Vehicle side mirror protector
AssigneeU-Haul International, Inc.
InventorMichael Johnson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for protecting a side mirror of a vehicle, such as a fork lift, includes a side mirror assembly that has a support frame and a side mirror mounted to the support frame. The support frame is hingedly mounted to the vehicle and has an outer end disposed outwardly from the vehicle. A contact wheel is mounted to the side mirror assembly so that the wheel can rotate in a generally horizontal plane. The wheel is mounted below the mirror and has a peripheral contact surface that extends outward, rearward and forward beyond the side mirror and beyond the support frame. When the surface of an obstacle contacts the wheel peripheral surface, the wheel will rotate and ride along the obstacle, allowing the arm to properly pivot forward or rearward without damaging the side mirror.
Claims16
An apparatus for protecting a side mirror of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a side mirror support frame pivotally mounted to the vehicle and having an outer end disposed outwardly from the vehicle;
- a side mirror mounted to the support frame and having an outer side;
- and
- a wheel mounted to the support frame or the side mirror so that the wheel can rotate in a generally horizontal plane;
- wherein the wheel includes a peripheral contact surface having a portion that extends outwardly beyond the support frame outer end and beyond the side mirror outer side;
- and
- wherein the wheel contact surface includes a portion that extends forward beyond the support frame and the side mirror;
- whereby when a surface of an obstacle contacts the wheel contact surface, the wheel can rotate and the side mirror support frame can pivot to minimize damage to the side mirror.
An apparatus for protecting a side mirror of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a side mirror assembly pivotally mounted to and extending outwardly from a vehicle, wherein the side mirror assembly includes a side mirror and has an outer end;
- and
- a wheel rotatably mounted to the side mirror assembly so that the wheel can rotate in a generally horizontal plane, wherein the wheel is positioned and sized so that a wheel peripheral portion extends outward beyond the side mirror assembly outer end and extends forward beyond a forward side of the side mirror assembly;
- whereby when a surface of an obstacle contacts the wheel peripheral portion, the wheel can rotate and the side mirror assembly can pivot to minimize damage to the side mirror.
An apparatus for protecting a side mirror of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a side mirror assembly configured to be pivotally mounted to and to extend outwardly from a vehicle, wherein the side mirror assembly includes a side mirror, a support frame and an outer end having an outermost portion;
- and
- a generally circular wheel mounted to the side mirror assembly and configured so that, when the side mirror assembly is mounted to the vehicle, the wheel will rotate in a generally horizontal plane about a wheel axis disposed inside of a periphery of the wheel when the periphery of the wheel comes into contact with an obstacle;
- wherein the wheel periphery includes:
- a portion disposed outwardly beyond the outermost portion of the side mirror assembly;
- and
- a portion disposed forward of the side mirror assembly outer end.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.