Vehicle rearview mirror system
First Claim
1. A vehicle rearview mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle comprising:
- an interior rearview mirror assembly including an interior electro-optic reflective element, said interior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity;
at least one exterior rearview mirror assembly including at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element, said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity; and
a control, said control at least controlling a reflectivity level of said interior electro-optic reflective element in accordance with a duty cycle of a pulse width modulated signal, said control determining a reflectivity level of said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element via a bus system of the vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle rearview mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle comprises an interior rearview mirror assembly, at least one control and, preferably, at least one exterior rearview mirror assembly. The interior rearview mirror assembly includes an interior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity. The exterior rearview mirror assembly includes an exterior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity. The at least one control at least controls a reflectivity level of the interior electro-optic reflective element, preferably in accordance with a duty cycle of a pulse width modulated signal. The at least one control may further control a reflectivity level of the exterior electro-optic reflective element via a bus system of the vehicle. The control or controls may communicate and/or control an accessory of the vehicle via the bus system of the vehicle. The controls may comprise a control node of a vehicle control network.
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Citations
81 Claims
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1. A vehicle rearview mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror assembly including an interior electro-optic reflective element, said interior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity;
at least one exterior rearview mirror assembly including at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element, said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity; and
a control, said control at least controlling a reflectivity level of said interior electro-optic reflective element in accordance with a duty cycle of a pulse width modulated signal, said control determining a reflectivity level of said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element via a bus system of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A vehicle rearview mirror system comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror assembly having a rearview mirror housing and an interior electro-optic reflective element having a variable reflectivity;
a first microcontroller mounted in said interior rearview mirror assembly for controlling the reflectivity of said interior electro-optic reflective element, said interior electro-optic reflective element having its reflectivity controlled in accordance with a duty cycle of a pulse width modulated signal provided by said first microcontroller;
a second microcontroller mounted in the vehicle outside said interior rearview mirror assembly and connected to said first microcontroller; and
at least one accessory of the vehicle, at least one of said first and second microcontrollers encompassing a vehicle control network node of a vehicle control network and being operable to control said at least one accessory via said vehicle control network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A vehicle rearview mirror system comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror assembly having an interior electro-optic reflective element, said interior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity;
an exterior rearview mirror assembly having an exterior electro-optic reflective element, said exterior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity; and
a control, said control at least controlling a reflectivity level of at least one of said interior and exterior electro-optic reflective elements in accordance with a duty cycle of at least one pulse width modulated signal generated by an output circuit of said control, said control determining the reflectivity of the other of said at least one of said interior and exterior electro-optic reflective elements via a bus system. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. The vehicle rearview mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror assembly including an exterior electro-optic reflective element, said interior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity;
at least one exterior rearview mirror assembly including at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element, said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity; and
a control, said control at least controlling a reflectivity level of said interior electro-optic reflective element in accordance with a duty cycle of a pulse width modulated signal, said control being operable to communicate with at least one accessory of the vehicle via a bus system of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A vehicle rearview mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror assembly including an interior electro-optic reflective element, said interior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity;
at least one exterior rearview mirror assembly including at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element, said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element having an electrically variable reflectivity;
a first control, said first control at least controlling a reflectivity level of said interior electro-optic reflective element;
a second control, said second control at least controlling a reflectivity level of said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element; and
wherein said first control determines a reflectivity level of said at least one exterior electro-optic reflective element by communication with said second control via a bus system of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A vehicle rearview mirror system comprising:
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an interior rearview mirror assembly having a rearview mirror housing and an interior electro-optic reflective element having a variable reflectivity;
a first control mounted in said interior rearview mirror assembly for controlling the reflectivity of said interior electro-optic element;
a second control mounted in the vehicle outside said interior rearview mirror assembly and connected to said first control via a vehicle bus system; and
at least one accessory of the vehicle, at least one of said first and second controls being operable to control said at least one accessory via said vehicle bus system, wherein said at least one accessory comprises at least one of a remote keyless entry accessory, a vehicle sun roof accessory, an alarm accessory, at least one illumination device, a seat belt warning device, a battery level indicator, a vehicle tire indicator, a blind spot warning system, a global positioning system, a safety warning system, a rain sensor, a vehicle compass, a temperature sensor, a garage door opening system, an occupancy detection system, an intrusion detection system, a telephone system, and an emergency rescue system. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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Specification