Rodney Arendsen

US Patent:

51794713, Jan 12, 1993

Filed:

Oct 25, 1990

Appl. No.:

7/603568

Inventors:

Gregory T. Caskey - Holland MI
Rodney S. Arendsen - Holland MI
Niall R. Lynam - Holland MI

Assignee:

Donnelly Corporation - Holland MI

International Classification:

G02B 1700

US Classification:

359603

Abstract:

A spectrally selective, glare-reducing mirror for vehicles which includes a substrate having a multi-layer coating on one side. The multi-layer coating includes a thin, transparent dielectric layer, preferably of titanium dioxide at a thickness of about 600-650 angstroms, and a very thin layer of metal, preferably of aluminum or silver, at a thickness of between about 25 and 150 angstroms. The dielectric layer is closest to a source of incident light to be reflected by the mirror. When applied to the rear surface of a transparent substrate such as glass, the metal layer may also be coated with light absorbing material such as paint for protection and reduction in unwanted reflections. In the preferred dielectric and metal thicknesses, a blue reflecting mirror results having a glare-reducing luminous reflectance between about 35% and 60%, while costs are reduced due to lesser required amounts of metal than in prior known mirrors.