Electrically operated remote control rearview mirror

A remotely actuated rearview mirror comprising in combination:

• a mirror;
• a support;
• means for mounting said mirror on said support for multi-directional pivotal movements relative thereto;
• a spherical actuating member;
• means for mounting said actuating member on a back of said mirror for conjunctive pivotal movements therewith and for independent reciprocating movements relative thereto in a direction essentially normal to said back of said mirror;
• remotely actuated drive means carried by said support and including first and second means disposed in engagement with said actuating member and cooperating to constrain said actuating member for movements in independent directions within a plane to impart said multi-directional pivotal movements to said mirror and said reciprocating movements of said actuating member as an incident thereto;
• and
• said remotely actuated drive means including first and second slide members, first and second means for mounting said first and second slide members on said support for reciprocating movements in said independent directions, and first and second means for imparting reciprocating movements to said first and second slide members, said first and second slide members defining first and second concave shaped surfaces extending transversely of the direction of the reciprocating movements of said first and second slide members, and said first and second surfaces being disposed in sliding surface-to-surface engagement with oppositely disposed portions of said spherical actuating member.

A servomechanism for moving a device to different angular orientations comprising:

• an X axis;
• a Y axis;
• a Z axis, said X axis, said Y axis, and said Z axis being mutually orthogonal;
• a device;
• a support for said device;
• means for mounting said device on said support, said means for mounting providing at the least for pivotal movement of said device with respect to said support about said X and Y axes;
• a sphere;
• means for mounting said sphere on the back of said device for conjunctive pivotal movement with said device about said X and Y axes and reciprocal movement about said Z axis;
• an X drive means for pivoting said device about said X axis when power is applied to said X drive means, said X drive means including a first concave surface encompassing and slidably engaging a portion of one-half of said sphere;
• and
• a Y drive means for pivoting said device about said Y axis when power is applied to said Y drive means, said Y drive means including a second concave surface encompassing and slidably engaging a portion of one-half of said sphere, said first and second surfaces extending in mutually orthogonal directions;
• and
• said X and Y drive means including means for displacing said first and second surfaces in mutually orthogonal directions, said first and second surfaces being displaced in directions which are orthogonal to the directions in which said first and second surfaces extend, respectively, said first and second surfaces being displaceable when power is applied to said X and Y drive means, respectively, to effect displacements of said sphere and imparting pivotal movements to said device.