MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH FORMED REFLECTIVE ELEMENT SUBSTRATE
First Claim
1. An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
- a mirror head portion;
a reflective element accommodated by said mirror head portion, said reflective element comprising a glass substrate and a mirror reflector coated at a surface of said glass substrate;
wherein said reflective element is configured to provide a field of view of at least about 15 degrees at the side of a vehicle equipped with said exterior rearview mirror assembly and wherein said reflective element provides a substantially undistorted reflected image as viewed by a driver of the equipped vehicle;
wherein said reflective element has a width dimension of less than about 15 cm and a height dimension of less than about 9 cm; and
wherein said glass substrate is formed via a hydro-bending process utilizing at least one bending element having a free form curvature.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mirror head portion and a reflective element accommodated by the mirror head portion. The reflective element includes a glass substrate and a mirror reflector coated at a surface of the glass substrate. The reflective element is configured to provide a field of view of at least about 15 degrees at the side of the vehicle and provides a substantially undistorted reflected image as viewed by the driver of the vehicle. The reflective element may have a width dimension of less than about 15 cm and a height dimension of less than about 9 cm. The mirror substrate is curved or formed via a hydro-bending process utilizing at least one bending element, which may be CNC formed in accordance with a free form pattern of curvatures.
8 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror head portion; a reflective element accommodated by said mirror head portion, said reflective element comprising a glass substrate and a mirror reflector coated at a surface of said glass substrate; wherein said reflective element is configured to provide a field of view of at least about 15 degrees at the side of a vehicle equipped with said exterior rearview mirror assembly and wherein said reflective element provides a substantially undistorted reflected image as viewed by a driver of the equipped vehicle; wherein said reflective element has a width dimension of less than about 15 cm and a height dimension of less than about 9 cm; and wherein said glass substrate is formed via a hydro-bending process utilizing at least one bending element having a free form curvature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:
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a mirror head portion; a reflective element accommodated by said mirror head portion; wherein said reflective element comprises a non-electro-optic reflective element having a single glass substrate having a mirror reflector coated at a rear surface thereof; wherein said reflective element is configured to provide a field of view of at least about 15 degrees at the side of a vehicle equipped with said exterior rearview mirror assembly and wherein said reflective element provides a substantially undistorted reflected image as viewed by a driver of the equipped vehicle; wherein said reflective element has a width dimension of less than about 15 cm and a height dimension of less than about 9 cm; and wherein said glass substrate is formed via a hydro-bending process utilizing at least one bending element having a free form curvature and wherein said at least one bending element is CNC formed in accordance with a free form pattern of curvatures. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method of providing a reflective element for an exterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle, said method comprising:
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determining coordinates of a view point of a driver of a vehicle that is to be equipped with the provided reflective element; determining an image plane that will provide a desired field of view to the driver viewing from the determined view point; determining an object plane that represents a desired field of view at a location rearward of the vehicle; providing at least one bending element having a free form curvature derived from the determined view point coordinates, the determined image plane and the determined object plane; providing a flat glass substrate; bending said glass substrate via said at least one bending element; and coating a surface of said glass substrate with a mirror reflector. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification