Auxiliary rear view mirror

An auxiliary mirror assembly is comprised of an auxiliary mirror, a coupling device affixed to a back section of a conventional, existing rear view mirror, and an elongated, rod-like deformable member interconnecting the auxiliary member and the coupling device. The deformable member may be shaped by finger pressure for movement of the auxiliary mirror relative to the conventional mirror about any one of a number of vertical and horizontal axes in order to shift the auxiliary mirror toward a selected, inclined position to view children in the back seat or enhance observation of traffic to one side of the vehicle. Once deformed, the member is self-sustaining to retain the auxiliary mirror in the selected position although additional, subsequent one-hand movement of the auxiliary mirror is also possible. The coupling device includes an adhesive pad that is readily affixed to the forwardly facing, back section of the conventional mirror so that no portions of the opposite, reflective surface of the conventional mirror are obscured.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention broadly relates to an auxiliary mirror which is connected to 
a conventional, interior rear view mirror of a vehicle and which may be 
adjusted to an inclined orientation relative to the rear view mirror for 
viewing, for example, small children in the rear seat. More particularly, 
the invention concerns an auxiliary mirror assembly which includes an 
elongated, rod-like member interconnecting the auxiliary mirror and the 
conventional mirror, wherein the member is deformable by hand about any 
one of three mutually perpendicular axes of rotation for facilitating 
positioning of the auxiliary mirror. A coupling device connecting the 
deformable, rod-like member to the conventional mirror includes an 
adhesive portion which faces in the same general direction as the 
reflective, viewing portion of the auxiliary mirror so that the coupling 
device may be affixed to the forwardly facing back section of the 
conventional mirror without obstruction of the reflective section on the 
opposite side of the same. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Parents of infants and relatively small children have long been faced with 
the problem of maintaining an observant watch over the children while 
driving. It is known that the rear seat represents a location that is 
safer for the transport of small children than does the front seat in a 
position next to the driver. In addition, the passenger side of the front 
seat may be occupied by others and the children are thus typically 
relegated to the back seat by default. 
Unfortunately, it is also known that children oftentimes are not ideal 
passengers, and a fair amount of bothersome activities or mischiefmaking 
can be expected. While the driver is normally free to talk to young 
passengers, it is difficult to maintain constant surveillance over 
activities in the rear seat without losing sight of the road. 
Adults with very young children and infants often utilize a child seat or 
carrier that is connected by seat belts to the adult-sized rear seat of 
the vehicle. In turn, the small child is held in the seat or carrier by 
straps of the same. Such straps, while being useful for restraining 
movement of the child in the event of a collision, do not avoid the 
necessity of intermittently observing the child to insure that his or her 
well-being and safety is not impaired by other factors. 
As can be appreciated, however, the driver of a moving vehicle is also 
under an obligation to carefully watch the road at all times and thus the 
common practice of turning the head to steal glances at the children in 
the rear seat is dangerous and should be avoided. Of course, other adults 
or larger children may be available as passengers for assistance in caring 
for the small children, but in many circumstances the driver may be alone 
in the vehicle with one or more small children in the rear seat. 
To this end, a number of auxiliary mirror assemblies have been proposed in 
the past for connection to the conventional, existing rear view mirror of 
the vehicle. The auxiliary mirrors, which are often smaller than 
conventional mirrors, are oriented at an inclination relative to the 
latter so that the line of sight reflected in the auxiliary mirror is in a 
different direction than the line of reflected vision provided by the 
conventional mirror, in order that passengers in the rear seat may be 
observed. However, prior art auxiliary mirror assemblies have been 
unsatisfactory for one reason or another. 
As an example, auxiliary mirror assemblies which are illustrated and 
described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,048,084, 3,790,117, 3,954,328, and 4,598,982 
are provided with a relatively complex, clamp-like mounting device for 
securing the auxiliary mirror to the conventional, existing rear view 
mirror. These clamp-like mounting devices require a certain amount of time 
for initial connection of the auxiliary mirror assembly to the existing 
mirror and in some cases require tools to tighten fasteners that may 
become loosened over a period of time. Additionally, clamp-like mounting 
devices of this type may not be adaptable for connection with rear view 
mirrors having certain, somewhat unconventional configurations. 
Other auxiliary mirror units are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,223,983, 
4,200,359, 4,311,363, and 4,526,446 and are comprised of a relatively 
small auxiliary mirror having a back surface which is connected to an 
adhesive material for stick-on attachment directly to the reflective 
surface of the larger, existing mirror. However, auxiliary mirrors which 
are directly connected to the reflective face of the existing mirror 
necessarily obscure a portion of the reflective surface of the same, 
thereby undesirably diminishing the field of view of the driver and 
establishing blind spots. 
In U.S. Pat. No 2,636,419 an auxiliary mirror assembly is shown wherein a 
generally rectangular backing plate is provided for mounting the auxiliary 
mirror to the existing, conventional rear view mirror. The backing plate 
of the assembly illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,636,419 is comprised of 
mild steel material and can be bent about a single axis parallel to the 
adjacent sides of both mirrors to provide a field of view toward traffic 
lanes on the right side of the car. However, the flat configuration of the 
backing plate shown in this reference prevents movement of the auxiliary 
mirror relative to the existing mirror about other axes such as horizontal 
axes as may be necessary for viewing children in the rear seat when the 
main or conventional mirror is positioned to reflect traffic behind the 
vehicle. 
My attention has also been directed toward U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,114,559, 
4,019,812, and 4,345,819, all of which describe other types of auxiliary 
mirror assemblies. For one reason or another, however, these devices are 
also not entirely satisfactory. 
Furthermore, many of the known auxiliary mirror assemblies are provided 
with an adjustment mechanism for varying the angle of the auxiliary mirror 
relative to the conventional or main mirror, but such adjustment 
mechanisms often involve the use of thumbscrews, adjusting bolts or the 
like which are difficult to use especially when the vehicle is in motion. 
The nature of most adjustment mechanisms also requires that the driver 
hold the auxiliary mirror in the desired orientation with one hand while 
loosening or tightening the mechanism with the remaining hand. Obviously, 
such mechanisms cannot be adjusted by the driver while the vehicle is in 
motion even though such minor adjustments may often be necessary to retain 
the children in the reflected field of vision of the auxiliary mirror. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages noted above with regard 
to prior art devices by provision of an assembly which includes an 
auxiliary mirror that may be readily adjusted by one hand while the car is 
in motion and about either horizontal or vertical axes to any one of a 
number of inclined positions relative to the conventional rear view 
mirror. Moreover, a mounting device coupling the assembly to the 
conventional rear view mirror includes an adhesive pad which is affixed to 
the back or forwardly facing section of the conventional mirror in order 
to avoid obscuring any regions of the reflective face of the conventional 
mirror. 
In more detail, the auxiliary mirror assembly of my present invention 
includes an elongated, rod-like member which interconnects the existing 
mirror and the auxiliary mirror for carrying the latter. The rod-like 
member is deformable by finger pressure for movement of the auxiliary 
mirror relative to the conventional mirror about any one of three mutually 
perpendicular axes of rotation. As a consequence, the auxiliary mirror can 
be shifted to any one of a number of different orientations as may be 
desired for viewing different regions of the rear seat or, alternatively, 
observing traffic through side windows in a direction different than the 
field of view provided by the conventional mirror. The material comprising 
the member is sufficiently stiff to ensure that the member is 
self-sustaining subsequent to deformation in order to securely retain the 
auxiliary mirror in the selected orientation even though the vehicle may 
be shaken by bumps in the roadway during travel. 
In accordance with the principles of my present invention, the use of a 
rod-like deformable member to interconnect an auxiliary mirror and an 
existing, conventional rear view mirror enables the user, as one example, 
to bend the member toward a generally S-shaped configuration with the 
middle region of the member extending in a somewhat horizontal direction. 
In such a configuration, the member can subsequently be deformed to shift 
the auxiliary member up or down without varying the rotative position of 
the auxiliary mirror with respect to a vertical axis. Moreover, the 
auxiliary mirror can be readily moved as may be desired about the 
aforementioned vertical axis, as well as a number of horizontal axes so 
that full, multidirectional movement of the auxiliary mirror can be 
instantly effected without the necessity for using two hands to, for 
example, adjust thumbscrews or the like.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
An auxiliary mirror assembly in accordance with the principles of my 
present invention is shown in FIGS. 1-4 and is designated broadly by the 
numeral 10. The assembly 10 is connected to a main or conventional rear 
view mirror 12 of a vehicle 14, the interior compartment of which is 
illustrated in FIG. 1. 
More specifically, the assembly 10 comprises an auxiliary mirror 16, an 
elongated, rodlike member 18 connected to the auxiliary mirror 16, and a 
coupling device 20 interconnecting the member 18 and the conventional 
mirror 12. The coupling device 20, as illustrated in FIGS. 2-4, includes a 
double-faced adhesive pad 22, one face of which is affixed to an aluminum 
plate 24 which has an overall profile identical to the configuration of 
the perimeter of the adhesive pad 22, but also which is formed to capture 
the upper end of the member 18, as can be best appreciated by reference to 
FIGS. 3 and 4. 
The opposite face of adhesive pad 22, remote from plate 24, is initially 
covered before installation of the assembly 10 by thin, pliable, 
paper-like membrane 26 in order to protect dirt and the like from 
accidentally contacting the adhesive face of pad 22. During installation, 
however, the membrane 26 is peeled back in the manner shown in FIG. 2 and 
removed from the pad 22, and the pad 22 is then mounted directly to a back 
section 28 (FIGS. 3 and 4) of the conventional, existing mirror 12. 
The back section 28, as is typical with conventional mirrors such as mirror 
12, is formed as part of a synthetic resinous housing which surrounds the 
back and sides of mirrored glass that presents a reflective section 30 as 
is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The reflective section 30 faces rearwardly of 
the vehicle 14, while the back section 28 is disposed on an opposite side 
of the conventional mirror 12 and faces forwardly of the vehicle 14 with 
respect to the fore-and-aft axis of the latter. 
The rod-like member 18 interconnecting the conventional mirror 12 and 
auxiliary mirror 16 is hand deformable by finger pressure for movement of 
the auxiliary mirror 16 relative to the conventional mirror 12 and the 
coupling device 20 about any one of a number vertical and horizontal axes 
in order to shift the auxiliary mirror 16 toward a selected, inclined 
position relative to the rear view mirror 12. The deformable member 18, as 
shown in FIGS. 1-4, has a circular cross section although other 
configurations are, of course, possible. 
Once the member 18 is deformed to bring the auxiliary mirror 16 toward a 
desired orientation, the inherent memory of the material comprising the 
rod-like member 18 self-sustains the latter in its deformed configuration 
in order to substantially retain the auxiliary mirror 16 in the selected 
position. 
Finally, the coupling device 20 of the assembly 10 includes a plate-like 
element 32 (FIGS. 3 and 4) which has a perimeter substantially identical 
in configuration to the perimeter of auxiliary mirror 16. A middle region 
of the plate-like element 32 is shaped to capture the lower end of the 
member 18, and in turn the element 32 is secured to the non-reflective, 
back face of the auxiliary mirror 16 by means of adhesive 34, as detected 
in FIG. 4. 
The nature of the deformable, rod-like member 18 permits the auxiliary 
mirror 18 to be moved about any three mutually perpendicular axes of 
rotation relative to the rear view mirror 12. Moreover, when the member 18 
is formed to the S-shaped configuration depicted in FIG. 4, a middle 
region of the member 18 accomodates vertical movement of the mirror 16 
while also permitting side-to-side lateral adjustment of the same. Thus, 
the auxiliary mirror 16 is shiftable to virtually any orientation as 
desired to view various regions of the rear seat of the vehicle 14, and 
also may be positioned to function as a second rear view mirror for 
observing traffic conditions outside of the vehicle 14 and to one side of 
the field of view provided by the conventional mirror 12. 
The auxiliary mirror 16 may readily be shifted by hand by grasping the same 
to bend the deformable member 18 as long as the adjustable mounting device 
supporting the conventional mirror 12 is relatively stiff. However, should 
mirror 12 move when bending the rod-like member 18, then the fingers of 
one hand can engage the mirror 12 while the other fingers or palm contact 
the auxiliary mirror 16 in order to change the relative orientation of the 
mirrors 12, 16 as may be desired when the use of two hands is not 
feasible. 
While the foregoing represents a description of a currently preferred 
embodiment of my invention, it is recognized that those skilled in the art 
may make various additions or modifications to the particular structure 
described and illustrated without departing from the gist and essence of 
my contribution to the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that the 
invention should be limited only by a fair scope of the claims which 
follow, along with their mechanical equivalents thereof.