1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for mounting items onto vehicles; more specifically, the invention relates to a rigid and adjustable apparatus for supporting gauges or other items from available areas of vehicles, whether open surfaces or tubular members such as handlebars, roll bars, or A-pillars.
2. Background Information
Some forms of personal transportation lack desired controls, indications, or accessories. Vehicles such as bicycles or snowmobiles offer little space typically considered suitable for instrumentation. Some manufacturers forego such equipment to keep their costs low. These problems provide opportunities for creative after-market solutions. Because of the expense of design and production, after-market manufacturers try to design products applicable to a wide variety of makes or styles of vehicles. Therefore, it is important that after-market solutions be adjustable, capable of suiting most drivers regardless of the vehicle. If a gauge mount is not adjustable, then it may not permit ergonomically correct positioning. Ideally, the flexibility of orientation and location would help a variety of drivers of a single vehicle to achieve spatial compatibility with the installed indications. Such products should also be effective, inexpensive, and easy for the driver to install. For performance racing vehicles, it is also important for the gauge mount to fixedly hold the gauge in place through high speeds and hard turns.
Most vehicles feature some exposed, available surface. For example, motorcycles and bicycles commonly have tubular handlebars. Vehicles used in motor sports are likely to provide roll over protection through tubular roll bars or cages; additionally, in some of these vehicles the A-pillar is also an exposed tube. Larger vehicles, such as boats and automobiles may have free surfaces on dashboards or consoles. If such spots are adjacent to the vehicle driver, they can provide an opportunity for mounting a gauge, control, or accessory.
One approach, seen mostly on two wheeled vehicles, is to create a support bracket with holes that allows the bracket to be held to the vehicle by existing vehicle bolts that are passed through the bracket. Examples of this technique are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,388 to Brewer and U.S. Pat. No. D 367,418 to Lathrop. These inventions often rely on the common availability of bolts near the driver's view in the center of bicycle or motorcycle handlebars; the bolts may fasten the head of the handlebar assembly, tie into the front forks, or anchor the top of the suspension. This approach is limited in several ways. First, the positioning is limited to the location and availability of the mounting bolt or bolts, possibly inhibiting good spatial compatibility. Second, the installation requires removing a bolt, possibly from the handlebar or front suspension; novice mechanics may be uncomfortable undertaking this task. Third, it is possible that the added thickness of the bracket could impede the proper functioning of the mounting bolt if its threads are no longer able to engage.
Another static or fixed approach, common for larger vehicles such as automobiles and boats, is to fix a mounting structure or frame to an available surface; this structure ideally holds and orients the gauge or accessory towards the driver. Some static, after-market gauge mounts are available for placing gauges on the driver side A-pillar, in pods on the surface of dashboards, or adjacent to existing instrument clusters. These solutions often involve a tradeoff between spatial compatibility and vehicle applicability. If the manufacture seeks to optimize ergonomics, then the product is likely to be suitable only for a single or small number of vehicle models. For example, a pod designed to be in the driver's view when placed on the curved dash of a subcompact car is unlikely to be suitable for the straight dash of a large sedan. Some static mounts offer adjustment of the gauge in a single plane, such as pitch. In general, however, static mounts are limited in their ability to achieve spatial compatibility for a wide variety of drivers.
Alternatively, some devices take advantage of the space available on exposed tubular members, creating brackets that clamp onto features such as handlebars. U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,083 to Angibaud, U.S. Pat. No. D 257,122 to Price, U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,728 to Maglica, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,089 to Iteya all seek to mount gauges or accessories to exposed tubes. The problem with this approach is gripping the tube in a rigid manner, while offering flexibility in adjustment.
A number of these designs use a form of a single split clamp and gauge support. The Angibaud apparatus forms a sort of single split clamp when the single screw is tightened. Similarly, '122 to Price, '089 to Iteya, and several of the embodiments in '728 to Maglica use single split clamps. In some cases, such as in the Angibaud and Price designs, the clamp uses a single fastener to provide the clamping force for both the handlebar and the gauge support; when the screw is loosened to adjust one clamp, the apparatus loses its grip on both single split clamps. Depending on the orientation and shape of the bar, for example, single split clamps can also suffer from uneven distribution of compressive forces, reducing the friction available to hold the gauge in place.
Some devices incorporate double split clamps. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,007 to Vernon depicts a double split handlebar clamp with a plurality of machine screws. The Vernon design features enhanced stability from a double split clamp with a fixed mount. However, the gauge may be adjusted only through the rotation of a threaded member. This design limits the range of positions available for the gauge.
The design in '728 to Maglica uses a double split arrangement to grip handlebars, and a form of ball joint. This invention centers on a spherical ring “gripping” member, which is a ball or sphere with a cylindrical hollow into which can be inserted a removable flashlight. The mounting of this gripping member offers some ability to rotate for adjustment, but the housing must retain the gripping member within its mount, which limits its rotation when it is “gripping” or holding a cylindrical object like a flashlight. For the intended application of the '728 invention, this is not a serious problem because the angles needed for a flashlight to aid a bicycle driver at night are relatively limited. However, it would pose several problems if one tried to adapt the Maglica arrangement for use with a gauge.
Different drivers, and even different positions of a single driver can require a broad range of adjustment to preserve spatial compatibility of an important gauge or indication. Additionally, items such as gauges typically have a greater diameter to length ratio, which means that the spherical ring “gripping” member and its housing would have to be much larger to accommodate the larger diameter. This increased size could inhibit adjustment, add weight, obscure the view of the gauge, and create wind resistance. For the reasons discussed above, these adaptations are likely to reduce further its functionality.
In several embodiments, the Maglica ball is positioned in a double split housing with the additional function of clamping to the handlebar. This approach shares the drawback with single fasteners described above, in that any loosening of the handlebar clamp would similarly loosen the force on the floating ball until it is ultimately released from the housing. Likewise, loosening the housing to adjust the “gripping” member could result in a loss of grip on the handlebars. In another Maglica embodiment, the “gripping” member is held in place by compression of a washer by a threaded ring. In that case, the clamping of the ball is achieved through the friction of an appropriately sized rubber washer.
Notably, the patents to Iteya, Angibaud, and Price also use clamps and types of ball joints to make their gauge mounts adjustable. The Iteya design, like the Maglica design, is limited in that it involves inserting an item within the spherical ring, restricting its range of motion. Angibaud and Price rely on single split clamps to grip both handlebars and a spherical member; the spherical member is then connected by a neck to the gauge, accessory, or additional mount. Aside from the single fastener weakness described above, these designs need a compressive housing to keep the sphere steady under the torque of a gauge positioned at the end of this neck. The compressive force and friction of the housing must be able to overcome bumps and forces of everyday driving. At the same time, this housing limits the range of motion for gauge adjustment.
None of these designs offers both rigidity and a wide range of flexibility. The present invention is directed to an improved gauge mount for overcoming this challenge.