Window system for a passenger compartment of a vehicle
First Claim
1. A window system for a passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising:
- a plurality of windows, each including a transparent layer and a pixelated layer, wherein the pixelated layer includes a two-dimensional array of electrochromic cells and an electrode array electrically connected to the electrochromic cells;
an incident light monitoring subsystem being disposed to monitor incident light transmitted through the plurality of windows into the passenger compartment, being disposed to monitor spatial locations of passengers in the passenger compartment, and being disposed to determine intensity of the incident light relative to fields of view of the passengers;
an incident light management subsystem that is electrically connected to the pixelated layer via the electrode array and is disposed to individually activate and deactivate the electrochromic cells of each of the plurality of windows to reduce transparency thereof; and
a controller, in communication with the monitoring subsystem and the incident light management subsystem, the controller including an instruction set that is executable to;
determine, via the incident light monitoring subsystem, the fields of view of the passengers of the vehicle,determine, via the incident light monitoring subsystem, the intensity of incident light in relation to the fields of view of the passengers, andcontrol the incident light management subsystem to control one or more of the windows to reduce the transparency based upon the intensity of the incident light in relation to the fields of view of the passengers.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A window system for a passenger compartment of a vehicle includes a window including an inner transparent layer, an outer transparent layer and a pixelated layer interposed therebetween. The pixelated layer includes a two-dimensional array of electrochromic cells and an electrode array that is electrically connected to the electrochromic cells. A controller determines, via an incident light monitoring subsystem, a field of view of a passenger and determines an intensity of incident light in relation to the field of view of the passenger. The controller is disposed to command a passenger compartment incident light management subsystem to activate selected electrochromic cells in the transparent window based upon the intensity of the incident light in relation to the field of view of the passenger.
15 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A window system for a passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising:
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a plurality of windows, each including a transparent layer and a pixelated layer, wherein the pixelated layer includes a two-dimensional array of electrochromic cells and an electrode array electrically connected to the electrochromic cells; an incident light monitoring subsystem being disposed to monitor incident light transmitted through the plurality of windows into the passenger compartment, being disposed to monitor spatial locations of passengers in the passenger compartment, and being disposed to determine intensity of the incident light relative to fields of view of the passengers; an incident light management subsystem that is electrically connected to the pixelated layer via the electrode array and is disposed to individually activate and deactivate the electrochromic cells of each of the plurality of windows to reduce transparency thereof; and a controller, in communication with the monitoring subsystem and the incident light management subsystem, the controller including an instruction set that is executable to; determine, via the incident light monitoring subsystem, the fields of view of the passengers of the vehicle, determine, via the incident light monitoring subsystem, the intensity of incident light in relation to the fields of view of the passengers, and control the incident light management subsystem to control one or more of the windows to reduce the transparency based upon the intensity of the incident light in relation to the fields of view of the passengers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification