Patent GB-1243179-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to mirror devices for motor vehicles
IPC: B60R1/10
Filed: 1967-10-03
Abstract: 1,243,179. Mirror for viewing from beneath a vehicle. UNIMEC DESIGNS Ltd. 30 Sept., 1968 [3 Oct., 1967; 31 Oct., 1967; 2 July, 1968], Nos. 45068/67, 49427/67 and 31563/68. Heading B7J. A vehicle mirror device, Figs. 1, 2, adapted for viewing an area of ground including that below a vehicle body comprises a housing 10 adapted to be secured below the vehicle floor 14 in a position such that a mirror reflective element 25 can be looked into by the vehicle driver through a tube 18 mounted in an aperture 17 in the floor 14, the element 25 being secured on a supporting arm 26 pivotally secured at 27, for movement between a horizontal retracted position and an inclined operative position, to a sleeve 24 which is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis on a lip 23 of the housing 10 and is rotatable by a worm 37 of an electric motor 35 on the housing engaging a gear ring 30 secured to the sleeve. One end of an arcuate ramp 43 of channel cross-section is pivoted at 47 on the housing 10 and urged to a horizontal position by a spring 49, and another similarly shaped ramp, but longer and helically twisted, is pivoted on the housing at 44 so as to provide a tail portion 46 which engages the pivoted end of ramp 43 when the ramp 42 is held in its normal horizontal position by a plunger 51, of a solenoid 50 mounted on the housing, pivoted at 52 to the tail 46. The mirror support arm 26 has a lateral arm 39 bearing a roller 40 at its end, which rests on the tail 46 when the mirror is inoperative. The weight of a driver actuates a seat micro-switch to operate a relay and thereby energize the motor 35, whereupon the roller 40 runs on to ramp 43 which inclines under the weight of mirror element 25 and springs back after it to allow the element to revolve unobstructed below the ramps in its operative position. To retract the mirror the solenoid plunger 51 is actuated upwardly by operation of a mirror switch controlled by depression of the vehicle clutch pedal, when ramp 42 is pivoted so as to bring the end of the ramp remote from the tail 46 into the path of the roller 40. When the element 25 is horizontal, a striker 55 on the pivoted end of the support arm 26 operates a micro-switch 54 on the housing 10 to stop the motor 35 and leave roller 40 on the tail 46 again, Switch 54 is only operated when the element is horizontal, but the element may be stopped in an operative position by use of a master switch. A manual lever 80, 81, 82 serves to move the plunger 51 in the event of failure of solenoid 50. Other means for raising and lowering the mirror support may comprise remote-actuated solenoids or an hydraulic or pneumatic plunger arrangement. The electrical circuit for the various switches, the relay, solenoid and motor, is described with reference to Fig. 7 (not shown). Another embodiment comprises a fixedly inclined mirror mounted on a rotatable support capable of being moved vertically e.g. by a cable and a lifting yoke in sliding engagement with the mirror support, or by a lead-screw mechanism driven by motor 35 or a separate motor.