Glare reducing glazing articles

• US 10,520,655 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2011
• Issued: 12/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Chien, Bert T., Liu, Yufeng, Derks, Kristopher J., Padiyath, Raghunath, Strauss, Stephen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Huang, Wen
• Application Number:
  US13/990,048
• Publication Number:
  US 20130321915A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,947 Days
• Field of Search: 35948501, 35948503, 35948507, 35948701, 35948702, 35948704, 35948705, 35948801, 359601, 359609, 359614
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/10 of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/281 used for attenuating light intensity, e.g. comprising rotatable polarising elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/3041 comprising multiple thin layers, e.g. multilayer stacks

Abstract

Glazing articles that reduce glare include a glazing substrate, and a reflective polarizing film article attached to the glazing substrate. The reflective polarizing film article includes a reflective polarizing film, and a reflection inhibitor layer. The reflective polarizing film articles reduce transmission of polarized light with a polarization block axis that is horizontal, and reduce horizontally polarized light to 90% or less of the horizontally polarized incident visible light. The reflective polarizing film may include a multi-layer film construction. The reflection inhibitor layer may include a tinted layer or an absorptive polarizer layer. Glazing units that reduce glare include at least one glazing substrate, at least one reflective polarizing film, and at least one reflection inhibitor layer. The glazing substrate, reflective polarizing film, and reflection inhibitor layer may or may not be in contact with one another.

Claims

1. An article consisting essentially of:

a window consisting essentially of;

a glazing substrate; and

a reflective polarizing film article attached to the glazing substrate, wherein the reflective polarizing film article consists essentially of;

a visible light reflective polarizing film; and

a visible light reflection inhibitor layer comprising a tinted layer, wherein the tinted layer comprises a coating, a film, or a tinted glazing substrate, and

wherein the reflection inhibitor layer inhibits light reflected from the reflective polarizing film, wherein the reflective polarizing film article reduces glare, which is horizontally polarized sunlight, including sunlight reflected off of horizontal surfaces and Rayleigh scattered sunlight, and

wherein the reflective polarizing film article reduces the transmission of horizontally polarized light to 90% or less of incident horizontally polarized visible light.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflective polarizing film comprises a multi-layer construction.

3. The article of claim 2, wherein the multi-layer construction comprises a multi-layer film.

4. The article of claim 1, wherein the tinted layer comprises a coating, the coating comprising a layer of visible light absorbing particles in a cured polymeric binder, or a combination of visible light absorbing particles and infrared light absorbing particles in a cured polymeric binder.

5. The article of claim 1, wherein the tinted layer comprises a tinted hardcoat layer.

6. The article of claim 5, wherein the tinted hardcoat layer comprises carbon black particles in a cured acrylic binder.

7. The article of claim 3, wherein the multi-layer reflective polarizing film comprises at least two oriented polyester layers selected from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), copolymers containing polyethylene terephthalate (CoPET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), copolymers containing polyethylene naphthalate (CoPEN), or combinations thereof.

8. The article of claim 1, wherein the article has a visible light transmission of from 5% to 50%.

9. The article of claim 1, wherein the reflective polarizing film article reduces transmission of horizontally polarized light to 60% or less of incident horizontally polarized visible light.

10. The article of claim 1, wherein a reflection of unpolarized visible light incident on the surface of the reflection inhibitor layer is less than 30%.

11. The article of claim 1, wherein a reflection of unpolarized visible light incident on the surface of the reflective polarizing film layer is at least 20%.

12. A glazing unit consisting essentially of:

a window consisting essentially of;

a glazing substrate;

a visible light reflective polarizing film; and

a visible light reflection inhibitor layer wherein the visible light reflection inhibitor layer comprises a tinted layer, and

wherein the visible light reflection inhibitor layer inhibits light reflected from the visible light reflective polarizing film, wherein the visible light reflective polarizing film reduces transmission of glare, which is horizontally polarized sunlight, including sunlight reflected off of horizontal surfaces and Rayleigh scattered sunlight, and wherein the visible light reflective polarizing film reduces the transmission of horizontally polarized light to 90% or less of incident horizontally polarized visible light.

13. The glazing unit of claim 12, wherein the glazing substrate, the reflective polarizing film, and the reflection inhibitor layer are not in contact with each other.

14. The glazing unit of claim 12, wherein the reflective polarizing film, and the reflection inhibitor layer are in contact with each other to form a reflective polarizing film article, and this reflective polarizing film article is not in contact with the at least one glazing substrate.