Rear-view mirror with a reflected combined signal and optics

• US 7,188,981 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2005
• Issued: 03/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alejandro Rodriguez Barros, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Fernandez
• Original Assignee: Alejandro Rodriguez Barros, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Fernandez
• Inventors: Rodriguez Fernandez, Jose Manuel, Rodriguez Barros, Alejandro
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Shea; Sandra
• Assistant Examiner(s): Truong; Bao Q.
• Application Number:
  US11/156,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20050225994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 631 Days
• Field of Search: 362/494, 362/492, 362/135, 362/136, 362/800, 362/540, 362/544, 362/545, 362/543, 362/511, 362/509, 362/516, 362/240, 362/294, 340/475, 340/478
• US Class Current: 362/494
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2665 on rear-view mirrors lighting devices for vehicle interior on or for rear-view mirrors B60Q3/258
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/1207 with lamps; with turn indicators
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1215 with information displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1223 with sensors or transducers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/123 with thermometers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1253 with cameras, video cameras or video screens
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 362/80 Light emitting diode

Abstract

The invention relates to a rear-view mirror for vehicles, which consists of compatible, combinable and exchangeable modules such as: (A) and (B), or integrated (A+B), functional, signal, lighting and sensor modules, and structural (C), (D) and (E) modules; cover-housing, body-housing and support which may include functional modules. (A), (B) and (A+B) fulfill their function even if the rear-view mirror is folded. They use a multifocal light source of LED'"'"'s inserted into a flexible and orientable circuit and/or a mixed rigid-flexible circuit-combining LED'"'"'s+bulbs and other lighting, elements, with variable optical and reflective means enabling more than one signal from one same transparent surface with direct light output, indirect-reflected light output and/or through intermediate optical light guides depending on the directions required in the front, the side, the back and the lateral ground for different commands, applications and safety signals.

Claims

1. Vehicle rear-view side mirror which comprises a housing (D) with a first opening with at least one prisms rear-viewing element, camera, or mirror and that includes in a second opening a light signals emitter assembly equipped with a cover with at least one transparent, translucent or in part colorless or tinted surface (1), one interior body (10) or support, one interior light source and/or one reflector (12), that emits at least one signal towards the front, side, and rear of the rear-view mirror and vehicle with respect to the driving direction, projecting said emitter assembly light rearwards (K1) through a zone (2) of said surface (1) of said cover located at the farthest side end from the vehicle'"'"'s bodywork or vertex (204), said rear-view mirror being characterized in that said light signals emitter assembly includes optical bodies (150) at least partially of a diamond shape arranged around an optical axis with at least one light input and at least one light output, said optical bodies (150) being transparent and light directors, positioned between the emitters (30) of said light source and the surface (1) of said cover and with at least one light input and said optical bodies (150) include at least one prism, and/or one lens and/or one etched surface and have different forms and sections, producing at least a concentrator and/or diffuser and/or multiplier effect, or a combination thereof.

2. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said emitter assembly comprises one internal or external non-transparent surface (N), hollowed with respect to said vertex (204), limiting said non-transparent surface (N) the luminous angle (100) from the angle without light (200), and in that said light source illuminates in at least one of the three mentioned directions directly and/or through said optical bodies (150) positioned between the light source and said surface (1) of said cover and/or in a reflected, diffused, direct-reflected, or reflected-diffused form, proportioning at least one turn-signal indicator function.

3. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said forms and sections of the optical bodies are at least one of those included in the following group:

tubular, parallelepiped hexagonal, circular, and in a cross.

4. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 3, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) are positioned with equal or different positioning between them, parallel or perpendicular to the surface (1) of the cover, are individual or integral in group with one piece, fastened by teeth, clips, or between plastic parts, and in that at least one beam of light in an optical axis (32) travels from at least one light input surface (156), flat or with an optic, until at least one output surface (151) substantially flat or with a lens (6).

5. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) produce a multiplier effect on the light output points (151) based upon a group of bodies branched out like fingers from a common nucleus (159) with a common light input by said nucleus (159) for at least one emitter and extending to various branches, mutually parallel or not parallel, with a corresponding light output at their respective ends.

6. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) are located to produce a concentrator and/or multiplier effect on the light of at least one emitter of said light source onto which they are placed.

7. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 6, characterized in that said diamond shape optical bodies (150) are formed based upon a body with one light input and one light output of substantially parallel surfaces separated by a distance (D1) greater than 1mm and said output surface being surrounded, at least partially and around an optical axis (32), by a series of inclined surfaces (S1) or prisms whose angle of incidence with respect to the emitter light is interpolated between 90°

and 45°

producing a change in direction towards said optical axis of the light that travels thereto (32bis).

8. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) are at least one spherical lens (6) and/or one concentric Fresnel type lens that maintains a distance (V1) greater than 1 mm with respect to at least one emitter of said light source onto which is placed.

9. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) extend from the surface (1) of said cover towards one emitter or emitters of said light source onto which they are placed, being integral with the same transparent piece and/or are partly hollow, at least over emitter points, with solid parts that turn around the optical axis (32) of said emitter or emitters.

10. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) or reflective surfaces of said emitter assembly produce a double reflection of light that changes direction more than once within said optical body upon overtaking a first reflection surface (155bis) or (12bis) that reflects light towards another greater reflection surface, parabolic and convergent (155 or 12), and/or towards a concave mirror surface of a greater size.

11. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one emitter of said light source is a LED or a LED multi-chip and in that the emitter assembly has said intermediate optical bodies (150) integrated at least with a mentioned LED or LED multi-chip forming a unit with a similar form to that of a diamond shape, multi-prism, or prismatic lens (7) such that they produce the same concentrator effect, diffuser and/or light multiplier, or with a parabolic form with the vertex or narrowing toward the chip of said LED that produces a concentrator effect of the light.

12. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one emitter of said light source is of a bulb type (95), and said emitter assembly uses on said at least one bulb type emitter (95) a mask (3 bis) that is normally metallic and with variable holes (13 bis) of a conical profile that lets allow more than 50% of the light of said bulb type emitter (95) to pass through, and wherein said mask reflects external light (32 bis) thereby masking the color of said emitter.

13. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one emitter of said light source is a neon tube (140), and in that said optical body (150) has an input surface adjacent to said neon tube (140), which partly surrounds said neon tube, and a light output from the end opposite to said input, being said light output partly straight (40) and/or partly lateral (32 bis).

14. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said optical bodies (150) are integral and combined with light guides forming modules, and/or with other transparent plastic parts, covers or masks and/or are tinted to give color to the light emitted therethrough and/or are metallized in part.

15. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that a direct light output is used upon projecting more than 20% of the light emitted by emitters (30) of said interior light source, that are differentiated as individual points by means of their optical axes (32) that are orientated by means of a circuit which support them, directly against the surface (1) of said cover, from where light is emitted to the outside.

16. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that the emitter assembly defines a body base (10) and/or a reflector (12), with a prolonged shape and slightly deep with a background almost parallel to the surface (1) of said cover forming a horizontal or vertical reflection channel of a minimum volume, being said background preferably metallic, smooth and/or with reflective elements (13), and/or with individual cones (112) that surround each emitter of emitters of said light source.

17. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said light source illuminates in a direct-reflected manner using a direct-reflected output of uniform, homogeneous type of light upon deviating more than 10% of the light of a emitter, of said light source, at least once, upon reflecting said deviated light in a reflective surface (12), almost flat and parallel to the surface (1) of said cover, divided into a series of small faceted reflectors (13), staggered parabola sectors, flat, spherical micro-mirrors, or vertically, horizontally, obliquely, spirally, or squared positioned semi-cylinders, defining a collimator or collector of light that receives an axial or lateral beam of light that is distributed between these small sectors, reflecting each one a percentage of light less than that is generated by its corresponding emitter element.

18. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said light source illuminates in a direct-reflected manner using a direct-reflected output of a heterogeneous type constituted by a series of individual cavities (3 or 3 bis), cones or closed parabolas (112) of a variable shape with equal or different orientations, applied on an almost smooth background of a reflective surface (12) that limits and sections the light of some emitters, of said light source, near to their focal axes (32) like a series of illuminated points on a background without illumination.

19. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said light source illuminates in a direct-reflected manner using a direct-reflected output that produces a light point multiplier effect by means of a series of spherical, convex, reflective micro-mirrors (13) similar to scales or medium pearls with variable forms placed on a reflective surface (12) that is a cavity (3) or (3bis) of a general parabolic shape, and are aligned squarely in a parallel and meridian manner around an emitter (30 or 212), of said light source, and its optical axis (32).

20. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said surface (1) of said cover has faces including at least partially a series of pyramids or prisms that produce a reflection of the exterior light, or catadioptrical effect, and said prisms have or intercalate a flatten part such that they permit the passing of the interior light in that area, producing both reflection and transmittance of light.

21. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said surface (1) of said cover defines, in an anticipated area to the rearwards light output area, an inward appendix (2) or extension, smooth or with prisms (7), in order to rectify the light'"'"'s direction in said rearwards projection.

22. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said surface (1) of said cover is an illuminating surface, at least partially machined, that combines convergent lenses (6), concentric prisms and/or semi-cylinders or generally vertical prisms (7), thereby making surface (1) a wavy, binary surface that generates a linear light optical effect on light beams (32) and (32 bis) when said light beams pass through said surface (1).

23. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said emitter assembly uses a light source based upon a neon tube (140) where the same light emitter tube serves as a source to emit two kind of luminous signals:

a horizontal signal and/or a vertical signal.

24. The vehicle side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that the emitter assembly produces a squared light points multiplier effect based upon combining the crossing of vertical, horizontal or oblique lines, some of them arranged on said surface (1) of said cover and others crossing on said reflector (12), being defined said lines by a series of prisms or vertical semi-cylinders with a binary type profile (7) on the surface (1) combined with a similar series of prisms or horizontal semi-cylinders (13) on the reflective surface (12), or vice-versa.

25. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said interior light source illuminates in a reflected-diffused manner using a reflected-diffused light output normally of such a vertical development that a LEDs source (130), of said interior light source, cannot be seen from the outside, and puts in front of the optical axis of emitters of said LEDs source (130) a reflective surface or collimator (12) that directs light by reflection to the outside, and/or on the other hand uses said optical bodies (150) that are light conductors and with a hollow area over their light output, that drive part of the light of said source to a lateral output (132) by reflection in prisms (155) and in an extreme prism (7) found in said light conductor bodies (150).

26. The vehicle rear-view side mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that said light source illuminates in a reflected-diffused manner using a reflected-diffused light output, where the light source is a neon tube (140), positioned by teeth and clips (142), that is not seen from the outside or that is somewhat seen, where the light from said source has a reflected output in a collimator (12) and another part uses optical bodies (150) adjacent to said neon tube (140).