Individual mirror control system
First Claim
1. A system for controlling reflectance levels of an inside rearview mirror and at least one outside rearview mirror of a vehicle having a rear window made of privacy glass, the system comprising:
- a glare sensor for sensing the level of light received from behind the vehicle, and for generating a glare signal representing the sensed light level; and
a control subsystem electrically coupled to the inside and outside rearview mirrors and said glare sensor for receiving said glare signal and for generating electrical signals to control the reflectivity of each of the inside and outside rearview mirrors, said control subsystem controls the reflectivity of the inside rearview mirror differently than that of the at least one outside rearview mirror to compensate for the privacy glass of the rear window.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for a plurality of electrochromic elements, for example, used in automobiles, to control the glare of the IEC elements used as a rearview mirror (20) as well as the OEC elements (24, 26) used as sideview mirrors (24, 26). The IEC element and each of the OEC elements is provided with an individual drive circuit (21, 22). The drive circuits for the OEC'"'"'s elements may be customized to account for various factors such as the type of curvature as well as the size and shape. Since individual drive circuitry is provided for the IEC elements and each of the OEC elements, the reflectance of each of the electrochromic elements (20, 24, 26) can be relatively accurately controlled by way of glare signal from inside the automobile.
113 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for controlling reflectance levels of an inside rearview mirror and at least one outside rearview mirror of a vehicle having a rear window made of privacy glass, the system comprising:
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a glare sensor for sensing the level of light received from behind the vehicle, and for generating a glare signal representing the sensed light level; and
a control subsystem electrically coupled to the inside and outside rearview mirrors and said glare sensor for receiving said glare signal and for generating electrical signals to control the reflectivity of each of the inside and outside rearview mirrors, said control subsystem controls the reflectivity of the inside rearview mirror differently than that of the at least one outside rearview mirror to compensate for the privacy glass of the rear window. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A rear vision system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a rear window made of privacy glass, the rear vision system comprising:
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an outside rearview mirror for mounting to the outside of the vehicle, said outside mirror having a reflectivity that varies in response to an electrical control signal;
an inside rearview mirror for mounting to the inside of the vehicle to reflect light entering through the privacy glass of the rear window towards the eyes of the driver, said inside mirror having a reflectivity that varies in response to an electrical control signal;
a glare sensor for sensing the level of light received from behind the vehicle, and for generating a glare signal representing the sensed light level; and
a control subsystem electrically coupled to said inside and outside rearview mirrors and said glare sensor for receiving said glare signal and for generating electrical signals to control the reflectivity of each of said inside and outside rearview mirrors, said control subsystem controls the reflectivity of said inside rearview mirror differently than that of said outside rearview mirror to compensate for the privacy glass of the rear window. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification