Remote control mirror

A West coast style mirror for vehicles and which includes a housing having a mirror supporting member mounted therein and which is pivotal about a relatively fixed axis, a mirror member mounted on the supporting member for movement about a second relatively fixed axis, a pinion gear mounted on the supporting member, a gear segment provided on the back of the mirror member and engaged with the pinion gear, and remote control cable means adapted by rotational movement to turn the pinion gear and by push-pull actuation to move the mirror supporting member, on which the pinion gear is mounted, for selective adjustment of the viewing angle of the mirror member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
West coast style rear view mirrors are the large rear view mirrors that are 
used on large trucks, vans, motor homes, and the like and are mounted on 
arms that extend out to hold the mirror some distance from the vehicle cab 
so that the driver has a better line of vision down the length of his 
vehicle and behind it. 
These mirrors are usually manually adjustable, rather than by any remote 
control means, as has become more common and generally known with 
passenger car rear view mirrors. 
They are large mirrors, because they have to be disposed a distance out and 
away from the driver, and consequently, they are more prone to road 
vibration and wind than the smaller passenger car mirrors. This, in turn, 
usually dictates a more stable and stiffer means of pivotal support than 
can be used with the passenger car mirrors. 
While the smaller rear view mirrors can use a ball and socket type pivotal 
support, with flexible wire control cable connections, to afford remote 
control, the larger mirror functions better with a transverse axis type of 
universal joint support which provides greater stability and with added 
stiffness provided by greater frictional resistance in their pivotal 
connections. However, as mentioned, this is not condusive to remote 
control operation with the more commonly known remote control operating 
means. 
Usually, some form of hydraulic or motor driven actuator has been used with 
the large truck mirrors, where size and massive appearance is not too 
objectionable. 
What appears to be needed is a new or modified construction for these large 
mirrors, which will have all the advantages presently known, particularly 
as regards size and arm mounting, but which will provide a mirror that 
turns easier and is more easily adjusted for better control and operation 
by remote means in the vehicle cab. And further, that will enable a more 
simple and less expensive type of remote control operating means to be 
used with these mirrors and not add too appreciably to their cost of 
manufacture and ultimate retail expense. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
This invention relates to a west coast type mirror for larger vehicles and 
to a mirror which is and can be made much lighter in weight than other 
mirrors of like size, is much easier to adjust and operate than similarly 
known mirrors of such size, has added wind and road vibration resistance 
by having greater stability in the way it is pivotally mounted and which 
is smoothly and easily operated and controlled by a simple remote control 
operating mechanism. 
The reduction in the weight to size ratio in the present mirror is obtained 
by using a polyurethane or other high impact plastic, rather than die 
castings, to provide not only the mirror case, but its supporting 
mechanism and the functional parts of its operating mechanism. 
The use of such material will also be appreciated as affording pivotal 
connections which have less frictional resistance and provide a mirror 
that will turn easier and respond better and more smoothly to remote 
control operating means. 
Transverse pivotal axes are still used to provide the universal joint type 
of pivotal support, but an added improvement feature is in the use of a 
broader base or stablizing part, on the mirror supporting member, which 
helps reduce and eliminate the adverse effects of wind and road 
vibrations. 
The control means for the mirror is of the single wire push-pull and 
rotatable type. The single wire operator is adapted to rotationally turn a 
small pinion gear that is engaged with a gear segment on the back of the 
mirror case to cause the adjustment of the viewing angle about a given 
axis. At the same time, the small gear is mounted on the member which 
carries and supports the mirror and which member is itself pivotal about 
another axis. Accordingly, push-pull actuation of the single wire control 
that turns the small pinion gear will also effect rotational movement of 
the mirror supporting member and thereby enable adjustment of the viewing 
angle of the mirror about a second axis and afford universal adjustment 
and control therefor. 
These and other objects and advantages in the practice of this invention 
will be better known and understood upon a reading of the detailed 
description of the illustrated embodiment of this invention, as shown by 
the accompanying drawings, which follow hereinafter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The remote control west coast style rear view mirror of this invention is 
shown in the first drawing figure, and identified by the numeral 10, as 
mounted upon the side of a vehicle 12 just outside of the drivers 
compartment. 
It includes an outer housing or shell 14 within which is supported and 
provided a mirror member 16 and it has a pair of arms 18 and 20 that 
connect it it to the side wall of the vehicle. One of these suppporting 
arms is hollow to allow a flexible cable to be threaded there through for 
operating the rear view mirror, to adjust its viewing angle, by a control 
knob within the vehicle, as will be described subsequently in further 
detail. 
As shown in the second drawing figure, the outer housing or shell 14 has a 
wind deflective shape 22, a large opening 24 which is disposed rearwardly, 
and an enclosed space 26 that is behind the mirror member mounted in the 
opening. 
Within the space 26, inside the housing, is a mirror supporting member 28 
that is mounted on supports provided on the back wall (front facing wall) 
of the housing member. And a mirror case 30 is mounted on the supporting 
member and it, in turn, has the reflective mirror member 16 mounted on it 
and disposed to face outwardly and rearwardly. 
The mirror supporting member 28 includes a relatively thin light weight 
back wall part 32 which is reinforced by structual ribs 34 that extend 
diagonally there across and side walls 36 that extend outwardly therefrom 
between a base part 38 and a pair of arms 40 at its upper end. Pivot pins 
42 and 44 are provided on the back wall part and are in line over and 
under it to serve as the axis about which the supporting member is pivotal 
within the housing 14. 
A bearing and support 46 is provided on the back wall of the housing part, 
down low, to receive and support the base part 38 of the mirror supporting 
member 28 and to receive the pivot pin 44 in journaled engagement 
therewithin. At the other end, in the housing part 14, up higher, is 
provided a back wall part 48 that is receptive of the other pivot pin 42 
in journaled engagement therewith and to support the mirror supporting 
member for pivotal movement about a vertical axis through the two pivot 
pins. 
The actual bearing surface, in the support 48, is closed by a separate cap 
or cover member 50, similar to the one shown in FIG. 4. This enables the 
base part 38 and its pivot pin 44 to be positioned first, on the lower 
support 46, and for the bearing cap or cover member 50 to hold them 
squarely and tightly seated on the lower support when it is fastened down. 
This, in turn, allows for a freer turning looser fit of the pivot pins in 
their respective parts while still obtaining a relatively stable and less 
vibration prone mounting for the mirror supporting member within the 
housing part. 
To further enhance the structure, in obtaining these benefits, a Teflon 
O-ring 52 is provided within receptive grooves in the support part 46 and 
base part 38. And, as a consequence, any vibrational effects that might 
otherwise be transmitted through the support, from the housing to the 
mirror supporting member, will be damped out and eliminated. 
Referring now to the mirror case 30, it includes a relatively thin flat 
walled part with cross ribs 54 for strengthening, holes 56 to lighten its 
weight and pads 58 on which the reflective mirror member itself is 
adhered. Near the upper end, a pair of pivot pins 60 are provided on arms 
62 that are formed outwardly and extended rearwardly. They are also 
relatively aligned to provide a pivotal axis for movement of the mirror 
case on the mirror supporting member. Down lower on the mirror case and 
extending out rearwardly is a gear segment 64 with the gear teeth formed 
on the underside thereof and, on an arc struck from the pivotal axis 
provided by pins 62. 
Referring back to FIGS. 2 and 3, a small spur or pinion gear 66 is shown 
mounted on the base part 38 of the mirror supporting member and disposed 
for engagement with the gear segment on the mirror case. The gear is 
mounted between a couple of supports 68 near the edge of the base part and 
a spaced distance from the turning axis of the mirror supporting member. 
It is also located in front of an opening 70 provided in the back wall of 
the mirror supporting member and through which the gear segment 64 can be 
extended in tilting the mirror case in a downwardly reflective direction. 
As best seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, looking down on the mirror case 30 and the 
mirror supporting member 28, which are shown relatively spaced but as 
disposed for engagement in the two figures taken together, the pivot pins 
62 on the mirror case are formed on its backside and are disposed to be 
received and held on the protruding arms 40 at the upper end of the mirror 
supporting member. And, in holding the pivot pins 62 journaled on the arms 
40, as by the bearing caps or covers 50, this also serves to hold the gear 
segment 64 in tightly fitted engagement with the pinion gear 66 (as 
mounted on the supporting member) again in a manner which helps to avoid 
and eliminate adverse vibrational effects from being transmitted or set up 
therebetween. 
The pinion gear 66, as mounted on the mirror supporting member, is 
rotatable and may be caused to rotate by means of a single wire control 
cable 74 which is connected and crimped to a fitting 76 on the end of the 
pinion gear shaft. Furthermore, the pinion gear 66 is pivotal with the 
mirror supporting member 28, about the vertical axis provided for the 
mirror supporting member, by extending or retracting the wire control 
cable relatively within its sheath, fixed as within the mirror support arm 
20 in the manner of conventionally known push-pull wire controls. 
As shown by FIG. 9, the mirror case 30 and its reflective mirror member may 
be turned to the right or the left by causing the whole supporting member 
28 to turn to the right or the left. And, separately, or simultaneously, 
the mirror case and its reflective mirror member may also be pivoted, as 
shown by FIG. 6, and caused to tilt forward or back on the mirror 
supporting member. And as a consequence, the reflective angle for the 
mirror member is variable about both a vertical and a horizontal axis and 
is afforded free universal movement.