Thin-Film Coatings, Electro-Optic Elements and Assemblies Incorporating These Elements
AssigneeGentex Corporation
InventorsHenry A. Luten, John S. Anderson, Jeffrey A. Forgette, George A. Neuman
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Abstract
Electro-optic elements are becoming commonplace in a number of vehicular and architectural applications. Various electro-optic element configurations provide variable transmittance and or variable reflectance for windows and mirrors. The present invention relates to various thin-film coatings, electro-optic elements and assemblies incorporating these elements.
Claims20
A mirror system for use in a vehicular rearview assembly equipped with a light source generating light that is transmitted from within the rearview assembly through said mirror system to a field of view (FOV) outside the assembly, the generated light having a generated spectrum, the mirror system comprising an electrochromic (EC) element, the EC-element including:
- a first substantially transparent substrate having first and second surfaces, the second surface including a transparent electrode carried thereon, the first substrate corresponding to an outside portion of said assembly;
- a second substrate having third and fourth surfaces, the second and first substrates being mutually secured in a parallel and space-apart relationship thereby defining a gap between the second and third surfaces, the third surface having a spectrally-selective transflective thin-film stack carried thereon, said spectrally-selective transflective stack having a multi-band transmission spectrum;
- and
- an electrochromic medium inside said gap,
- wherein said mirror system is characterized by a C* value not exceeding 20, as measured in light produced by a standard D65 illuminant and reflected by said mirror system.
A mirror system for use in a vehicular rearview assembly equipped with a light source generating light that is transmitted from within the rearview assembly through said mirror system to a field of view (FOV) outside the assembly, the generated light having a generated spectrum, the mirror system comprising an electrochromic element, the electrochromic (EC) element including:
- a first substantially transparent substrate having first and second surfaces, the second surface including a transparent electrode carried thereon, the first substrate corresponding to an outside portion of said assembly;
- a second substrate having third and fourth surfaces, the second and first substrates being mutually secured in a parallel and space-apart relationship thereby defining a gap between the second and third surfaces, the third surface having a spectrally-selective transflective thin-film stack carried thereon, said spectrally-selective transflective stack having a multi-band transmission spectrum;
- and
- an electrochromic medium inside said gap,
- wherein said mirror system is characterized by a C* value not exceeding 20, as measured in light produced by a standard D65 illuminant and specularly reflected by said mirror system at any angle within a range of zero to thirty degrees, and
- wherein at least one of the transparent electrode and the spectrally-selective transflective stack is characterized by a mean peak-to-valley surface roughness less than or equal to approximately 150 Å.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.