Rearview mirror assembly with internally mounted compass sensor
First Claim
1. A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
- a mirror housing;
a mounting structure for pivotably mounting said mirror housing to the vehicle such that said mirror housing may be both vertically and horizontally tilted;
a mirror mounted in said mirror housing;
a compass sensor disposed in said mirror housing and coupled to a compass processing circuit; and
a tilt detector for detecting when said mirror housing has been tilted from a prior position and for generating and transmitting a tilt detection signal to the compass processing circuit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rearview mirror assembly is disclosed for use in a vehicle that includes a mirror housing, a mounting structure for pivotally mounting the mirror housing to the vehicle such that the mirror housing may be both vertically and horizontally tilted, a compass sensor disposed in the mirror housing and coupled to a compass processing circuit, and a tilt detector for detecting when the mirror housing has been tilted from a prior position and for generating and transmitting a tilt detection signal to the compass processing circuit. The compass processing circuit may then respond to the reception of the tilt detecting signal by compensating the compass reading and/or display or by recalibrating the compass. The compass may be recalibrated using a variety of techniques, which may include, for example, comparing the sensor output values immediately prior and immediately after a tilt detection signal has been received and adjusting the calibration point by an amount corresponding to any difference between the sensor output levels.
321 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror housing; a mounting structure for pivotably mounting said mirror housing to the vehicle such that said mirror housing may be both vertically and horizontally tilted; a mirror mounted in said mirror housing; a compass sensor disposed in said mirror housing and coupled to a compass processing circuit; and a tilt detector for detecting when said mirror housing has been tilted from a prior position and for generating and transmitting a tilt detection signal to the compass processing circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a housing; a mounting structure for pivotably mounting said housing to the vehicle such that said housing may be both vertically and horizontally tilted; a mirror mounted in said housing; a tilt detector for detecting when said housing has been tilted from a prior position and for generating a tilt detection signal when said detector detects tilting of said housing; a compass sensor circuit disposed in said housing for sensing directional components of the earth'"'"'s magnetic field and for supplying electrical signals representing the sensed directional components; and a compass processing circuit disposed in said housing and coupled to said compass sensor circuit for processing the electrical signals supplied by said compass sensor circuit and generating a vehicle heading signal representing the current heading of the vehicle, wherein said compass processing circuit is coupled to said tilt detector to receive the tilt detection signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A tilt detector for a rearview mirror assembly for detecting the tilting of the rearview mirror housing relative to a ball mount structure upon which the housing may be tilted, said tilt detector comprises:
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a target provided on an area of the ball mount structure, said target having a different visual characteristic than other surrounding areas of the ball mount structure; a light source for projecting light onto the ball mount structure; a photodetector for detecting the level of light reflected from the ball mount structure; and a processing circuit coupled to said photodetector for sensing when the level of reflected light detected by said photodetector changes, and for generating a tilt detection signal when a change is sensed. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror housing; a mounting structure for mounting said mirror housing in a vehicle; a mirror disposed in said housing; an inclinometer disposed in said mirror housing for sensing tilting of said mirror housing; and a processing circuit disposed in said housing and coupled to said inclinometer for processing information received from said inclinometer. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification