Patent ID: 7878477

Claim:
An exterior vehicle mirror assembly having a pivoting detent joint, said mirror assembly comprising: a mounting bracket for attachment to a vehicle exterior; a support arm carried by said mounting bracket for carrying a mirror head; an arm connector carried generally at a distal end of said support arm being pivotally connected to said mounting bracket; a multi-axis pivoting detent joint interconnecting said mounting bracket and said arm connector, said detent joint including: a first pivot plate carried by said mounting bracket having a concave upper surface with a series of grooves formed therein; a second pivot plate carried by said arm connector having a rounded convex base surface received into a recess defined by said concave upper surface of said first pivot plate, and a plurality of rounded teeth protruding from said base surface engaging said grooves in said first pivot plate so that said base surface is spaced from said concave upper surface to form a pivot gap there between; a central opening included in said first pivot plate aligned with an interior cavity of said mounting bracket to provide a continuous passage through said first pivot plate into said interior cavity; a complementary central opening included in said second pivot plate aligned with said central opening of said first pivot plate; a connector post included on said arm connector extending through said central opening of said first pivot plate and said second pivot plate into said interior cavity of said mounting bracket in a pivoting arrangement so that said connector post moves within said interior cavity; and, a hollow interior channel included in said connector post defining a continuous passage from said arm connector to said interior cavity of said mounting bracket; whereby said pivot gap allows said rounded teeth to both pivot and slide in said grooves of said first pivot plate so that said arm connector is pivotal in a multi-axis arrangement with said mounting bracket to accommodate misalignment between said mounting bracket and said support arm during installation on a vehicle.