GB1603167A

GB1603167A - Vehicle rear-view mirror mounting arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB1603167A
Application number: GB2262878A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Magnatex Ltd
Current assignee: Magnatex Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-25
Filing date: 1978-05-25
Publication date: 1981-11-18
Also published as: ES250517Y; FR2426589A2; ES250517U; FR2426589B2

Description

(54) VEHICLE REAR-VIEW MIRROR MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT (71) We, MAGNATEX LIMITED, a British Company of Bath Road, Heathrow, Hounslow, Middlesex TW6 2AH, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a mounting arrangement for mounting a vehicle rear-view mirror on the outside of a vehicle door or other body part and more particularly to improvements in or modifications of the mounting arrangement described and claimed in our Patent No. 1514939 in respect of which the present application is a Patent of Addition application.

In this specification reference to the "outer end" of a component of the mounting arrangement means that end of the component which, when the mounting arrangement is in use, is outside or towards the outside of the vehicle body, and the "inner end" means the opposite end of the component.

Patent No. 1514939 claims a mounting arrangement for mounting a vehicle rearview mirror on the outside of a vehicle door or other body part and having actuating means extending through the door or body part which is connected to manuallyactuable control means situated on the inside of the door or body part for adjusting the orientation of the mirror about the vertical and horizontal axes from inside the vehicle characterised by a tubular bearing member adapted to be mounted to extend through and to be turnable in the door or other body part, said bearing member having a mirror support member hinged to its outer end for hinging about an axis extending transversely to the axis of said bearing member and being connected at its inner end to a first rotatable control member which, when rotated, turns the bearing member about its axis, and a push member axially movable in the passage in the bearing member, the push member comprising a rod which is flexible for at least a part of its length, the rod being screw-threaded at its inner end and having its outer end rigid with the mirror support member and the rod being coupled by its screw-thread inner end to a second rotatable control member which is axially captive with the inner end of the bearing member so that rotation of said second control member produces axial movement of said push member and thereby hinging movement of the mirror support member.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention described in the specification of Patent No. 1514939, the push rod is made of a flexible plastics material whereby the rod can flex during axial movement of the rod.

However, with use of the adjusting mechanism which moves the rod the plastics material of the rod may stretch and consequently deteriorate with time, and the plastics material may have a degree of porosity when the rod is formed by moulding, which may give rise to the rod fracturing with repeated adjustments of the mirror about the hinge or if the mirror is subjected to a blow, e.g. in an automatic car wash, or if a releasing joint between the mirror arm and mirror support member is tight or jams. Deterioration of the plastics material also renders it more sensitive to fracture due to vibration of the vehicle. Furthermore, in the adjusted position which the mirror occupies in use, the rod is always in a flexed position in which the plastics material is under stress which also could lead in time to fracture of the rod.

An object of the invention is to reduce the risk of damage to or fracture of the rod to which end, according to the present invention, the rod is made of a flexible plastics material and is provided with an internal reinforcement of a material having a greater tensile strength than that of the plastics material.

The internal reinforcement may be of any suitable material such as a resilient or springy metallic material, a springy plastics material which is harder than the flexible plastics material of which the rod is made or carbon fibres. Preferably, the rod is a one-piece plastics moulding and the internal reinforcement is moulded as an insert in the rod.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the reinforcement comprises a single length of springy material, such as a spring steel wire. The reinforcement may be of any suitable cross-section, for example square, oblong. circular or oval, and may he notched or otherwise formed to improve resistance to slippage of the reinforcement in the plastics moulding.

In order to reduce the possibility of any untoward vibration being transmitted from the tubular bearing member to the mirror support member through the hinge, which has two parts carried respectively by the bearing and support members, and thus to the mirror, the mounting arrangement advantageously includes spring means for pressing the two parts of the hinge axially together to damp vibration of the mirror support member.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which: Figure 1 is a front view, partly in section, of a vehicle rear-view door mirror assembly, with the mirror glass removed and including a mounting arrangement according to the invention, the section being taken along the line II-II of Figure 2, Figure 2 is a section along the line III-III of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, at 1800 to the section of Figure 2, to an enlarged scale and showing the rod in a flexed position, and Figure 4 is a cross-section of the rod taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the mirror assembly comprises a shroud 1, moulded of polyurethane foam material, into which the mirror glass 2 is fitted, the shroud having a gaiter portion 3 having corrugations 28, which abuts the outer skin 6 of the vehicle door when the mirror is secured thereby by means of a threaded ring 4 which screws on to the threaded end of a tubular mounting member 5 which forms part of the mounting arrangement and which passes through apertures in and bridges the outer and inner skins 6, 7 respectively of the vehicle door.

The mirror assembly is conveniently mounted on a triangular part having inner and outer skins 6,7 and secured to the vehicle body work within the framing in which the glass panel of the door window is fitted, the triangular part being located where the front quarter light would have been. The outer skin 7 of the triangular part may be a separate plate known as a cheater plate which is secured to the inner skin when mounting the assembly. The free end of the gaiter 3 is formed with an inwardly extending flange 8 which is clamped between the outer skin 6 and an adapter piece 9, which is shaped to conform with the curvature of the outer skin 6 and abuts the flange 10 on the outer end of the mounting member 5, when the ring 4 is tightened.

To prevent rotation of the mounting member 5 with respect to the door, it may be provided with external ribs 5a which cooperate with corresponding notches in the apertures in the skins 6, 7.

rlhe mirror glass 2 is equipped with a backing member 11 which is secured by a screw 12 to the centre of a spider Portion 13 It the end of the mirror arm 14. The ends of the arms of the spider portion 13 support the back of the backing member 11 to resist vibration of the glass.

The mirror mounting arrangement shown includes a mirror support member 16 to which the mirror arm 14 is connected by a rcleasable joint, generally indicated at 15, which is described in the specification of our co-pending application No. 39()37/77 Serial No.

1601342. The mirror support member 16 is hinged at one end thereof by a pivotable hinge joint having a hinge pin 17 to a mounting plate 18a of a tubular bearing member 18, which may be a metal die casting, supported against the flange 10 and mounted for rotation within the mounting member 5 by mechanism under control of an operating knob 19, conveniently of plastics material.

The hinge pin 17 extends transversely to and to one side of the axis of the passage through the tubular bearing member 18.

The inclination of the mirror support member 16 relative to the mounting plate 18a is effected by a flexible push rod 20 under control of a second operating knob 21, conveniently of plastics material. The mechanism by which the knobs 19 and 21 adjust the position of the mirror 2 is slightly modified as compared to that described in Patent Specification No. 1514939 and is described in the specification of our copending application No. 39037/77. Serial No. 1601342.

The push rod 20 is made of a flexible plastics material, for example an acetyl copolymer such as "Delrin" (Registered Trade Mark) or "Kametal" and is a onepiece plastics moulding. The rod 20 has a pair of diametrically opposed flats 41 or other portion of reduced cross-section whereby the rod can flex as the control knob 21 is turned to adjust the position of the mirror about the hinge pin 17 (see Figure 3).

On its inner end the rod 20 has a screwthread 46 for connection to the mechanism under control of knob 21 and at its outer end the rod is connected to the mirror support member 16 by means of a ridge 37 having a rounded head portion merging into a neck portion and fitted in a complementary socket 38 in the mirror support member 16. The outer end of the rod 20 is made rigid with the mirror support member 16 by means of a flange 39 projecting from opposite sides respectively of the rod adjacent the neck portion and engaging against a flat surface 40 on the inner end of the support member 16.

The rod 20 is provided with an internal reinforcement of a material having a greater tensile strength than that of the plastics material of which the rod is made. In the embodiment illustrated, the reinforcement comprises a length of square-section spring steel wire 80 which is moulded as an insert in the rod in a position which coincides with the rod axis (see Figure 4). The wire 80 conveniently extends throughout the entire length of the rod 14, as shown, to reduce the possibility of the rod stretching and may initially be of a greater length than the rod so that the ends of the wire can be placed against the sides of the mould. The squaresection of the wire facilitates its location in the desired position in the mould.

In order to guard against untoward libra tion of the mirror support member 16, preferably a vibration dampening device 60 is provided between the mirror support member and the tubular bearing member 18. The dampening device 60 comprises a spring metal pressure plate 61 bridging the gap between the hinge part 16a of the mirror support member and the mounting plate 18a and secured by an outer flat end portion to the part 16a by a screw 62 secured in a bore in the spindle 22 of the releasing joint 15.

The flat end portion merges into a stepped portion having an aperture therein through which projects with the clearance the head of an adjusting screw 63 screwed into the internally threaded bore of a projection 64 on the part 16a, the screw having a circular flange 65 intermediate its ends which engages with the inner surface of the stepped portion. Extending at approximately 90" to the stepped portion is the inner end portion of the pressure plate, which end portion projects underneath a restraining ridge 66 on the mounting plate 18a and into a flat-sided locating and restraining recess in the passage through the tubular member 18.

By unscrewing the adjusting screw 63 tension is imparted to the pressure plate through the flange 65 which presses the hinge part on the part 16a and hinge base part 44a axially together to damp any untoward vibration which may otherwise be transmitted through the hinge pin 17 to the mirror arm 14 and thus to the mirror under some conditions or in certain instances.

Alternatively, the pressure plate 61 could be arranged to act in compression for example by arranging its inner end to abut the outer surface of the ridge 66 and the screw flange 65 to engage the outer surface of the pressure plate.

Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the wire may not extend throughout the entire length of the rod, in which case the length of the wire need only be sufficient to reinforce the region of reduced cross-section where flexion occurs. Further, instead of the wire being moulded in the rod as an insert, the rod may be of tubular form and the wire inserted in the passage through the rod.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A vehicle rear-view mirror mounting arrangement as claimed in any claim of Patent No. 1514939, wherein the rod is made of a flexible plastics material and is provided with an internal reinforcement of a material having a greater tensile strength than that of the plastics material.

2. A mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rod is a one-piece plastics moulding and the internal reinforcement is moulded as an insert in the rod.

3. A mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the internal reinforcement comprises a single length of springy material.

4. A mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein the reinforcement extends at least substantially throughout the entire length of the rod.

5. A mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein the internal reinforcement is of rectangular cross-section.

6. A mounting arrangement as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the internal reinforcement is of spring steel wire.

7. A mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 2 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein the internal reinforcement is notched or otherwise formed to improve resistance to slippage of the reinforcement in the plastics moulding.

8. A mounting arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hinge has two parts carried respectively by the tubular bearing member and mirror support member and wherein spring means are provided for pressing the two parts of the hinge together axially to damp vibration of the mirror support member.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. whereby the rod can flex as the control knob 21 is turned to adjust the position of the mirror about the hinge pin 17 (see Figure 3). On its inner end the rod 20 has a screwthread 46 for connection to the mechanism under control of knob 21 and at its outer end the rod is connected to the mirror support member 16 by means of a ridge 37 having a rounded head portion merging into a neck portion and fitted in a complementary socket 38 in the mirror support member 16. The outer end of the rod 20 is made rigid with the mirror support member 16 by means of a flange 39 projecting from opposite sides respectively of the rod adjacent the neck portion and engaging against a flat surface 40 on the inner end of the support member 16. The rod 20 is provided with an internal reinforcement of a material having a greater tensile strength than that of the plastics material of which the rod is made. In the embodiment illustrated, the reinforcement comprises a length of square-section spring steel wire 80 which is moulded as an insert in the rod in a position which coincides with the rod axis (see Figure 4). The wire 80 conveniently extends throughout the entire length of the rod 14, as shown, to reduce the possibility of the rod stretching and may initially be of a greater length than the rod so that the ends of the wire can be placed against the sides of the mould. The squaresection of the wire facilitates its location in the desired position in the mould. In order to guard against untoward libra tion of the mirror support member 16, preferably a vibration dampening device 60 is provided between the mirror support member and the tubular bearing member 18. The dampening device 60 comprises a spring metal pressure plate 61 bridging the gap between the hinge part 16a of the mirror support member and the mounting plate 18a and secured by an outer flat end portion to the part 16a by a screw 62 secured in a bore in the spindle 22 of the releasing joint 15. The flat end portion merges into a stepped portion having an aperture therein through which projects with the clearance the head of an adjusting screw 63 screwed into the internally threaded bore of a projection 64 on the part 16a, the screw having a circular flange 65 intermediate its ends which engages with the inner surface of the stepped portion. Extending at approximately 90" to the stepped portion is the inner end portion of the pressure plate, which end portion projects underneath a restraining ridge 66 on the mounting plate 18a and into a flat-sided locating and restraining recess in the passage through the tubular member 18. By unscrewing the adjusting screw 63 tension is imparted to the pressure plate through the flange 65 which presses the hinge part on the part 16a and hinge base part 44a axially together to damp any untoward vibration which may otherwise be transmitted through the hinge pin 17 to the mirror arm 14 and thus to the mirror under some conditions or in certain instances. Alternatively, the pressure plate 61 could be arranged to act in compression for example by arranging its inner end to abut the outer surface of the ridge 66 and the screw flange 65 to engage the outer surface of the pressure plate. Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the wire may not extend throughout the entire length of the rod, in which case the length of the wire need only be sufficient to reinforce the region of reduced cross-section where flexion occurs. Further, instead of the wire being moulded in the rod as an insert, the rod may be of tubular form and the wire inserted in the passage through the rod. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A vehicle rear-view mirror mounting arrangement as claimed in any claim of Patent No. 1514939, wherein the rod is made of a flexible plastics material and is provided with an internal reinforcement of a material having a greater tensile strength than that of the plastics material.

9. A mirror assembly as claimed in

claim 8, wherein the spring means comprises a spring plate which extends between the mirror support member and the tubular bearing member and which has its outer end fixed to the mirror support member and its inner end restrained against the tubular mounting member.

10. A mirror assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the spring plate comprises a stepped portion intermediate its ends, and screw-threaded means for adjusting the pressure exerted by the spring plate on the hinge parts extends through an aperture in the stepped portion and into a screwthreaded bore in the mirror support member.

11. A mirror assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the outer end of the rod is connected to the mirror support member by means of a ridge on the rod engaging in a complementary socket in the mirror support member, and a transverse flange on the rod adjacent the ridge engages with the mirror support member whereby the outer end of the rod is made rigid with the mirror support member.

12. A vehicle rear-view mirror mounting arrangement as claimed in any claim of Patent No. 1514939, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

13. A vehicle rear view mirror including a mounting arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim.