Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Now, More Pleasing Odor!

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                   

Blown Mirrors

Blown and injected. With air. To keep them dry.
  (+10)(+10)
(+10)
  [vote for,
against]

Side mirrors get raindrops on them making it hard to see. A vent at the top of your side mirrors with an intake vent on the front of the mirror housing redirects air over the mirrors while you drive. As you speed up air blows the water off. Bonus feature: the vent will act like a slotted flap and reduce the area of drag behind the mirror, reducing your car's total Cd by .01%
DIYMatt, Oct 17 2012

[link]






       [+]   

       Can it also be engineered to generate a uselessly tiny amount of downforce, like those silly little canards I see on the front valences of tuners?
Alterother, Oct 17 2012
  

       I don't see why not!
DIYMatt, Oct 17 2012
  

       How do you keep the vents from introducing as much rain as they remove?
MechE, Oct 17 2012
  

       First, have the scoops on the underside directing air upwards to deflect falling rain before it hits the mirror (although, I guess, mirrors don't get rained on while you're moving).   

       Second, put a small slot in the curved air-channel, on the outside of its radius. Incoming rain will be thrown to the outside, and thence out of the slot, whilst the majority of the air (now rain-free) continues around and up to the mirror.
MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 17 2012
  

       I think we should spurt a little gasoline into the intake and light it so the air coming out is hot. It would dry the mirror if it's wet.
Voice, Oct 18 2012
  

       //spurt a little gasoline into the intake and light it// - thus generating a uselessly tiny amount of thrust in addition to the downforce?   

       Maybe it could be marketed as some kind of "afterburner".
Wrongfellow, Oct 18 2012
  

       And then on a frigid winter morning watch in horror as the sudden blast of hot air we were hoping would defrost the mirror instead causes it to shatter into a zillion tiny shards...
Canuck, Oct 18 2012
  

       No, because this will be controlled by the computers that run the fuel injection, and the climate sensors will not activate it when conditions exceed operating parameters.   

       There will probably have to be a warmup cycle, then gradual introduction of more and more heat   

       This shouldn't add more than a couple of thousand dollars to the cost of the automobile, and will probably greatly reduce the lifespan of the mirror, but what price fashion?
normzone, Oct 18 2012
  

       It crossed my mind to blow exhaust over the mirrors, but that causes some CO issues if you put your window down.
DIYMatt, Oct 18 2012
  

       With some fairly simple ducting, air collected from a jacket around the exhaust manifold could be routed through into the mirror shroud.   

       The ram effect from a front-mounted intake scoop ahould provide enough flow. The heat of the manifold will flash off any entrained moisture.   

       No fans, no fuel injectors, no temperature sensing, no hookup to the engine management. Just "free" heated air passed over the mirror by the effect of the vehicle's motion.
8th of 7, Oct 18 2012
  

       I've always been a fan of small, extremely vain demons harnessed to the mirrors who keep rubbing them clean with their shirt sleeves so they can see themselves better.
normzone, Oct 18 2012
  

       //        With some fairly simple ducting, air collected from a jacket around the exhaust manifold could be routed through into the mirror shroud. ... The ram effect from a front-mounted intake scoop ahould provide enough flow. //   

       No hood scoop required. This is how I heat the cab of my Deuce in the winter. I was planning to blow air through the manifold jacket using a small squirrel-cage fan, but I found that blow-back from the big radiator fan in front of the engine does the job nicely. I installed an air-actuated* gate to turn the heater on and off, and in the summer I just remove the whole jacket.   

       * I did this because my kitbashed air system runs just about everything that's normally controlled by a solenoid or mechanical switch, so adding one more outlet was easier than running a cable into the cab. For those who aren't systematically replacing every well-ordered electrical relay in their vehicle with a psychotic rat's nest of unlabeled air lines, I'd recommend a 78¢ solenoid switch from your local NAPA.
Alterother, Oct 18 2012
  

       My mirrors have defrosters in them and basically they also dry the raindrops.(not thoroughly, so OK- this sounds like a good idea.) [+]
xandram, Oct 18 2012
  

       // not thoroughly //   

       "And on the afternoon of the Sixth Day, God created Audi, so he could have a good laugh at the people who'd bought VW's ..."
8th of 7, Oct 18 2012
  

       //basically they also dry the raindrops//
Its most irritating when my raindrops get wet, and I would like to have a device to keep them dry.
sqeaketh the wheel, Oct 27 2012
  

       Actually, the thing to use would be a blast of compressed air. Suitably placed and profiled nozzles could be used to clear the mirror, with additional units to clear the side window.   

       Running a flexible high-pressure air line into the door presents no practical problem. However, the majority of passenger vehicles lack a ready source of high-pressure air.   

       An engine-driven pump and air receiver will be relatively expensive for the functionality delivered.   

       A small electrically powered compressor could be the basis of a useful aftermarket kit. It wouldn't need much capacity - enough to keep a one litre vessel topped up with 4 bar air. The air blast would only activate on command from the driver, for a few seconds at a time.
8th of 7, Jan 18 2016
  

       But, once you *have* said air reservoir, adding an air-horn is so dead-simple it should be reflex.
lurch, Jan 24 2016
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle