US 6,267,480 B1Granted

Side-view mirrors

AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho

InventorsYoshihisa Hirano, Kyozo Omi

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Abstract

Side-view mirrors are provided in which, without adversely, affecting operations of retracting side-view mirrors and adjusting mirror surfaces, mechanisms are greatly simplified and a waterproofing/dustproofing mechanism can be omitted, thereby resulting in much lower manufacturing costs. In a switching driving section of the control device which adjusts the mirror surfaces of a pair of left-side and right-side side-view mirrors, a motor is selectively meshed with gears or gears by a switching operation by a plunger. The mirror surfaces of the side-view mirrors can thereby be adjusted to an arbitrary mounting angle. Namely, driving mechanisms provided for each of a left-side and a right-side as in conventional structures are combined into the single switching driving section, and thus the manufacturing costs are greatly reduced.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A pair of left-side and right-side side-view mirrors for a vehicle, comprising:

mirror surfaces;
mirror visors covering the mirror surfaces;
and
a control device by which the mirror surfaces are adjustable, the control device including:
connecting members connected independently to the pair of left-side and right-side side-view mirrors, said connecting members subjecting the side-view mirrors to a mirror surface adjustment operation by transferring to the side-view mirrors a mechanical driving force which is applied to said connecting members;
a switching driving section disposed outside of said mirror visors and having a drive source, and switchable between a state in which one connecting member of said connecting members is independently connected to the drive source and a state in which another connecting member of said connecting members is independently connected to the drive source, and applying mechanical driving force to the connecting member which is connected to the drive source;
and
an operation for carrying out driving and a switching operation of the drive source of said switching driving section.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.