Patent Application
20250010795
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The disclosure relates to vehicle mounted mirrors and more particularly pertains to a new vehicle mounted mirror for viewing behind oneself when placing items in the vehicle.
The prior art describes myriad mirrors which are mounted in a rear portion of a vehicle. Many of these devices are positioned such that they are advantageous for usage as a vanity mirror or to identify a position of another automobile near the vehicle. But the prior art fails to disclose such an apparatus which is mounted adjacent to a door and is orientable so that a user standing near the adjacent door is able to view behind the user when placing items in the vehicle. Such an apparatus would allow the user to identify approaching assailants and provide the user with the opportunity to timely flee from the assailant or call attention to the assailant's presence.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a vehicle with a plurality of doors for accessing an interior of the vehicle. A visor is mounted in a rear portion of the vehicle and is positioned on an interior surface of the vehicle adjacent to one of the plurality of doors. The visor has a first end and a second end. The visor has a first edge and a second edge each extending between the first end and the second end. The visor also has a first surface and a second surface each extending between the first end and the second end and between the first edge and the second edge. The visor is orientable such that the first surface faces an opening to the interior of the vehicle which is covered by the adjacent door when the adjacent door is closed. A reflective material is coupled to the first surface of the visor and is configured to reflect light which strikes the reflective material. The reflective material is configured to facilitate a user positioned outside the vehicle proximate the adjacent door to view behind the user via the reflective material when the first surface of the visor faces the opening.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The visor 26 has a first end 28 and a second end 30. The visor 26 has a first edge 32 and a second edge 34 each extending between the first end 28 and the second end 30. The visor 26 also has a first surface 36 and a second surface 38 each extending between the first end 28 and the second end 30 and between the first edge 32 and the second edge 34. The visor 26 is orientable such that the first surface 36 faces toward an opening 40 to the interior 16 of the vehicle 12 which is cover 54ed by the adjacent door 14 when the adjacent door 14 is closed.
A reflective material 42 is coupled to the first surface 36 of the visor 26 and is configured to reflect light which strikes the reflective material 42. The reflective material 42 is configured to facilitate a user 44 positioned outside the vehicle 12 proximate the adjacent door 14 to view behind the user 44 via the reflective material 42 when the first surface 36 of the visor 26 faces the opening 40.
A sound emitter 46 is mounted to the visor 26 and is configured to selectively emit an audible alarm. The sound emitter 46 is positioned on the first surface 36. A switch 48 is mounted to the visor 26 and is operatively coupled to the sound emitter 46.
A power supply 50 is electrically coupled to the switch 48. The power supply 50 comprises a battery 52, which is mounted in the visor 26. A cover 54 is coupled to the visor 26 and is movable to an open position with respect to an aperture 56 extending through the visor 26 to provide access to the battery 52.
A mount assembly 58 is coupled to the visor 26 and the vehicle 12 to mount the visor 26 to the vehicle 12. The mount assembly 58 comprises a base member 60 and an arm 62. The base member 60 is mounted to the interior surface 24 of the vehicle 12, and the arm 62 is coupled to the base member 60 and the visor 26. The arm 62 has an L-shape formed by a first portion 64 and a second portion 66 which are coupled to and oriented perpendicularly to each other. The first portion 64 is coupled to the base member 60, and the second portion 66 is coupled to the first end 28 of the visor 26 adjacent to the first edge 32 of the visor 26. The visor 26 is pivotable around a central axis of the second portion 66 extending from the first portion 64 of the arm 62 to the visor 26. A ball joint 68 is coupled to the base member 60 and the arm 62 to facilitate rotation of the arm 62 with respect to the base member 60 in a plurality of directions.
A locking member 70 is coupled to the vehicle 12 and the visor 26 to prevent a movement of the ball joint 68 of the mount assembly 58 when engaged. The locking member 70 comprises an insertion member 72 and a receiver 74 which are attachable to each other. The insertion member 72 is coupled to the first edge 32 of the visor 26 and spaced from the mount assembly 58. The receiver 74 is mounted to the interior surface 24 of the vehicle 12. The insertion member 72 has a cylindrical shape, and the receiver 74 defines a groove 76 which is complementary in shape to the insertion member 72. The insertion member 72 is receivable into the groove 76 to attach to the receiver 74 via a snap fit. The insertion member 72 is rotatable within the groove 76 and the visor 26 is pivotable around the central axis of the second portion 66 of the arm 62 when the insertion member 72 is attached to the receiver 74.
In use, the user 44 orients the visor 26 with respect to the vehicle 12 such that the user 44 can view behind the user 44 via the reflective material 42 when the user 44 is positioned outside of the vehicle 12 proximate to the adjacent door 14. For example, the visor 26 may be mounted adjacent to a rear passenger door 19, and the user 44 may use the visor 26 to view behind the user 44 while seating a child in a child seat. Alternatively, the visor 26 may be mounted adjacent to the hatch 20, and the user 44 may use the visor 26 to view behind the user 44 while placing items in the trunk. If the user 44 sees an individual 78 approaching the user 44 in an aggressive or threatening manner, the user 44 actuates the switch 48 to activate the sound emitter 46. The sound emitter 46 then sounds the audible alarm to alert others to the presence of the individual 78 and with the intention of warding off the individual 78.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
