Vehicle exterior mirror
AssigneeBritax (Wingard) Limited
InventorAnthony Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The mirror head of a vehicle exterior mirror has a hollow cylindrical bearing which is journalled on a spigot. The spigot has radially outwardly projecting detents on its outer end which engage with a shoulder on the bearing to retain the mirror head on the spigot. Slots divide the outer end of the spigot into lobes which are resiliently bendable inwardly to allow the detents to move past the shoulder. After assembly, a cylindrical blocking element is inserted into the spigot to block inward bending movement of the lobes.
Claims18
An exterior mirror assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a mirror head in which a reflective member is mounted, a base including a support for the mirror head, and a cylindrical spigot having an outer end projecting from the support into the mirror head, the mirror head including a hollow bearing which is journalled on the spigot and has a bearing shoulder and a cylindrical inner bearing surface, wherein the spigot comprises a cylindrical member having a plurality of circumferentially-spaced radially outwardly projecting detents engaged with said bearing shoulder to retain the mirror head on the spigot, said detents projecting radially outwardly beyond said cylindrical inner bearing surface and being resiliently deformable inwardly to permit insertion of said cylindrical member into said hollow bearing until said detents snap outwardly into co-operative relationship with said bearing shoulder.
A rear view mirror assembly for attachment externally of a vehicle, said mirror assembly including a support base member and a mirror head member supported on said base member for swinging movement relative to said base member about a hinge joint, said hinge joint comprising a hollow bearing on one of said members, said hollow bearing having a cylindrical hole therethrough with a cylindrical inner bearing surface, said hollow bearing having a bearing shoulder extending outwardly from said inner bearing surface, a cylindrical member projecting from the other of said members into said cylindrical hole in said hollow bearing, said cylindrical member having a plurality of circumferentially-spaced detents extending radially outwardly therefrom in co-operative relationship with said shoulder to prevent separation of said mirror head from said base, said detents projecting radially outwardly beyond said cylindrical inner bearing surface and being resiliently deformable inwardly to permit insertion of said cylindrical member into said cylindrical hole in said hollow bearing until said detents snap outwardly into co-operative relationship with said shoulder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.