Adjustable exterior rearview mirror for vehicles
First Claim
1. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
- a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective element supported in said housing, said housing having an upper exterior portion and a lower exterior portion;
a bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and
a support mounting said mirror subassembly on said bracket, said support having a pair of spaced arms, each of said arms cooperating with respective said upper and lower exterior portions of said housing to releasably support said mirror subassembly, and mirror subassembly movable between two or more positions spaced at different distances from said bracket, thereby defining an inboard position and at least one outboard position for said mirror subassembly.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly, especially suited for vehicles used for towing trailers, which selectively holds a mirror subassembly in one of a plurality of positions along a mounting arm to provide at least an inboard, non-towing position and an outboard, towing position. The vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly includes the mirror subassembly, which includes a housing and a reflective element supported in the housing, a mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle, and a support for mounting the mirror subassembly to the mounting bracket. The support includes a pair of arms which cooperate with the housing to support the mirror subassembly in one of two or more extended positions from the mounting bracket.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective element supported in said housing, said housing having an upper exterior portion and a lower exterior portion; a bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and a support mounting said mirror subassembly on said bracket, said support having a pair of spaced arms, each of said arms cooperating with respective said upper and lower exterior portions of said housing to releasably support said mirror subassembly, and mirror subassembly movable between two or more positions spaced at different distances from said bracket, thereby defining an inboard position and at least one outboard position for said mirror subassembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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13. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having housing and a reflective element supported in said housing, said housing including upper and lower walls and a pair of rails, a first of said rails being positioned on said upper wall, a second of said rails being positioned on said lower wall, said rail on said lower wall including a web portion and a flange portion, said flange portion extending from said web portion; a bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and a support mounting said mirror sub-assembly on said bracket, said support having a pair of spaced arms, each of said arms cooperating with a different portion of said housing to releasably support said mirror sub-assembly in one of two or more positions spaced at different distances from said bracket thereby defining an inboard position and at least one outboard position for said mirror subassembly, said arms engaging said rails to slidingly hold said mirror sub-assembly therebetween, and said lower arm releasably engaging one of said web portion and said flange portion to hold said mirror subassembly in one of said inboard position and said outboard position.
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24. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective element supported in said housing, said housing having upper and lower walls, said upper and lower walls respectively having upper and lower exterior surfaces; a vehicle mounting bracket adapted for mounting on a vehicle; and a support mounting said mirror subassembly on said mounting bracket, said support including spaced upper and lower arms engaging said upper and lower walls at said upper and lower exterior surfaces, respectively, and at least one of said arms releasably holding said mirror subassembly in one of an inboard, non-towing position spaced a first distance from said mounting bracket, and an outboard towing position spaced along said support from said mounting bracket a second distance greater than said first distance. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective assembly supported by said housing, said housing being generally cup-shaped with a central opening and an outer wall, said reflective assembly being aligned with said opening, and said outer wall having upper and lower exterior surfaces, said upper and lower exterior surfaces including respective upper and lower rails; a vehicle mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and
a support mounted on said vehicle mounting bracket, said support being C-shaped and having upper and lower arms, said upper rail extending into said upper arm to guide said housing along said upper arm, and said lower rail extending into and being support in said lower arm, one of said upper and lower arms releasably fixing the position of said mirror subassembly along said support in one of an inboard position and an outboard position, and said outboard position being spaced away from said bracket a greater distance than said inboard position and providing an increased field of view to the rear of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50)
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43. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective assembly supported by said housing, said housing being generally cup-shaped with a central opening and an outer wall, said reflective assembly being aligned with said opening, and said outer wall including upper and lower rails, said lower rail including at least one opening; a vehicle mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and a support mounted on said vehicle mounting bracket, said support being C-shaped and having upper and lower arms, said upper rail extending into said upper arm to guide said housing along said upper arm, and said lower rail extending into and being supported in said lower arm, said lower arm member including a seat for supporting said lower rail thereon and a retractable pin selectively engaging said opening to thereby releasably fix the position of said mirror subassembly along said support in one of an inboard position and an outboard position, said lower arm including a first wall and a second wall, said pin extending into said lower arm through said first wall and selectively extending through said opening in said lower rail, and said second wall including a detent for seating a distal end of said pin in said second wall when said pin extends through said opening to thereby support said pin and said outboard position being spaced away from said bracket a greater distance than said inboard position and providing an increased field of view to the rear of the vehicle.
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44. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective assembly supported by said housing, said housing being generally cup-shaped with a central opening and an outer wall, said reflective assembly being aligned with said opening, and said outer wall including upper and lower rails, said lower rail including at least one opening; a vehicle mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and a support mounted on said vehicle mounting bracket, said mounting arm being C-shaped and having upper and lower arms, said upper rail extending into said upper arm to guide said housing along said upper arm, and said lower rail extending into and being supported in said lower arm, said lower arm member including a seat for supporting said lower rail thereon and a retractable pin selectively engaging said opening to thereby releasably fix the position of said mirror subassembly along said support in one of an inboard position and an outboard position, said lower rail comprising a web and a flange, said flange extending generally orthogonal to said web, and said opening being provided in said web and said outboard position being spaced away from said bracket a greater distance than said inboard position and providing an increased field of view to the rear of the vehicle.
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49. A vehicle exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective assembly supported by said housing, said housing being generally cup-shaped with a central opening and an outer wall, said reflective assembly being aligned with said opening, and said outer wall including upper and lower rails; a vehicle mounting bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle; and a support mounted on said vehicle mounting bracket, said support being C-shaped and having upper and lower arms, said upper rail extending into said upper arm to guide said housing along said upper arm, and said lower rail extending into and being supported in said lower arm, one of said upper and lower arms releasably fixing the position of said mirror subassembly along said support in one of an inboard position and an outboard position, said lower arm including first and second walls and a pin, said pin extending through one of said walls to engage said lower rail to fix the position of said mirror subassembly, and said pin having a proximate end extending exteriorly of said one wall to permit manual adjustment of said pin, said lower rail having a plurality of spaced openings, and said pin extending through a selected one of said openings to fix the position of said mirror subassembly in one of a plurality of positions along said support, and said outboard position being spaced away from said bracket a greater distance than said inboard position and providing an increased field of view to the rear of the vehicle.
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Specification