WO2002062621A1

WO2002062621A1 - Mirror assembly for vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2002062621A1
Application number: PCT/US2002/003605
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patricio Daniel Rolon
Original assignee: Marinaro, Hector, Luis
Priority date: 2001-02-08
Filing date: 2002-02-08
Publication date: 2002-08-15
Also published as: UY27162A1; BR0104755A; ES2277786A1; ES2277786B1; AR031375A1

Abstract

A mirror assembly (10) for use with vehicles. The mirror assembly includes a casing (11), a first mirror (12) having an orientation facing a driver of a vehicle, a second mirror (13) having an orientation facing the forward direction of the vehicle and a third mirror having an orientation facing the first and second mirrors. The mirrors of the mirror assembly are oriented in such a manner that an image is reflected from the second mirror onto the third mirror, the third mirror reflects the image onto the first mirror and the first mirror reflects the image to the driver of the vehicle so that the driver of the vehicle can obtain a forward view of on coming traffic when looking to the assembly.

Description

MIRROR ASSEMBLY FOR VEHICLES

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates to a mirror assembly preferably for use in any kind of vehicle such as cars, trucks, buses, and other self propelled vehicles, particularly those vehicles that are driven along routes and ways with only one lane for each direction of circulation of the vehicles wherein it may be necessary to overpass a vehicle going ahead and it becomes necessary to look ahead of that leading vehicle to see whether a vehicle is coming in the opposite direction along the opposite direction lane.

2. Description of the Prior Art. It is well known that circulating with a vehicle along routes far away of towns, namely in the country, it is somewhat dangerous because these routes are provided with only one lane per each traffic direction. When a vehicle is circulation along a lane in a predetermined direction at a predetermined speed it is quite common to reach another vehicle going along the same way and direction but at a lower speed. Under these circumstances it is necessary to overpass this vehicle by entering the other lane for vehicles coming in the opposite direction. This is a dangerous maneuver as long as it is imperative to have a view of the opposite direction lane to see whether a vehicle is coming and how far this vehicle is located to prevent a collision.

While many devices have been developed for the safety of vehicles and their occupants, such as air bags, safety belts, inner wide rear view mirrors and outer rear view mirrors extending at the side of the vehicle enough to see the way behind the vehicle when towing a trailer, etc. there are no means provided in a vehicle to see ahead of a leading vehicle circulating ahead of one's vehicle in the route in order to have a view of the adjacent opposite circulation lane and more particularly of the vehicles coming in the opposite direction.

Upon the lack of any device to see ahead of the leading vehicle, the vehicle drivers frequently move their heads slightly out of the car's window to see ahead of any leading vehicle or move their own vehicle slightly into the adjacent opposite circulation lane to look along the adjacent lane. Any of these maneuvers are inconvenient and dangerous for the individuals safety. This situation becomes worse if the vehicle going ahead is a wide and tall vehicle such as a truck or a bus wherein one can not see through any windows of the vehicle and it is therefore necessary to move the head out of the window and, sometimes, also drive into the opposite direction lane.

It would be therefore convenient to have a mirror system for use in vehicles and for allowing the vehicle's driver to have a good view of the opposite direction lane ahead of any leading vehicle, truck, trailer or bus, circulating ahead of the driver's vehicle, in order that any vehicle coming in the opposite direction appears visible and decide the correct moment for overpassing the leading vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a device for preventing vehicle accidents in the routes when a vehicle is trying to overpass a leading vehicle in a route having only one lane per direction of traffic circulation, the device permitting the driver to see over the leading vehicle whether a vehicle is coming in the opposite direction. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a mirror assembly preferably for use in vehicles, such as cars, trucks and buses, particularly when they are circulating along routes having only one lane for opposite directions of traffic circulation, the mirror comprising at least two mirrors optically aligned, with a first mirror being visible for the vehicle driver and a second mirror looking at a way ahead of the vehicle .

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mirror assembly for use in vehicles, the assembly comprising at least two mirrors optically aligned, with a first one of the mirrors being oriented towards a vehicle driver looking at the mirror assembly and a second one of the mirrors reflecting a way ahead of the vehicle, whereby the way ahead of the vehicle is first reflected in the second mirror and then is reflected by the first mirror towards the driver. For the purposes of the present specification the terms "optically aligned" are used for indicating ^that two or more mirrors are located in a manner that any light or image received by one of the mirrors, preferably an image from a location ahead of the vehicle, is reflected in a manner that the other mirror (s) are able to receive the image reflected from the one mirror and reflect (s) this image again in order that the reflection is received by the vehicle driver.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be better understood when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example in the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic top plan view of a mirror assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic top plan view of a mirror assembly according to another embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 3 shows a top perspective view of the mirror assembly of FIG. 2 installed in a vehicle, adjacent a window of the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now referring in detail to the drawings it may be seen from FIGS. 1-3, two preferred embodiments of mirror systems according to the invention. FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a mirror assembly 1 comprising a casing 2 generally made of any appropriate weather-resistant material, such as plastics, with the means necessary to be attached at a vehicle part or frame, for example through an arm 3.

According to the invention, at least two mirrors 4, 5 are mounted in the casing, the mirrors being optically aligned, as it is illustrated by the broken lines and arrow head, to reflect an image of the route or way ahead of the vehicle carrying the inventive mirror, more particularly ahead of any leading vehicle circulating ahead of the vehicle provided with the mirror of the invention. A first one 4 of the mirrors is oriented towards a vehicle driver looking at the mirror assembly, that is the first mirror is visible for the driver. The second one 5 of the mirrors are oriented to look at the way ahead of the vehicle, whereby the way ahead of the vehicle is first reflected in second mirror 5 and then is reflected by first mirror 4 towards the driver who is identified by a diagrammatic eye E. Casing 2 is preferably provided with a front side 6 open to accommodate the first mirror and a rear side 7 open to accommodate the second mirror. The casing may also include mechanisms 8 to move the mirrors as desired by the driver in order to adjust the same optically according to the driver's needs. These mechanisms may be manually actuated or operated by batteries. In addition, casing 2 may be provided with a conventional rear view mirror 9 complementing the other mirrors, with mirror 9 being also alternatively provided with an adjusting mechanism 8 for moving the mirror. Thus, the vehicle driver is provided with the capacity of seeing not only at the way behind the vehicle but also ahead of the vehicle just by looking at mirror 9 or mirror 4, respectively.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the invention, diagrammatically illustrating a mirror assembly 10 comprising a casing 11 which may have the same features of casing 2 of FIG. 1, with mirror arrangement 10 differing from mirror assembly 1 in that assembly 10 is provided with more than two mirrors, namely first mirror 12, second mirror 13 and third mirror 14, all combined and optically aligned, as it is illustrated by the broken lines and arrow head, for looking ahead of the vehicle. In addition, and while it is not restricted to this feature, the mirror assembly may be further provided with a fourth mirror 15 for use as a typical rear view mirror. Third mirror 14 is located in between first 12 and second 13 mirrors in a manner that the three mirrors remain placed in optical alignment to reflect the way ahead of the vehicle and provide the driver with safe view or seeing of the lane for vehicles coming in the opposite direction. More particularly, first mirror 12 is oriented towards the driver, second mirror 13 is oriented to look ahead of the vehicle and third mirror 14 is interposed in the optical path to reflect the image received from the second mirror onto the first mirror. In other words, the second mirror is oriented and looks at the way ahead of the vehicle and is optically aligned with the third mirror in order to reflect any image of the way ahead of the vehicle onto the third mirror and the third mirror reflects the image onto the first mirror in a manner that the image is visible to the driver.

For construction purposes, second mirror 13 and fourth mirror 15 both form part of a dual mirror body having a front mirror surface defining fourth mirror 15 looking at the driver for reflecting the image of the route behind the vehicle, and a rear surface mirror defining said second mirror 13. Like in the embodiment of FIG. 1, any of the mirrors may be provided with moving mechanisms 8, illustrated only for mirrors 12 and 14 but applicable to any of them.

FIG. 3 shows the mirror assembly of FIG. 2 installed in a vehicle identified with numeral reference 16 which is occupied by a driver identified by a schematic eye E looking at rear view mirror 15 to have a view of the route or way behind the car as usual, and looking also to first mirror 12 to have a view of the route or way ahead of the vehicle. As it is evident from the above description, the image reflected from the opposite direction lane ahead of the vehicle will be better according to the extension the mirror looking ahead of the vehicle is spaced apart from side of the vehicle, towards the opposite direction lane, however, the distance the typical outer rear view mirrors are spaced apart from the vehicle in conventional cars is enough to get a safe and good seeing of the opposite lane.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

WE CLAIM :

1. A mirror assembly for use in vehicles, comprising : at least two mirrors optically aligned, with a first one of the mirrors being oriented towards a vehicle driver looking at the mirror assembly and a second one of the mirrors reflecting a way ahead of the vehicle, whereby the way ahead of the vehicle is first reflected in the second mirror and then is reflected by the first mirror towards the driver.

2. The mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least two mirrors are mounted in a casing having an open front side for accommodating the first mirror and an open rear side for accommodating the second mirror.

3. The mirror assembly of claim 2, wherein a third mirror is located in between the first and second mirrors, the three mirrors being optically aligned to reflect the way ahead of the vehicle towards the driver.

4. The mirror assembly of claim 3, wherein the second mirror looks at the way ahead of the vehicle and is optically aligned with the third mirror in order to reflect any image of the way ahead of the vehicle onto the third mirror and the third mirror reflects the image onto the first mirror in a manner the image is received by the driver.

5. The mirror assembly of claim 4, wherein the second mirror is a dual mirror having a front mirror surface defining a fourth mirror looking at the driver for reflecting the way behind the vehicle, and a rear surface mirror defining said second mirror.

6. The mirror assembly of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first, second, third and fourth mirrors are movably mounted through moving mechanisms to adjust the view thereof for convenience of the driver.