JPS6047129B2 - Vehicle rear view mirror device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a rear view mirror device for a vehicle, and more specifically,
The present invention relates to a vehicle rearview mirror device that can be remotely controlled by driving a mirror angle changing motor from inside the vehicle.

In vehicle rearview mirrors that can be driven by an electric motor to change the angle of the mirror, it is difficult to manually force the mirror to change the angle with the electric motor stopped, or if an external force is applied to the mirror. If this happens, there is a risk that force will be applied to the angle-changing drive mechanism using the electric motor, resulting in damage to the drive mechanism.

Further, if the electric motor continues to operate even after the mirror has been tilted to its maximum tilt position, an unreasonable load is similarly placed on the electric motor and the drive mechanism. An object of the present invention is to provide a rear view mirror device that can adjust the angle of the mirror by driving an electric motor, and can also change the angle directly by hand, especially when tilting by hand or when external force is applied to the mirror. There is no risk of straining the drive mechanism by the electric motor when the mirror is tilted, and there is also no risk of straining the motor and drive mechanism even if the motor continues to operate even after the mirror has been tilted to its maximum tilt position. Some companies attempt to provide a rear view mirror device for a vehicle that does not have a conventional vehicle rear view mirror device.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the rear viewing mirror device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The rear view mirror device shown in this embodiment has a hollow body 1, similar to known devices of this type, and a mirror 2 is arranged substantially vertically in the opening of the body.

The mirror is fixed to a mirror holder 3, and is supported via a universal joint 5 by a bracket 4 disposed within the body substantially parallel to the mirror. A universal joint has four axes arranged on the surface of a sphere so that they are orthogonal to each other, and a set of axes that are on the same line are supported by arms extending from a mirror holder.
The shaft of the mechanism is supported by an arm from the bracket, so that the mirror and mirror holder can be tilted in any direction and angle using the universal joint as a fulcrum. bracket 4
is joined to a seat within the body, forming a space 1b within the body. Support walls are formed on the opposite side of the bracket from the arm, and these support walls together with the support walls of the body form a housing chamber for the electric motor 6. A reduction gear 7 is incorporated in the electric motor, and an output shaft 8 of the reduction gear is engaged with a screw shaft 9.

This screw shaft 9 has a worm gear, and a worm wheel 12 is engaged with it. The worm wheel 12 has a shaft hole, and an operating rod 18 is inserted into the shaft hole. As shown in FIG. 4, a groove 13 reaching the shaft hole is formed in the shaft portion of the worm wheel, eccentric by a distance G from the center of the operating rod, and a ring 14 is inserted into the eccentric groove. There is. On the other hand, a spiral groove 15 is formed on the surface of the operating rod 18, and a portion of the ring 14 is engaged with the spiral groove. The arrangement of such a drive mechanism is
The rotation of the electric motor 6 is transmitted to the screw shaft 9, and the worm wheel 1
2 to move the operating rod 18 in its axial direction via the ring 14.

The operating rod 18 has its tip connected to the mirror holder 3 via a ball joint 16, and the connection point is placed horizontally or vertically apart from the universal joint 5 that supports the mirror and its holder. Therefore, by moving the operating rod in the axial direction, the mirror and its holder are tilted using the universal joint as a fulcrum. When tilting force acts on the mirror and its holder during tilting, the ring 14
Has the engagement with the spiral groove 15 been released? Warm wheel 1
2 can rotate freely, and even when the electric motor is stopped, the mirror 2 and its holder 3 can be tilted directly by hand. In this rearview mirror device, another set of similarly configured mechanisms is installed in the same manner, and its operating rod is at an angle of 90 degrees with the aforementioned operating rod.
These two sets of driving or tilting mechanisms are arranged so that the mirror and its holder can be tilted at any angle and direction using the universal joint as a fulcrum.

In the drawings, other sets of mechanisms are shown with the same reference numerals on their dashes, so that they will be obvious without needing to be mentioned again. In order to ensure that the operating rod 18, 1' can always move linearly during the above-described tilting of the mirror and its holder, the ball joints 16, 16'' and the operating rod 18, 1' are used.
1'', joints 17, 17'' are provided.

Each joint allows rotation to match the tilting direction of the mirror and its holder. To be more specific, the third
As shown in the figure, the operating rod 18,1'' and the ball joint 16,
16'' are connected by pins 22 and 22', and each pin is arranged in parallel with the axis of each set of joints 5.
And stoppers 21, 2'' are placed on the ball joints 16, 16''.
are provided in a protruding manner, and when the mirror and its holder are tilted, these stoppers are connected to the operating rods 18, 1' to define the maximum tilting angle. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, protrusions 20, 2' are provided on the surface of the ball of the ball joint 16, 1', and the protrusions fit into the grooves formed in the ball seat of the mirror holder 3. This prevents rotation of the operating rod 18, 1' and allows the operating rod to be linearly moved only in the axial direction. In such a rear view mirror device, when the mirror and the holder reach their maximum tilting positions, a large load is generated on the electric motors 6, 6'' and the drive mechanism.

Although it is possible to prevent this by stopping the motor by installing a limit switch, the present invention accomplishes this more easily. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the overload prevention mechanism at the maximum tilting position.

That is, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a clutch member 37 is fixed to the output shaft 8, a clutch member 38 is slidably housed in the screw shaft 9, and the clutch member 38 is supported by a coil spring 39. The clutch member 38 is brought into pressure contact with the clutch member 37.
It fits into the recess of. In such a mechanism, when a load greater than the set load is applied to the screw shaft, the clutch member 38 comes off from the recess of the clutch member 37 against the spring, and the screw shaft 9
It is obvious that the screw shaft rotates freely and that the screw shaft can be assembled easily from one side without going into detail. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the coil spring 39 shown in FIG. 5 is replaced with a spring material 40 formed by bending a plate spring in a zigzag shape, and has the same effect. Such an overload prevention mechanism includes a ring 14,1C that engages the operating rod 18,1'' and the worm wheel 12,12'',
The device of the present invention is highly reliable with extremely few failures.

That is, when the mirror and holder reach the maximum tilting angle, the overload prevention mechanism operates, and when an external force is applied to the mirror and its holder, or when the mirror is manually tilted, the rings 14, 14'' and the operating rod 18 ,1'
is disengaged from the spiral groove, allowing the operating rod to move freely. The set loads for the springs 39, 39'' and the rings 14, 14'' are determined through experiments in consideration of various conditions, but in general, the loads for the rings 14, 14'' are
It is preferable to make the height of the rear view mirror higher.In addition, in this rearview mirror, numerals 30 to 33 indicate the power cords or wires of the electric motors 6 and 6'', which pass through the stay of the body 1 and are installed in the passenger compartment. Connected to the power supply via the controller. The mirror 2, its holder 3, and the electric motors 6, 6'' are supported by the bracket 4 as described above, and the worm wheels 12, 12'' are supported by the bracket 4''.
is supported by the guide 19 located at the stopper 23, 23.
'' prevents movement in the axial direction. Since the entire mechanism is installed in one bracket 4 in this way,
It can be assembled by inserting and fixing the bracket through the opening of the body 1, and the assembly work is easy. As described above, the rearview mirror device of the present invention can of course tilt the mirror at any angle and direction by driving the electric motor by remote control, but it can also be used by holding the mirror by hand. The angle can also be adjusted, and at that time and when an external force is applied to the mirror, the engagement between the ring 14 and the spiral groove 15 is disengaged, preventing an excessive load from being placed on the drive mechanism. If the motor is still being driven after reaching the tilted position, the clutch member between the output shaft and the screw shaft will come off against the spring, allowing the screw shaft to rotate freely and activate the overload prevention function. This has the effect of preventing the drive mechanism by the electric motor from being overloaded under any circumstances.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention in a partial side view, Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Fig. The opening in Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 3A, Figure 4A is a partial cross-sectional side view showing an enlarged part of Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a clear view of Figure 4A. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line FF, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the motor output shaft and the screw shaft, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of FIG. 5. 2...Mirror, 3...Mirror holder, 4...Bracket, 5...Universal joint, 6,6''...Electric motor,
8...Output/force shaft, 9,9''...Screw shaft, 12,12
″...worm wheel, 13...groove, 14...
Ring, 15... Spiral groove, 18, 1'... Operating rod, 37, 38... Clutch member, 39, 40...
Spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mirror is supported by a universal joint, and the tip of an operating rod is engaged with the mirror at a position spaced apart from the universal joint in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the operating rod is moved forward and backward by driving an electric motor. In a vehicle rearview mirror configured to tilt the mirror in any direction using a universal joint as a fulcrum, the drive mechanism of the operating rod by the electric motor is connected to a screw shaft engaged with the output shaft of a speed reducer and a screw shaft thereof. It consists of a worm wheel that meshes with the worm gear of the shaft, and an operating rod inserted into the shaft hole of the worm wheel.A spiral groove is formed on the surface of the operating rod, and the shaft portion of the worm wheel reaches the shaft hole. An eccentric groove is formed, a part of the ring inserted into the groove is engaged with the spiral groove of the operating rod, and the output shaft and the screw shaft are further engaged via a clutch member biased by a spring. 1. A rear view mirror device for a vehicle, wherein the clutch member is disengaged against the spring when a set load is applied to the screw shaft.