Exterior rearview mirror assembly

The present invention relates to an exterior rearview mirror assembly according to the preamble of claim 1.

Technical field and background of the invention

Exterior rear view mirror assemblies for trucks, buses and other large vehicles usually include a left-hand and a right-hand mirror assembly support bracket with at least one reflective mirror element and an actuator for remote adjustment of the reflective mirror element. Often a support bracket is provided with two reflective mirror elements, each with its own actuator for adjustable rear view sight angles. Alternatively, each support bracket can be provided with single mirror housing with two reflective mirror elements with a respective actuator. Anyway, each left-hand and right- hand mirror assembly normally comprises a large number of components.

When producing a certain truck design both for countries with left-hand traffic and countries with right-hand traffic, the left and right side rearview mirror assemblies have to be adapted to different driver seating positions. For optimal aerodynamic configuration, both the left hand and right hand support brackets should be positioned at the same fixed back swept angle, in relation to the longitudinal axis of the truck. Thus, the actuators for remote adjustment need to be positioned so that different drivers have full adjustability. A left-seated driver needs to have an increased angle at the reflective mirror elements of the right side mirror assembly than compared with the reflective mirror elements of the left side mirror assembly. Consequently, a right-seated driver needs to have an increased angle at the reflective mirror elements of the left side mirror assembly than compared with the reflective mirror elements of the right side mirror assembly. Present mirror actuators have a limited adjustable angle not designed to compensate for left- hand - right-hand mounting while maintaining full adjustability for the driver. An actuator designed to compensate for left-hand - right-hand mounting would be much more expensive than present mirror actuators.

The solution to the problem is usually to produce different sets of mirror assemblies for vehicles produced for markets with left hand drive compared to mirror assemblies for vehicles produced for markets with right hand drive. Thus, the number of mirror assembly components is increased when a truck design is produced in versions for both left-hand and right-hand traffic .

The costs for designing, tooling, production and maintaining the spare parts inventory increases with increasing number of mirror components. Rear mirror assemblies for trucks are often subject to damage, for example when manoeuvring in tight loading yards. A damaged mirror assembly should be repaired as soon as possible for safety reasons.

Therefore, there is a need for a mirror assembly which is adaptable for vehicles marketed both in countries with left-hand traffic and countries with right-hand traffic.

Summary of the invention

An object of the invention is to provide a mirror assembly which is easily adaptable for vehicles marketed both in countries with left-hand traffic and countries with right-hand traffic. According to the invention, this object is achieved by an exterior rearview mirror assembly for vehicles, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising: a reflective mirror element; a bracket for mounting the reflective mirror element at a certain angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and an actuator for remote adjustment of the mirror element in relation to the bracket, wherein a wedge element is positioned between the actuator and the bracket, said wedge element being adapted to be mounted in either of two diametrically opposed mounting positions between the actuator and the bracket. The wedge element enables adaptation of the mirror assembly to left side or right side driver position without the need for substituting any parts of the left or right side mirror assemblies.

According to a preferable embodiment of the invention, the actuator is clamped to the bracket via bolts. The bolts simplify the adaptation of the mirror assembly.

Preferably, the bracket is designed to allow each bolt to be seated in two different angular positions corresponding to the mounting position of the wedge element. For example, each bolt seat may have seating surfaces for a bolt head, in two deviating planes corresponding to the different mounting positions of the wedge element. This bracket design reduces the number of parts in the mirror assembly.

Further advantages and features of the invention will follow below where the invention is exemplified with embodiments .

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be explained in more detai 1 below on the basis of illustrative embodiments which are shown in the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through a mirror assembly according to the invention configured for use at the left hand side of a left hand drive vehicle,

Fig. 2 is a similar section through a mirror assembly according to the invention configured for use at the right hand side of a left hand drive vehicle,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through a mirror assembly according to the invention configured for use at the left hand side of a right hand drive vehicle,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through a mirror assembly according to the invention configured for use at the right hand side of a right hand drive vehicle,

Fig. 5 is a broken view showing the horizontal section of Fig. 2 in larger scale,

Fig. 6 is a broken view showing the horizontal section of Fig. 4 in larger scale, and

Fig. 7 is a broken perspective view showing a bracket bolt head contact surface in a larger scale.

Description of the preferred embodiments

The figures show the mirror assembly according to the invention adapted for mounting at both sides of a vehicle. However, the mirror assembly according to the invention can just as well be applied to vehicles having only a single left or right hand side mirror assembly . The mirror assembly according to the invention comprises a bracket 10 for mounting the mirror near a window at the vehicle side. Preferably, the bracket 10 is mounted at an angle which is swept rearward toward its free end in relation to the longitudinal X-axis of the vehicle and its normal direction of travel, se arrow 11 in Fig. 1, for optimal aerodynamic efficiency. The bracket 10 carries the actuator 12 which, in its turn, carries the mirror housing 13 with reflective mirror element 13a. Fig. 1 shows a left hand side mirror assembly and Fig. 2 shows a corresponding right hand side mirror assembly with bracket 14, actuator 15 and mirror housing 16 with mirror element 16a. Both mirror assemblies are configured for use at the respective sides of a left hand drive vehicle. The left hand driver position requires the left hand mirror element 13a to be positioned at a different angle than the right hand mirror element 16a, i.e. the mirror nearest the driver need to be more transverse in relation to the X-axis 11 than the far side mirror which has a sharper angle to the X-axis 11. The difference in angle relative to the X-axis 11 between the reflective mirror elements 13a, 16a naturally depends on driver preference, but is normally in the range between 10 and 20 degrees.

The difference in angle between the left and right hand mirror is accomplished by means of wedge elements 17, 18, positioned between the brackets 10, 14 and the actuators 12, 15. In the mirror assembly of Fig. 1, the wedge element 17 is positioned with its narrow edge 17a pointing to the left of the figure, i.e. away from the vehicle. In the mirror assembly of Fig. 2, the wedge element 18 is also positioned with its narrow edge 18a pointing to the left of the figure, i.e. toward the vehicle.

The use of the wedge elements 17, 18 makes it possible to employ identical actuators 12, 15 and wedge elements 17, 18 in both mirror assemblies. Also, identically specified, mirror-inverted brackets 10, 14 and mirror housings 13, 16 can be employed in both mirror assemblies. Thus, the use of wedge elements 17, 18 reduces cost by simplifying construction of mirror assemblies and reducing parts inventory.

Figures 3 and 4 shows the same mirror assemblies as in figures 1 and 2 configured for use at the respective sides of a right hand drive vehicle. The same numbering has been used for identical elements in. the figures. In this configuration, the only alteration made is the positioning of the wedge elements 17, 18.

The right hand driver position requires the left hand mirror element 13a to be positioned at a different angle than the right hand mirror element 16a, i.e. the mirror nearest the driver need to be more transverse in relation to the X-axis 11 than the far side mirror which has a sharper angle to the X-axis 11. In the mirror assembly of Fig. 3, the wedge element 17 is positioned with its narrow edge 17a pointing to the right of the figure, i.e. toward the vehicle. In the mirror assembly of Fig. 4, the wedge element 18 is also positioned with its narrow edge 18a pointing to the right of the figure, i.e. away from the vehicle.

The use of the wedge elements 17, 18 makes it possible to employ identical mirror assemblies for both left and right hand drive vehicles. Thus, the use of wedge elements 17, 18 again reduces cost by simplifying construction of mirror assemblies and reducing parts inventory .

Figures 5 and 6 show, in a larger scale, the right hand bracket 14 with means for allowing the wedge elements 17, 18 to be positioned alternatively with the narrow edge 17a of the wedge element pointing toward or away from the vehicle. For this object, the actuator 15 is clamped to the bracket 14 by means of bolts 19 (only one of which is shown in each of the drawings) . The bracket 14 is provided with conical bolt holes 20 converging toward the actuator 18. There are also corresponding bolt holes 21 in the wedge elements.

The bolt holes 20, 21 allow the bolts 19 to be perpendicular to the contact surface of the actuator 18 in both wedge element positions. Thus, the bolts are able to pass through the bracket at different angles depending on the configuration of the wedge element.

As illustrated in fig 7, in order to provide defined 5 contact surfaces for the bolt head 19a, each bolt hole 20 is surrounded by bolt head contact surfaces 22 in two different planes deviating with an angle corresponding to the wedge angle. The two contact surfaces 22 are joined by ridge portions 22a adjacent ) the centre of the bolt hole 20. Hence, the bracket provides defined contact surfaces for clamping the actuator to the bracket in any one of two positions following the configuration of the wedge element. In one embodiment of the invention, this arrangement of 5 contact surfaces can be realized as an integral part of the bracket. This reduces the number of parts in the mirror assembly. Also, the risk of incorrect assembly is avoided.

} As an alternative to the above described contact surface arrangement, it would be possible to have separate wedge shaped bolt head washers which can be rotated 180 degrees between two positions, to provide a contact surface in each of the two wedge element

5 positions. Preferably, the wedge angle of these bolt head washers is similar or identical to the wedge angle of the wedge elements 17, 18.

The above described mirror assembly can be used on many D types of vehicles, for example trucks, buses and cars.

The invention is not limited to the above described embodiments. Instead, several modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. For example, 5 each bracket 12, 14 may be designed to carry more than one mirror housing 13, 16.