Interior blind spot mirror

• US 7,125,130 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2004
• Issued: 10/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xiaoda Xiao
• Original Assignee: Xiaoda Xiao
• Inventors: Xiao, Xiaoda
• Primary Examiner(s): Cherry, Euncha P.
• Application Number:
  US10/775,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20050063080A1
• Time in Patent Office: 986 Days
• Field of Search: 359602-604, 359871-872, 359879-880, 248/475.1, 248/476, 248/477, 248/479, 248/481
• US Class Current: 359/872
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/082 using a single wide field mirror or an association of rigidly connected mirrors

Abstract

An interior blind spot mirror which is mounted on the pillar of the window frame inside a vehicle on the driver'"'"'s side, or on the passenger'"'"'s side, completely eliminates the blind spot. The interior blind spot mirror includes an extension serving as a bridge between the mirror and the base which can be removed from the extension. There are two ball joints on either end of the extension which enable a user to conveniently adjust the mirror to a desired position. The base includes a soft pad sandwiched between the base and the double stick foam adhesive so that the base can fit pillars of different shapes. The interior blind spot mirror also includes an alternative base constructed of soft material such as polymer which can be mounted on different shapes of pillars of the window frames without the soft pad being attached to the bottom of the base. There is a mounting box on top of the base having a U-shaped notch into which the joint box on the lower end of the extension can be slidably affixed. In use, a driver of a vehicle should first mount the base on the pillar of the window frame on his/her left side, or on the passenger'"'"'s side if necessary, and wait for three hours or more in order to let the adhesive reach its ultimate strength before inserting the extension of the mirror into the U-shaped notch on the mounting box.

Claims

1. An interior blind spot mirror, comprising:

a mirror having one of a rectangular and an oval shape,

the mirror being one of a shatterproof glass and a plexiglas,

the mirror finished with an antiglare coating,

the mirror being one of a convex surface and a flat surface;

a plastic mount supporting the mirror,

the plastic mount having a curving back exterior surface and a mounting hole in a center of the back;

an extension arm comprising a first ball joint located at a first end of the extension arm,

the first ball joint mounted in the mounting hole of the plastic mount;

a frictional board with a centrally-located ball pit,

the frictional board located inside the plastic mount intermediate the plastic mount and the mirror; and

an exterior accessible adjustment, extending through the plastic mount and acting in cooperation with the frictional board for adjusting a tightness of the first ball joint against the plastic mount.

2. The mirror of claim 1, further comprising:

a mounting base with a mounting surface for detachably mounting the mounting base to a surface,

the extension arm connecting the mounting base to the plastic mount.

3. The mirror of claim 2, further comprising:

a ball joint box secured to the mounting base; and

a second ball joint located at a second end of the extension arm,

the second ball joint mounted within the ball joint box, wherein,

each end of the extension arm provides a flexible adjustment point so that the mirror can be flexibly adjusted at either end of the extension arm.

4. The mirror of claim 3, further comprising:

a mounting box with a U-shaped top surface within the mounting base,

the mounting box slidably accepting the ball joint box so that the ball joint box is slidably affixed within the mounting base against the U-shaped top surface.

5. The mirror of claim 3, further comprising:

a pad of resilient material attached to a bottom of the mounting base, the pad allowing mounting of the mounting base by fitting to different shaped vehicle pillars.

6. The mirror of claim 5, further comprising:

a double-stick foam adhered to a bottom of the pad, the double-stick foam allowing mounting the mounting base to a side pillar of a vehicle window frame.

7. The mirror of claim 3, wherein,

the mounting base comprises i) a central piece of a protuberant, rectangular shape and with wedged-in edges along a major axis, and ii) a U-shaped mounting box with wedged-in sides,

the mounting box slidably accepting the ball joint box so that the ball joint box is slidably affixed within the mounting base against the U-shaped mounting box,

the ball joint box glued into the mounting box.

8. The mirror of claim 6, further comprising:

a mounting box comprising wedged-in edges on a major axis,

the mounting box provided on a protuberant central piece of the mounting base.

9. The mirror of claim 3, further comprising:

four screws for adjusting the friction applied against the first and second ball joints.

10. The mirror of claim 9, wherein,

the frictional board with a centrally-located ball pit comprises a screw hole on each of two sides of the ball pit,

each screw hole securing one of the four screws,

the ball joint box comprises a frictional board with a centrally-located ball pit and a screw hole on each of two side of the ball pit, the screw holes of the ball joint box frictional board each securing one of the four screws, wherein,

user-adjustment of the screws adjusts the friction applied against the first and second ball joints.

11. The mirror of claim 1, further comprising:

a mounting base with a mounting surface for mounting the mounting base on either of a driver side and a passenger side pillar of a vehicle front window frame,

the extension arm connecting the mounting base to the plastic mount.

12. An interior blind spot mirror, comprising:

a mirror having one of a rectangular and an oval shape,

the mirror being one of a shatterproof glass and a plexiglas,

the mirror finished with an antiglare coating,

the mirror being one of a convex surface and a flat surface;

a plastic mount supporting the mirror,

the plastic mount having a curving back exterior surface and a mounting hole in a center of the back;

an extension arm comprising a first ball joint located at a first end of the extension arm,

the first ball joint mounted in the mounting hole of the plastic mount;

a frictional board with a centrally-located ball pit,

the frictional board located inside the plastic mount intermediate the plastic mount and the mirror; and

an exterior accessible adjustment part, extending through the plastic mount and into the frictional board, the adjustment part providing user-adjustment of a tightness of the first ball joint against the plastic mount.

13. The mirror of claim 12, wherein the frictional board further comprises two planar surfaces extending along a longitudinal length of the mirror on two sides of the ball pit.

14. The mirror of claim 13, wherein,

the adjustment part comprises two screws for adjusting the friction applied against the first ball joint.

15. The mirror of claim 14, wherein,

the frictional board with a centrally-located ball pit comprises a screw hole on each of two planar surfaces extending on the two sides of the ball pit,

each screw hole securing one of the two screws, wherein,

user-adjustment of the two screws adjusts the friction applied against the first ball joint.