Rear View Mirror Arrangement for a Motorcycle

Abstract

A rear view mirror arrangement for a motorcycle, in particular for a motorbike or a scooter, is provided, having a mirror arm, which bears a mirror housing and/or a mirror element at an outer end, and having a fastening section, which is arranged at an end of the mirror arm in the vicinity of the vehicle, for fastening the mirror arm to the motorcycle. A cable harness runs in a cavity of the mirror arm between the outer end and an end of the mirror arm in the vicinity of the vehicle. The cable harness includes a coupling element for providing an electrically conductive connection to a cable provided on the vehicle, wherein the fastening section bears the coupling element.

Claims

1.-9. (canceled)

10. A rear view mirror arrangement for a motorcycle, comprising: a mirror arm which carries a mirror housing and/or a mirror element at an outer end; a fastening section which is arranged at a vehicle-adjacent end of the mirror arm in order to fasten the mirror arm to the motorcycle; and a cable harness which runs in a cavity of the mirror arm between the outer end and the vehicle-adjacent end of the mirror arm, wherein the cable harness has a coupling element for supplying an electrically conductive connection to a cable provided on the motorcycle, and the fastening section carries the coupling element.

11. The rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the coupling element comprises a male connector or a female connector for supplying an electrically conductive plug-in connection.

12. The rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the fastening section comprises a cable guidance element which carries the coupling element.

13. The rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 12, wherein the cable guidance element is configured for strain relief of the cable harness.

14. The rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the fastening section comprises an adapter element, the adapter element having a first end that provides the connection of the fastening section to the mirror arm, and having a second end which is configured for connection to a socket section on the motorcycle.

15. The rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 14, wherein the adapter element has a cavity which is open relative to the cavity of the mirror arm, and has an opening in a wall of the adapter element, the cable harness extends from the mirror arm through the cavity as far as the opening of the adapter element, and through the opening in the wall onto an outer surface of the adapter element.

16. The rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the fastening section has a covering cap which covers the fastening section at least partially or completely on an upper side and/or a lateral surface.

17. A motorcycle comprising a rear view mirror arrangement according to claim 10.

18. The motorcycle as claimed in claim 17, further comprising: the cable on the motorcycle, which cable is connected electrically conductively to the coupling element of the cable harness by way of a second coupling element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a rear view mirror arrangement according to the description;

[0036] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear view mirror arrangement;

[0037] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rear view mirror arrangement according to FIG. 2;

[0038] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rear view mirror arrangement with no covering cap;

[0039] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the rear view mirror arrangement according to FIG. 4; and

[0040] FIG. 6 is a view in section A-A of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of a rear view mirror arrangement 10 for a motorcycle such as, for example, a motorbike or a motor scooter, according to this description. The rear view mirror arrangement 10 accordingly comprises, inter alia, a mirror arm 11 which carries at an outer end 11a a mirror housing 12 with a mirror element 13, such as a piece of mirror glass, arranged therein, and a fastening section 14 which is arranged at a vehicle-adjacent end 11b of the mirror arm 11 in order to fasten the mirror arm 11 and the whole rear view mirror arrangement 10 on the motorcycle. In the embodiment illustrated, the mirror arm 11 is connected to the fastening section 14 by a screwed connection. For this purpose, the mirror arm 11 has a threaded section 11c with an external thread which is screwed into a correspondingly formed socket 14a of the fastening section 14 with an internal thread. In the embodiment illustrated, the socket 14a is formed by an adapter element 20 described below in more detail. A lock nut 15 is provided on the threaded section 11c of the mirror arm 11 for additional securing and rotational positioning of the mirror arm 11 and the fastening section 14.

[0042] The rear view mirror arrangement 10 moreover comprises a cable harness 16 (the course of which is indicated by way of example in FIG. 2) which runs in a cavity 11d of the mirror arm 11 between the outer end 11a and the vehicle-adjacent end 11b of the mirror arm 11.

[0043] At a first end 16a of the cable harness 16, a coupling element 17 is provided which is designed for electrically conductive connection to a cable 18 provided on the vehicle (the free end of which is only indicated in FIG. 6), wherein the fastening section 14 carries the coupling element 17. This means that the coupling element 17 is fixedly connected to an outer surface of the fastening section 14. The rear view mirror arrangement 10 thus has no loose cable end which would have to be taken into account during fitting.

[0044] In each case, the cable harness 16 is designed to supply electric current and electric signals to the electrical and/or electronic components K provided in the mirror element 13 and in the mirror housing 12, such as, for example, a mirror heater, sensors, lamps, and/or other optical display elements. For this purpose, the cable harness 16 thus extends through an interior of the whole mirror arm 11. The mirror arm 11 accordingly has the cavity 11d which extends from the outer end 11a of the mirror arm 11 as far as the vehicle-adjacent end 11b of the mirror arm.

[0045] For this purpose, the mirror arm 11 has a tubular design, wherein the cavity 11d is formed by the interior, formed along its longitudinal extent, of the tube. The cable harness 16 is routed onward from the vehicle-adjacent end 11b of the mirror arm 11 to the fastening section 14 and there has, at its first end 16a, the coupling element 17. The cable harness 16 which exits the mirror arm 11 at the vehicle-adjacent end 11b thus ends in the region of the fastening section 14.

[0046] The coupling element 17 is designed by way of example as a female connector into which a second coupling element 19, designed as a male connector, of the cable 18 on the vehicle can be plugged in order jointly to supply an electrically conductive plug-in connection.

[0047] Alternatively, and therefore not illustrated, the coupling element 17 of the cable harness 16 can be designed as a male connector which can be connected to a second coupling element 19, designed as a female connector, of the cable 18 on the vehicle in order jointly to supply the electrical plug-in connection.

[0048] Furthermore, the fastening section 14 comprises the adapter element 20 already mentioned above which supplies with a first side 20a the connection of the fastening section 14 to the threaded section 11c of the mirror arm 11 and the vehicle-adjacent end 11b and comprises a second side 20b which is designed for connection to a socket section, on the vehicle, of the motorcycle. The second side 20b can, for example, also have a threaded section for screwing to the socket section on the vehicle. A (lower) lock nut can also be provided at this threaded section in order to align the whole rear view mirror arrangement 10 relative to the vehicle.

[0049] Moreover, the adapter element 20 has a cavity 20c which is open relative to the cavity 11d of the mirror arm 11, and moreover an opening 20d in a wall. The cable harness 16 extends from the mirror arm 11 through the cavity 20c as far as the opening 20d and moreover through the opening 20d onto an outer surface of the adapter element 20.

[0050] According to the embodiment illustrated, the fastening section 14 moreover comprises a cable guidance element 21 which carries the coupling element 17 of the cable harness 16 and is designed to guide the cable harness 16 exiting the opening 20d of the adapter element 20 from the opening 20d as far as the coupling element 17.

[0051] The cable guidance element 21 is thus designed for strain relief of the cable harness 16 and for this purpose supplies a bend in the cable harness 16.

[0052] As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cable harness is bent from one side of the cable guidance element 21 by 180° onto the opposite side, wherein the cable harness 16 is arranged on the side of the cable guidance element 21 which is remote from the vehicle.

[0053] This provides the possibility that, in the event of an impact S in a direction counter to the driving direction on the mirror housing or on the remote end 11a of the mirror arm 11 during operation of the vehicle, the mirror arm 11 can be rotated accordingly without any risk of damage to cable harness 16.

[0054] The cable guidance element 21 forms on its outer surface 21a a corresponding cable duct 21b for this purpose with a groove-shaped course in which at least part of the cable harness 16 is inserted and hence follows its course.

[0055] Furthermore, the fastening section 14 comprises a covering cap 22 which completely covers the fastening section 14 in the embodiment illustrated. For this purpose, the covering cap 22 encloses an upper side and a lateral surface of the fastening element 14. The covering cap 22 can be manufactured, for example, from elastic plastic or an elastic rubber material. This can be used with corresponding dimensioning to ensure that the covering cap 22 seals the fastening section 14 in order to protect the latter from moisture and dirt.