Variable magnetic break-away mounting mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9505348-B1
Application number	US-201514946935-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 20, 2015
Priority date	May 7, 2014
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus providing a first component having a circular opening with an interior chamfered edge and a second component positioned within the circular opening. The apparatus also provides a magnetic feature at a circular bottom surface of the first component, where the magnetic feature provides a magnetic pull force in a first direction to secure the second component within the circular opening. The second component is configured to break away from the circular opening when a contact force to the breakaway component causes a force in a second direction opposite of the first direction and greater than the magnetic pull force.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A side view mirror assembly comprising:
a base component having a recessed area having a shape, the base component having a bottom surface within the recessed area having magnetic properties;
a mirror component positioned within the recessed area, the mirror component having a mirror and a base that is complementary to the shape of the recessed area, the mirror component base having magnetic properties that attract the mirror component base towards the bottom surface thereby securing the mirror component within the recessed area while allowing the mirror component to rotate within the recessed area, and the mirror component being configured to break away from the base component when a contact force applied to the mirror component in a given direction is greater than a threshold force.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface includes a recess and a magnetic feature is positioned within the recess in order to provide the magnetic properties to the bottom surface.

3. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising at least one constraint element arranged on the base component which is positioned at least partially within a channel within the mirror base in order to constrain the mirror component interface from rotating 360 degrees.

4. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising at least one constraint element arranged on the mirror component which is positioned at least partially within a channel within the bottom surface of the base component in order to constrain the mirror component interface from rotating 360 degrees.

5. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface is flat.

6. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the magnetic feature includes a permanent magnet.

7. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the magnetic feature includes an electromagnet providing a tunable magnetic pull force.

8. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a gap between a bottom surface of the mirror component and a circular base of the base component.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein a second direction of the contact force is perpendicular to a first direction of the magnetic pull force.

10. The assembly of claim 9 , wherein the mirror component is configured to pivot about one or more pivot points on the base component when the contact force is applied to the mirror component at a distance from the magnetic feature.

11. The assembly of claim 9 , wherein the mirror component is configured to displace laterally when the contact force is applied to the mirror component at a distance from the magnetic feature.

12. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the mirror component is configured to slide off an interior chamfered edge of the base component when the contact force applied to the mirror component meets a threshold magnitude.

13. The assembly of claim 10 , wherein the mirror component is configured to pivot about the one or more pivot points on the base component and detach from the base component when the contact force meets a threshold magnitude.

14. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the base component and mirror component are each conical in shape and have a corresponding conical portion.

15. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mirror component includes a ferrous material.

16. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a first coating on the interior chamfered edge and a circular bottom surface of the base component and a second coating on the mirror component base and side surface of the mirror component, such that contact between the first coating and second coating meets a minimum threshold of friction.

17. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a tether coupled between a first connection point on the base component and a second connection point on the mirror component configured to hold the base component and mirror component together.

18. A vehicle including a side view mirror assembly, the side view mirror assembly comprising:
a base component having a recessed area having a shape, the base component having a bottom surface within the recessed area having magnetic properties, the base component being incorporated into the vehicle;
a mirror component positioned within the recessed area, the mirror component having a mirror and a base that is complementary to the shape of the recessed area, the mirror component base having magnetic properties that attract the mirror component base towards the bottom surface thereby securing the mirror component within the recessed area while allowing the mirror component to rotate within the recessed area, and the mirror component being configured to break away from the base component when a contact force applied to the mirror component in a given direction is greater than a threshold force.

19. The vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the bottom surface includes a recess and a magnetic feature is positioned within the recess in order to provide the magnetic properties to the bottom surface.

20. The vehicle of claim 18 , further comprising at least one constraint element arranged on the base component which is positioned at least partially within a channel within the mirror base in order to constrain the mirror component interface from rotating 360 degrees.

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Kim Robert
• Loo Kenneth Ryan
• Duff David Gordon

Classifications

• B60R1/006 Primary

  Side-view mirrors, e.g. V-shaped mirrors located at the front or rear part of the vehicle (combined with rear-view mirrors B60R1/08; side-view periscopes B60R1/10) · CPC title

• F16M13/022

  repositionable · CPC title

• F16B2001/0035

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F16B1/00

  Devices for securing together, or preventing relative movement between, constructional elements or machine parts · CPC title

• F16M11/12 Primary

  in more than one direction · CPC title