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US 5,179,470 AGranted
Aerodynamic vehicle mirror head
AssigneeNavistar International Transportation Corp.
InventorM. Eugene Olson
Life of this patent
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AssigneeNavistar International Transportation Corp.
InventorM. Eugene Olson
Estimating the term…
An aerodynamic vehicle side mirror head of the vertically elongated rectangular type commonly used on large vehicles such as trucks includes an aerodynamically shaped mirror housing having a reflecting surface mounted to a rearward facing surface thereof and a set of cambered, airfoil-shaped, turning vanes with an upstream vane located along the leading vertical edge of the mirror housing on the side thereof closest to the vehicle can and having an outlet disposed to direct airflow exiting therefrom laterally onto the mirror surface and a downstream vane located along the trailing vertical edge on the opposite side of the mirror housing and having an outlet disposed to direct air flowing therethrough in a substantially downstream direction. The vanes are shaped and geometrically optimized relative to the mirror housing surface to significantly reduce the size of the downstream wake, effectively reducing the aerodynamic drag of the mirror head, and at the same time, causing scrubbing of the downstream face of the mirror, effectively keeping it free of water droplets and dirt.
An aerodynamic vehicle mirror head of the vertically elongated rectangular type comprising a housing having an arcuate forward wall, a vehicle-side side wall adapted to be disposed adjacent the vehicle, and an outside side wall disposed away from the vehicle, a reflecting surface disposed on a rearwardly facing portion of said housing, said mirror head further comprising an upstream turning vane disposed adjacent said vehicle-side side wall and defining therebetween an upstream passage for receiving a portion of oncoming airflow and redirecting said portion of said airflow across the reflecting surface and a downstream turning vane disposed adjacent said outside side wall and defining therebetween a downstream passage for receiving another portion of said oncoming airflow and redirecting said another portion of said airflow in a substantially rearward direction from an exit adjacent trailing edge of said housing to effectively diminish the size of the downstream wake created by the mirror head.
An aerodynamic vehicle mirror head including a housing and a reflecting surface suitably engaged to a rearward portion of said housing, said housing having an aerodynamically shaped cross-section integrally an upstream vehicle-side arcuate side wall adapted to be disposed adjacent a vehicle window and a downstream trailing outside side wall on an opposite side of said mirror head from said vehicle-side wall;
A mirror head of the type extending outwardly of a motor vehicle with its reflecting surface disposed generally downstream of the direction of the flow of oncoming air, said mirror head having a housing including an upstream side wall on the vehicle side thereof and an aerodynamically shaped upstream turning vane attached to the housing and disposed adjacent said upstream side wall and defining therewith an air passage having an entrance generally transverse to the flow of oncoming air and an exit disposed to redirect oncoming airflow onto and across said mirror surface;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.