Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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D e s c r i p t i o n
Outside Rear-View Mirror for a Vehicle
The invention refers to an outside rear-view mirror for a vehicle
which comprises a pedestal and a mirror housing mounted to the
pedestal by means of a joint so as to be rockable relative to the
pedestal upon impact from the front or from the rear.
German publication no. 34 29 713 discloses an outside rear-view
mirror which includes a mirror housing and a pedestal fastened to a
mounting plate. The mounting plate is adapted to be mounted to a car
body. A joint for rockably holding the mirror housing on the pedes-
tal includes a rivet which extends through aligned openings in the
pedestal and in the lower portion of the mirror housing adjacent to
the pedestal. Within the mirror housing a mirror is pivotably moun-
ted which is coupled to an adjustment device which may be operated
mechanically or electrically by manipulating a handle or switches
provided in the interior of the car. Bowden cables or electric lines
of the adjustment device extend from the interior of the mirror
housing through the rivet of the joint and the pedestal to the
handle or the switches within the car.
Means are provided at the joint, which ensure that the mirror
housing assumes and maintains a normal position with respect to the
pedestal and which allow rocking of the mirror housing towards the
car body about the joint upon impact from the front or from the rear
on the mirror housing. Such means include a spring member housed in
aligned recesses and abutting radially on reference surfaces which
are formed in a support portion of the pedestal surrounding the
rivet and in an opposing support portion of the mirror housing.
A particular drawback is encountered when assembling this type of
joint. Special tools are required for beading both ends of the rivet
in order that the mirror housing is safely yet rockably clamped to
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the pedestal. To this end a circumferential spring is utilized which
is interposed between the support portion of the pedestal and the
beaded rim of the rivet in the pedestal. When both ends of the rivet
are beaded too extensively the support portions of the ~irror
housing and the pedestal are pressed against each other to such an
extent that the mirror housing is allowed to rock only upon forceful
impacts, which reduces the overall safety feature of the outside
rear-view mirror and includes the risk of damage caused by heavy
impacts on the mirror housing. On the other hand, when both ends of
the rivet are beaded only slightly, the seat of the mirror housing
on the pedestal will allow vibrations of the mirror housing when the
car is driven fast.
It is therefore an object of the invention to devise an improved
outside rear-view mirror which does not show the drawback and incon-
venience explained above. Specifically, the joint by which the
mirror housing is mounted to the pedestal of the outside rear-view
mirror is to be assembled more easily and is to meet still the
requirements for a proper seat of the mirror housing on the pedes-
tal. According to a yet more specific object of the invention, only
a few separate parts should be necessary for obtaining a steady
normal position of the mirror housing and for avoiding damage caused
by the rocking mirror housing.
The outside rear-view mirror according to the invention comprises a
pedestal having a mounting plate adapted to be fastened to a car
body. A mirror housing including a light-reflecting mirror is moun-
ted to the pedestal so as to be held in a normal position during all
driving conditions and to be rockable about the joint upon impact
from the front or from the rear. The joint is formed by a hollow
bolt which extends through aligned bores in a first support portion
of the mirror housing and a second support portion of the pedestal
and the radially extending head of which is engaged by a spring
pressing against the inner side of one of the said support portions.
The end of the hollow bolt is formed with at least one radial nose
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and the contours of both bores are formed with at least one pair of
aligned axial grooves so as to allow insertion of the hollow bolt
through the aligned bores. After turning the inserted hollow bolt,
its radial nose engages the other of said second support portions
thereby completing the joint.
According to the invention the clamping force of the joint is deter-
mined only by the force the spring is developping. No special tools
or sensitive manipulating is required when assembling the joint.
Moreover, only two members are required for mounting the mirror
housing to the pedestal, i.e~ the hollow bolt and the spring.
According to a preferred improvement of the invention, the second
support is formed with at least one axially protruding projection
adjacent to the end of the associated groove, which prevents an
inadvertent return of the nose of the assembled bolt into the groove
to the effect that the established joint cannot loosen when the
mirror housing rocks. Preferably, an embodiment of the invention
provides for a pair of such projections for catching the nose of the
hollow bolt in a defined assembled position. According to a more
specific embodiment of the invention, the end of the bolt opposite
to the head thereof has three circumferentially equally spaced noses
and the aligned openings are formed with three circumferentially
equally spaced grooves, and the second support portion is formed
with three pairs of projections, each pair for catching one of the
noses of the assembled bolt.
According to a further improvement of the invention, the opposing
abutment surfaces of the first support portion and the second
support portion are formed with a radially extending rib cooperating
with at least one correspondingly formed radially extending groove.
The rib and the groove are positioned such that the mirror housing
assumes its normal position relative to the pedestal when the rib is
caught within the groove. Additional radially extending grooves may
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be provided at one of the abutment surfaces for defining end posi-
tions of the rocking mirror housing towards the car body thereby
preventing an undesired crash of the mirror housing to the car body.
The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the
embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
ig. l is a side view, partially in section, of an outside rear-
view mirror of common type;
ig. 2 is an axial section through a joint according to the
invention for mounting a mirror housing to a pedestal of
an outside rear-view mirror according to Fig. 1, the
section taken aong line A-A in Fig. 3;
ig. 3 a top view in direction X marked in Fig. l onto the
support portion in the pedstal;
Fig. 4 a axial section through the hollow bolt of Fig. 2, and
ig. S a top view on the hollow bolt according to Fig. 4.
Fig. 1 illustrates the overall structure of a known outside rear-
view mirror as disclosed in German publication no. 34 29 713. A
mounting plate 50 is adapted to the form of the car body to which
the outside rear-view mirror is intended to be mounted. A pedestal
52 is fastened to the mounting plate 50 and has an upper firm
support portion 56 through which a first hole is bored. A mirror
housing Sl of generally rectangular form bears a mirror 53 and has a
second support portion 59 formed at its lower section adjacent to
the pedestal. The second support portion 59 has a second bore of the
same diameter as the first bore so that a rivet may extend through
both aligned openings for clamping the mirror housing 51 to pedestal
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52. A lower abutment surface 58 of the second support portion 59
abuts against the first abutment surface 57 of pedestal 52 when the
mirror housing Sl is clamped to pedestal 52. A spring 56 is inter-
posed between the first support portion 58 and one beaded end of the
rivet.
An adjustment device not shown may extend through the rivet for
coupling a handle or switches within the interior of the car to the
mirror so that the position of the mirror may be adjusted to the
personal requirements of the car driver.
The invention provides an improved joint which may be assembled more
easily than the joint of the known outside rear-view mirror. Thus
Fig. 2 shows in a section a mirror housing 1 of plastic material
similar to mirror housing 51, which is provided at its lower end
close to pedestal 2 with a breaking-through 4 surrounding a support
part 3. Support part 3 is mounted to the lower end of a mounting
plate 5, for instance by soldering, onto which the mirror housing 1
is screwed at points not shown. Support part 3 is mainly of cylind-
rical shape and has at its outer contour a radially inwardly exten-
ding step 6 to which mounting plate 5 is attached. The upper side of
support part 3 extending into the interior of mirror housing 1 is of
flat shape and has a support surface 7 for a spiral spring 8.
Support part 3 is provided with a centric boring 10 in which the
hollow bolt 20 still to be described is seated. From the lower sur-
face 9 a collar 11 protrudes in lower direction abutting on a
support portion 30. Radially within collar 11 there is provided an
annular recess 12 in support part 3, which is limited by an apron 13
towards boring lO. In lower direction apron 13 does not protrude
over the lower surface ~.
Support portion 30 is shaped at a flat upper side 31 of pedestal 2
and has a through opening 32 which is in alignment with boring 10.
Radially outside of opening 32 a ring-shaped wall 33 raises from the
upper side 31, penetrating into recess 12. Collar 11 abuts on that
section of upper side 31 which is radially outside of the annular-
shaped wall 33.
The hollow bolt 20 is mainly of cylindrical contour and has an axial
bore-through 22. It consists of a broadened head 24 and followed by
a shaft 26, the outer diameter of which equals the inner diameter of
the mainly cylindrical boring 10 as well the inner diameter of the
through opening 32. At the end of shaft 26 opposite to head 24 there
are protruding in the embodiment shown three massive noses 27, 28,
29 in equally spaced relationship on the circumference of shaft 26,
which are provided with a bevelling towards face 25 of shaft 26
facilitating the insertion of the hollow bolt 20 into the boring. At
their end opposite to face 25 the noses 27, 28, 29, each adjoin the
outer surface of shaft 26 by a radially inwardly extending shoulder
21. At the point where shaft 26 adjoins head 24, a radially protru-
ding annular shoulder 19 is formed, over which the upper portion of
head 24 extends outwardly. In the upper side 18 of head 24 opposite
to face 25 there are cut radial slots 14, 15, 16, 17 permitting
engagement of a screwdriver or a similar tool.
Three circumferentially equally spaced, axially directed grooves are
cut into the inner surface of the boring, which make it possible
that the hollow bolt with noses 27, 28, 29 may be inserted as e.g.
illustrated from the supporting surface 7 of the first support part
3 into boring 10 and through opening 32. From these grooves only
grove 40 is shown in Fig. 2. The cross-section of each of the
grooves 40 is only slightly greater than the cross-section of each
of noses 27, 28, 29. Likewise, in the inner surface of through
opening 32 there are cut three circumferentially equally space,
axially extending grooves 41, 42, 43, which are in pairs in axial
alignment with the grooves of boring 10, as can be seen in Fig. 2 at
the example of the grooves 40, 41 lying axially above each other.
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From the inner rim of through opening 32 there protrude axially
small elevations on both sides of each of grooves 41, 42, 43. In
Fig. 3 the elevations formed on boths sides of groove 41 are desig-
nated with 34 and 35, in Fig. 2 elevation 34 may be seen. Between
two adjacent elevations, e.g. between elevations 36 and 37, which
are formed between two adjacent grooves, e.g. grooves 42 and 43, the
rim of through opening 32 remains flat.
When the joint is assembled, spiral spring 8 is slid over shaft 26
until it abuts against the lower side of head 24. The hollow bolt is
then inserted in boring 10 and pushed through through opening 32
against the force of spring 8, until noses 27, 28, 29 come out of
the lower side of counter support 30. During this pushing each of
the noses penetrates through a pair of grooves being in axial align-
ment. Hollow bolt 20 is then turned by means of a tool about its
axis until the noses 27, 28, 29 are captured in the intermediate
spaces of respectively two adjacent elevations, for instance, as
illustrated, nose 28 between elevations 36 and 37. To this end
hollow bolt 20 should be rotated by approx. 60. Nose 28 may, of
course, also be captured between two different adjacent elevations.
The joint is then completely assembled. When mirror housing 1 is
pivoted relative to pedestal 2, the lower side of collar 11 abuts on
the upper side 2.
In order to define the position of use desired for mirror housing 1
relative to pedestal 2, i.e. its normal position, three radially
extending ribs 45, 46, 47 are formed around the circumference of
through opening 32 from the upper side 31 radially outside of ring-
shaped wall 33. Likewise, in the inner side 9, beginning from the
inner wall of boring 3, there are located three radially extending
recesses on the circumference of boring 10, the contours of which
correspond to the contours of ribs 45, 46, 47. In Fig. 2 a recess 48
is shown. Although three ribs 45, 46, 47 are shown, a single rib
will also suffice which, when cooperating with one of the recesses
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48, defines a specific angular position of the mirror housing rela-
tive to the pedestal. One of these angular posititions is the posi-
tion of use of the mirror housing (normal position) when the pedes-
tal is attached to the car body of a motor vehicle. Further angular
positions defined by the engagement of the rib into one of the other
recesses are the terminal rocking position of the mirror housing to
the car body in forward driving direction and a terminal rocking
position of the mirror housing to the car body in backward driving
direction. When the recesses 48 are in proper spaced relationship on
the circumference of boring 10, e.g. in a relationship of 120
respectively, the three mentioned angular positions of mirror hou-
sing 1 relative to pedestal 2 are defined. The housing is kept in
each of the angular pivoting positions due to the snapping of the
rib in one of the recesses 48 and the force of spring 8. A manual
pressing of mirror housing 1 out of one of the angular positions
against the force of spring 8 is facilitated when the recesses and
flanks of the ribs are bevelled. During the rocking movements of
mirror housing 1 relative to pedestal 2, hollow bolt 20 may not
rotate about its axis because noses 27, 28, 29 remain captured
between elevations 34 ... 37.
It is within the scope of the invention to insert the hollow bolt 20
from below into the openings 32 and 10. 0f course, the radially
extended head 24 will then be positioned within the hollow space of
pedestal 2, the spring 8 being interposed between the underside of
support 30 and the head 24 of bolt 20. It is to be understood that
the form of the pedestal in such case should be selected more in
line to that one shown in Fig. 1. Moreover, the bottom wall of the
pedestal should then have an additional opening opposite to opening
32 for facilitating the insertion of bolt 20. Such additional
opening may be closed by a suitable plastic cap.
