US 2014/0211492 A1 · VEHICULAR EXTERIOR TRANSFLECTIVE REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A single-substrate mirror element defined by a transflective metal layer—non-metal layer—metal layer coating disposed on the first surface of the substrate and enabled to meet the requirements of operation in an exterior rearview assembly and to provide for stealthy appearance of a light source of the assembly disposed behind the mirror element. The appearance of the mirror element, defined in parameters of the CIELAB color system, is substantially color-neutral, while tuning of reflectance and transmittance characteristics can be achieved substantially independently from one another. Reflectance value and measure of color content of light specularly reflected by the mirror at non-zero angles remains substantially stable within wide range of angles.

Claims29

Dependent claims

An exterior automotive rearview assembly having a front, the assembly comprising:

a mirror element structured for normal operation as part of the exterior automotive rearview assembly and including
a first substrate having a first surface corresponding to the front and a second surface substantially tangentially parallel to the first surface;
and
a thin-film coating carried on the first surface, said thin-film coating including first and second metallic layers and a non-metallic layer disposed therebetween such as to impart, to the first substrate with the thin-film coating thereon, a reflectance value from about 35 percent to about 70 percent and a transmittance value from about 5 percent to about 20 percent as measured in visible light generated by a standard D65 illuminant and incident onto the first surface from the front.

1 more element

An exterior automotive rearview assembly having a front, the assembly comprising:

a single-substrate mirror element structured for normal operation as part of the exterior automotive rearview assembly and including
a substrate having a non-planar first surface corresponding the front and a second surface substantially parallel to the first surface;
and
a thin-film coating carried on the first surface, said thin-film coating exposed to an incident medium, said thin-film coating including first and second metallic layers and a non-metallic layer disposed therebetween such as to impart, to the single-substrate mirror element, a reflectance value from about 35 percent to about 70 percent, a transmittance value from about 5 percent to about 20 percent, and a change of metric chroma C* color characteristic of less than 10 units as a function of angle of incidence of light between zero degrees and about 30 degrees, as measured in visible light generated by a standard D65 illuminant and directly incident onto the first surface from the incident medium, wherein C*=√{square root over (a*2+b*2)} and a* and b* are parameters of the CIELAB color system.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Vehicular exterior transflective rearview mirror assembly

Life of this patent

Vehicular exterior transflective rearview mirror assembly

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims29