Rearview mirror assembly for motor vehicles

• US 5,383,057 A
• Filed: 06/04/1992
• Issued: 01/17/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Matsuyama Seisakusho
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Matsuyama Seisakusho
• Inventors: Kimura, Sakae, Hamada, Michio
• Primary Examiner(s): Shafer, Ricky D.
• Application Number:
  US07/893,881
• Time in Patent Office: 957 Days
• Field of Search: 350/604, 350/606, 350/632, 350/634, 350/635, 248/479, 248/484, 248/485, 248/486, 248/487, 248/900, 359/841, 359/872, 359/873, 359/874, 359/875, 359/876
• US Class Current: 359/841
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/066 for adjusting the mirror relative to its housing

Abstract

An automotive rearview mirror assembly includes a mirror housing adapted to be mounted on a fixed member of an automobile outside of the passenger'"'"'s compartment, a mirror swingably disposed in the mirror housing, a control mechanism including a control lever adapted to project from the housing into the passenger'"'"'s compartment, and a rotatable shaft mechanism pivotally coupled to a rear surface of the mirror at a plurality of positions thereon, the rotatable shaft mechanism being rotatable in response to control movements of the control lever, for vertically and laterally adjusting the angle of the mirror with respect to the mirror housing. The mirror housing is angularly movable about the axis of the rotatable shaft mechanism in unison with the mirror within the mirror housing.

Claims

1. An automotive rearview mirror assembly for use on an automobile having a passenger'"'"'s compartment, comprising:

a mirror housing adapted to be mounted on a fixed member of the automobile outside of the passenger'"'"'s compartment;

a mirror swingably disposed in said mirror housing;

a control mechanism including a control lever adapted to project from said housing into the passenger'"'"'s compartment;

a rotatable shaft mechanism including first and second arms and pivotally coupled through the two arms to a rear surface of said mirror at first and second positions thereon, said rotatable shaft mechanism further including therein coaxially disposed first and second shafts which are independently rotatable, respectively, in response to control movements of said control lever and are capable of through the two arms vertically and laterally adjusting the angle of said mirror with respect to said mirror housing, respectively;

said first and second shafts constrained to remain coaxial for all positions of the mirror, and

said rotatable shaft mechanism being disposed within said mirror housing and rotatable about an axis extending vertically to a fixed member, and said mirror housing being angularly movable in unison with said mirror about the vertical axis, independently of the rotation of said rotatable shaft mechanism.

2. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first shaft includes a tubular shaft rotatably disposed vertically in said housing;

said second shaft includes a rod-shaped shaft rotatably disposed coaxially in said tubular shaft;

said first arm has an end pivotally coupled to the rear surface of said mirror at said first position thereon, said first arm being conjointly engageably coupled to said tubular shaft; and

said second arm has an end pivotally coupled to the rear surface of said mirror at said second position thereon, said second arm being conjointly engageably coupled to said rod-shaped shaft.

3. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 2, wherein said control mechanism comprises:

a pivot member adapted to be angularly movably mounted in the fixed member of the automobile, said control lever being coupled to said pivot member;

first link means for converting horizontal swinging movement of said control lever into turning movement about an axis of said tubular shaft, said first link means connecting said pivot member to said tubular shaft; and

second link means for converting turning movement of said control lever about its own axis into turning movement about an axis of said rod-shaped shaft, said second link means connecting said pivot member to said rod-shaped shaft.

4. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 3, wherein said pivot member comprises a ball composed of a front hemispherical member from which said control lever extends horizontally, and a rear hemispherical member engaging said front hemispherical member and movable therewith only in response to horizontal swinging movement of said control lever, said first link means comprising a first control rod extending substantially horizontally from said rear hemispherical member and a first handle extending from a lower end of said tubular shaft and engaging a distal end of said first control rod, said second link means comprising a second control rod extending vertically downwardly from said front hemispherical member and a second handle extending from a lower end of said rod-shaped shaft and engaging a distal end of said second control rod.

5. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 3, further comprising a fixed sleeve adapted to be coaxially with the vertical axis and fixedly mounted vertically on the fixed member and disposed in said mirror housing, and a releasing mechanism disposed in surrounding relation to said fixed sleeve, said tubular shaft having an annular flange conjointly engageable with said first arm and being rotatably supported in said fixed sleeve with said annular flange exposed upwardly, said first arm having on a proximal end thereof first engaging means conjointly engageable with said annular flange of the tubular shaft, said releasing mechanism being angular movably around said fixed sleeve for releasing said annular flange out of conjoint engagement with said first engaging means to allow said first arm to swing in unison with said releasing mechanism.

6. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 5, wherein said mirror housing is integrally coupled to said releasing mechanism for angular movement about said fixed sleeve.

7. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 6, wherein said rod-shaped shaft has an annular flange conjointly engageable with said second arm and being rotatably supported in said tubular shaft with said annular flange exposed upwardly, said second arm having on a proximal end thereof second engaging means conjointly engageable with said annular flange of the rod-shaped shaft, said releasing mechanism being angular movably around said fixed sleeve for releasing said annular flange of the rod-shaped shaft out of conjoint engagement with said second engaging means to allow said first arm to swing in unison with said releasing mechanism.

8. An automotive rearview mirror assembly for use on an automobile having a passenger'"'"'s compartment, comprising:

a mirror housing adapted to be mounted on a fixed member of the automobile outside of the passenger'"'"'s compartment;

a mirror swingably disposed for angular rotation about generally perpendicular axes in said mirror housing;

a control mechanism including a control level adapted to project from said housing into the passenger'"'"'s compartment;

a rotatable shaft mechanism including first and second arms and pivotally coupled through the two arms to a rear surface of said mirror at first and second positions thereon, said rotatable shaft mechanism further including therein coaxially disposed first and second shafts which are independently rotatable, respectively, in response to control movements of said control lever and are capable of through the two arms vertically and laterally adjusting the angle of said mirror with respect to said mirror housing, respectively;

said first and second shafts constrained to remain coaxial for all positions of the control lever required to adjust the position of the mirror about its axes, and

said rotatable shaft mechanism being disposed within said mirror housing and rotatable about an axis extending vertically to a fixed member, and said mirror housing being angularly movable in unison with said mirror about the vertical axis, independently of the rotation of said rotatable shaft mechanism.

9. An automotive rearview mirror assembly for use on an automotive having a passenger'"'"'s compartment, comprising:

a mirror housing adapted to be mounted on a fixed member of the automobile outside of the passenger'"'"'s compartment;

a mirror swingably disposed in said mirror housing;

a control mechanism including a control lever adapted to project from said mirror housing into the passenger'"'"'s compartment;

a rotatable shaft mechanism disposed in said mirror housing and operatively pivotably coupled to a rear surface of said mirror at a plurality of positions thereon, said rotatable shaft mechanism including coaxially disposed first and second shafts which are rotatable independently of each other about a single axis common to said first and second shafts in response to control movements of said control lever and are capable of vertically and laterally adjusting the angle of said mirror with respect to said mirror housing; and

said mirror housing being angularly swingable about said single axis in unison with said mirror, independently of the rotations of said first and second shafts.

10. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 9, wherein said rotatable shaft mechanism further comprises a first arm having an end pivotally coupled to the rear surface of said mirror at a first position thereon, said first arm being conjointly engageably coupled to said first shaft, and a second arm having an end pivotally coupled to the rear surface of said mirror at a second position thereon, said second arm being conjointly engageably coupled to said second shaft;

said mirror is pivotally supported at a central position thereof on the rear surface of said mirror housing; and

said first position is spaced laterally from the central position and said second position is spaced upwardly from the central position.

11. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 10, wherein said first shaft includes a tubular shaft, and said second shaft includes a rod-shaped shaft coaxially rotatably fitted in said tubular shaft.

12. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 11, further comprising a fixed sleeve adapted to be fixedly mounted on the fixed member and disposed in said mirror housing, whereby said tubular shaft coaxially rotatably fitted in said fixed sleeve.

13. An automotive rearview mirror assembly according to claim 12, further comprising a releasing means integrally coupled to said mirror housing and rotatably fitted over said sleeve for releasing said tubular shaft and said rod-shaped shaft out of conjoint engagement with said first and second arms, respectively, to allow said first and second arms to swing in unison with said mirror housing.