Rear view system for a vehicle

An optical rear view system for a motor vehicle, adapted to be mounted on the body of a vehicle so as to have a minimal lateral projection from the vehicle, said system comprising:

• a) a housing having an objective opening therein exteriorly of the vehicle body, through which light from an object to the rear of said vehicle can enter said system, and a viewing opening interiorly of said vehicle body through which light can exit said system towards an observer located at the driver's position within said vehicle,
• b) a viewing system of optical components within said housing, said viewing system comprising
• i) reflector means for reflecting incident light thereon;
• ii) first refractor means for refracting light from said object towards said reflector means, said first refractor means being in the path of light from said object to the rear of said vehicle passing through said objective-opening towards said reflector means, said first refractor means having an incident face on which light from said object is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said first refractor means is directed towards said reflector means;
• iii) second refractor means for compensating for chromatic aberrations introduced into said viewing system by said first refractor means, said second refractor means being in the path of light from said reflector means to said observer, said second refractor means having an incident face on which light from said reflector means is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said second refractor means is directed towards said observer through said viewing opening of said housing:
• and
• iv) at least one face of said first refractor means comprising a plurality of elementary surface portions inclined to a general plane of a surface of said at least one face with an angle of inclination of said general plane of said first refractor means being not less than one half of an inclination of said elementary surface portions to said general plane.

An optical rear view system for a motor vehicle, adapted to be mounted on the body of a vehicle so as to have a minimal lateral projection from the vehicle, said system comprising:

• a) a housing having an objective opening therein exteriorly of the vehicle body, through which light from an object to the rear of said vehicle can enter said system, and a viewing opening interiorly of said vehicle body through which light can exit said system towards an observer located at the driver's position within said vehicle,
• b) a viewing system of optical components within said housing, said viewing system comprising
• i) reflector means for reflecting incident light thereon;
• ii) first refractor means for refracting light from said object towards said reflector means, said first refractor means being in the path of light from said object to the rear of said vehicle passing through said objective-opening towards said reflector means, said first refractor means having an incident face on which light from said object is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said first refractor means is directed towards said reflector means;
• iii) second refractor means for compensating for chromatic aberrations introduced into said viewing system by said first refractor means, said second refractor means being in the path of light from said reflector means to said observer, said second refractor means having an incident face on which light from said reflector means is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said second refractor means is directed towards said observer through said viewing opening of said housing;
• and
• iv) an inclination of said incident face of said first refractor means to an longitudinal axis of said vehicle being less than 30.degree..

An optical rear view system for a motor vehicle, adapted to be mounted on the body of a vehicle so as to have a minimal lateral projection from the vehicle, said system comprising:

• a) a housing having an objective opening therein exteriorly of the vehicle body, through which light from an object to the rear of said vehicle can enter said system, and a viewing opening interiorly of said vehicle body through which light can exit said system towards an observer located at the driver's position within said vehicle,
• b) a viewing system of optical components within said housing, said viewing system comprising:
• i) reflector means for reflecting incident light thereon;
• ii) first refractor means for refracting light from said object towards said reflector means, said first refractor means being in the path of light from said object to the rear of said vehicle passing through said objective-opening towards said reflector means, said first retractor means having an incident face on which light from said object is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said first refractor means is directed towards said reflector means;
• iii) second refractor means for compensating for chromatic aberrations introduced into said viewing system by said first refractor means, said second refractor means being in the path of light from said reflector means to said observer, said second refractor means having an incident face on which light from said reflector means is incident and an exit thee from which light passing through said second refractor means is directed towards said observer through said viewing opening of said housing;
• and
• iv) a relationship between each Abbe value of said first and second refractor means and an angle between said incident and said exit faces thereof being such that a ratio between respective said angles and respective said Abbe numbers of said first and second retractor means lie within 0.4.degree. of each other.

An optical rear view system for a motor vehicle, adapted to be mounted on the body of a vehicle so as to have a minimal lateral projection from the vehicle, said system comprising:

• a) a housing having an objective opening therein exteriorly of the vehicle body, through which light from an object to the rear of said vehicle can enter said system, and a viewing opening interiorly of said vehicle body through which light can exit said system towards an observer located at the driver's position within said vehicle,
• b) a viewing system of optical components within said housing, said viewing system comprising:
• i) reflector means for reflecting incident light thereon;
• ii) first refractor means for retracting light from said object towards said reflector means, said first refractor means being in a path of light from said object to a rear of said vehicle passing through said objective opening towards said reflector means, said first refractor means having an incident face on which light from said object is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said first refractor means is directed towards said reflector means;
• iii) second refractor means for compensating for chromatic aberrations introduced into said viewing system by said first refractor means, said second refractor means being in a path of light from said reflector means to said observer, said second refractor means having an incident face on which light from said reflector means is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said second refractor means is directed towards said observer through said viewing opening of said housing;
• and
• iv) an angle between said incident face of said first refractor means and a longitudinal axis of the vehicle is such that, for all light rays within a field of view, an angle between said exit face of said second retractor means and the path of the light to the observer is greater than said angle between said incident face of said first retractor means and said longitudinal axis of said vehicle.

An optical rear view system for a motor vehicle, said system having housing means for housing a viewing system of optical components, comprising:

• reflector means for reflecting incident light thereon;
• said reflector means being mounted in said housing means such that its inclination is adjustable with respect thereto;
• first refractor means for refracting light from said object towards said reflector means, said first refractor means being between an object to the rear of said vehicle and said reflector means, said first refractor means having an incident face on which light from said object is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said first refractor means is directed towards said reflector means;
• said first refractor means being shaped and positioned such that an optical path length of light within said first refractor means is shorter than an optical path length of light from said exit face to said reflector means within said housing;
• and second refractor means mounted in said housing means between said reflector means and an observer, said second refractor means having an incident face on which light from said reflector means is incident and an exit face from which light passing through said second refractor means is directed towards the observer.