Optical: systems and elements – Glare or unwanted light reduction – With mirror
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-17
2003-07-29
Cherry, Euncha (Department: 2872)
Optical: systems and elements
Glare or unwanted light reduction
With mirror
C359S603000, C359S872000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06598980
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an interior rearview mirror attached to a ceiling near a driver's seat or an inside of a windshield in a vehicle, and particularly to an interior rearview mirror capable of reducing glare of light from headlamps of succeeding vehicles during night driving.
Light emitted from the headlamps of succeeding vehicles and directly reflected off the interior rearview mirror during night driving would dazzle a driver and thus threaten the safety of driving. Therefore, a reflection angle of the interior rearview mirror provided in the vehicle may be changed to an angle suitable for an antiglare purpose with a lever below the mirror operated by a driver.
FIG. 6
is a partially cutaway view, in perspective, of a conventional interior rearview mirror
20
. As shown in
FIG. 6
, the conventional interior rearview mirror
20
is attached with a stay
21
to a ceiling near a driver's seat in a vehicle or an inside of a windshield. A mirror
22
made up of a prism is held in a groove provided in a mirror housing
23
. At a distal end of the stay
21
is formed a ball joint
26
, which has a spherical shape. The ball joint
26
is fitted into a socket formed in a midsection of a bracket
24
of the interior rearview mirror
20
so that the bracket
24
is joined to the stay
21
.
Accordingly, when the mirror housing
23
is handled to adjust a field of view of the mirror
22
, an adjustment in positioning of the mirror
22
is made by turning the bracket
24
about the ball joint
26
provided at the distal end of the stay
21
. An antiglare operation to be performed to immediately change the reflection angle of the mirror
22
includes operating (pivoting) a lever
25
engaged with the bracket
24
so as to tilt the mirror housing
23
, thereby changing the reflection angle of the prismatic mirror
22
. The pivoting operation of the lever
25
is to switch the mirror
22
from a “Day” position to a “Night” position, or from the “Night” position to the “Day” position; the tilting operation is to change a reflection angle of the mirror
22
by pivoting the lever
25
.
FIG. 7A
is a perspective view for explaining an engagement between the bracket
24
and the lever
25
that are depicted in the center of FIG.
6
. As shown in
FIG. 7A
, on right and left sides of an upper portion of the bracket
24
are formed pins
24
a
,
24
a
, the bracket
24
is fitted in a concave portion provided in the mirror housing
23
, so as to get tilted by pivoting about the pins
24
a
,
24
a.
On the other hand, while the lever
25
is shaped like a letter T, on right and left ends of the lever
25
are formed pins
25
a
,
25
a
as well, and the lever
25
is fitted in a concave portion provided in the mirror housing
23
, so as to pivot about the pins
25
a
,
25
a.
As shown in
FIGS. 7A through 7C
, an engagement portion
24
b
of the bracket
24
is formed into an angular ridge, and an engagement portion
25
b
of the lever
25
is formed into a V-shaped groove. To be more specific, an edge of the engagement portion
24
b
that forms a ridgeline is brought into contact with a bottom of the V-shaped groove of the engagement portion
25
b
of the lever
25
, and the lever
25
is operated to pivot till one of the sides that form the ridge of the bracket
24
is brought into contact with one of the sides that form the groove of the lever
25
.
FIGS. 7B and 7C
are right side views of FIG.
7
A.
FIG. 7B
illustrates a “Day” condition where the lever
25
is pivoted to a back side;
FIG. 7C
illustrates a “Night” condition where the lever
25
is pivoted to a front side. As shown in
FIG. 7B
, when the lever
25
is pushed down to the back side, one side of the ridge of the bracket
24
is brought into contact with one side of the V-shaped groove of the lever
25
, and this position is maintained. To be more specific, L
1
+L
2
>L
3
is satisfied where L
1
is a length from a center of the pin
24
a
to a distal end of the engagement portion
24
b
of the bracket
24
; L
2
is a length from a center of the pin
25
a
to the bottom of the V-shaped groove of the lever
25
; and L
3
is a distance from the center of the pin
24
a
of the bracket
24
to the center of the pin
25
a
of the lever
25
, and thus the above position is maintained.
At this stage, the lever
25
tilts backward at an angle &thgr; while the bracket
24
tilts frontward at an angle &agr;. In contrast, when the lever
25
is operated to pivot frontward, the lever
25
tilts frontward at an angle &thgr;, while the bracket
24
tilts backward at an angle &thgr;, as shown in FIG.
7
C. Thus, pivoting operation of the lever
25
(at an angle
20
) may bring a quick shift in a tilt angle of the mirror
22
at an angle 2&agr;.
As shown in
FIG. 7B
, for example, where L
1
is 40.0 mm, L
2
is 2.0 mm, and &thgr; is 25 degrees, &agr; becomes 1.21 degree, L
3
becomes 41.80 mm, and a difference between L
1
+L
2
and L
3
becomes 0.2 mm; it thus turns out that L
3
is shorter.
However, the conventional interior rearview mirror
20
has an intrinsic disadvantage that the lever
25
is allowed to voluntarily pivot notwithstanding the lever
25
is not operated, when the mirror housing
23
is held and an adjustment is made in a field of view of the mirror
20
. This is presumably because the difference between L
1
+L
2
and L
3
is small, i.e., the small pivoting angle 2&thgr; of the lever
25
is responsible therefor, and thus a small moment applied to the bracket
24
via the ball joint
26
of the stay
21
causes the lever
25
to switch its position when the mirror housing
23
is moved manually. It is therefore conceivable that providing the lever
25
with a larger pivoting angle 2&thgr; by making an angle of the V-shaped groove of the lever
25
larger could serve to eliminate the above disadvantage. Disadvantageously, however, the larger the angle of the V-shaped groove, the more likely it could become that the ridge of the bracket
24
is easily disengaged from the V-shaped groove of the lever
25
.
Moreover, as shown in
FIG. 5C
that illustrates a conventional combination of mold parts for use with an injection molding machine for making a V-grooved lever
25
, a conventional shape of the V-grooved lever
25
requires a slide
28
to form an under side of the lever
25
other than mold parts
26
,
27
located at right and left sides of the lever
25
, which thus causes an increase in number of mold parts, in structural complexity, and thus in manufacturing cost.
Under these circumstances, the present invention has been created to eliminate the above-discussed disadvantages in prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an exemplified object of the present invention to provide an interior rearview mirror that includes a lever having a larger pivoting angle so as not to voluntarily pivot when a mirror housing is held and an adjustment is made in a field of view of the mirror, and a bracket having a ridge provided so as not to get disengaged from a V-shaped groove of the lever. Moreover, it is another exemplified object of the present invention to provide an interior rearview mirror that may dispense with a slide or a mold part that forms an under section of the final casting for manufacturing the lever, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided an interior rearview mirror according to one aspect of the present invention as set forth in claim 1. The interior rearview mirror comprises a stay that is fixed in a vehicle, a bracket that is coupled to the stay with a ball joint formed at a distal end of the stay, a mirror housing that is tiltably pivoted on the bracket, a prismatic mirror that is held in the mirror housing, and a lever that is engaged with the bracket, pivoted in the mirror housing, and operated to pivot so that the bracket may tilt. At a lower end of the bracket are formed a first engageable projection having a projection at a front side and a second engageable projection having a projectio
Marusawa Masahiko
Tsutsumi Noriyuki
Cherry Euncha
Murakami Corporation
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
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