Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators – Internal alarm or indicator responsive to a condition of the...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-26
2004-02-10
Crosland, Donnie L. (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
Internal alarm or indicator responsive to a condition of the...
C340S425500, C359S838000, C348S148000, C362S494000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06690268
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Practically every passenger-carrying vehicle (such as sedans, convertibles, sports utility vehicles, station wagons, minivans, pick-up trucks and the like) comes equipped with an interior rearview mirror. Looking at the interior rearview mirror by the driver in order to see rearward is part and parcel of the driving task. Recently, a variety of features and accessories have been located at the interior rearview mirror, such as are described in “ADDED FEATURE AUTOMOTIVE MIRRORS” by Niall R. Lynam, Society of Automotive Engineers Technical Paper #980922, February 1998, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. One such feature known in the art is placement of a video screen within the reflector area of an otherwise standard interior rearview mirror assembly. Thus, and as illustrated in
FIG. 1
, known interior rearview mirror assembly
10
comprises a mirror reflector element
14
housed in mirror case
12
. Mirror case
12
and reflector element
14
are dimensioned symmetrical about the vertical centerline XX of assembly
10
. Mirror housing
12
pivotally connects to mirror support arm
18
. The pivot point of mirror support arm
18
is at vertical centerline XX. Vertical centerline XX essentially bisects mirror housing
12
. Thus, distance ZZ to XX, as in
FIG. 1
, is the same dimension as distance XX to YY. Fixed reflectance mirror reflector element
14
includes a mirror reflector layer that reflects light incident thereon from behind the vehicle to which assembly
10
is mounted. However, a significant portion of the mirror reflector is removed to allow video screen
16
be viewed through the reflector element
14
. Video screen
14
comprises a multi-pixel liquid crystal display that is disposed in case
12
behind reflector element
14
. Images displayed by video screen
16
are thus viewed through reflector element
14
.
Although the known assembly as described in
FIG. 1
can operate in certain circumstances, there are disadvantages that limit its commercial use and success. In order to provide a display screen large enough to be viewed by a driver of the vehicle equipped with assembly
10
, a relatively large video screen must be used (typically of diagonal dimension 1.5 inches or greater) which necessitates that a significant area of reflector layer be removed from reflector element
14
in order to allow display
16
be viewed therethrough. Thus, the rearward field of view from reflector element
14
is significantly degraded, leading to deterioration in the driver's ability to efficiently and safely use interior rearview mirror assembly
10
to see rearward. Also, the known assembly
10
utilizes a fixed reflectance element as mirror reflector element
14
that provides no ability for the driver to achieve glare relief when glaring conditions exist during night-driving. Because of such disadvantage, the known assembly
10
has not enjoyed widespread commercial success, particularly with automobile original equipment manufacturers, and there is a need for a rearview mirror assembly, including a video screen, that overcomes these disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
One objective of this invention is to provide a video screen at an interior mirror assembly in a way that maximizes rearward field of view by the reflector element and that enables the driver to readily view images displayed by the video screen. A further objective is to achieve this while simultaneously providing a variable reflectivity for the reflector element. Another objective is to provide an interior mirror-mounted video screen for use with at least one of a rear back-up camera, a baby-minder camera, and a sidelane-viewing camera.
In one form of the invention, a vehicular interior rearview mirror assembly includes a mirror casing having a reflective element with a rearward field of view when the interior rearview mirror assembly is mounted to a vehicle. The mirror casing includes a mounting portion which is adapted to mount the mirror casing to the vehicle and, further, includes an increased lateral extent with respect to the mounting portion toward a passenger-side of the mirror casing when the mirror assembly is mounted to the vehicle. A video screen is positioned in the increased lateral extent for viewing by at least a driver of the vehicle.
In one aspect, the video screen displays video images, which are viewable through the reflective element. In other aspects, the video screen is adjacent the reflective element. For example, the casing wall may define a rearward facing opening when the assembly is mounted to vehicle, with a reflective element positioned in the rearward facing opening, and may define a second rearward facing opening, with the video screen positioned in the second rearward facing opening.
In other aspects, the video screen extends through a portion of the reflective element.
In yet further aspects, the interior rearview mirror assembly further includes an image capturing device. The image capturing device is in communication with the video screen, which displays images captured by the image capturing device.
In other aspects, the video screen displays a video image and, further, displays indicia overlaying the video image. For example, the indicia may comprise a graphic display or an alphanumeric display.
In another aspect, the video screen may display an information display selected from the group consisting of a rain sensor operation display, a telephone information display, a highway status information display, a blind spot indicator display, a hazard warning display, a vehicle status display, a page message display, a speedometer display, a tachometer display, an audio system display, a fuel gage display, a heater control display, an air conditioning system display, a status of inflation of tires display, an email message display, a compass display, an engine coolant temperature display, an oil pressure display, a cellular phone operation display, a global positioning display, a weather information display, a temperature display, a traffic information display, a telephone number display, a fuel status display, a battery condition display, a time display, a train approach warning display, and a toll booth transaction display.
According to another aspect, the video screen may comprise one of a vacuum fluorescent display element, a light emitting diode display, an electroluminescent display element, a multi-pixel display element, a reconfigurable display element, and a scrolling display element.
In yet another aspect, the interior rearview mirror assembly may include at least one additional electrical accessory selected from the group consisting of a trainable garage door opener, a universal home access system, an internet interface, a remote keyless entry receiver, a video device, a rain sensor, a compass sensor, a trip computer, an intrusion detector, a phone, an interior light, a seat occupancy detector, a phone attachment, a headlamp controller, a printer, a transmitter receiver, a modem, an instrumentation light, a console light, a solar panel, a windshield defogger device, an antenna, a loud speaker, a microphone, a digital message recorder, a magnetic tape message recorder, a phone control panel, and a digital storage device.
Another form of the invention, a vehicular interior rearview mirror assembly includes a mirror casing with a first opening and a reflective element positioned in the first opening for rearward viewing when the assembly is mounted to a vehicle. The mirror casing includes a second opening in which a video screen is positioned for viewing by at least a driver of the vehicle.
In another aspect, the video screen is canted when the mirror assembly is mounted to a vehicle for directing images displayed on the video screen toward a driver of the vehicle.
In another aspect, the mirror casing includes an angled portion directed toward a driver of the vehicle when the mirror assembly is mounted to the vehicle, with the video screen positioned in the angled portion. For example, the angled
Bingle Robert L.
Lynam Niall R.
O'Brien Frank
Schofield Kenneth
Crosland Donnie L.
Donnelly Corporation
Van Dyke Gardner, Linn & Burkhart, LLP
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