GB2209721A

GB2209721A - Auxiliary towing rear view mirror

Info

Publication number: GB2209721A
Application number: GB8821272A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Ohayon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-09-12
Filing date: 1988-09-12
Publication date: 1989-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 2008-09-12
Also published as: GB8821272D0; GB8721505D0; GB2209721B

Abstract

A towing mirror (28) for use in conjunction with a conventional side mirror (18) supported on a vehicle (12) when a caravan or other wide trailer is to be towed by the vehicle comprises: (a) an elongate mirror (30), (b) an adaptor (34), (c) means (40), e.g. an adhesive pad, for enabling the adaptor to be secured to the existing side mirror (18), or to a mirror support (22) after first removing the side mirror therefrom, (d) means (38, 48) for releasably securing the elongate mirror on the adaptor, with the elongate mirror extending transversely of the vehicle. The adaptor preferably comprises a secondary mirror (36) which is uncovered by the release and removal of the elongate mirror (30) and which then serves as an ordinary side mirror. <IMAGE>

Description

VEHICLE SIDE MIRRORS This invention relates to vehicle side mirrors, and particularly to side mirrors for use when towing caravans or other wide trailers.

The normal side mirror fitted on a car or other vehicle, on the off-side front wing or door, provides an inadequate rearwards view for the driver when a caravan or other wide trailer is coupled to the rear of the vehicle, due to the obstruction of the view caused by the caravan or trailer.

To provide a better rearwards view, it is known to provide a special mirror mounted at the free end of a framework or arm, and to mount that framework or arm temporarily on the front wing or door of the car. By this means, the mirror is positioned (transversely of the car) further out than normal from the driver, so as to avoid the obstruction constituted by the side of the caravan or other trailer.

Such a mirror framework or arm requires special mounting parts for enabling it to be secured on the car. Moreover, such a framework or arm is relatively expensive, and is likely to cause damage to the car paintwork and/or bodywork at its fixing points on the car.

According to the present invent ion, there is provided a vehicle side mirror (hereinafter called, for the sake of simplicity, a 'towing mirror' or a 'caravan mirror') for use, in conjunction with a conventional side mirror supported on the side of a vehicle, when a caravan or other wide trailer is to be towed by the vehicle, which towing mirror comprises: (a) an elongate mirror, (b) an adaptor, (c) means for enabling the adaptor to be secured to the existing conventional side mirror, or to a mirror support therefor after first removing the side mirror therefrom, and (d) means for releasably securing the elongate mirror on the adaptor, with the elongate mirror extending transversely to the vehicle, the transverse dimension of the elongate mirror being such as to enable a driver of the vehicle to have a rearwards view which, in comparison with the rearwards view provided by the conventional side mirror, is less obstructed by the caravan or other wide trailer to be towed.

In one preferred arrangement, the means for enabling the adaptor to be secured to the existing side mirror comprises means for securing the adaptor on the viewing surface of the existing side mirror.

In one preferred form of towing mirror according to the present invention (a) the means for securing the adaptor on the existing side mirror or mirror support comprises means for securing the adaptor permanently on the existing side mirror or mirror support, (b) the adaptor incorporates a secondary side mirror, (c) the means for releasably securing the elongate mirror on the adaptor is arranged to releasably secure the elongate mirror on the viewing surface of the secondary mirror, and (d) the secondary mirror serves as a conventional side mirror when the elongate mirror has been released and removed from the adaptor.

The means for securing the elongate mirror on the secondary mirror may conveniently comprise a series of inserts secured permanently in the secondary mirror at respective positions spaced therearound, and a corresponding series of plugs for insertion through apertures formed in the elongate mirror and releasable engagement in the respective inserts.

The plugs may conveniently comprise screws, and the inserts have screw threads for receiving said screws in them. Other forms of quick release plug means may be used.

The means for securing the adaptor on the existing side mirror, or mirror support, conveniently comprises a doublesided self-adhesive pad which is secured on one side to the adaptor and which may be secured on its other side directly onto the viewing surface of the conventional side mirror, or to the mirror support.

The present invention also provides a kit of parts for producing a towing mirror according to the present invention, which kit includes in addition to the necessary parts, a set of instructions specifiying a method of assembling and using those parts as a towing mirror.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method of providing a towing mirror on a vehicle having a conventional side mirror comprises the steps of: (a) securing an adaptor permanently on the existing side mirror, or on a mirror support therefor after first removing the side mirror therefrom; (b) releasably securing an elongate mirror on said adaptor with said elongate mirror extending transversely of the vehicle and to an extent such as to enable a driver of the vehicle to have a rearwards view which, in comparison with the rearwards view provided by the conventional side mirror, is less obstructed by a caravan or other wide trailer to be towed by the vehicle.

Other features of the present invention will appear from a reading of the description that follows hereafter, and from the claims appended at the end of that description.

One embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications thereof, will now be described by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In those drawings Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a 'towing mirror' (or 'caravan mirror') according to the present invent ion, secured in position on a conventional side mirror of a car; Figure 2 shows a sectional plan view looking downwards on the section II-II shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows to a greater scale a fixing device shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 shows to said greater scale an alternative form of fixing device for substitution, if desired, in place of that shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 shows in a view similar to that of Figure 2 a modified form of the towing mirror of the Figures 1 and 2; and Figure 6 show a modification of part of the construction shown in Figure 5.

Referring now to the drawings, a conventional side mirror assembly 10 secured on the off-side front door 12 of a car comprises a mounting bracket 14, a mirror housing 16 secured on the bracket 14, and a conventional side mirror 18 pivotally mounted in the housing by means of a frictional ball and socket device 20.

The side mirror 18 comprises a mirror carrier 22 to which is secured, by means of a double-sided self-adhesive pad 24, a mirror glass 26. That conventional side mirror has been converted by means of kit of conversion parts so as to become a 'towing mirror' (or 'caravan mirror') 28.

That kit of parts comprises: (a) an elongate mirror 30 (which may have a reflective surface which is plane, or appropriately curved, as desired) having three spaced apertures 32 formed therein; (b) an adaptor 34 comprising a secondary mirror glass 36 carrying in three spaced apertures a series of socket inserts 38 of a plastics material, and a double-sided selfadhesive pad 40 having one surface 42 thereof permanently secured to one surface of the secondary mirror glass 36, and the other, free surface 44 protected temporarily by a peelremovable cover paper (not shown), and (c) a series of plug-like fixing devices 46 for releasably securing the elongate mirror 30 on the secondary mirror glass 36. Those fixing devices may comprise, for example, a series of screws 48 (Figure 3), preferably of a plastics material, or a series of quick-release wedge devices 50 (Figure 4), likewise preferably of a plastics material.

To convert the conventional side mirror 18 so as to enable it to become, as and when required, a 'towing mirror' 28, the adaptor 34 is prepared by first peeling off from the free surface 44 of the self-adhesive pad 40 the protective cover paper. That free surface 44 is now presented up to and pressed firmly against the conventional mirror glass 26 so as to secure the adaptor 34 permanently in position on that mirror glass 26.

The elongate mirror 30 is now presented up to and aligned with the adaptor 34, and the fixing devices 48 or 50 are inserted in the respective apertures 32 in the elongate mirror 30 and engaged in the socket devices 38 secured permanently in the secondary mirror glass 36. The fixing devices are driven home so that the elongate mirror 30 is now firmly but releasably secured on the conventional side mirror glass 26.

The 'towing mirror' so formed may be manipulated so as to properly align it, by virtue of the ball and socket device 20 to suit the driver's head and eye positions.

When the 'towing mirror' is no longer required (after uncoupling the caravan or other wide trailer from the car) the fixing devices 48 or 50 are released and removed, thus releasing the elongate mirror for storage until again required, and allowing the secondary mirror glass 36 to function as a conventional side mirror.

The elongate mirror glass may be re-instated as and when needed, in the same manner as described above, by presenting it up to the secondary mirror glass and then securing it thereon by means of the fixing devices 48 or 50.

The kit of parts described above has the merit that after the initial installation of the 'towing mirror' parts, the elongate mirror may be fitted and removed as required, and that at all times there is available to the car driver a side mirror which is suitable to the circumstances and to the width of whatever trailer is being towed by the car.

In the Figure 3, the fixing devices 48 comprise large-headed screws 54, preferably of a plastics material (though metal screws may be used if desired) and having slots for screwdriving by means of a conventional screw driver, or by a screw-driver of the Phillips or other cruciform type. In this case, the inserts 38 on the secondary mirror glass 36 are screw-threaded. In Figure 4, the alternative, quickacting fixing devices 50 each comprise a split, conical plug 56 having an integral head 58 and a central bore 60 into which a withdrawable, headed locking pin 62 may be inserted whereby to expand the split plug after it has been inserted in an aperture in a said insert 38. In this case, the inserts 38 in the secondary mirror glass have conical bores into which the conical plugs 56 may be received and locked by insert ion of the associated locking pin 62.Other forms of quick release device 50 may be used instead.

If desired, the adaptor 34 may be fitted instead directly to the mirror carrier 22, after first removing the existing conventional mirror glass 26, e.g. in the way disclosed in my co-pending UK patent application No. 8701683 filed 27th January 1987. That is, by first securing to the conventional mirror glass a piece of shatter-proof selfadhesive tape, and then breaking up the mirror glass into small pieces, by striking it gently and repeatedly with a ball-headed hammer, through the shatter-proof tape; and then by easing off and peeling away from the mirror carrier the sandwich comprising the self-adhesive pad 24, the shattered mirror glass 26 and the adherent shatter-proof tape.

The elongate mirror 30 may be made in any suitable shape, size, and/or configuration. Moreover, the kit of parts may have an adaptor 34 which is arranged to suit any other particular form of conventional side mirror construction, including conventional wing mirror constructions.

If desired spacer bushes 64 may be affixed permanently to the rear surface of the elongate mirror 30 so as to cause that mirror to stand spaced away by a predetermined distance from the adaptor. This may be necessary to avoid contact of the elongate mirror with the mirror housing 16.

Whereas the inserts 38 are described above as being socket inserts for receiving plug-like fixing means, the converse arrangement of such fixing means and sockets may be employed instead, if desired.

The pivotally-mounted side mirror 18 may be of the kind in which adjustment of the mirror to suit the driver's head and eye positions is carried out manually outside the car.

Alternatively, it may be of the kind provided with remote adjustment means (mechanical or electrical) which is operable by the driver when seated in the car.

In Figure 5, there is shown a modified form of the towing mirror just described above. In this modified mirror, the elongate mirror 30 is supported on the adaptor 34 by three posts 66 (of a plastics material) which throw the elongate mirror well clear of the rim of the housing 16. Each of the support posts is screwed into a socket insert 38 of the adaptor, and the elongate mirror is secured at the free ends of the posts 66 by large cheese-headed finger screws 68 of a plastics material. The heads of those screws have peripheral serrations.

The elongate mirror 30 is provided at its edge with a tightfitting, continuous rubber bezel 70; and a wind-deflecting, vacuum-formed, plastics cowl 72 extends over the mirror housing 16 and securely engages at the top, the bottom and the outboard edge of the mirror in a peripheral step 74 formed in the bezel. The cowl is trimmed back at its inboard boundary 76 by the person fitting the kit of parts so as to best suit the shape and dimensions of the adjacent door parts.

In a preferred form of this modified towing mirror, a stay 78 is provided so as to counter the wind forces exerted on the elongate mirror 30. That stay has at its forward end a domed (or ball-shaped) projection 80 which rests in a cup 82 formed in the head of one of the finger screws 68. At its rearward end, the stay is slidably but frictionally engaged in a rubber grommet 84 which is itself carried in a support bracket 86. A support plate 88 is permanently secured by screws 90 (or by a suitable adhesive) on the inside of the rear edge of the front door 12 of the vehicle, and has tapped holes for receiving, whenever the towing mirror is to be fitted to the vehicle, screws 92 for securing temporarily in position on the door edge the support bracket 86. The rearward end 94 of the stay 78 is trimmed as desired by the person fitting the kit of parts so as to suit the door width.In the Figure 5, the central part of the stay 78 and of the vehicle door 12 have been omitted for the sake of convenience.

With this stay arrangement, it is preferred that the socket inserts 38 of the adaptor 34 be arranged in a manner opposite to that shown in the Figure 1, that is, with the two vertically-adjacent socket inserts being disposed near the inboard end of the adaptor, and the single socket insert near the outboard end. This permits the stay 78 to be engaged with the finger screw 68 carried in that single socket insert at a vertically-central position on the adaptor.

The stay is preferably divided lengthwise into a number of separate sections for enabling the mirror kit to be packaged, or stored when not in use, in a relatively small box, the respective stay sections being either screwed (or socketed) into one another whenever the towing mirror is to be put into use.

Figure 6 shows an alternative mode of engaging the cowl 72 in the rubber bezel 70, in which mode a peripheral lip 96 formed on the cowl is trapped in a correspondingly shaped groove formed in the bezel.

Although the towing mirrors described above have been described in relation to their use in conjunction with door mirrors, such towing mirrors can be fitted to any suitable, conventional, vehicle side mirror, whether it be a doormounted mirror or a wing-mounted mirror.

The respective parts for enabling such a towing mirror to be assembled are packaged, together with a set of written instructions setting out the mode of assembling and using the towing mirror, for sale as a kit of parts for use by the vehicle owner or other handyman.

Claims

1. A vehicle side mirror (hereinafter called a 'towing mirror') for use, in conjunction with a conventional side mirror supported on the side of a vehicle, when a caravan or other wide trailer is to be towed by the vehicle, which towing mirror comprises: (a) an elongate mirror, (b) an adaptor, (c) means for enabling the adaptor to be secured to the existing conventional side mirror, or to a mirror support therefor after first removing the side mirror therefrom, and (d) means for releasably securing the elongate mirror on the adaptor, with the elongate mirror extending transversely to the vehicle, the transverse dimension of the elongate mirror being such as to enable a driver of the vehicle to have a rearwards view which, in comparison with the rearwards view provided by the conventional side mirror, is less obstructed by the caravan or other wide trailer to be towed.

2. A towing mirror according to claim 1, wherein the means for enabling the adaptor to be secured to the existing side mirror comprises means for securing the adaptor on the viewing surface of the existing side mirror.

3. A towing mirror according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein (a) the means for securing the adaptor on the existing side mirror or mirror support comprises means for securing the adaptor permanently on the existing side mirror or mirror support, (b) the adaptor incorporates a secondary side mirror, (c) the means for releasably securing the elongate mirror on the adaptor is arranged to releasably secure the elongate mirror on the viewing surface of the secondary mirror, and (d) the secondary mirror serves as a conventional side mirror when the elongate mirror has been released and removed from the adaptor.

4. A towing mirror according to claim 3, wherein the means for securing the elongate mirror on the secondary mirror comprises a series of inserts secured permanently in the secondary mirror at respective positions spaced therearound, and a corresponding series of plugs for insert ion through apertures formed in the elongate mirror and releasable engagement in the respective inserts.

5. A towing mirror according to claim 4, wherein the plugs comprise screws, and the inserts have screw threads for receiving said screws in them.

6. A towing mirror according to claim 4, wherein the means for securing the adaptor on the existing side mirror, or mirror support, comprises a double-sided self-adhesive pad which is secured on one side to the adaptor and which may be secured on its other side directly onto the viewing surface of the conventional side mirror, or to the mirror support.

7. A towing mirror according to claim 3, wherein the means for securing the elongate mirror on the secondary mirror comprises a series of socket inserts secured permanently in the secondary mirror at respective positions spaced therearound, a corresponding series of spacer posts for releasable engagement in the socket inserts, and a corresponding series of screws for insert ion through apertures formed in the elongate mirror and releasable engagement in the free ends of the respective posts.

8. A towing mirror according to any preceding claim, including a stay arranged for engagement at its forward end with the elongate mirror and for engagement at its rearward end with a bracket mounted on the side of the vehicle, thereby to resist displacement of the elongate mirror due to wind pressure.

9. A towing mirror according to claim 8, wherein the forward end of the stay is arranged to engage the head of a screw provided for supporting the elongate mirror.

10. A towing mirror according to claim 9, wherein the forward end of the stay engages with the screw head via a ball and socket connection.

11. A towing mirror according to any one of the claims 8 to 10, wherein the rearward end of the stay engages slidably but frictionally in a resilient grommet secured in the said bracket.

12. A towing mirror according to any one of the claims 8 to 11, wherein the said bracket is releasably secured to an edge portion of a door of the vehicle.

13. A towing mirror according to any preceding claim, including a cowl which shrouds the windward side of the existing side mirror and the elongate mirror.

14. A towing mirror according to claim 13, wherein the cowl includes a bezel of a resilient material secured around the periphery of the elongate mirror and having parts which inter-engage with the periphery of the cowl thereby to secure the cowl in position.

15. A kit of parts comprising the parts specified in any preceding claim, and a set of instructions specifiying a method of assembling and using those parts as a towing mirror.

16. A vehicle having a towing mirror as constituted by the parts defined in any one of the 1 to 14.

17. A method of providing a towing mirror on a vehicle having a conventional side mirror, which method comprises the steps of: (a) securing an adaptor permanently on the existing side mirror, or on a mirror support therefor after first removing the side mirror therefrom; (b) releasably securing an elongate mirror on said adaptor with said elongate mirror extending transversely of the vehicle and to an extent such as to enable a driver of the vehicle to have a rearwards view which, in comparison with the rearwards view provided by the conventional side mirror, is less obstructed by a caravan or other wide trailer to be towed by the vehicle.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the adaptor includes a secondary side mirror, and the elongate mirror is releasably secured on the viewing surface of the secondary side mirror, whereby on subsequent release and removal of the elongate mirror the secondary side mirror serves a conventional side mirror.

19. A towing mirror substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by any single Figure or group of associated Figures of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

20. A method of providing a towing mirror on a vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by any single Figure or group of associated Figures of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

21. A towing mirror, or a method of providing a towing mirror on a vehicle, comprising any operable combination of the various features, or steps, disclosed in this specification, other than a combination included in any preceding claim.