed of materials such as
expanded or closed/open cell polyurethane, or other porous or nonporous
polymeric materials.
Thus, the device described herein, in one form, can be described as providing
a tool with a hand grip body
with a lever and a nesting portion to receive the sun visor clip. The nesting
portion rotates on a ball screw
mechanism into housing against the action of a spring. The lever has two
positions, one of which being a
locking position to secure the sun visor clip in place in a coiled ready
position. The lever is then movable
to a release position causing the ball screw to move under the action of the
spring and rotate the sun visor
clip, causing the latter to penetrate to an anchored position in the roof
liner. Thus, the device, in one form,
maintains the orientation of the sun visor clip for installation while
remaining lightweight. The hand grip
body provides a convenient gripping point to install the sun visor clip, while
the latter is aligned with the
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hole in the roof liner. The device thus provides a lever in a convenient
location adjacent the user's thumb
to hold down the lever and fix the device in the first position. The sun visor
clip may then be aligned with
the hole in the roof liner and inserted. Furthermore, the lever on the device
is depressed to ensure that the
sun visor clip does not rotate until it is fully installed to avoid
significant damage to the roof liner. Once
the clip is fully seated, the user may then release the lever and provide an
upward force that rotates the sun
visor clip ninety degrees in the appropriate direction. Of course, the angle
of rotation may vary with the
device and the needs of the article. Thus, the present device, in one form, is
especially useful for providing
controlled and automatic delivery of a normal force and a torsional force
between two limit positions,
which limits are provided by a number of cooperating guide elements.
While the present invention has been described with respect to what is
presently considered to be the
preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not
limited to the disclosed
embodiments. To the contrary, the invention is intended to cover various
modifications and equivalent
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The
scope of the following
claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all
such modifications and
equivalent structures and functions.
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