Extandable exterior rearview mirror assembly

An electrically extended exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:

• a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective element;
• a bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle;
• a pair of support arms pivotally mounting said minor subassembly to said bracket, said support arms extending into said housing, and said mirror subassembly being movable along said support arms and having a fully retracted viewing position and at least one outboard viewing position for said mirror subassembly, and said support arms being substantially within said housing when said subassembly is fully retracted and said support arms being visible exteriorly of said rearview mirror assembly when said mirror subassembly is moved to said outboard position;
• and
• a drive assembly drivingly coupled to outboard ends of said support arms, said drive assembly selectively moving said mirror subassembly along said support arms.

An electrically extendable exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:

• a mirror subassembly having a housing and a reflective element supported in said housing;
• a bracket adapted for mounting to a vehicle;
• a pair of support arms pivotally mounting said mirror subassembly to said bracket, said support arms extending into said housing, and said mirror subassembly being one outboard viewing position for said mirror subassembly, and said support arms being substantially within said housing when said subassembly is fully retracted and said support arms being visible exteriorly of said rearview mirror assembly when said mirror subassembly is moved to stud outboard position:
• a drive assembly drivingly coupled to said support arms, said drive assembly selectively moving said mirror subassembly along said support arms, said support arms being connected by an interconnecting member, said drive assembly driving coupling to said interconnecting member to selectively move said mirror subassembly along said support arms, said drive assembly including a lead screw and a motor, said lead screw being supported by opposed end walls of said housing;
• and
• said interconnecting member including a clutch, and said motor driving said lead screw to drivingly engage said interconnecting member through said clutch, and said clutch drivingly decoupling said drive assembly from said support arms when a force of sufficient magnitude is applied to mirror subassembly into a direction of extension of said mirror assembly such that said mirror subassembly can be manually moved along said support.