JP2005343449A - Outside mirror - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an outside mirror, especially allowing a person at the front passenger seat side to see the area in the vicinity of a vehicle in front of the outside mirror or under the outside mirror and simply constituted. <P>SOLUTION: In a mirror housing 12, with the outside mirror 10 fitted, an additional device 20 is disposed in a lower housing part 18 as follows: That is, a driver of an automobile turns his eyes directly on the additional device 20 not through an image processor, whereby an object on the side of a door 1 of the automobile 1 and/or an object in front of the outside mirror 10 and/or an object under the outside mirror 10 can be seen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an outside mirror (that is, an outside rear view mirror) described in the premise part (so-called part) of claim 1.

  From Patent Document 1, an outside mirror is known in which an additional device in the shape of a specular sphere is disposed on a mirror glass of an outside mirror. With this additional device, a wide-angle effect is achieved, and this wide-angle effect allows the driver of the motor vehicle (motor vehicle) to see objects in the entire rear area of the motor vehicle, thus eliminating the so-called “dead angle” Is done.

  Further, from Patent Document 2, a vehicle including an outside mirror having a wide angle mirror in a region on the roadway side is known. A camera is arranged facing the mirror surface of the wide-angle mirror, and this camera transmits the mirror image to a display device inside the vehicle. In this way, the driver of the vehicle obtains electronically transmitted information about objects next to the vehicle that cannot be seen directly. However, the great expense and labor for an image transmission device comprising a mirror, a camera, an image processing device and a display device are disadvantages in this known vehicle.

European Patent Application No. 0551802A1 German Patent Application No. 10237998A1 specification International Patent Application / Germany Publication No. 10085122T1 Specification German Patent Application No. 4026578 A1 German Patent Application Publication No. 19904885A1 German utility model registration No. 2001414467 specification German utility model registration No. 20211678 specification European Patent No. 0396930B1

  The object of the present invention is to provide a device that makes it possible to see the area in the vicinity of the vehicle in front of the outside mirror and / or under the outside mirror, in particular on the passenger side, and that is simply constructed.

  The above-mentioned problem is solved by an outside mirror having the constituent elements described in claim 1.

  The central idea of the invention according to claim 1 is that an additional device is mounted on the lower surface of the mirror housing in order to produce a remarkable wide-angle effect, and this additional device expands the field of view for the driver of the motor vehicle as follows. I.e., the driver directly in contact with the additional device without an image processing device and / or in front of the door and / or in front of the outside mirror and / or The object under the outside mirror, particularly the object near the roadway (road surface) can be seen. This is particularly important for vehicles that have a high breast line (armrest line) and therefore cannot easily see the objects next to the vehicle directly. Also, future legislation will stipulate that the "test body" (e.g., a cylindrical column with a diameter of 30 cm and a height of 1 m) beside the passenger side door must be recognizable from the driver. I will.

  Those restrictions are satisfied by the outside mirror according to the invention. In other words, an object hidden by the driver side door or the passenger side door can be recognized during actual running operation. This not only avoids damage in the vehicle, but also achieves improved safety for persons who stay outside the vehicle. This is particularly important when, for example, a child is playing and staying in the area of the passenger side door or the front wheel of the vehicle. Furthermore, the device according to the invention is also suitable for facilitating the maintenance of its own lane, for example when there is a narrow roadway in the construction site area, because the roadway via the outside mirror according to the invention This is because the mark can be seen.

  In contrast to the expensive monitoring system which also requires a reproduction unit in the vehicle in addition to the camera, the device according to the invention stands out at a low cost and with a little effort. This device can also be mounted on the vehicle later.

  From patent documents 3 to 7, it is certainly known that the mirror glass of the outside mirror is curved in its lower region so that it is possible to see the roadway located beside the vehicle. The disadvantage of the prior art is that it requires an increase in the surface of the mirror glass, in order to meet the legal regulations concerning "the mirror surface as specified" for reproducing the rear area of the vehicle . Furthermore, the retrofit of a conventional outside mirror is not possible, as described in US Pat. No. 6,057,059 with respect to FIG. 3 thereof, a curved auxiliary surface is directly fixed to the mirror housing. It is impossible even in the case.

  Further, Patent Document 8 shows an outside mirror including a plurality of individual mirrors, and in particular, a mirror disposed substantially horizontally for observing a roadway area in the vicinity of the vehicle on the side opposite to the driver. Is included. However, this known mirror is clearly determined solely for trucks and buses based on its concept and its sizing.

  In accordance with another advantageous configuration of the present invention, the additional device is designed to provide a mirrored sphere (i.e., a space in which the sphere is cut in one plane) in order to achieve a wide range of distortion-free images with as large a wide angle effect as possible. It is formed in the shape of a body showing a figure. However, it will be appreciated that the additional device can also be formed by another individual body, preferably a body constructed with rotational symmetry, or a cut-out part thereof or a cut-out part thereof, for example a parabolic body. Alternatively, the body has an elliptical cross section, and has the advantage that the distortion is also small.

  In another configuration of the invention, the additional device is mounted on the outer surface of the housing portion of the mirror housing. It is thus possible to provide a unified mirror housing for a plurality of vehicles and to install additional devices on the mirror housing as required. Optionally, an additional device can be incorporated into the mirror housing, for example a notch provided therefor, can be provided in the lower housing part that extends substantially horizontally in the mirror housing. This solution has the advantage that additional devices are incorporated in harmony with the overall appearance of the outside mirror.

  In order to create as large a field of view as possible, the additional device is preferably arranged on a relatively remote outside with a lower housing part extending horizontally in the mirror housing.

  It is particularly advantageous to attach an additional device to the outside mirror of the passenger side mirror, because here the area next to the door and below the outside mirror and / or outside, especially if the breast line is high This is because it is impossible to directly see the area in front of the mirror.

  Possible embodiments of the invention are depicted in the drawing and will now be described in detail.

  FIG. 1 shows a door, generally designated 1, of a vehicle that is not drawn in detail otherwise. The illustrated embodiment relates to a left door 1 formed as a passenger side door of a right-hand drive type vehicle. The door 1 mainly includes a door outer plate 2, a side window frame 3, and a side window 4. FIG. 2 shows a door breast 5 on the door inner side.

  In the region of the front end portion of the side window 4, an outside mirror (that is, an outside rear view mirror) indicated as a whole by 10 is disposed on the door outer plate 2 via a mirror foot 11. The outside mirror 10 has a two-part mirror housing 12, and the mirror housing 12 includes a mirror housing shell 13 and a housing frame 14 that goes around. A mirror glass 15 is received in the housing frame 14.

  An additional device 20 is provided in the lower housing part 18 that extends substantially horizontally in the mirror housing 12. This additional device 20 mounted on the lower surface of the mirror housing 12 enlarges the vehicle user's field of view and allows the driver to use the area directly next to the door and / or under and / or outside mirror. You can see the area in front of.

  In the mirror housing 12, which, unlike the depicted embodiment, is more strongly curved on the lower surface and therefore does not have a housing portion 18 extending substantially horizontally, the additional device is The mirror housing 12 must be disposed at an appropriate position on the lower surface.

  As can be seen from the drawing, the additional device 20 is formed in the shape of a sphere. A reflective material such as a thin metal layer is provided on the spherical crown of the spherical body. In order to maximize the field of view, the additional device 20 is arranged outside the vehicle as far as possible in the housing part 18. As specifically shown in FIG. 1, the housing frame 14 has a step 16 in a lower housing portion 18 that extends substantially horizontally. The additional device 20 has a foot portion, which is used to connect the additional device 20 to the housing portion 18, wherein the foot portion is formed complementary to the step 16. Thereby, the additional device 20 is connected to the mirror housing 12 without gaps and in harmony.

It is the perspective view of the outside mirror according to this invention, and is the figure seen in the line-of-sight direction from the outer side of a vehicle. It is the figure corresponding to FIG. 1, Comprising: It is the figure seen in the gaze direction from the inside of a vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Door 2 Door outer plate 3 Side window frame 4 Side window 5 Doorrest 10 Outside mirror 11 Mirror foot 12 Mirror housing 13 Mirror housing shell 14 Housing frame 15 Mirror glass 16 Step part 18 Housing part 20 Additional apparatus

Claims (7)

An outside mirror, particularly an outside mirror for a passenger car, comprising: a mirror glass received in a mirror housing; and an additional device for expanding the field of view;
The additional device (20) is arranged in the lower housing part (18) with the outside mirror (10) attached in the mirror housing (12) as follows: driving a passenger car When a person looks directly at the additional device (20) without interposing an image processing device, an object directly beside the door (1) of the passenger car and / or the outside mirror (10) ) And / or outside mirror (10) so that objects can be seen.   2. The outside mirror according to claim 1, characterized in that the additional device (20) is formed in the shape of a rotationally symmetric body or in the shape of a cut-out or cut-out part of a rotationally symmetric body. .   The outside mirror according to claim 2, characterized in that the additional device (20) has the shape of a sphere.   4. The outside mirror according to claim 1, wherein the additional device (20) is mounted on the housing part (18).   4. The outside mirror according to claim 1, wherein the additional device (20) is integrated in the housing part (18).   The outside mirror according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the additional device (20) is arranged on the vehicle outer part of the lower housing part (18).   The outside mirror according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the outside mirror (10) is a passenger side mirror.