Wide angle mirror attachable to an existing rear view mirror

• US 6,126,289 A
• Filed: 05/15/1997
• Issued: 10/03/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Koukichi Nagayama
• Original Assignee: Koukichi Nagayama
• Inventors: Nagayama, Koukichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Spyrou, Cassandra
• Assistant Examiner(s): Robinson, Mark A.
• Application Number:
  US08/856,644
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: 339/854, 339/855, 339/864, 339/865, 339/866
• US Class Current: 359/854
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/081 avoiding blind spots, e.g. by using a side-by-side association of mirrors

Abstract

A wide room mirror in the present invention has a main mirror formed in the shape of a plate body and detachably attached to the surface side of an existing room mirror such that the surface of the existing room mirror is covered with the main mirror. The wide room mirror also has an auxiliary mirror movably connected to the main mirror through a connecting member and supported by the main mirror. Accordingly, a driver can simply use the wide room mirror by attaching the wide room mirror to the conventional existing room mirror. Therefore, a region having an angle and a range wider than those of a region reflected on only the existing room mirror can be seen by the auxiliary mirror.

Claims

1. A wide room mirror attached to an existing room mirror, the existing room mirror arranged within a vehicle room, and the wide room mirror comprising:

a main mirror formed in the shape of a plate body and detachably attached to a surface of said existing room mirror such that at least a portion of the surface of the existing room mirror is covered within the main mirror; and

an auxiliary mirror moveably connected to said main mirror through a connecting member and supported by the main mirror wherein said connecting member has a non-expansional extending portion extending from a circumferential edge of said main mirror along a plane direction of the main mirror and also has a connecting portion for movably connecting the extending portion onto said auxiliary mirror, said extending portion has a movable portion for allowing an end tip side of the extending portion to be turned with respect to said main mirror, the extending portion also has a base end part integrally formed with the main mirror, said connecting portion connects said auxiliary mirror to an end tip portion of said extending portion; and

an end of said auxiliary mirror, said end having a first state for approximately setting the end of the auxiliary mirror to be proximate to an end of said main mirror, said end having a second state in which the end of auxiliary mirror is not proximate with respect to the end of said main mirror, the end of the auxiliary mirror being in a plane of the main mirror in the first state and not in the plane of the main mirror in the second state so that the end of the auxiliary mirror is closer to the existing mirror in the first state than in the second state, the wide room mirror in the first state has a substantially rectangular plate shape as a whole,

said extending portion has a movable portion for allowing the end tip portion of the extending portion to be turned with respect to said main mirror,

a rear face of said auxiliary mirror has a storing concave portion for storing said extending portion with the movable portion in said first state.

2. A wide room mirror according to claim 1, wherein

said auxiliary mirror in said first state is in the same plane as said main mirror and wherein said auxiliary mirror in said second state is not in the same plane as said main mirror.

3. A wide room mirror according to claim 2, wherein

said auxiliary mirror moved from said first state is moved away from said existing room mirror.

4. A wide room mirror according to claim 1, wherein said movable portion is arranged in the base end part.

5. A wide room mirror according to claim 1, wherein said connecting portion movably connects the extending portion onto a rear face side of said auxiliary mirror.

6. A wide room mirror attached to an existing room mirror, the existing room mirror arranged within a vehicle room, and the wide room mirror comprising:

a main mirror formed in the shape of a plate body and detachably attached over at least a portion of a surface of said existing room mirror;

an auxiliary mirror; and

a connecting member between said auxiliary mirror and said main mirror, the connecting member having a non-expansional extending portion and a connecting portion, the extending portion having a base end part integrally formed with the main mirror and extending from said main mirror along a plane direction of the main mirror, the connecting portion movably connecting to an end tip portion of the extending portion onto said auxiliary mirror, the connecting portion allowing said auxiliary mirror to move from an initial state to an external opening state, an inside end portion of the auxiliary mirror in the initial state being adjacent to said main mirror, and a surface of the auxiliary mirror in the external opening state being inclined outwardly with respect to the main mirror and with respect to the existing room mirror with the inside end portion being not adjacent to said main mirror, the inside end of the auxiliary mirror being in a plane of the main mirror in the initial state and not in the plane of the main mirror in the external opening state, the wide room mirror in the initial state has a substantially rectangular plate shape as a whole,

said extending portion has a movable portion for allowing the end tip portion of the extending portion to be turned with respect to said main mirror,

a rear face of said auxiliary mirror has a storing concave portion for storing said extending portion with the movable portion in said initial state.

7. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

said connecting portion connects the end tip portion of said extending portion to an outside end portion of said auxiliary mirror farthest from said main mirror in an extending direction of said extending portion.

8. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

said extending portion has a movable portion for allowing the end tip portion of the extending portion to be turned with respect to said main mirror.

9. A wide room mirror according to claim 8, wherein said movable portion is arranged in the base end part.

10. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

a storing concave portion for storing said extending portion in said initial state is formed on the rear face side of said auxiliary mirror.

11. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

said connecting member detachably connects said main mirror and said auxiliary mirror to each other.

12. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

said connecting portion is constructed by a supporting spherical portion formed in one of said extending portion and said auxiliary mirror, and a supporting concave portion formed in the other of said extending portion and said auxiliary mirror and storing and supporting said supporting spherical portion in a movable state.

13. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

the surface of the auxiliary mirror in the initial state is in the same plane as the surface of said main mirror.

14. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

the extending portion extends from a circumferential edge of said main mirror.

15. A wide room mirror according to claim 14, wherein

the extending portion and the circumferential edge are integrally formed.

16. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein

the extending portion has a plate shape tapered toward the end tip portion.

17. A wide room mirror according to claim 6, wherein the connecting portion movably connects to the end tip portion of the extending portion onto a rear face side of said auxiliary mirror.

18. A wide room mirror attached to an existing room mirror, the existing room mirror arranged within a vehicle room, and the wide room mirror comprising:

a main mirror formed in the shape of a plate body and detachably attached over at least a portion of a surface of said existing room mirror;

an auxiliary mirror; and

a connecting member between said auxiliary mirror and said main mirror, the connecting member having a non-expansional extending portion and a connecting portion, the extending portion extending from said main mirror along a plane direction of the main mirror, the connecting portion movably connecting to an end tip portion of the extending portion onto a rear face side of said auxiliary mirror, the connecting portion allowing said auxiliary mirror to move from an initial state to an external opening state, an inside end portion of the auxiliary mirror in the initial state being adjacent to said main mirror, and a surface of the auxiliary mirror in the external opening state being inclined outwardly with respect to the main mirror with the inside end portion being not adjacent to said main mirror, the inside end of the auxiliary mirror being in a plane of the main mirror in the initial state and not in the plane of the main mirror in the external opening state, wherein

said extending portion has a movable portion for allowing the end tip portion of the extending portion to be turned with respect to said main mirror,

the rear face of said auxiliary mirror has a storing concave portion for storing said extending portion with the movable portion in said initial state.