Pivoting Detent Joint with Segmented Teeth for Mirror Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rearview mirror assemblies for commercial vehicles face difficulties in maintaining proper positioning due to excessive adjustability between the support arm and carrier base, leading to misalignment when returning the mirror head to the preferred viewing position.
Innovation Solution
A pivoting detent joint with selective engagement is introduced, featuring a combination of arm and base detent rings with specific arrangements of locking and alignment teeth and channels, limiting the support arm's positioning to specific orientations, ensuring precise alignment and preventing misalignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a typical detent system allows the support arm to lock in position at a multitude of positions, then the adjustability of the support arm is improved, but the difficulty of returning the support arm to the proper viewing position increases
Solution Approach 1:
The detent ring is segmented into two distinct types of teeth: alignment teeth (four in number) and locking teeth (nine in number). The alignment teeth are larger and spaced to define specific operational orientations, while the locking teeth provide additional locking positions. This segmentation allows the system to provide both adjustability and precise positioning control, resolving the contradiction between versatility and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the detent ring have different functional qualities. The alignment teeth are designed with larger size and specific spacing to engage with alignment channels that define the proper viewing position, while the locking teeth are smaller and provide additional locking options. This local differentiation ensures that the critical viewing position is easily identifiable and accessible, solving the problem of excessive adjustability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the detent arrangement allows excessive adjustment possibilities, then the versatility of positioning is improved, but the alignment precision of the mirror head decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The detent mechanism is divided into two functional segments: alignment teeth that define precise viewing positions and locking teeth that provide additional locking options. The alignment teeth are larger and strategically positioned to ensure precise alignment, while the locking teeth fill in intermediate positions. This segmentation maintains alignment precision even with multiple positioning options available.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment channels in the base detent ring act as intermediaries that guide and constrain the alignment teeth to specific orientations. These channels ensure that when the alignment teeth engage, the mirror head is precisely positioned at the correct viewing angle, regardless of how many intermediate locking positions are available.
Data Source
AI summary
A pivoting detent joint with selective positional engagement for a vehicle mirror assembly. The detent joint includes an arm detent ring defined by a continuous circular arrangement of a combination of arm locking teeth and alignment teeth. A base detent ring has a complementary arrangement to the arm detent ring and is defined by a continuous circular arrangement of a combination of base locking teeth and alignment channels. The arm locking teeth of the arm detent ring engage the base locking teeth of the base detent ring in a releasable interlocking engagement only when all of the alignment teeth are received into a complementary alignment channel so that positioning of a support arm relative to a carrier base is limited to specifically define orientations.