Rearview mirror with internally-mounted compass sensor
First Claim
1. In a rcarview mirror assembly for an automotive vehicle, comprising a housing,a mirror mounted to the housing, a visual display disposed to be visible by a driver or passenger in the vehicle, an electronic compass sensor, a processing circuit adapted to receive signals from the electronic compass sensor and send a display signal representative of the vehicle heading to the visual display, and a pivot connection between the mirror and the vehicle, the improvement wherein the electronic compass sensor is mounted within the housing and pivotable with the mirror, and further comprising compensation means to compensate for pivotable movement of the mirror relative to the vehicle.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rearview mirror assembly is provided for a vehicle which incorporates a self-contained magnetic field sensor in the mirror housing. When mounted to a fixed pivot point in a single ball mounting bracket, the mirror housing pivots around the magnetic field sensor. When the magnetic field sensor is mounted within the mirror housing either to the housing or to the mirror, compensation for the rotation position of the mirror about a vertical axis is provided by an empirically predetermined compensation value whereby direct reading of the angle is adjusted by a processor or by mechanically mounting the field sensor at an angle representative of the compensation value. Other ways of rotation compensation are also disclosed. Compensation for tilt about a horizontal axis is provided by an elliptical compensation algorithm in a microprocessor.
-
Citations
7 Claims
- 1. In a rcarview mirror assembly for an automotive vehicle, comprising a housing,a mirror mounted to the housing, a visual display disposed to be visible by a driver or passenger in the vehicle, an electronic compass sensor, a processing circuit adapted to receive signals from the electronic compass sensor and send a display signal representative of the vehicle heading to the visual display, and a pivot connection between the mirror and the vehicle, the improvement wherein the electronic compass sensor is mounted within the housing and pivotable with the mirror, and further comprising compensation means to compensate for pivotable movement of the mirror relative to the vehicle.
-
7. In a rearview mirror assembly for an automotive vehicle, comprising a housing, a mirror mounted to the housing, a visual display disposed to be visible by a driver or passenger in the vehicle, an electronic compass sensor, a processing circuit adapted to receive signals from the electronic compass sensor and send a display signal representative of the vehicle heading to the visual display, a bracket for mounting the mirror housing to the vehicle, and a pivot connection between the mirror housing and the bracket, the improvement wherein the electronic compass sensor is mounted to the bracket within the housing whereby the housing is pivotable around the electronic compass sensor while the electronic compass sensor remains fixed relative to the vehicle.
Specification