VEHICLE MIRROR MOUNTING ASSEMBLY

MONTURE DE RETROVISEUR

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A vehicle mirror mounting assembly particularly
suited for the aftermarket wherein the mirror mounting
assembly must be able to conform to side surfaces or areas
of vehicles having different contours depending upon the
make, year-model and style of the particular vehicle. The
assembly comprises a mirror support member in the form of
an angle having two legs of different lengths forming
between them an acute angle with either leg capable of
providing a horizontal support for a mirror depending upon
which leg is in the horizontal position as mounted, and a
pair of mounting brackets for attaching the distal ends of
the legs to the side of a vehicle. Each mounting bracket
has two legs interconnected integrally by an elongated
curved section which is weakened by removal of sufficient
material to permit the legs to be bent toward and away
from each other so as to have one leg that will fit flat-
wise against the mounting surface on the vehicle while
the other leg fits flatwise against the distal end of the
adjacent leg of the angle member. Suitable fasteners inter-
connect the angle member ends to the mounting brackets and
the mounting brackets to the side of the vehicle.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. In a vehicle mirror mounting assembly com-
prising a mirror support angle member having two legs of
different lengths forming an included angle of approximately
30° to 45° with either leg capable of serving as a support
arm for a mirror depending on which leg occupies an approxi-
mately horizontal position, a pair of mounting brackets for
attaching the distal ends of said legs to the side of a
vehicle, and fastener means for securing said mounting
brackets to the distal ends of said legs and to the side
of a vehicle, the improvement comprising, each of said
mounting brackets having two legs integrally interconnected
by an elongated curved section weakened by removal of suf-
ficient material therefrom to permit the angle between said
bracket legs to be adjusted as necessary so that one bracket
leg will fit flatwise against the side of a vehicle while
the other bracket leg fits flatwise against the distal end
of the adjacent leg of said mirror support arm, said weakening
of each said elongated curved section not impairing the
requisite rigidity or strength of said mounting brackets.
2. In the vehicle mounting assembly of claim 1
said mounting brackets being identical as formed.

3. In the vehicle mirror mounting assembly of
claim 1 the leg of each said mounting bracket adapted to
fit flatwise against the side of a vehicle being rectang-
ular in shape, the leg of each said mounting bracket adapted
to fit flatwise against the distal end of the adjacent
mirror support arm leg being genrally triangular, and
the shape of said elongated curved section being generally
semi-cylindrical.
4. In the vehicle mirror mounting assembly of
claim 1 said elongated curved section being weakened by
the presence therein of a plurality of slots.
5. In the vehicle mirror mounting assembly of
claim 1 said included angle being approximately 40°.
6. In the vehicle mirror mounting assembly of
claim 1, one of said legs of said mirror support angle
member having a length of approximately 8-5/8 inches, the
other leg of said mirror support angle member having a
length of about 10-1/4 inches, said included angle being
about 40°, the vertical distance between said distal ends
when one of said legs of said mirror support angle member

is horizontal being about 8-7/16 inches, and the proximal
ends of said legs of said mirror support angle member being
integrally interconnected by a section having an effective
radius of curvature of about 1-5/8 inches.
7. In the vehicle mirror mounting assembly of
claim 1, one of said legs of said mirror support angle
member having a length of approximately 7-1/8 inches, the
other leg of said mirror support angle member having a
length of about 8-1/4 inches, said included angle being
about 40°, the vertical distance between said distal ends
when one of said legs of said mirror support angle member
is horizontal being about 7-5/32 inches, and the proximal
ends of said legs of said mirror support angle member being
integrally interconnected by a section having a radius of
curvature of about 1-5/8 inches.

Description

S P E C I F I C A T I O N
This invention relates generally to innovations
and improvements in means for mounting rear view mirrors on
the sides of vehicles and has a particular relation to such
means which lends itself to the aftermarket in that one
vehicle mirror mounting assembly, by suitable adjustment of
mounting brackets, may be solidly mounted in various locations
on the sides of a wide variety of makes, year-models and
styles of vehicles.
While it is common for one or two side view mirrors
to come as original equipment installed by manufacturers of
new trucks and passenger cars, there is a substantial after-
market for side view mirrors for vehicles, particularly, in
the case of trucks, trailer-pulling automobiles, mobile homes,
and as replacements for damaged or broken mirrors, etc.
It will be appreciated that it is a practical
economic requirement of such aftermarket vehicle mirror
mounting assemblies that they be capable of fitting on a
variety of vehicles of different makes, styles, and year
~0 models.
There have been prior vehicle mirror mounting
assemblies produced to meet such aftermarket demand. One
such vehicle mirror assembly is shown and described in U.S.
` Patent 3,778,015 dated December 11, 1973.
The object of the present invention, generally stated,
is to provide an improved vehicle mirror mounting assembly or
the aftermarket which is characterized by its simplicity,
minimum number of parts, ease of installation, ruggedness
and low cost.
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For a complete understanding of the nature and
scope of the invention, reference may now be had to the
followiny detailed description of a preferred embodiment
taken in connection with the accompanying dra~ings wherein:
Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section,
showing a vehicle mirror mounting assembly embodyiny the
present invention installed on the side of a representative
vehicle body;
j Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan detail view on
enlarged scale taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on enlarged scale
taken on line 3-3 o~ Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of two mounting
brackets which form components of the vehicle mirror mounting
assembly of Fig. l;
Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the
vehicle mirror mounting assembly installed in a different
manner on the side surface of a vehicle having a contour
substantially different from that of the vehicle in Fig l;
and
Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the mirror
support angle member common to Figs. 1 and 5 with key dimensions
designated thereon.
Referring to Figs. 1-4, a vehicle mirror mounting
assembly indicated generally a-t 5 is shown installed on the
exterior side surface of a vehicle, for example, the left
front door panel 6 of a truck or automobile, and supporting
a rear view mirror 7.

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The vehicle mirror assembly 5 comprises a mirror
support angle member 8 and a pair of mounting brackets 9-9.
The mirror suppor~ angle member 8 comprises two legs 10 and
11 interconnected by an arcuate section 12.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention for use
on full-size pickups and vans, for example, the mirror support
angle member 8 has the following key dimensions as indicated
in Fig. 6: x is 8-5/8 inches; y is 8-7/16 inches; z is 10~1/4
inches; r is 1~5/8 inches; angle ~ is 40 degrees; and, angle 4
is 10 degrees. In a second preferred embodiment for use on
mini-size pickups and vans, for example, x is 7-1/8 inches;
y is 7-5/32 inches; z is 8-1/4 inches, and r, ~ and g remain
the same. In each embodiment the angle ~ can range between
30 and 45.
Referring particularly to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, each
of the mounting brackets 9 has a rectangular leg 13 and a
triangular leg 14 interconnected by an elongated curved
section 15. Preferably, the section 15 is generally semi-
cylindrical. The rectangular leg 13 has two screw holes
20 16-16 for accommodating a pair of screws 17-17 so as to attach
the bracket 9 to the vehicle side surface 6. Usually, it
is desirable to insert washers 18-18 between each leg 13 and
the side surface.
The triangular leg 14 is apertured at 20 for
" receiving a nut-and-bolt combination 21 extending through
the aperture 20 as well as through an aligned or registering
aperture 22 (Fig. 6) in the distal end of each leg 10 and
11. Preferably, a washer 23 is inserted between each tri-
angular leg 14 and the adjacent side surface of the distal
30 end of the legs 10 or 11.
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An important feature of each of the brackets 9 is
the provision in the elongated arcuate or curved intercon-
necting section 15 of slots or open areas 24-24. Enough
material is removed from the elongated section 15 so as to
weaken it sufficiently so that the angle between the legs 13
and 14 can be readily adjusted or al-tered without impairlng
the rigidity or strength of the bracket 9. This hinge-like
adjustment feature ls indicated in broken line in Fig. 4 and
- may be readily accomplished by clamping leg 13 in a vise and
gripping leg 14 between the jaws of a wrench or other tool.
By virtue of this adjustment, the brackets 9 can be so adjusted
that the rectangular legs 13 will fit flatwise with respect
to the side surface area of the vehicle as shown in Fig. 1
while the triangular legs 14 fit flatwise with respect to the
distal ends of the legs 10 and 11.
It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the legs 13 and 14
of the upper mounting bracket 9 extend at approxima-tely right
angles to each other whereas the legs 13 and 14 of the lower
bracket 9 had to be opened up as indicated in broken line in
Fig. 4 in order to permit it to properly interconnect the
distal end of the lower leg 11 and the side surface 6 of the
vehicle. It will also be seen that the upper shorter leg 10
of the angle member 8 is horizontal and allows the rear view
mirror 7 to be readily mounted in known conventional manner
by means of a ball-joint support 25 in the opening 26 (Flg. 6).
' . In Fig. 5, the vehicle mirror assembly 5 is shown
mounting the rear view rnirror 7 on a veilic]e side sur~ace 27
of different configuration or contour than that of side surface

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6 in Fig. 1. secause of this difference in configuration
or contour, it was necessary -to place the longer leg 11 in a
horizontal position and open up both the upper and lo~er
mounting brackets 9. Also, it ~ill be noted that the tri-
angular leg 20 of the upper mounting bracket 9 is placed
above the distal end of the leg 11 rather than underneath it.
The angle member 8 may be formed of a suitable
material such as strap steel appropriately stamped, punched,
-I formed and finished. The brackets 9 are preferably formed
of flat steel stock stamped, punched, formed and finished
in known manner. Thus, the mounting assembly 5 may be eco-
nomically mass-produced.