GLARE REDUCING GLAZING ARTICLES

• US 20130321915A1
• Filed: 12/06/2011
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Chien, Bert T., Liu, Yufeng, Derks, Kristopher J., Padiyath, Raghunath, Strauss, Stephen J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,520,655 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/485.03
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/10 of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/281 used for attenuating light intensity, e.g. comprising rotatable polarising elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/3041 comprising multiple thin layers, e.g. multilayer stacks

Abstract

Glazing articles that reduce glare include a glazing substrate, and a reflective polarizing film article attached to the glazing substrate. The reflective polarizing film article includes a reflective polarizing film, and a reflection inhibitor layer. The reflective polarizing film articles reduce transmission of polarized light with a polarization block axis that is horizontal, and reduce horizontally polarized light to 90% or less of the horizontally polarized incident visible light. The reflective polarizing film may include a multi-layer film construction. The reflection inhibitor layer may include a tinted layer or an absorptive polarizer layer. Glazing units that reduce glare include at least one glazing substrate, at least one reflective polarizing film, and at least one reflection inhibitor layer. The glazing substrate, reflective polarizing film, and reflection inhibitor layer may or may not be in contact with one another.

Claims

1. An article comprising:

a glazing substrate; and

a reflective polarizing film article attached to the glazing substrate, wherein the reflective polarizing film article comprises;

a reflective polarizing film; and

a reflection inhibitor layer,

wherein the reflective polarizing film article reduces transmission of polarized light with a polarization block axis that is horizontal, and wherein the reflective polarizing film article reduces the horizontally polarized light to 90% or less of the horizontally polarized incident visible light.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflecting polarizing film comprises a multi-layer construction.

3. The article of claim 2, wherein the multi-layer construction comprises a multi-layer film.

4. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflection inhibitor layer comprises a tinted layer.

5. The article of claim 4, wherein the tinted layer comprises a coating, a film, or a tinted glazing substrate.

6. The article of claim 4, wherein the tinted layer comprises a coating, the coating comprising a layer of visible light absorbing particles in a cured polymeric binder, or a combination of visible light absorbing particles and infrared light absorbing particles in a cured polymeric binder.

7. The article of claim 4, wherein the tinted layer comprises a tinted hardcoat layer.

8. The article of claim 7, wherein the tinted hardcoat layer comprises carbon black particles in a cured acrylic binder.

9. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflection inhibitor layer comprises an absorptive polarizer layer.

10. The article of claim 9, wherein the absorptive polarization layer has a polarization ratio of less than 0.5:

1, wherein the polarization ratio is the ratio of the transmission of linearly polarized light in the horizontal direction to the transmission of linearly polarized light in the vertical direction.

11. The article of claim 9, wherein the absorptive polarizer layer and the multi-layer reflecting polarizing film have horizontal block axes that are oriented within between +20°

and −

20°

of each other.

12. The article of claim 3, wherein the multi-layer reflective polarizing film comprises at least two oriented polyester layers selected from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), copolymers containing polyethylene terephthalate (CoPET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), copolymers containing polyethylene naphthalate (CoPEN), or combinations thereof.

13. The article of claim 1, wherein the article has a visible light % transmission of from 5% to 50%.

14. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflective polarizing film article reduces transmission of horizontally polarized light to 60% or less of the horizontally polarized incident visible light.

15. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflection of unpolarized visible light incident on the surface of the reflection inhibitor layer is less than 30%.

16. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflection of unpolarized visible light incident on the surface of the reflective polarizing film layer is at least 20%.

17. A glazing unit comprising:

at least one glazing substrate;

at least one reflective polarizing film; and

at least one reflection inhibitor layer, wherein the reflective polarizing film reduces transmission of polarized light with a polarization block axis that is horizontal, and wherein the reflective polarizing film reduces the horizontally polarized light to 90% or less of the horizontally polarized incident visible light.

18. The glazing unit of claim 17, wherein the at least one glazing substrate, the at least one reflective polarizing film, and the at least one reflection inhibitor layer are not in contact with each other.

19. The glazing unit of claim 17, wherein the at least one reflective polarizing film, and the at least one reflection inhibitor layer are in contact with each other to form a reflective polarizing film article, and this reflective polarizing film article is not in contact with the at least one glazing substrate.

20. The glazing unit of claim 17, wherein the reflection inhibitor layer comprises a tinted layer or an absorptive polarizer layer.