Vehicle side mirror

A vehicle side mirror that can visually confirm the blind spot of the main mirror without providing a prism or a fresnel lens on the window glass is provided. The vehicle side mirror is equipped with mirror housing attached to the side of the vehicle body and main mirror attached to the rear surface of mirror housing. The first sub-mirror that reflects the blind spot at the front side of the vehicle is provided on the side surface of mirror housing so as to face the vehicle body and second sub-mirror that reflects the blind spot at the center side of the vehicle is provided at the bottom portion of the rear surface of mirror housing.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application Ser. No. 2005-2044458 filed Jul. 13, 2005, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention pertains to a vehicle side mirror that is attached to the side of the vehicle body.

BACKGROUND

Conventional technology for a mirror system that confirms the area to the side of a vehicle is already known. (Refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-196218.)

For this type of mirror system, in addition to a side mirror, a prism or fresnel lens is provided on the window glass in front of the side window so that the front area of the side of the vehicle, in other words the blind spot, can be visually confirmed.

However, for such a mirror system, since a prism or a fresnel lens is provided on the window glass, the field of view, which is the portion that can be directly viewed through the window glass, would get obstructed by the prism or the fresnel lens.

SUMMARY

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vehicle side mirror that can visually confirm the blind spot of the main mirror.

The present invention is a vehicle side mirror equipped with a mirror housing attached to the side of the vehicle body and a main mirror attached to the rear surface of the mirror housing on the vehicle body, and is characterized in that the first sub-mirror that reflects the blind spot at the front side of the vehicle is provided on the side of the aforementioned mirror housing so as to face the vehicle body and the second sub-mirror that reflects the blind spot at the center side of the vehicle is provided on the bottom portion of the rear surface of the mirror housing.

According to the present invention, since the first sub-mirror that reflects the blind spot at the front side of the vehicle is provided on the side of the mirror housing and the second sub-mirror that reflects the blind spot at the center side of the vehicle is provided on the bottom portion of the rear surface of the mirror housing, the blind spots can be visually confirmed without installing a prism or a fresnel lens on the window glass.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Next is provided an explanation of the most favorable embodiment of the vehicle side mirror pertaining to the present invention.

Vehicle side mirror20is attached to the front portion of side window11, which is the vehicle body side portion of vehicle10shown inFIG. 1.

As shown inFIG. 2, vehicle side mirror20comprises mirror housing21, main mirror30attached to rear surface21A of said mirror housing21, and arm portion22, which attaches mirror housing21to the vehicle body side portion.

Main mirror30is a convex mirror that curves in a predetermined curvature. The curvature of the bottom portion30A (the portion below the dashed line) of main mirror30becomes increasingly larger than the predetermined curvature toward the bottom portion.

Furthermore, sub-mirror31, which is the convex mirror, is serially provided to main mirror30at the bottom portion21Ab of the rear surface21A of mirror housing21.

The curvature of sub-mirror31is set to be the same as the curvature of the lowest portion30Aa of the bottom portion30A of main mirror30, and the image reflected in sub-mirror31is the convex mirror formed by the curvature that is serially reflected in main mirror30from sub-mirror31when the vehicle is moving forward. In addition, sub-mirror32is provided in a position that is below arm portion22on side surface21B of mirror housing21so as to face the vehicle body of vehicle10.

The lower end32aof sub-mirror32and the lower end31aof sub-mirror31are the same height. In addition, the curvature of sub-mirror32is set to be the same curvature as sub-mirror31, and the image reflected in sub-mirror32of side mirror20that is the convex mirror formed by the curvature is serially reflected in sub-mirror31from sub-mirror32of side mirror20as the vehicle moves forward.

Then, as shown inFIG. 3, main mirror30of side mirror20reflects the rear of vehicle10as field of view area A1, sub-mirror31reflects the road surface to the side of the vehicle, which is near front door12and is the blind spot of main mirror30, or in other words reflects the road surface from the side of the front tire to the side of the rear tire (the blind spot at the center side of the vehicle) as field of view area A2, and sub-mirror32reflects the road surface at the side near front wheel13, (the blind spot at the front side of the vehicle) which is the blind spot of main mirror30, as field of view area A3.

In addition, the range A1aof the bottom side portion of field of view area A1of main mirror30is the field of view area of the bottom portion30A of main mirror30.

For this type of vehicle side mirror20, since sub-mirrors31and32are provided on mirror housing21, field of view areas A1and A2, which are the blind spots of main mirror30, can be visually confirmed without installing a prism or a fresnel lens on the window glass, and the field of view, which is the portion that can be directly viewed through the window glass, does not get obstructed by the prism or the fresnel lens, as was the case in the conventional technology.

Furthermore, since the curvature of the bottom portion30A of main mirror30becomes increasingly larger to equal that of sub-mirror31, the field of view of mirrors30and31becomes vague, the image reflected in mirrors30and31becomes serially larger, and thus easier to see, and the sense of discomfort experienced in viewing that image can be significantly reduced.

As shown inFIG. 1, for example, since lines L1and L2drawn next to vehicle10are serially reflected as images L1′ and L2′ in mirrors30,31and32, they are very easy to see. Furthermore, the curvature of sub-mirror32is set to be the same as that of sub-mirror31, the image reflected in sub-mirror32of side mirror20formed by the curvature is serially reflected in sub-mirror31from sub-mirror32of side mirror20as the vehicle moves forward, and the image reflected in sub-mirror31formed by the curvature is serially reflected in main mirror30from sub-mirror31as the vehicle moves forward, so the image reflected in side mirror20is serially reflected specifically along the line indicated as L11′ from sub-mirror32of side mirror20to sub-mirror31to the main mirror30. Therefore, the driver can grasp the serial positions of the image reflected in the mirror as the vehicle moves.

In addition, since the lower end31aof sub-mirror31and the lower end32aof sub-mirror32are set to be the same height, the image reflected in sub-mirror31and the image reflected in sub-mirror32appear to be reflected serially, thus reducing the feeling of discomfort experienced by the passenger when viewing the images in sub-mirrors31and32. Also, since sub-mirror32is placed in a position below arm portion22, in other words, since arm portion22is installed above sub-mirror32, arm portion22does not obstruct the field of view of sub-mirror32.

In addition, for the present embodiment, although the curvature of the bottom portion30A of main mirror30becomes increasingly larger in order to coincide with the curvature of sub-mirror31, the bottom portion30A of main mirror30can be made flat and the top portion of sub-mirror31can also be the same flat shape as30A, so that the curvature becomes increasingly larger.

FIG. 4shows vehicle side mirror120of Embodiment 2. Vehicle side mirror120is comprised of main mirror130attached to rear surface21A of mirror housing21, sub-mirror131(the second sub-mirror) provided at the bottom portion21Ab of the rear surface21A of mirror housing21and sub-mirror132(the first sub-mirror) provided at the side surface21B of mirror housing21.

Sub-mirror131is serially provided on main mirror130, and the curvature of sub-mirror131is set to be larger than the curvature of main mirror130. In addition, the lower end131aof sub-mirror131and the lower end132aof sub-mirror132are set to be the same height, and the curvature of sub-mirror131is set to be the same as the curvature of sub-mirror132.

As shown inFIG. 5, for vehicle side mirror120, main mirror130reflects the rear of vehicle10as field of view area A11, sub-mirror131reflects the side near front door12(the blind spot at the center side of the vehicle) as field of view area A12, and sub-mirror132reflects the side near front wheel13(the blind spot at the front side of the vehicle) as field of view area A13.

Vehicle side mirror120allows for visual confirmation of field of view areas A11and A12, or the blind spots of main mirror130, which was also the case in Embodiment 1, and unlike conventional technology, the portion of the field of view that can be viewed directly through the window glass is not obstructed by the prism or the fresnel lens installed on it.

In addition, since the lower end131aof sub-mirror131and the lower end132aof sub-mirror132are set to be the same height, the image reflected in sub-mirror131and the image reflected in sub-mirror132appear to be reflected serially, thus reducing the feeling of discomfort experienced by the passenger when viewing the images in sub-mirrors131and132.

Furthermore, since sub-mirror132is installed in a position below arm portion22, arm portion22does not obstruct the field of view of sub-mirror132.

For the aforementioned embodiments, main mirrors30and130and sub-mirrors31and131are separate units, but by serially providing sub-mirrors31and131on main mirrors30and130, sub-mirrors31and131and main mirrors30and130can be constructed as a single unit, resulting in a reduced cost.

An explanation has been provided for the most favorable embodiment of the present invention, but design revisions are included in this invention as long as they do not deviate from the gist of the invention.