FR2643028A1 - Cartridge with a mirror, particularly for a sun visor of a car passenger compartment, and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a cartridge with a mirror 1, particularly for a sun visor of a car passenger compartment including a mirror 2 and a support frame 3 intended to provide the connection between the mirror 2 and the screen of the sun visor. The support frame 3 is produced as a single piece with the aid of a plastic by moulding around the mirror 2. The support frame 3 preferably includes a framing bead 3a matching, without clearances, the outline 2a of the mirror 2 and a back wall 3b positively connected to the back 4 of the mirror 2.

Description

 Air cassette, suitable for the sun visor of an automobile cabin and prpp # of manufacture.

 The invention relates to a mirror cassette, in particular for a sun visor of an automobile interior, of the type comprising a mirror and a support frame integral with the mirror and intended to ensure the connection between the mirror and the screen of the visor. -Sun.

 French Patent No. 2,579,150 describes a sun visor for a motor vehicle comprising a screen provided with a mirror mounted by lateral sliding in a support in the form of a removable frame and capable of being fixed in a housing of the screen-by clipping onto retaining means integral with the latter.

 The production of the mirror cassette requires the manufacture or cutting of a mirror, the manufacture of a mirror support frame adapted to the dimensions of the mirror and the assembly of the mirror and its support.

 The tolerances of the dimensions of the mirror and of the mirror support frame can generate clearances which are detrimental to the immobilization of the mirror in its support frame and which can cause undesirable noises when moving the automobile.

 In addition, the automotive safety regulations require that, in the event of the mirror breaking on the sun visor, the glass fragments remain attached or glued to the sun visor. The solution to this problem so far consists in providing the entire surface of the back of the mirror with a sticky or adherent coating strip intended to prevent any projection of glass fragments in the event of breakage of the mirror.

 The operation of applying a sticky or adherent coating to the back of the mirror can be eliminated by using unbreakable mirrors, such as mirrors made of chromed metal, aluminum or certain plastics. This solution has the drawback of being a storyteller and of providing mirrors whose optical qualities and resistance over time are inferior to the qualities of a glass mirror.

 The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to propose a mirror cassette of the type indicated initially which makes it possible to reduce the assembly operations and in which the mirror is firmly immobilized on its support frame.

 This object is achieved in accordance with the invention because at least part of the rear face of the mirror is covered by molding with a layer of plastic which constitutes the support frame, the rear face of which is provided with fixing lugs molding.

 It is easy to understand that in this case the mirror is made integral with its support frame from the molding thereof so that the only assembly operation resides in the engagement of the fixing lugs in or on the corresponding fixing elements of the visor screen.

 According to another advantageous characteristic, the plastic material of the support frame covers without play at least several zones located on opposite sides of the edge of the mirror, the plastic material extending at least over the entire thickness of the latter.

 To further improve the maintenance of the mid r, it is provided according to another particularity that the rustic material of the support frame covers without play, in addition to the edge and at least part of the rear face also at least several opposite zones of the marginal part of the front face of the mirror.

 According to another particular feature of the invention, the mirror support frame, made of a plastic material, comprises a frame bead which has, on its rear face, several legs or other fixing members coming from molding, wife without play lateral the contour of the mirror and encloses the edge of the mirror and an annular marginal zone on either side of said edge, the rear face of said mirror being further covered with an adhesive sheet preferably tear-resistant.

 Still according to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, the mirror has on its rear face a layer of adhesive, to which also adheres the rear wall of the plastic support frame which covers at least the entire rear face of the mirror.

According to another particularity, the support frame is made of a transparent or semi-transparent plastic material and has on the central part of its rear wall a housing bowl for the bulb or the end of a light bulb or the like.
Another object of the invention is a method of manufacturing or assembling a mirror cassette requiring few separate operations.

 This object is achieved using a method according to which a support frame is produced and a mirror # is assembled having a front face, a rear face and an edge and the support frame, owing to the fact that the mirror is assembled and the mirror support frame in the same operation, using for the support frame a plastic material applied by molding at least against certain parts of the rear face of said mirror which is previously positioned in the cavity of a mold of such so that its reflecting face is pressed over at least its largest part including the center against the bottom wall of said cavity whose total volume corresponds to that of the mirror to be overmolded and the support frame to be molded during the assembly operation of the mirror and the support frame.

 In certain cases, it is advantageous to provide the rear face and, where appropriate, a marginal zone of the front face of the mirror, with a layer of heat-adhesive adhesive or of a reinforcing adhesive sheet before overmolding with the plastic material constituting the mirror support frame at least the rear face and / or the peripheral zone of said mirror. The plastic material is chosen in such a way that the support frame of the mirror is preferably rigid and fire-resistant, and where appropriate transparent or semi-transparent.

 Thanks to this process, the mirror support frame undergoes a slight shrinkage during the cooling of the plastic material, whereby the clearances currently existing between the surfaces in contact with the mirror and the support frame are eliminated.

 Advantageously, the plastic of the support frame is applied to the periphery of the mirror so as to produce a framing bead which surrounds and covers the lateral edges of the mirror and which, preferably, follows the outline of the mirror and covers without play around its front face.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows of several examples of embodiments, description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mirror cassette according to a first embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 2 is a horizontal section of this mirror cassette along the line II, II in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 represents a vertical section through a mold used for the manufacture of the mirror cassette,
FIG. 4 is a section through a variant of the first embodiment,
FIG. 5 is a section of a second embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 6 is a section through an alternative embodiment of FIG. 5,
- Figure 7 is a section of a third embodiment of the invention.

 Figures 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of a mirror cassette 1, preferably intended for a vehicle sun visor, and comprising a mirror 2 inserted in a mirror support frame 3 produced by overmolding of '' a large part of the mirror 2 with a plastic material, preferably thermoplastic and / or rigid in such a way that the support frame 3 has a framing bead 3a which marries without contour the contour 2a of the mirror 2 and a rear wall 3b in contact with the back or rear face 4 of the mirror 2. Thus, the mirror 2 is covered with the plastic material constituting the support frame 3, over the entire edge 5, an annular marginal zone 6 of its front face 7 and on its rear face 4.The support frame 3 has on its rear face 8, and more precisely said on the rear face of the framing bead 3a and in the corners of the rear wall 3b and of the mirror 2, legs or other members fixing 9 intended for coop rer with retaining means provided on the screen of the sun visor indicated diagrammatically in broken lines in FIG. 2. From the front side, the framing bead 3a has a cross section in an arc of a circle whose secant forms on the side and on the other side of a median zone, an internal shoulder 3c covering the marginal zone 6 of the mirror 2 and an external shoulder 3d intended to cover the edge of the housing provided in the screen of the sun visor.

 The mirror cassette 1 is produced by molding the plastic material using a mold 10, the internal cavity 11 of which has the shape and dimensions of the mirror cassette 1. The mold 10 consists of a half upper mold îOa and of a lower half-mold lOb which comprises suction ducts 12 opening onto a planar bearing face 13 forming the central part of the lower wall of the molding cavity 11. The bearing face 13 has dimensions smaller than those of the front face 7 of the mirror 2 and equal to the surface of the visible or uncoated part of the front face 7 of the mirror 2. This support face 13 of the lower half-mold 10b is located preferably in the same horizontal plane of separation 10c between the two half-molds lOa, lOb as the lower marginal face 10d of the upper half-mold lOa or the upper marginal face 10e of the lower half-mold lOb and it is surrounded by a peripheral groove 14 which is open towards the top t, has a cross section in an arc of a circle and forms the lowest part of the cavity 11. The suction ducts 12 are capable of being connected to a vacuum pump not shown. The flat underside 10d of the half upper mold 10e covers a marginal zone of the peripheral groove 14 and thus allows the realization of the external shoulder 3d of the framing bead 3e Once centered and held in place by suction on the bearing face 13, the mirror 2 has the peripheral marginal zone 6 of its reflecting front face 7 above an internal part of the groove 14 and thus delimits the internal shoulder 3c of the framing bead 3a. In the upper half-mold 10e is formed from its lower face loci a recess lOb whose vertical wall has a circumference greater than that of the mirror 2 and surrounds the latter with a certain distance corresponding to that existing between the two shoulders 3a and 3d of the frame bead 3a. The depth of the recess 10f is greater than the thickness of the mirror 2 at least in certain places. In the present case, the recess 10f has a flat bottom 109 parallel to the lower face 10d of the upper half-mold îOa and set back from mirror 2 by a distance equal to the greater or lesser thickness of the rear wall 3b of the support frame 3. The recess 10f of the upper half-mold 10a can also have, in an annular part intermediate between a central zone and a marginal zone, a depth only equal to the thickness of the mirror 2, this intermediate zone being completed by radial grooves open towards the mirror 2 and of a depth equal to the distance separating the rear face 4 of the mirror 2 of the bottom 109 of the recess 10f (see also FIG. 7). In addition, in the angular zones or corners of the mirror 2, the recess 10f is extended upwards by blind holes 10h used for forming fixing lugs 9.

The central part of the recess 10f is further in communication with a source of plastic material in the fluid state by means of an injection pipe 15 opening into the cavity 11 above the bearing face 13 and formed in the upper lova half-mold.

 The mold 10 also comprises means for moving at least one half-mold relative to another 11, means for holding the half-molds in cooperation during the injection of the plastic material through the injection pipe. 15 and release means.

 To make the mirror cassette according to the invention, the mirror 2 is placed with its reflecting front face 7 on the horizontal support face 13, the mold 10 being open, so that its rim or annular marginal zone 6 is located cantilevered above the internal part of the groove 13. After its centering and during 11 molding operation, the mirror 2 is maintained on its bearing face 12 by the communication of the suction conduits 12 with the vacuum pump. After closing the mold 10, fluid plastic material is injected into the cavity II through the injection pipe 15 and fills the space of the internal cavity 11 not occupied by the mirror 2, thus forming, after cooling , the support frame 3 which covers the rear face 4, the edge 5 and the marginal zone 6 of the front face 7 of the mirror 2.

 The plastic material used can be polyamide, polycarbonate or a polyolefin.

 Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment in which the support frame 3 is made of a transparent or semi-transparent material and has on the central part 22 of its rear wall 3b a housing 16 for receiving a lamp or similar member 17 allowing to illuminate the mirror by propagation of the rays through the transparent material As can be seen in FIG. 4, the framing bead 3a can be constituted by several framing legs 3e more or less long and separated by notches 3f the bottom of which is located in the same plane as the front face 7 of the mirror 2.

 FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of a mirror cassette 2 comprising a mirror 2 bonded by bonding to a support frame 3 produced by molding a plastic material against certain parts of the mirror 2 so that the support frame 3 is at least connected to the rear face 4 of the mirror 2.

 If the plastic material applied by molding at least on the rear face 4 of the mirror 2 does not adhere sufficiently to the back 4 of said mirror 2, or if the latter is not sufficiently retained by the support frame 3, it is advantageous to provide on the back 4 of the mirror 2 a layer of adhesive 18, preferably fusible, which is deposited on the rear face 4 of the mirror 2 prior to the assembly operation by molding the plastic material against certain parts of the mirror 2. Instead of a layer of adhesive 18 applied to the rear face 4 of the mirror, for example in liquid form by means of a brush, a spray gun or by screen printing, it is also possible to use a sheet, a fabric (woven or non-woven) impregnated with a heat-adhesive adhesive or not which, prior to the overmolding of the mirror 2 by the plastic material, is arranged and fixed at least temporarily on the rear face 4 of the mirror 2 and which at the latest after the overmolding of u mirror 2 and the cooling and stiffening of the plastic material establishes a firm and positive connection between said mirror 2 and the support frame 3 made of said plastic material. Another function of the adhesive layer 18 is to retain the pieces of the mirror 2 in the event of breakage thereof. If this adhesive layer 18 is part of a tear-resistant sheet or fabric, it is sufficient for it to adhere on the rear face 4 of the mirror 2 and that the latter is firmly retained by the framing bead 3a of the support frame 3 without the layer of adhesive 18 necessarily being also in contact with the rear wall 3b of said support frame 3.

 The support frame 3 of the mirror 2 according to the embodiment of FIG. 5 only consists of a plate or wall 3b attached to the rear face 4 of the mirror 2. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the frame- support 3 may include, in addition, a framing rib 19 surrounding and covering the edge 5 of the mirror 2 and touching the front face 7 of the latter. This framing rib 19 may include a certain number of notches 20 open laterally and towards the advent of the mirror 2.

These notches 20 may have at the front face 7 of the mirror 2 a surface opening slightly smaller than the surface of the bottom of the notch and are intended to receive, if necessary, the pins for fixing a gasket covering joint. semi-circular or semi-elliptical section similar or similar to the framing bead 3a of the support frame 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thanks to this covering joint, the color of the visible part of the mirror cassette 1 to that of the interior coating of the car interior while retaining the same coloring for the plastic material constituting the non-visible part of the support frame 3.

 FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the mirror cassette 1 according to which the support frame 3 is in contact with the back 4 of the mirror 2, with the edge 5 and with a marginal width zone 6 of the front face 7 of said mirror 2. However in this case, the rear or back face 4 of the mirror 2 does not necessarily adhere via the layer of adhesive 18 to the rear wall 3b of the support frame 3. In fact, when the part marginal 2a of the mirror 2 is trapped on the edge 5 as well as the front 7 and rear 4 sides by the framing bead 3a and the peripheral part 21 of the rear wall 3b of the support frame 3, it is not necessary that the rear face 4 of the mirror 2 also adheres to the rear wall 3b of the support frame 3.

In this case, it is however recommended to use as adhesive layer 18 a sheet, a fabric or a section of tear-resistant tape or tape having a sticky face which adheres to and covers the entire rear face 4 of the mirror 2. Thus , any projection of pieces of glass is also prevented in the event of breakage of the mirror 2, even if the latter does not adhere to the rear wall 3b of the support frame 3.

It is self-evident that in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the rear wall 3b of the support frame 3 can be considerably lightened and present only a peripheral part 21, a central part 22 and several ribs radials 23 which connect the central part 22 to the peripheral part 21. In certain cases, it may be advantageous to provide a thin layer of adhesive 24 on the marginal zone of the front face 7 and if necessary also on the edge 5 of the mirror 2, zone and edge 5, which will subsequently be covered by the plastic of the support frame
It is self-evident that for the production of the mirror cassettes 1 shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the shape of the cavity 11 of the mold 10 must be adapted accordingly, which is within the reach of the skilled person. art and does not require a detailed description.

 The different embodiments previously described with reference to the drawing may undergo a certain number of modifications without going beyond the scope of the protection defined by the appended claims.

Claims (15)

 1. Mirror cassette, in particular for the sun visor of an automobile interior, of the type comprising a mirror (2) and a support frame (3) integral with the mirror (2) and intended to ensure the connection between the mirror and the sun visor screen, characterized in that at least part of the rear face (4) of the mirror (2) is covered by molding with a layer of plastic material (3b) which constitutes the support frame (3) whose rear face is provided with fixing members (9) from molding.  2. mirror cassette according to claim 1, characterized in that the plastic of the support frame (3) covers without play, at least several zones (19) located on opposite sides of the edge (5) of the mirror (2) , the plastic material extending at least over the entire thickness of the latter.  3. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the plastic of the support frame (3) covers without play, in addition to the edge (5) and at least part of the face rear (4), also at least several opposite zones of the marginal part (6) of the front face (7) of the mirror (2).  4. Cassette ô mirror according to one of the claims # ons 1 to 3, characterized in that the rear face (4) of the mirror is entirely covered by the plastic layer which constitutes the rear wall (3b) of the support frame (3).  5. Cassette ô mirror according to one of claims 1 ô 4, characterized in that the mirror (2) has on its rear face a layer of adhesive (18) to which also adheres the rear wall (3b) of the frame -support (3).  6. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the rear face (4) of the mirror (2) is provided with a tear-resistant adhesive sheet (18) which adheres at least to said rear face ( 4).  7. Mirror cassette according to claim 6, characterized in that the tear-resistant adhesive sheet (18) also adheres to the rear wall (3b) of the support frame (3).  8. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the support frame (3) of the mirror (2) comprises a framing bead (3a) which has several legs or other fixing members ( 9), conforms without lateral play to the outline of the mirror (2) and encloses the edge (5) of the mirror (2) and a marginal zone (6, 21) on either side of said edge (5).  9. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the framing bead (3a) is constituted by several tabs (3e) separated by notches (3f).  10. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the support frame (3) has a framing rib (19) surrounding the edge (5) of the mirror (2) and flush with the face before (7) of the latter.  11. Mirror cassette according to claim 10, characterized in that the framing rib (19) comprises several notches (20) intended to receive the studs for fixing a covering joint.  12. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the rear wall (3b) of the support frame has a peripheral part (21), a central part (22) and several radial ribs (23) .  13. Mirror cassette according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the support frame (3) is made of a transparent or semi-transparent material and present on the central part (22) of its rear wall ( 3b), a housing bowl (16) for the end of a lighting member (17).  14. Method for assembling a mirror cassette (1) comprising a mirror (2) and a support frame (3), characterized in that this mirror (2) and the support frame (3) are combined ) in the same operation using for the support frame (3) a plastic material applied by molding at least against certain parts of the rear face (4) of said mirror (2) that lron positions beforehand in the cavity (11) of a mold (10) in such a way that its reflecting face (7) is pressed at least over its largest part including the center against the lower wall (13) of said cavity (11) whose total volume corresponds to that of the mirror ( 2) ô overmold and the support frame (3) ô mold during the assembly operation of the mirror (2) and the support frame (3).  15. Method according to claim 14, characterized in that at least the rear face (4) of the mirror (2) is provided with a layer of adhesive or of a reinforcing adhesive sheet (18) before overmolding the mirror (2) with the plastic material constituting the support frame (3) - of said mirror (2).