Interior rearview mirror assembly with full screen video display

• US 10,518,704 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2018
• Issued: 12/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magna Mirrors of America Incorporated (Magna International Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Magna Mirrors of America Incorporated (Magna International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Larson, Mark L., Uken, John T., Koetje, Christopher R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael
• Application Number:
  US16/059,519
• Publication Number:
  US 20180370440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 509 Days
• Field of Search: 348148
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/04 mounted inside vehicle B60R1/025, B60R1/08 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/12 Mirror assemblies combined with other articles, e.g. clocks
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1223 with sensors or transducers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1253 with cameras, video cameras or video screens
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A vehicular interior rearview mirror assembly includes a mirror head pivotable about a mirror support. An electro-optic mirror reflective element includes a transflective mirror reflector that at least partially reflects light incident thereon and at least partially transmits incident light therethrough. A video display device is disposed rearward of a reflective region of the mirror reflective element and includes a display screen that occupies at least 75 percent of the reflective region. A light sensor is disposed at an overhang region and is integrated with a user input that is configured to actuate at the overhang region of the mirror reflective element. The video display device is operated responsive at least in part to actuation by a user of the user input. Electro-optic dimming of the mirror reflective element and/or display intensity of the video display device is variable responsive to a light level detected by the light sensor.

Claims

1. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said interior rearview mirror assembly comprising:

a mirror head pivotable about a mirror support configured to attach at an interior portion of a vehicle equipped with said interior rearview mirror assembly;

wherein said mirror head comprises a mirror reflective element;

wherein said mirror reflective element comprises an electro-optic mirror reflective element having a front substrate and a rear substrate with an electro-optic medium disposed therebetween, and wherein said front substrate has a first surface and a second surface and said rear substrate has a third surface and a fourth surface, said second surface and said third surface opposing said electro-optic medium;

wherein a transflective mirror reflector is disposed at said third surface, and wherein said transflective mirror reflector at least partially reflects light incident thereon and at least partially transmits incident light therethrough;

wherein said electro-optic mirror reflective element comprises a reflective region defined by said transflective mirror reflector;

a video display device disposed rearward of said reflective region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device comprises a display screen that occupies at least 75 percent of said reflective region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device comprises a backlighting array of light emitting diodes for backlighting said display screen;

wherein said electro-optic mirror reflective element comprises an overhang region where a cross dimension of said front substrate is greater than a corresponding cross dimension of said rear substrate;

a light sensor disposed at the overhang region, wherein said light sensor senses light levels at said interior rearview mirror assembly, and wherein said light sensor is disposed behind said front substrate and below said video display device, and wherein said light sensor senses light that passes through said front substrate of said electro-optic mirror reflective element at the overhang region, and wherein the light that passes through said front substrate at the overhang region does not pass through said electro-optic medium of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said light sensor is integrated with a user input that is configured to actuate at the overhang region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said video display device is operable to display video images captured by a rearward viewing camera of the equipped vehicle;

wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, and when said video display device is operated to display video images, light emitted by said video display device passes through said transflective mirror reflector of said electro-optic mirror reflective element for viewing of displayed video images by a driver of the equipped vehicle viewing said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device is operated responsive at least in part to actuation by a user of the user input; and

wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, electro-optic dimming of said electro-optic mirror reflective element and/or display intensity of said video display device is variable responsive to a light level detected by said light sensor to enhance visibility of displayed images at an electro-optically active region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element.

2. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said backlighting array of light emitting diodes of said video display device has at least two dimming ranges configured to increase the overall range of illumination intensity of said backlighting array of light emitting diodes.

3. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said user input is configured to actuate based on a touch event at said first surface of said front substrate at the overhang region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element.

4. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said video display device comprises a video processor that increases background image luminance to limit viewability of reflected images at said reflective region of said mirror reflective element.

5. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said display screen of said video display device comprises an array of pixels that includes a plurality of sub-arrays of pixels having red, green, blue and clear pixels.

6. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 5, wherein said video display device is operable to display images using clear pixels to provide a brighter displayed image, and wherein said video display device is operable to display images without using clear pixels to reduce the brightness of the displayed images.

7. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 6, wherein said video display device is operable to display images without using clear pixels responsive to a determination of night-time driving conditions.

8. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said video display device changes from displaying color images to displaying black and white images responsive to a determination of night-time driving conditions.

9. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said backlighting array of light emitting diodes comprises a plurality of zones of light emitting diodes, and wherein each zone of said plurality of zones of light emitting diodes comprises at least two light emitting diodes, and wherein said zones of light emitting diodes backlight respective regions of said video display device, and wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, the regions of said video display device display respective areas in the rearward field of view of said rearward viewing camera.

10. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 9, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said zones of light emitting diodes are independently controlled based on the video images being displayed at the respective regions by said video display device.

11. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 9, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, at least one zone of said plurality of zones of light emitting diodes is controlled responsive to a determination, via said light sensor, of a glare source being present at the area in the rearward field of view of said rearward viewing camera that is being displayed at the region of said video display device that is backlit by said at least one zone of said plurality of zones of light emitting diodes.

12. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 9, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, at least one zone of said plurality of zones of light emitting diodes is controlled responsive to a determination, via said light sensor, of a headlight of a rear-approaching vehicle being present at the area in the rearward field of view of said rearward viewing camera that is being displayed at the region of said video display device that is backlit by said at least one zone of said plurality of zones of light emitting diodes.

13. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 9, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, at least one zone of said plurality of zones of light emitting diodes backlights an upper region of said display screen, and wherein said at least one zone is dimmed to reduce the display intensity of a sky region of the displayed video images.

14. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said interior rearview mirror assembly comprising:

a mirror head pivotable about a mirror support configured to attach at an interior portion of a vehicle equipped with said interior rearview mirror assembly;

wherein said mirror head comprises a mirror reflective element;

wherein said mirror reflective element comprises an electro-optic mirror reflective element having a front substrate and a rear substrate with an electro-optic medium disposed therebetween, and wherein said front substrate has a first surface and a second surface and said rear substrate has a third surface and a fourth surface, said second surface and said third surface opposing said electro-optic medium;

wherein a transflective mirror reflector is disposed at said third surface, and wherein said transflective mirror reflector at least partially reflects light incident thereon and at least partially transmits incident light therethrough;

wherein said electro-optic mirror reflective element comprises a reflective region defined by said transflective mirror reflector;

a video display device disposed rearward of said reflective region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device comprises a display screen that occupies at least 75 percent of said reflective region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device comprises a backlighting array of light emitting diodes for backlighting said display screen;

wherein said electro-optic mirror reflective element comprises an overhang region where a cross dimension of said front substrate is greater than a corresponding cross dimension of said rear substrate;

a light sensor disposed at the overhang region, wherein said light sensor senses light levels at said interior rearview mirror assembly, and wherein said light sensor is disposed behind said front substrate and below said video display device, and wherein said light sensor senses light that passes through said front substrate of said electro-optic mirror reflective element at the overhang region, and wherein the light that passes through said front substrate at the overhang region does not pass through said electro-optic medium of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said light sensor is integrated with a user input that is configured to actuate at the overhang region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said user input is configured to actuate based on a touch event at said first surface of said front substrate at the overhang region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device is operated to display video images captured by a rearward viewing camera of the vehicle;

wherein, when said video display device is operated to display video images, light emitted by said video display device passes through said transflective mirror reflector of said electro-optic mirror reflective element for viewing of displayed video images by a driver of the vehicle viewing said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device is operated responsive at least in part to actuation by a user of the user input; and

wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, at least some of said light emitting diodes of said video display device are controlled responsive to a determination, via said light sensor, of a glare source being present at the area in the rearward field of view of said rearward viewing camera that is being displayed at a region of said video display device that is backlit by said at least some of said light emitting diodes.

15. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 14, wherein said backlighting array of light emitting diodes of said video display device has at least two dimming ranges configured to increase the overall range of illumination intensity of said backlighting array of light emitting diodes.

16. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 14, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said video display device changes from displaying color images to displaying black and white images responsive to a determination of night-time driving conditions.

17. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 14, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said light emitting diodes are controlled based on the video images being displayed at respective regions backlit by said light emitting diodes of said video display device.

18. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said interior rearview mirror assembly comprising:

a mirror head pivotable about a mirror support configured to attach at an interior portion of a vehicle equipped with said interior rearview mirror assembly;

wherein said mirror head comprises a mirror reflective element;

wherein said mirror reflective element comprises an electro-optic mirror reflective element having a front substrate and a rear substrate with an electro-optic medium disposed therebetween, and wherein said front substrate has a first surface and a second surface and said rear substrate has a third surface and a fourth surface, said second surface and said third surface opposing said electro-optic medium;

wherein a transflective mirror reflector is disposed at said third surface, and wherein said transflective mirror reflector at least partially reflects light incident thereon and at least partially transmits incident light therethrough;

wherein said electro-optic mirror reflective element comprises a reflective region defined by said transflective mirror reflector;

a video display device disposed rearward of said reflective region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device comprises a display screen that occupies at least 75 percent of said reflective region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device comprises a backlighting array of light emitting diodes for backlighting said display screen;

wherein said electro-optic mirror reflective element comprises an overhang region where a cross dimension of said front substrate is greater than a corresponding cross dimension of said rear substrate;

a light sensor disposed at the overhang region, wherein said light sensor senses light levels at said interior rearview mirror assembly, and wherein said light sensor is disposed behind said front substrate and below said video display device, and wherein said light sensor senses light that passes through said front substrate of said electro-optic mirror reflective element at the overhang region, and wherein the light that passes through said front substrate at the overhang region does not pass through said electro-optic medium of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said light sensor is integrated with a user input that is configured to actuate at the overhang region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said user input is configured to actuate based on a touch event at said first surface of said front substrate at the overhang region of said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said video display device is operable to display video images captured by a rearward viewing camera of the equipped vehicle;

wherein said display screen of said video display device comprises an array of pixels that includes a plurality of sub-arrays of pixels having red, green, blue and clear pixels;

wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, and when said video display device is operated to display video images, light emitted by said video display device passes through said transflective mirror reflector of said electro-optic mirror reflective element for viewing of displayed video images by a driver of the equipped vehicle viewing said electro-optic mirror reflective element;

wherein said video display device is operated responsive at least in part to actuation by a user of the user input; and

wherein said video display device is operable to display images using clear pixels to provide a brighter displayed image, and wherein said video display device is operable to display images without using clear pixels to reduce the brightness of the displayed images.

19. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein said video display device comprises a video processor that increases background image luminance to limit viewability of reflected images at said reflective region of said mirror reflective element.

20. The interior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein, with said mirror support attached at the interior portion of the equipped vehicle, said video display device is operable to display images without using clear pixels responsive to a determination of night-time driving conditions.