Anti-glare rearview mirror system
First Claim
1. An anti-glare mirror system for an automobile having an interior and an exterior, the system comprising:
- an interior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the interior of the automobile;
an exterior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the exterior of the automobile, said interior rearview mirror and said exterior rearview mirror having different reflectivities of light;
an electro-optical device applied to said interior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror;
an electro-optical device applied to said exterior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror;
electrical drive circuit means connected to said electro-optical devices to control said reflectivities of said exterior rearview mirror and said interior rearview mirror so that said reflectivities are adjustable to different reflectivity values;
sensing circuit means for detecting ambient and backward light and for comparing levels of said ambient and backward light with standard values to determine whether said levels of said ambient and said backward light warrant a change in said reflectivities of said interior and exterior rearview mirrors;
coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means for determining if a time period during which said levels of said ambient and said backward light are at values which warrant a change in said reflectivities exceeds a predetermined time interval thus indicating that said values are not transient, said coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means being connected with said electric drive circuit means and said sensing circuit means; and
transforming circuit means for applying one drive voltage to said interior rearview mirror and another drive voltage to said exterior rearview mirror so that said one drive voltage applied to said interior rearview mirror is greater than said other drive voltage applied to said exterior rearview mirror so that said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror is less than said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The mirror system has devices for adjusting the reflectivities of the interior and exterior rearview mirrors to different values to correct the driver'"'"'s unbalanced rearview visibility. These devices include, for instance, a liquid-phase ECD used in the interior rearview mirror and a solid-state ECD used in the exterior rearview mirror so that appropriate reflectivities of the two mirrors can be obtained, even if they experience the same operation conditions. When the same-type ECD is used for both interior and exterior rearview mirrors, the drive voltage for the exterior rearview mirror is made lower than that for interior rearview mirror to make the latter'"'"'s reflectivity smaller than the former'"'"'s. For this purpose, transforming circuits are provided as well as terminal voltage sensing and controlling circuits.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. An anti-glare mirror system for an automobile having an interior and an exterior, the system comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the interior of the automobile; an exterior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the exterior of the automobile, said interior rearview mirror and said exterior rearview mirror having different reflectivities of light; an electro-optical device applied to said interior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror; an electro-optical device applied to said exterior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror; electrical drive circuit means connected to said electro-optical devices to control said reflectivities of said exterior rearview mirror and said interior rearview mirror so that said reflectivities are adjustable to different reflectivity values; sensing circuit means for detecting ambient and backward light and for comparing levels of said ambient and backward light with standard values to determine whether said levels of said ambient and said backward light warrant a change in said reflectivities of said interior and exterior rearview mirrors; coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means for determining if a time period during which said levels of said ambient and said backward light are at values which warrant a change in said reflectivities exceeds a predetermined time interval thus indicating that said values are not transient, said coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means being connected with said electric drive circuit means and said sensing circuit means; and transforming circuit means for applying one drive voltage to said interior rearview mirror and another drive voltage to said exterior rearview mirror so that said one drive voltage applied to said interior rearview mirror is greater than said other drive voltage applied to said exterior rearview mirror so that said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror is less than said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An anti-glare mirror system for an automobile having an interior and an exterior, the system comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the interior of the automobile; an exterior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the exterior of the automobile, said interior rearview mirror and said exterior rearview mirror having different reflectivities of light; an electro-optical device applied to said interior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror; an electro-optical device applied to said exterior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror; electrical drive circuit means connected to said electro-optical devices to control said reflectivities of said exterior rearview mirror and said interior rearview mirror so that said reflectivities are adjustable to different reflectivity values; sensing circuit means for detecting ambient and backward light and for comparing levels of said ambient and backward light with standard values to determine whether said levels of said ambient and said backward light warrant a change in said reflectivities of said interior and exterior rearview mirrors; coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means for determining if a time period during which said levels of said ambient and said backward light are at values which warrant a change in said reflectivities exceeds a predetermined time interval thus indicating that said values are not transient, said coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means being connected with said electric drive circuit means and said sensing circuit means, said electro-optical device applied to the interior rearview mirror being a liquid-phase electrochromic device, said electro-optical device applied to the exterior rearview mirror being a solid-state electrochromic device and said drive circuit means applying one drive voltage to said liquid-phase electrochromic device and another drive voltage to said solid-state electrochromic device so that said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror is less than said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror, and said one drive voltage being equal to said other drive voltage.
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4. An anti-glare mirror system for an automobile having an interior and an exterior, the system comprising
an interior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the interior of the automobile; -
an exterior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the exterior of the automobile, said interior rearview mirror and said exterior rearview mirror having different reflectivities of light; an electro-optical device applied to said interior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror; an electro-optical device applied to said exterior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror; electrical drive circuit means connected to said electro-optical devices and applying one drive voltage to said interior rearview mirror and another drive voltage to said exterior rearview mirror to control said reflectivities of said exterior rearview mirror and said interior rearview mirror so that said reflectivities are adjustable to different reflectivity values; sensing circuit means for detecting ambient and backward light and for comparing levels of said ambient and backward light with standard values to determine whether said levels of said ambient and said backward light warrant a change in said reflectivities of said interior and exterior rearview mirrors; coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means for determining if a time period during which said levels of said ambient and said backward light are at values which warrant a change in said reflectivities exceeds a predetermined time interval thus indicating that said values are not transient, said coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means being connected with said electric drive circuit means and said sensing circuit means, said drive circuit means being provided with timer circuit means to starts said one drive voltage fed to said interior rearview mirror prior to said other drive voltage fed to said exterior rearview mirror and to terminate said one drive voltage supplied to said interior rearview mirror later than said other drive voltage fed to said exterior rearview mirror.
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5. An anti-glare mirror system for an automobile having an interior and an exterior, the system comprising
an interior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the interior of the automobile; -
an exterior rearview mirror adapted to be arranged in the exterior of the automobile, said interior rearview mirror and said exterior rearview mirror having different reflectivities of light; an electro-optical device applied to said interior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said interior rearview mirror; an electro-optical device applied to said exterior rearview mirror and having means for varying said reflectivity of said exterior rearview mirror; electrical drive circuit means connected to said electro-optical devices and applying one drive voltage to said interior rearview mirror and another drive voltage to said exterior rearview mirror to control said reflectivities of said exterior rearview mirror and said interior rearview mirror so that said reflectivities are adjustable to different reflectivity values; sensing circuit means for detecting ambient and backward light and for comparing levels of said ambient and backward light with standard values to determine whether said levels of said ambient and said backward light warrant a change in said reflectivities of said interior and exterior rearview mirrors; coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means for determining if a time period during which said levels of said ambient and said backward light are at values which warrant a change in said reflectivities exceeds a predetermined time interval thus indicating that said values are not transient, said coloring/bleaching switching gate circuit means being connected with said electric drive circuit means and said sensing circuit means, said interior and exterior rearview mirrors having terminals at which a terminal voltage is present, and said drive circuit means including terminal voltage sensing and controlling circuit means for detecting said terminal voltages, for comparing said terminal voltages with standard terminal voltage values and means for providing fixed values of said drive voltages at said interior and exterior rearview mirrors.
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Specification