Motor driven retractable outside mirror for vehicle
First Claim
1. A vehicle door mirror assembly comprising:
- a base unit for mounting said mirror assembly on a vehicle body;
a mirror unit mounted on said base unit for swinging movement about a swing axis on the base unit;
an ultrasonic motor, mounted on said mirror unit, for supplying power to force said mirror unit to swing, said ultrasonic motor including a drive shaft, a rotor for rotating said drive shaft, and a stator having an elastic member and a piezoelectric vibrator for generating a circular traveling wave, and a biasing means for pressing said rotor on said stator, said stator being fixed to said mirror unit;
a fixed gear fixed to said base unit; and
a speed reducing gear arrangement mounted on said mirror unit, said speed reducing gear arrangement including a driving gear driven by said drive shaft of said ultrasonic motor, and a driven gear means for being driven by said driving gear at a rotational speed lower than a rotational speed of said driving gear and said driven gear means is in engagement with said fixed gear to thereby rotate around said fixed gear and cause said mirror unit to rotate about said swing axis.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle door mirror assembly has a stationary base unit, a door mirror unit mounted on the base unit so that the mirror unit is swingable about a vertical swing axis, an ultrasonic motor for supplying power to swing the mirror unit, a fixed gear fixed to the base unit, and a speed reducing gear set. The ultrasonic motor and the gear reducing gear set are both mounted on the mirror unit. The speed reducing gear set has a driving gear driven by the motor, an intermediate gear engaged with, and driven by, the driving gear, and a driven gear which is connected with the intermediate gear by a joint shaft and which is engaged with the fixed gear. When the motor drives the driving gear, the driven gear is driven by the driving gear at a reduced speed, and moves around the fixed gear to swing the mirror unit about the axis of the fixed gear. This door mirror assembly is advantageous in compactness, durability and efficiency.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A vehicle door mirror assembly comprising:
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a base unit for mounting said mirror assembly on a vehicle body; a mirror unit mounted on said base unit for swinging movement about a swing axis on the base unit; an ultrasonic motor, mounted on said mirror unit, for supplying power to force said mirror unit to swing, said ultrasonic motor including a drive shaft, a rotor for rotating said drive shaft, and a stator having an elastic member and a piezoelectric vibrator for generating a circular traveling wave, and a biasing means for pressing said rotor on said stator, said stator being fixed to said mirror unit; a fixed gear fixed to said base unit; and a speed reducing gear arrangement mounted on said mirror unit, said speed reducing gear arrangement including a driving gear driven by said drive shaft of said ultrasonic motor, and a driven gear means for being driven by said driving gear at a rotational speed lower than a rotational speed of said driving gear and said driven gear means is in engagement with said fixed gear to thereby rotate around said fixed gear and cause said mirror unit to rotate about said swing axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A vehicle door mirror assembly comprising:
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a base unit; a mirror unit swingably mounted on said base unit; an ultrasonic motor mounted on said mirror unit for supplying power to force said mirror unit to swing about a swing axis on the base unit; a fixed gear mounted on said base unit and which is non-rotatable relative to said base unit; and a speed reducing gear system mounted on said mirror unit, said speed reducing gear system including a driving gear drivingly connected with said ultrasonic motor, and a driven gear means for being driven by said ultrasonic motor through said driving gear at a rotational speed lower than a rotational speed of said driving gear and said driven gear means is in direct engagement with said fixed gear, said driven gear means rotating around said fixed gear and causing said mirror unit to swing about said swing axis and said swing axis is coincident with an axis of said fixed gear; wherein said ultrasonic motor is located above said fixed gear, and an axis of said ultrasonic motor and the axis of said fixed gear are parallel to each other, wherein said fixed gear is mounted on a center shaft which is fixed to said base unit, and said ultrasonic motor comprises a drive shaft, a rotor for rotating said drive shaft, and a stator which comprises an elastic member and a piezoelectric vibrator for generating a circular traveling wave, and said stator is fixed to said mirror unit, and a biasing means for pressing said rotor on said stator, and wherein said driving gear is fixedly mounted on said drive shaft of said ultrasonic motor and placed just above said center shaft, said driving gear comprising a downwardly facing surface confronting a top end of said center shaft. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification