Low profile inside mirror with mount fixed to a substrate of a mirror element
AssigneeGentex Corporation
InventorsEric S. Lundy, Nigel T. Lock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle is provided, including: a mirror element having at least one substrate including a front surface and a rear surface; a mounting mechanism configured to be mounted to the vehicle, the mounting mechanism including a ball stud and a socket for receiving a ball of the ball stud, wherein the mounting mechanism is further configured such that one of the ball stud and the socket is adhesively attached to the rear surface of the substrate; and a mirror housing secured to the mirror element so as to extend behind the rear surface of the substrate and around the one of the ball stud and the socket that is attached to the rear surface.
Claims20
A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
- a mirror element having at least one substrate including a front surface and a rear surface;
- a mounting mechanism configured to be mounted to the vehicle, the mounting mechanism including a ball stud and a socket for receiving a ball of the ball stud, wherein the mounting mechanism is further configured such that one of the ball stud and the socket is adhesively attached to the rear surface of the substrate;
- and
- a mirror housing secured to the mirror element so as to extend behind the rear surface of the substrate and around the one of the ball stud and the socket that is attached to the rear surface.
A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, the rearview mirror assembly comprising:
- an electrochromic mirror element having a front substrate and a rear substrate behind the front substrate, the rear substrate including a front surface and a rear surface;
- a mounting mechanism configured to be mounted to the vehicle, the mounting mechanism including a ball stud and a socket for receiving a ball of the ball stud, wherein the mounting mechanism is further configured such that one of the ball stud and the socket includes a mounting plate that is adhesively attached to the rear surface of the rear substrate;
- and
- a mirror housing secured to the mirror element so as to extend behind the rear surface of the rear substrate and around the one of the ball stud and the socket that is attached to the rear surface.
A method of constructing a rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, the method comprising the sequentially performed steps of:
- preassembling a mirror element having at least one substrate including a front surface and a rear surface;
- adhesively attaching one of a ball stud and a socket of a mounting mechanism to the rear surface of the substrate;
- and
- securing a mirror housing to the mirror element so as to extend behind the rear surface of the substrate and around the one of the ball stud and the socket that is attached to the rear surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.