APPARATUS FOR VIEWING OBLIQUE FORWARD AREA OF VEHICLE

• US 20110007411A1
• Filed: 07/08/2010
• Published: 01/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Takai, Shirena, Kishimoto, Yuya, Hosobe, Tomoaki, Matsuoka, Ryosuke, Mugikura, Norio, Uematsu, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,439,510 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/862
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 1/10 fixedly mounted B60J1/085 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/10 Front-view mirror arrangements; specially adapted for covering the peripheral part of the vehicle B60R1/002; Periscope arrangements , i.e. optical devices using combinations of mirrors, lenses, prisms or the like specially adapted for covering the peripheral part of the vehicle B60R1/002; for viewing traffic-lights B60R1/005; Other mirror arrangements giving a view from above or under the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 25/04 Door pillars ; windshield pillars

Abstract

An apparatus for viewing an oblique forward area of a vehicle whereby light incident from outside a passenger compartment is prevented from reflecting. The apparatus includes a sub-window pane supported by a front pillar and a sub-pillar, a mirror housing of a door mirror for displaying a rear of the vehicle, and a first reflective mirror for displaying an area in front and to one side of the vehicle. The first reflective mirror is provided to the mirror housing. The apparatus also includes a second reflective mirror for reflecting the light reflected by the first reflective mirror toward a driver. The sub-window pane is disposed further toward the outside in a vehicle widthwise direction than a line passing over cross-sectional vehicle-widthwise direction centers of the front pillar and the sub-pillar. An outside edge of the second reflective mirror is positioned in the vicinity of the sub-window pane.

Claims

1. An apparatus for viewing an oblique forward area of a vehicle, comprising:

a sub-window pane, supported by a front pillar of the vehicle and a sub-pillar extending downwardly from partway along the front pillar, for separating an inside and outside of a passenger compartment;

a mirror housing disposed in a vicinity of the sub-window pane and housing a door mirror for displaying a rear of the vehicle;

a first reflective mirror, provided on a front surface of the mirror housing, for displaying the oblique forward area of the vehicle; and

a second reflective mirror, disposed on a surface of the front pillar exposed to an interior of the passenger compartment, for displaying the oblique forward area of the vehicle by reflecting light reflected by the first reflective mirror toward a vehicle occupant through the sub-window pane;

wherein the sub-window pane is disposed further outward in a vehicle widthwise direction than a line passing over cross-sectional vehicle-widthwise direction centers of the front pillar and the sub-pillar, and the second reflective mirror has an outside edge positioned in a vicinity of the sub-window pane.

2. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sub-window pane is disposed such that an external surface of the sub-window pane is substantially flush with an external surface of the front pillar and an external surface of the sub-pillar.

3. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second reflective mirror has an inside edge positioned further inward in the vehicle widthwise direction than the outside edge, the inside edge being positioned further inward in the vehicle widthwise direction than the line passing over the cross-sectional vehicle-widthwise direction centers of the front pillar and the sub-pillar.

4. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second reflective mirror is disposed at a substantially equal height to a height of the first reflective mirror.

5. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the front pillar is disposed on left and right sides of the vehicle, and an instrument panel is disposed between the left and right front pillars, at least one end portion of the instrument panel located closely to a front passenger seat being positioned so as not to interfere with reflected light traveling from the first reflective mirror to the second reflective mirror.

6. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the front pillar is disposed on left and right sides of the vehicle, and an instrument panel is disposed between the left and right front pillars, at least one end portion of the instrument panel located closely to a front passenger seat being formed so as to be lower in a vertical direction than a vehicle-widthwise direction center portion of the instrument panel and being positioned at a height so as not to interfere with reflected light traveling from the first reflective mirror to the second reflective mirror.

7. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a black ceramic paste is provided to a peripheral edge portion of the sub-window pane, and the black ceramic paste is baked so as not to interfere with reflected light traveling from the first reflective mirror to the second reflective mirror.

8. The viewing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second reflective mirror has longitudinal and transverse lengths set so that the second reflective mirror displays only the first reflective mirror.

9. An apparatus for viewing an oblique forward area of a vehicle, comprising:

a sub-window pane supported by a front pillar of the vehicle and a sub-pillar extending downward from partway along the front pillar, the sub-window pane separating an inside and outside of a passenger compartment;

a mirror housing disposed in a vicinity of the sub-window pane and housing a door mirror for displaying a rear of the vehicle;

a housing mirror, provided on a front surface of the mirror housing, for displaying the oblique forward area of the vehicle; and

a pillar mirror mechanism having a pillar mirror, provided on that surface of the front pillar which is exposed to an interior of the passenger compartment, for displaying the oblique forward area of the vehicle by reflecting light reflected by the housing mirror toward a vehicle occupant via the sub-window pane,

wherein the pillar mirror mechanism comprises a pillar mirror housing disposed on a surface of the front pillar in the interior of the passenger compartment, and a mirror holder, attached to inside of the pillar mirror housing, for retaining the pillar mirror,

the mirror holder is provided with a boss part that protrudes toward the inside of the pillar mirror housing, and

the boss part has an adjustment margin whereby an angle of the retained pillar mirror is adjusted by adjusting a protrusion length of the boss part.

10. The viewing apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least two boss parts are formed, and the two boss parts are disposed in positions so as to be point-symmetrical about an intersection of a horizontal center line and a vertical center line of the mirror holder.

11. The viewing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the pillar mirror is divided into four areas designated as an upper right area, a lower right area, an upper left area and a lower left area, and one of the boss parts is disposed in the mirror holder so as to correspond to the lower right area while the other boss part is disposed in the mirror holder so as to correspond to the upper left area.

12. The viewing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the pillar mirror housing is provided with an open portion having a peripheral edge portion substantially flush with a reflective surface of the pillar mirror.

13. The viewing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the pillar mirror housing is black.

14. The viewing apparatus of claim 9, wherein one of the pillar mirror and the pillar mirror housing is provided with visible range displaying means for notifying a vehicle occupant of a visible range of the oblique forward area of the vehicle viewed via the housing mirror.