Britax Wingard Limited

Peter J Whitehead

Ian Boddy

An exterior rearview mirror for a motor vehicle has a housing mounted on a base member by means of a ball-and-socket joint comprising a socket formed in the base member and a convex member attached to the housing. The socket comprises the concave inner surface of a hollow part-spherical member. An arm has a concave surface formed on one end and adapted to engage with the convex outer surface of the part-spherical member. Resilient means are arranged to bias the arm towards the convex member so as to urge the concave surface on the arm against the convex outer surface of the part-spherical member and to urge the concave inner surface of the part-spherical member against the convex member, and release means on the other end of the arm are operable to reduce the friction resisting movement of the housing relative to the base member about the part-spherical member. Operation of the release means thus enables the orientation of the housing relative to the base member to be adjusted with relatively little effort.

Exterior rearview mirror for a motor vehicle

An exterior mirror for a vehicle comprises a base member attached to the vehicle body, first pivotal engagement means mounted on an arm secured to the base member so as to project laterally in the opposite direction to the mounting face, a housing for a reflective member having second pivotal engagement means. Resilient means extend between a point on the base member which is nearer to the mounting face than the pivot axis and a chain comprising a first link and a second link. The first link is pivotally attached to the base member at one end and pivotally attached to the second link at the other end, the resilient means being pivotally attached to an intermediate point on the second link. A cam surface on the second link is urged by the resilient means into engagement with a projection on the base member located between the pivot axis and the point of connection of the first link to the base member. The projection engages against an abutment at one end of the cam surface when the links are in a position such that the line of action of the spring pulls the housing towards its position of normal use, and engages in a recess at the other end thereof when the orientation of the links is such that the line of action of the spring pulls the housing towards the mounting face, e.g. as a result of impact on the housing.

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Emsworth, United Kingdom

Peter J Whitehead