Outer mirror

Abstract

To reduce wind noise generated by an outer mirror.SOLUTION: An outer mirror 10 includes a mirror plate 12 and a mirror visor 14 surrounding the periphery of the mirror plate 12. The mirror visor 14 has a peripheral wall portion 20 opposite to the peripheral edge of the mirror plate 12 with an empty space 22 therebetween. The peripheral edge of the mirror plate 12 has a peripheral edge groove 24 extending in the direction in which the peripheral edge extends. The peripheral edge groove 24 has a triangular cross-sectional shape and is open toward the peripheral wall portion 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mirror for viewing the surroundings, such as the rear of a vehicle, and particularly to an outer mirror attached to the outside of a vehicle body. [Background technology]

[0002] Vehicles are equipped with mirrors that allow drivers to see the surroundings, such as behind the vehicle. Mirrors installed on the exterior of the vehicle are called exterior mirrors. Typical exterior mirrors in passenger cars include door mirrors attached to the left and right front doors and fender mirrors attached to the left and right front fenders.

[0003] The following Patent Document 1 describes wind noise generated by an outer mirror (10) for a vehicle. The outer mirror (10) includes a cover (14) that covers a mirror body (12) from the front side of the vehicle, and a visor (16) that is disposed on the inner periphery of the cover (14) and supports the mirror body (12). A parting portion (30) is formed on the outer surface of the outer mirror (10) at the boundary between the cover (14) and the visor (16). Further, a cavity (K) is formed adjacent to the parting portion (30) and surrounded by the cover (14) and the visor (16). When airflow (W) caused by the vehicle traveling hits the parting portion (30), it resonates in the cavity (K) adjacent to the parting portion (30), generating wind noise.

[0004] The reference numerals in parentheses above are the reference numerals used in the following Patent Document 1, and are not related to the reference numerals used in the description of the embodiments of the present application. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-196019 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In an outer mirror that includes a mirror plate with a mirror surface formed on one side and a mirror visor that surrounds the mirror plate and cooperates with the mirror plate to define an internal space, wind noise is generated by the airflow that flows through the gap between the mirror plate and the mirror visor. The vibrations of the airflow that flows through the gap resonate with the internal space of the outer mirror, increasing the wind noise.

[0007] The present invention aims to reduce wind noise caused by the gap between the mirror plate and the mirror visor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The outer mirror according to the present invention includes a mirror plate having a mirror surface formed on one surface thereof, and a mirror visor that cooperates with the mirror plate to define an internal space. The mirror plate includes a substantially flat mirror plate main body having a mirror surface formed on one side thereof, and a peripheral addition portion provided on the surface of the mirror plate main body opposite the mirror surface formed on the side thereof. In a cross section including the radial direction of the mirror plate, the peripheral addition portion extends obliquely relative to the mirror plate main body from a portion inside the periphery of the mirror plate main body toward the periphery of the mirror plate, and the periphery of the mirror plate main body and the periphery of the obliquely extending end of the peripheral addition portion are located at the same position in the radial direction of the mirror plate. The mirror visor has a peripheral wall portion surrounding the periphery of a mirror plate. The mirror plate has a peripheral wall portion on at least a part of a periphery facing the peripheral wall portion with a gap therebetween. The mirror plate is defined between the main body and the peripheral addition, A peripheral groove is formed extending along the direction in which the peripheral edge extends.

[0009] A peripheral groove provided on the periphery of the mirror plate reduces wind noise caused by the airflow passing through the gap between the mirror plate and the mirror visor.

[0010] In the outer mirror described above, the width of the peripheral groove may be narrowed from the opening toward the back. Sound waves repeatedly reflected within the peripheral groove are attenuated, reducing wind noise.

[0011] In the outer mirror described above, the peripheral groove may be formed along the entire periphery of the mirror plate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] Wind noise caused by airflow passing through the gap between the mirror plate and the mirror visor is reduced by providing a peripheral groove on the periphery of the mirror plate. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an outer mirror. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a view showing the outer mirror in the use position as seen from behind. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the shape of the peripheral edge of the mirror plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, terms indicating relative positions and orientations such as front, rear, left, right, up, down, etc. refer to relative positions and orientations with respect to the vehicle. The description will be based on the case where the outer mirror is in its normal position.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an outer mirror 10. The illustrated outer mirror 10 is a door mirror attached to the front door of a vehicle. The outer mirror 10 includes a mirror plate 12 whose entire front surface is a mirrored surface, and a mirror visor 14 that surrounds the mirror plate 12. The mirror surface of the mirror plate 12 is made of a glass plate, and the remaining portion is made of synthetic resin. The mirror visor 14 is made of synthetic resin. The mirror visor 14 has a shape that is narrow at the front and widens toward the rear, e.g., a roughly bell-shaped shape. However, the cross-section of the mirror visor 14 perpendicular to the fore-and-aft direction is not circular like a traditional bell, but is hexagonal, particularly at the rear, with its length in the left-right direction, to match the shape of the mirror plate 12. The cross-sectional shape of the mirror visor may be a shape that matches the shape of the mirror plate. The rear end of the mirror visor 14 is open. The mirror plate 12 is disposed within the opening at the rear end of the mirror visor 14. The rear edge of the mirror visor 14 extends further rearward than the mirror plate 12. This rearward extending portion of the mirror visor 14 prevents rainwater and dirt from adhering to the mirror surface of the mirror plate 12. The outer mirror 10 is rotatable between a deployed position where it protrudes laterally from the vehicle body and a retracted position where it is aligned with the vehicle body. The deployed position to the side is the position in which the outer mirror 10 is normally used.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the outer mirror 10 as seen from behind. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. The mirror plate 12 is shaped like a hexagon that is long horizontally and has rounded corners. As mentioned above, the rear end of the mirror visor 14 is also shaped like a hexagon to match the hexagonal shape of the mirror plate 12. The mirror plate 12 is supported by a support mechanism 16 that is fixed to the mirror visor 14. The support mechanism 16 supports the mirror plate 12 so that it can tilt up and down and left and right. The mirror plate 12 can also tilt in an oblique direction by tilting up and down and left and right simultaneously. In FIG. 3, the support mechanism 16 is shown simply and with some parts omitted.

[0017] The mirror plate 12 and the mirror visor 14 cooperate to define an interior space 18 that houses equipment. Although the equipment housed in the interior space 18 is omitted from Fig. 3, this equipment is, for example, a mirror plate tilting mechanism that tilts the mirror plate 12 up and down and left and right. The interior space 18 may also house an outer mirror opening / closing mechanism that rotates the outer mirror 10 between an extended position and a retracted position.

[0018] The mirror visor 14 has a peripheral wall 20 that surrounds the periphery of the mirror plate 12. The peripheral wall 20 is provided so as to face the peripheral edge of the mirror plate 12 even when the mirror plate 12 is tilted. In other words, the dimension of the peripheral wall 20 in the front-to-rear direction is set to be equal to or greater than the range of movement of the peripheral edge of the mirror plate 12 in the front-to-rear direction. A gap 22 is formed between the peripheral edge of the mirror plate 12 and the peripheral wall 20. Providing the gap 22 allows the mirror plate 12 to tilt without interfering with the peripheral wall 20.

[0019] FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the periphery of the mirror plate 12. The structure of the periphery of the mirror plate 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 . A periphery groove 24 extending in the circumferential direction is formed on the periphery of the mirror plate 12. The periphery groove 24 may be formed around the entire periphery of the mirror plate 12. The periphery groove 24 is formed by a substantially flat mirror plate main body 26 with a mirror surface formed on one side of the mirror plate 12, and a periphery addition portion 28 provided on the back surface of the mirror plate main body 26, i.e., the surface opposite the mirror surface. The periphery groove 24 is the space between the mirror plate main body 26 and the periphery addition portion 28. The periphery addition portion 28 is located in the shaded area in FIG. 2. In other words, the periphery addition portion 28 has a substantially hexagonal ring shape. 3 and 4, the peripheral addition portion 28 is disposed in a cross section including the radial direction of the mirror plate 12, extending obliquely from a portion slightly inward from the periphery of the mirror plate main body 26 relative to the mirror plate main body 26. The edge of the peripheral addition portion 28 is spaced apart from the periphery of the mirror plate main body 26. The cross section of the periphery of the mirror plate 12 along the circumferential direction is substantially identical to the cross section shown in FIG. 4. This forms a peripheral groove 24 extending along the periphery of the mirror plate 12. The peripheral groove 24 has a triangular cross section, has an opening facing the peripheral wall 20 of the mirror visor 14, and narrows in width toward the back from the opening, eventually closing. The peripheral groove 24 opens toward the peripheral wall 20 and is closed on the opposite side.

[0020] When a vehicle is moving, air flows around the outer mirror 10, generating a vortex behind the outer mirror 10. When the airflow caused by this vortex passes through the gap 22 between the mirror plate 12 and the peripheral wall portion 20 of the mirror visor 14, wind noise is generated. In particular, the wind noise becomes louder when it resonates within the internal space 18. In this outer mirror 10, the generation of wind noise is suppressed by providing a peripheral groove 24 on the periphery of the mirror plate 12.

[0021] When the airflow passes through the gap 22, the airflow that moves straight through the gap 22 interferes with the airflow that returns to the gap 22 via the peripheral groove 24, thereby suppressing wind noise. Furthermore, the generated sound waves are repeatedly reflected by the wall surfaces on both sides of the peripheral groove 24, and are attenuated with each reflection, thereby suppressing wind noise.

[0022] The peripheral groove 24 may be provided on a portion of the periphery of the mirror plate 12. The cross-sectional shape of the peripheral groove 24 is not limited to a triangle, and may be other shapes, such as a rectangle, whose width does not change in the depth direction. Furthermore, if the mirror plate main body 26 is sufficiently thick, a groove may be formed on the periphery of the mirror plate main body 26 without providing the peripheral additional portion 28.

[0023] The above-described structure for suppressing wind noise can also be applied to outer mirrors other than door mirrors, such as fender mirrors. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 10 outer mirror, 12 mirror plate, 14 mirror visor, 16 support mechanism, 18 internal space, 20 peripheral wall portion, 22 gap, 24 peripheral groove, 26 mirror plate main body portion, 28 peripheral additional portion

Claims

1. a mirror plate having a mirror surface formed on one surface; a mirror visor that cooperates with the mirror plate to define an internal space, the mirror visor having a peripheral wall that surrounds the periphery of the mirror plate; Including, the mirror plate includes a substantially flat mirror plate main body portion having the mirror surface formed on one surface thereof, and a peripheral addition portion provided on the surface of the mirror plate main body opposite to the surface on which the mirror surface is formed, the peripheral addition portion extending obliquely with respect to the mirror plate main body portion from a portion inside the peripheral edge of the mirror plate main body portion toward the peripheral edge of the mirror plate in a cross section including the radial direction of the mirror plate, and the peripheral edge of the mirror plate main body portion and the peripheral edge at the end of the oblique extension of the peripheral addition portion are at the same position in the radial direction of the mirror plate, The mirror plate has a peripheral groove formed between the mirror plate main body and the peripheral added portion on at least a part of the peripheral edge facing the peripheral wall portion with a gap therebetween, the peripheral groove extending along the extending direction of the peripheral edge. Outer mirror.

2. 2. The outer mirror according to claim 1, wherein the width of the peripheral groove narrows from the opening toward the back.

3. 3. The outer mirror according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral groove is formed along the entire periphery of the mirror plate.

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