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 so that said surface of said glass substrate of said reflective element has a free form curvature that corresponds to the free form curvature of said at least one bending element.
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.
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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 so that said surface of said glass substrate of said reflective element has a free form curvature that corresponds to the free form curvature of said at least one bending element. - 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 so that said surface of said glass substrate of said reflective element has a free form curvature that corresponds to the free form curvature of said at least one bending element, 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 so that said surface of said glass substrate of said reflective element has a free form curvature that corresponds to the free form curvature of 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