Hitch-viewing mirror assembly employing three clamping arms for grasping pickup truck's tailgate panel

Claim 1

A trailer-hitch-viewing mirror assembly for use on a towing vehicle having a trailer hitch at its rear and for enabling a driver of said vehicle to view said hitch so as to be able to maneuver said vehicle into a position where said hitch is aligned with the mating hitch of a vehicle to be towed, comprising, in combination; (a) a mirror, (b) means for mounting said mirror on the rear of said towing vehicle, said means arranged to mount said mirror in a position spaced behind said vehicle and in a position facing forward and downward, such that said driver of said towing vehicle, while seated in a driver's seat in the front of said vehicle, can see said hitch in said mirror, so that said driver can accurately maneuver said towing vehicle while viewing said hitch in said mirror, and without assistance from another person, until said hitch is aligned for connection with the mating hitch of a vehicle to be towed, said means for mounting said mirror comprising: (1) a bracket assembly for attaching said mirror to a vertically oriented tailgate panel of a pickup truck, said bracket assembly comprising three elongated tailgate panel-grasping arms which can be removably positioned on both sides of said tailgate panel to hold said mirror in a fixed position spaced behind said tailgate panel, (2) each of said tailgate panel-grasping arms having a proximal end and an opposite distal end, the proximal ends of all three arms having apertures therein, said apertures being aligned and connected together at a common junction for pivoting said grasping arms about a vertical axis, (3) said tailgate panel-grasping arms being bent and shaped so that when said common junction is positioned above said tailgate panel at a predetermined location, the distal ends of two of said said arms will contact and rest against one side of said tailgate panel and a portion of each of said two arms arm spaced in from said distal end thereof will contact and rest against the top of said tailgate panel, and the third of said arms will contact and rest against the other side of said tailgate panel, such that said three arms will mount said assembly in a stable position around said tailgate panel without drilling any hole in or affixing adhesives to said tailgate panel, and (4) a mirror support arm comprising an elongated member having proximal and distal ends, said distal end having a first aperture therein, said first aperture being aligned with and being connected to said common junction for pivotally connecting said support arm about said axis, said proximal end having a second aperture orthogonal to said first aperture and pivotally connecting said mirror so as to support said mirror in a position behind and above said tailgate panel where said driver, when driving said vehicle, can look rearwardly into said mirror and be able to see said hitch therein.