Patent Application
20230144329
The present disclosure relates to an exterior rear view assembly which provides support and integration to a vehicle cowl. It also relates to a vehicle with a cowl and at least one such exterior rear view mirror assembly.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Automobiles utilize stand alone exterior rear view assemblies in form of rear view mirrors attached to the door of the vehicle to improve viewing of potential hazards. Government safety regulations require passenger cars to have an exterior and, thus, outside mirror of unit magnification. Currently, drivers cannot legally remove the doors of a vehicle and drive on government highways or roads without installing an aftermarket mirror or reconfiguring the supplied exterior mirror being a door mirror to a vehicle mounted location. Both the aftermarket and the reconfigured original vehicle mirrors take additional time for installation after removing the vehicle doors and involve basic mechanical knowledge to become compliant with government regulations. The aftermarket and the reconfigured original vehicle mirror only provides for a field of view and do not allow for additional functions to be included in the mirror assembly such as a light module for turn light, spot lights, blind spot monitor or other lighting/safety modules. These stand alone exterior mirrors also do not offer any integration with the vehicle styling which can give an unattractive appearance to the vehicle when mounted.
There is a growing trend for drivers to utilize removable vehicle doors for off road usage for a unique driving experience. Drivers wish to be compliant with government regulations without the inconvenience of having to add or reconfigure an external mirror.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to have an exterior rear view assembly which would be operational when the exterior doors are removed and provide functional integration for the assembly. Thus, the removal of the vehicle door shall be enabled while maintaining the original supplied rear view device with all included functionality, eliminating the need for an aftermarket accessory to meet federal motor vehicle safety standards (like FMVSS).
Generally, the present disclosure provides an exterior rear view assembly having an integrated mounting attachment for the vehicle cowl. Moving the rearview device to an integration with the vehicle cowl allows removal of the vehicle door and, in addition, desired styling and/or vehicle theme. Further, the present disclosure exterior rear view mirror assembly may provide accessory mounting connector points.
In detail, the present disclosure provides an exterior rear view assembly for mounting to a vehicle with a cowl, comprising: a base assembly adapted for attachment to the vehicle independent of whether the vehicle is provided with a vehicle door, wherein the base assembly is adapted for attachment to the cowl; and a head assembly coupled to the base assembly.
One embodiment can be further characterized in that the base assembly comprises a base frame and a base cover, with the base frame comprising a base frame upper and a base frame lower, and/or with the base cover comprising an upper cover and a lower cover.
The base frame upper may be adapted for attachment to the cowl, and/or the upper cover may be adapted for attachment to the cowl, in particular via at least on clip, snap and/or latch connection and/or an overlap joint.
The present disclosure further proposes that the base frame upper is provided with a first end for attachment with the cowl and/or a support area, in particular in form of a shoulder, for a secondary mounting location of the cowl, and/or the base frame upper connects to the base frame lower, in particular by providing at least one mounting element with a corresponding geometry to an upper end of the base frame lower.
The base frame lower may be provided for amounting the base frame upper, the head assembly, an accessory and/or a harness.
It is proposed that the accessory comprises a least one illumination device, at least one camera, at least one camera monitoring system, at least one sensor, at least one actuator, at least one heating system, at least one cooling system, at least one cleaning system for a camera and/or a windshield and/or an aftermarket accessory bracket.
In addition, it is proposed that the harness comprises at least one electrical cable to provide electrical power to one or more first modules, in particular comprising the accessory, a power-fold actuator, a telescoping actuator, a mirror adjustment actuator, an electrochromic mirror, and/or the harness comprises at least one fluid conduit for supplying a fluid to one or more second modules, in particular comprising the accessory, the at least one cooling system, the at least one cleaning system and/or the at least one cooling system.
Embodiments of the exterior rear view assembly can be further characterized in that the base frame comprises at least one connector point, preferably accessible through at least one aperture in the base frame cover, in particular the upper cover, and/or the cowl.
In this respect it is also proposed that the base frame upper provides the or each connector point, and/or the or each connector point is adapted for mounting an accessory.
Further exterior rear view assemblies according to the present disclosure may comprise a pivot joint between the base frame and the head assembly, and/or at least one mirror element provided by the head assembly.
The present disclosure also provides a vehicle with a cowl and at least one exterior rear view assembly of the present disclosure.
It is also disclosed that the cowl is assembled after the base frame upper is mounted to a base frame lower, and/or the cowl is a distinct part from the upper cover, or the cowl and the upper cover are combined to be a single integral part, and/or the cowl cooperates with the exterior rear view assembly to form a continuous cover appearance between the upper cover and the cowl.
Still further, it is proposed that the base frame lower is attached to an A-pillar, an A-pillar reinforcement, a cowl sheet metal upper, a cowl sheet metal lower and/or a hinge pillar.
A vehicle according to the present disclosure can be further described in that the upper cover and/or the cowl is/are adapted to mount at least one accessory, in particular by providing at least one aperture.
The vehicle of the present disclosure may further comprise at least one door, a hood and/or a side panel.
It should be noted that the features set out individually in the following description may be combined with each other in any technically advantageous manner and set out other forms of the present disclosure. The description further characterizes and specifies the present disclosure in particular in connection with the Figures.
In order that the disclosure may be well understood, there will now be described various forms thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
As shown in
The exterior mirror assembly 100 may provide at least one aperture 108 for access to a mounting point for various, not shown vehicle accessories such as a spotlight, position light, a camera, a camera monitoring system, at least one sensor such as radar, LIDAR or ultrasonic, a cleaning system for the camera, a windshield, or an aftermarket accessory bracket. The at least one aperture 108 may also be integrated into the cowl 114. The at least one aperture 108 integrated in the cowl 114 may work independently or in cooperation with the at least one aperture 108 of the mirror assembly 100 to mount a vehicle accessory. It is within the scope of this disclosure to have a cowl mounted mirror assembly with no aperture 108 for exterior mounting of accessories. In
A tool (not shown) can be inserted into the or each aperture 108 for dissembling for example the cover part 106 by detaching a clip, snap and/or latch connection. The tool can also be used to attach, tighten, release, untighten and the like of any accessory. For that purpose, the tool may be in form of a screw driver, a battery drill or the like.
A base frame upper 206 is provided with at least one mounting connector point 202 which is accessible through the at least one apertures 108, see
The lower cover 104 and the upper cover 106 may be made of a suitable polymer such as ABS plastic. The upper and lower covers 104, 106 cooperate to form a class A surface enclosing the base frame upper 206 when assembled. The upper and lower covers 104, 106 and the mirror head 102 may also be coated with a protective layer and/or a decorative layer such as chrome or paint.
The functional attachment of the cowl 114 to the upper cover 106 in line with
In detail,
A wiring harness 302 is routed through the base frame upper 206 to the mirror head 102, as shown in
The mirror assembly 100 includes the at least one illumination device 406 shown in
The mirror head 102 has a rotational attachment at a pivot joint 404 with the base frame upper 206 and lower cover 104, see
In
The advantages of the rear view assembly of the present disclosure in particular are as follows:
The foregoing description of various preferred embodiments have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The example embodiments, as described above, were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The features of the disclosure in the foregoing description, in the drawings and in the claims can be essential both individually and in any combination for the implementation of the disclosure in its various embodiments.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2021/058530 | 3/31/2021 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63006750 | Apr 2020 | US |
