Mirror assembly for determining distance to passed vehicle
OwnerWillard R. Van Nostrandinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mirror assembly for attachment to a vehicle such as a motorhome or semi-truck includes a first mirror plane adjusted to bring the distant rearward right highway lane into view of the driver, a second mirror plane adjusted downward and outward to bring to the driver's eye a view of only 50 feet of rearward right lane, and a bugeye mirror for bringing to the driver's eye a view of an immediately adjacent vehicle being passed. When the driver of the passing vehicle has passed the other vehicle, he knows it is safe to pull back into the right lane, ahead of the passed vehicle, when the images of both headlights of the passed vehicle come into a predetermined relationship with the second plane mirror.
Claims10
A rearview mirror assembly for attachment to a passing vehicle, the rearview mirror assembly comprising in combination:
- (a) a first plane mirror;
- (b) first supporting means for supporting the first plane mirror in an orientation rearward and outward relative to the passenger side of the passing vehicle such that an image of the headlights of a passed vehicle is reflected to the eye of a driver of the passing vehicle and appears to the driver to move diagonally across the first plane mirror, and to attain a predetermined relationship with the first plane mirror only when the passing vehicle is a predetermined distance ahead of the passed vehicle, and when the passed vehicle is in a driving lane of a road and the passing vehicle is in a passing lane adjacent to the driving lane;
- (c) a second plane mirror and second supporting means for supporting the second plane mirror to reflect an image of a distant rearward portion of the driving lane behind the passing vehicle to the driver of the passing vehicle;
- (d) unitary supporting means for supporting the first and second supporting means outside of the passing vehicle on a passenger side of the passing vehicle, reltive to the unitary supporting means;
- and
- (e) adjustment means in each of the first and second supporting means, respectively, for effectuating individual adjustment of the first and second plane mirrors, respectively.
A method of using a mirror assembly attached to a first vehicle to accomplish safe passing of a second vehicle by the first vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a first plane mirror attached to a first vehicle and a second plane mirror both attached to the outside of a passenger side of the first vehicle;
- (b) adjusting the first plane mirror to an orientation such that an image of very distant rearward highway straight behind the first vehicle is reflected to the eye of the driver of the first vehicle, and adjusting the second plane mirror to an orientation rearward and outward relative to the first vehicle such that (1) the image of portions of the rearward highway more distant than a predetermined distance behind the first vehicle are not reflected to the eye of the driver of the first vehicle, and (2) a portion of the image of the rearward highway nearer to the first vehicle than the predetermined distance and located outward relative to the passenger side of the first vehicle is reflected to the eye of the driver of the first vehicle;
- (c) driving the first vehicle from a driving lane behind the second vehicle into an adjacent passing lane;
- (d) driving the first vehicle in the passing lane past the second vehicle and maintaining the first vehicle in the passing lane until an image of a headlight of the second vehicle as seen by the driver of the first vehicle moves diagonally into a predetermined portion of the second plane mirror;
- and
- (e) driving the first vehicle into the driving lane ahead of the slower second vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.