Modular rearview mirror assembly and method for making same
First Claim
1. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
- a case having a reflective mirror element, said case including at least one opening therethrough;
a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle;
a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted to said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a non-electrically conducting support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said circuit member including a plurality of bus strips, said bus strips supported by and separated and electrically insulated from one another by said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one lamp on said assembly; and
a lamp mounted on said carrier member, connected to said circuit member, and adapted to provide light through said case opening to a portion of the vehicle when said mirror assembly is mounted thereon.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A modular rearview mirror assembly for vehicles incorporates one or more integrated subassembly modules or carrier members to which are connected separate electrical components such as lamps, reflectors, switches, plug receptacles and the like to simplify mirror assembly and provide integral support, electrical connections, and an electrical distribution network for the mirror assembly having added, electrically operated features. The carrier member includes a circuit member secured to and/or at least partially encased or encapsulated within a support body such that electrical connections extend therefrom. An improved mirror assembly method using such a carrier member is also provided.
567 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element, said case including at least one opening therethrough; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted to said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a non-electrically conducting support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said circuit member including a plurality of bus strips, said bus strips supported by and separated and electrically insulated from one another by said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one lamp on said assembly; and a lamp mounted on said carrier member, connected to said circuit member, and adapted to provide light through said case opening to a portion of the vehicle when said mirror assembly is mounted thereon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 37, 38, 39, 42)
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18. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element, said case including at least one opening therethrough; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted to said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a non-electrically conducting support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one lamp on said assembly; and a lamp mounted on said carrier member connected to said circuit member, and adapted to provide light through said case opening to a portion of the vehicle when said mirror assembly is mounted thereon; said mirror element being a prismatic mirror element; said carrier member including a second lamp;
said case including a second opening therethrough;
said second lamp being mounted on said carrier member to provide illumination through said second opening in said case;a pair of electrical switches mounted on said carrier member and connected to said circuit member, one switch connected for operation of said lamp, the other switch connected for operation of said second lamp. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element, said case including at least one opening therethrough; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted to said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a non-electrically conducting support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one lamp on said assembly; and a lamp mounted on said carrier member, connected to said circuit member, and adapted to provide light through said case opening to a portion of the vehicle when said mirror assembly is mounted thereon; said support body being molded from a non-electrically conductive, resinous material so as to at least partially encapsulate said circuit member, said circuit member including at least one set of connectors for electrical connection to said lamp, and a second set of connectors for electrical connection to a power source. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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40. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element, said case including at least one opening therethrough; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted to said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a non-electrically conducting support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one lamp on said assembly; and a lamp mounted on said carrier member, connected to said circuit member, and adapted to provide light through said case opening to a portion of the vehicle when said mirror assembly is mounted thereon; said case being formed from molded resinous material which is flexible when warm after molding and includes a rear wall and a peripheral side wall defining a front opening and a hollow interior;
said mirror element having a periphery and received in said front opening;
said peripheral side wall including a lip engaging the front surface of said mirror element to retain said mirror element within said case, said lip allowing snap-in insertion of said mirror element behind said lip while said case remains warm after molding. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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43. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted on said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a non-electrically conductive support body, said circuit member including a plurality of bus strips, said bus strips supported by and separated and electrically insulated from one another by said support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one electrical component on assembly; and an electrical component mounted on said carrier member, said component being connected to said circuit member for operation on said mirror assembly. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 58)
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51. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted on said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one electrical component on said assembly; and an electrical component mounted on said carrier member, said component being connected to said circuit member for operation on said mirror assembly; said support body being molded from a non-electrically conductive, resinous material so as to at least partially encapsulate said circuit member, said circuit member including at least one set of connectors for electrical connection to said electrical component, and a second set of connectors for electrical connection to a power source. - View Dependent Claims (52, 55, 56, 57)
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53. A rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a case having a reflective mirror element; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted on said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one electrical component on said assembly; and an electrical component mounted on said carrier member, said component being connected to said circuit member for operation on said mirror assembly; said circuit member being a metal stamping;
said support body being molded therearound. - View Dependent Claims (54)
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59. A mirror assembly for vehicles comprising:
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a one-piece case molded from a polymer resin, said case having a reflective mirror element and a lip for retaining said reflective mirror element within said case; a support on said assembly for mounting said assembly on a vehicle; a modular carrier member formed separately from and mounted on said case, said carrier member including an electrically conductive circuit member and a support body, said circuit member being formed separately from and secured to said support body, said carrier member providing an integral support, electrical connections for, and an electrical distribution network to at least one electrical component on said case; and an electrical component mounted on said carrier member, said component being connected to said circuit member for operation on said mirror assembly; said lip allowing snap-in insertion of said mirror element behind said lip while said case remains warm after molding. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62)
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63. A method for assembling a modular rearview mirror for vehicles comprising the steps of:
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1) providing a mirror case for supporting a reflective mirror element and a lamp for illuminating a portion of a vehicle; 2) forming a modular carrier member by securing a separate, electrically conductive, circuit member having a plurality of bus strips thereon to a non-electrically conductive support body and supporting said bus strips on said support body while separating and electrically insulating said bus strips from one another with portions of said support body; 3) forming a subassembly by connecting said lamp to said bus strips on said modular carrier member to provide both support and electrical connections for said lamp; 4) mounting said modular carrier member and lamp subassembly on said mirror case such that said lamp is in registry with an opening in said case; 5) mounting a reflective mirror element on said mirror case such that said modular carrier member is concealed on said mirror case while said lamp is positioned to provide illumination through said opening in said case when said rearview mirror is mounted on a vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (68, 71)
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64. A method for assembling a modular rearview mirror for vehicles comprising the steps of:
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1) providing a mirror case for supporting a reflective mirror element and a lamp for illuminating a portion of a vehicle; 2) forming a modular carrier member by securing a separate, electrically conductive, circuit member to a non-electrically conductive support body, said securing including at least partially encapsulating said circuit member within said support body; 3) forming a subassembly by connecting said lamp to said modular carrier member to provide both support and electrical connections for said lamp; 4) mounting said modular carrier member and lamp subassembly on said mirror case such that said lamp is in registry with an opening in said case; 5) mounting a reflective mirror element on said mirror case such that said modular carrier member is concealed on said mirror case while said lamp is positioned to provide illumination through said opening in said case when said rearview mirror is mounted on a vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67)
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69. A method for assembling a modular rearview mirror for vehicles comprising of:
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1) providing a mirror case for supporting a reflective mirror element and a lamp for illuminating a portion of a vehicle; 2) forming a modular carrier member by securing a separate, electrically conductive, circuit member to a non-electrically conductive support body; 3) forming a subassembly by connecting said lamp to said modular carrier member to provide both support and electrical connections for said lamp; 4) mounting said modular carrier member and lamp subassembly on said mirror case such that said lamp is in registry with an opening in said case; 5) mounting a reflective mirror element on said mirror case such that said modular carrier member is concealed on said mirror case while said lamp is positioned to provide illumination through said in said case when said rearview mirror is mounted on a vehicle; said providing of said mirror case including molding said mirror case from a resinous, thermoplastic material and molding a lip on a peripheral wall of said mirror case;
said mounting of said mirror element including inserting said mirror element within the hollow/interior of said mirror case while said case and lip are still warm and flexible after molding such that the periphery of said mirror element is engaged and retained by said lip.
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70. A method for assembling a modular rearview mirror for vehicles comprising the steps of:
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1) providing a mirror case for supporting a reflective mirror element and a lamp for illuminating a portion of a vehicle; 2) forming a modular carrier member by securing a separate, electrically conductive, circuit member to a non-electrically conductive support body; 3) forming a subassembly by connecting said lamp to said modular carrier member to provide both support and electrical connections for said lamp; 4) mounting said modular carrier member and lamp subassembly on said mirror case such that said lamp is in registry with an opening in said case; 5) mounting a reflective mirror element on said mirror case such that said modular carrier member is concealed on said mirror case while said lamp is positioned to provide illumination through said opening in said case when said rearview mirror is mounted on a vehicle; said forming of said modular carrier member including forming said support body in two sections and fastening said sections together at least partially around said circuit member.
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Specification