Automatic darkening and glare reducing liquid crystal mirror
First Claim
1. A liquid crystal mirror comprising:
- a substantially transparent front substrate having interior and exterior surfaces and a substantially transparent and conductive layer on the interior surface of the front substrate;
a back substrate having interior and exterior surfaces and being spaced from the front substrate to define a cell between the interior surfaces of the substrates, and an at least partially reflective and conductive layer on the interior surface of the back substrate;
an alignment compound on opposite sides of and bounding the cell; and
a layer of liquid crystal fluid contained in the cell and having a substantially constant thickness between the alignment compounds on opposites sides of the cell, the liquid crystal fluid including a dichroic dye.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automatic darkening and glare reducing liquid crystal mirror for vehicles is disclosed. The mirror has a front substrate (101) of transparent glass or plastic and a back substrate (109) of glass or plastic with a highly reflective or transflective mirrored coating (108). The front and back substrates are spaced apart a small distance to define a liquid crystal cell between the substrates and a liquid crystal fluid (106) incorporating dichroic dyes is contained within the liquid crystal cell. A conductive thin film (102) is applied onto the interior surface of the front substrate and the reflective or transflective coating (108) of the back substrate also is conductive. An alignment compound is deposited on the conductive thin film (102) and on the reflective or transflective coating (108) and the alignment compound bounds the liquid crystal cell. An electronic control circuit is adapted to apply selectively a voltage signal to the conductive thin film and the reflective or transflective coating (108) to affect the transmittance of the liquid crystal fluid, and thereby the darkness of the mirror.
15 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A liquid crystal mirror comprising:
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a substantially transparent front substrate having interior and exterior surfaces and a substantially transparent and conductive layer on the interior surface of the front substrate; a back substrate having interior and exterior surfaces and being spaced from the front substrate to define a cell between the interior surfaces of the substrates, and an at least partially reflective and conductive layer on the interior surface of the back substrate; an alignment compound on opposite sides of and bounding the cell; and a layer of liquid crystal fluid contained in the cell and having a substantially constant thickness between the alignment compounds on opposites sides of the cell, the liquid crystal fluid including a dichroic dye. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification