JPS6275619A - Glare-proof mirror - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the uniformity of thickness of a liquid crystal of a curved dazzleproof mirror by forming one electrode substrate with a curved hard material and using a flexible plate-shaped body to curve the other electrode substrate along the curved hard material. CONSTITUTION:Since an electrode substrate 11 consisting of a flexible plate material is curved along a curved hard electrode substrate 10 and has both ends held, the gap between two electrode substrates 10 and 11 is kept approximately uniform, and as the result, the thickness of a liquid crystal layer 14 is approximately uniform throughout. Plural ball-shaped spacers 15 which consist of a glass material and have the same particle size are scattered in the liquid crystal to form the liquid crystal 14 with a uniform thickness throughout more surely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Industrial Application Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an anti-glare mirror whose reflectance is variable using liquid crystal.

<Prior art> (Fig. 3) For example, rearview mirrors of automobiles are coated with a colored film such as metal oxide as an anti-glare film, or a polarizing film is layered on the surface to reflect light to the reflecting mirror. Reduces transmittance to prevent glare. However, when such an anti-glare mirror is used as a rearview mirror of an automobile, it is curved into a convex surface to widen the field of view.

Incidentally, in recent years, anti-glare films have been developed that use liquid crystals instead of the anti-glare film described above, making use of the variable light transmittance property of liquid crystals to adjust the reflectance according to the intensity of external light to prevent glare. A glare mirror has been developed.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional anti-glare mirror in which liquid crystal is used in place of the anti-glare film.

In Fig. 3, reference numeral 1 is made of a transparent glass material in the form of a flat plate, and a reflective layer 1a made of a metal film or the like is formed on the lower surface of the glass material in order to reflect light from above, and a transparent layer 1a is formed on the upper surface of the glass material. This is a transparent first electrode substrate on which an electrode layer 1b is formed.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a transparent second electrode substrate disposed parallel to and facing the first electrode substrate 1 with a sealing material 3.3 in between. Like the first electrode substrate 1, the second electrode substrate 2 is made of a flat glass material, and a transparent electrode layer 2a is formed on the lower surface thereof, and a transparent electrode layer 2b is formed with a sealing material 3 sandwiched therebetween. has been done.

4 is a liquid crystal sealed in a space formed by the first electrode substrate 1, the second electrode substrate 2, and the sealing material 3.3.

As the liquid crystal 4, a liquid crystal composition containing a dichroic dye is used, and when an electric field is applied between the transparent electrodes 1b12a, the light transmittance changes. 5 is a conductive material.

6 is a liquid crystal drive circuit which applies a predetermined potential difference between the transparent electrode layer 1b of the first electrode substrate 1 and the transparent electrode layer 2a of the second electrode substrate 2, thereby causing the liquid crystal layer 4 The liquid crystal is driven to change the light transmittance.

In this anti-glare mirror, as shown by arrow A, the incident light is
The light passes through the transparent electrode substrate 2, the transparent electrode layer 2a1, the liquid crystal 4, the transparent electrode layer 1b, and the transparent electrode substrate 1 and is reflected by the reflective layer 1a, but the light transmittance of the liquid crystal 4 can be changed by the liquid crystal drive circuit 6. The reflectance of the anti-glare mirror can be changed by

<Problems to be Solved by the Present Invention> However, such conventional anti-glare mirrors using liquid crystals are flat and not curved, so when used as a rearview mirror in an automatic vehicle, visibility is limited. It was very narrow and extremely inconvenient for driving safety.

Therefore, in the liquid crystal anti-glare mirror shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to create hard transparent plates curved to a predetermined curvature as the electrode substrates 1 and 2, and to hold the liquid crystal between these two curved transparent plates. is being attempted.

Therefore, in order to make the thickness of the liquid crystal layer held between the two curved plates uniform over the entire surface, it is necessary to increase the precision of the curved surface of the double-groove curved plate. However, in reality, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is extremely thin (approximately 10μ r!!), so no matter how high the precision of the curved surface of the curved plate is, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is uniform over the entire surface to about 10μ±1μ. It was quite difficult to achieve this.

For this reason, even if an anti-glare mirror using liquid crystal is made to have a convex surface, non-uniform thickness of the liquid crystal layer cannot be avoided, resulting in distortion of the reflected image and non-uniform brightness.

<Object of the present invention> An object of the present invention is to correct the above-mentioned drawbacks and provide a curved anti-glare mirror using liquid crystal in which the thickness of the liquid crystal layer can be easily made uniform.

<An embodiment of the present invention> (Fig. 1) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an anti-glare mirror according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a first '7 Ti electrode substrate made of a plate-shaped transparent hard material (e.g. glass material) which is curved in the length direction with a predetermined curvature in order to have a desired field of view. On the side, in order to reflect light from above, a reflective layer 10a is formed on the entire lower surface side by vapor-depositing metal such as aluminum and processed to have a mirror finish.

Further, on the upper surface side of the first electrode substrate 10, a metal oxide (
A transparent electrode layer 10b that is transparent and has high electrical conductivity, such as indium oxide (for example, indium oxide), and a transparent electrode layer 100 sandwiching a sealing material 12a are formed over almost the entire surface in an insulated state.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a second electrode substrate formed into a plate shape from a transparent material (for example, a plastic film) with ductility. Similarly, a transparent electrode layer 11a is formed over the entire surface, and a first electrode 1f! is formed through sealing materials 12a and 12b. It is attached in a curved manner along the base IN10.

13 is a conductive material (for example, conductive rubber) for electrically connecting the transparent electrode gjioc of the first electrode substrate 10 and the transparent electrode layer 11a of the second electrode substrate 11.

14 is the transparent electrode layer 10b1 of the first electrode substrate 10;
The transparent electrode layer 11a of the electrode substrate 11 and the sealing material 1
This is a liquid crystal layer held in a curved space formed by 2a and 12b.

16 is a liquid crystal driving circuit that drives the liquid crystal 14 to change the light transmittance.

In this way, Tilff1 I plate 1 made of flexible plate material
1 is curved along the hard curved electrode substrate 10 and held at both ends, the spacing between the two electrode substrates 10 and 11 is kept almost uniform, and as a result, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 14 is uniform over the entire surface. , it becomes almost uniform.

Other Embodiments of the Present Invention (FIG. 2) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the essential parts of an anti-glare mirror according to another embodiment of the present invention.

That is, in this embodiment, the liquid crystal 1 in the embodiment of FIG.
A plurality of spherical spacers 15 made of, for example, a glass material and having the same particle size are scattered within the spacer 4 .

The spacers 15 have a particle size that is the same as the target thickness of the liquid crystal layer, and are arranged almost uniformly over the entire surface of the liquid crystal layer 14. Therefore, the flexible second electrode substrate 11
The sealing materials 12a and 12b are applied along the first electrode substrate 10.
When the transparent electrode 11a on the lower surface of the second electrode substrate 11 comes into contact with the spacers 15, 15, .
The thickness is more reliably formed uniformly throughout.

Effects of the Present Invention> As described above, in the anti-glare mirror of the present invention, one electrode substrate is formed of a curved hard material, and the other electrode substrate is formed of a flexible plate. Since it is curved along the curved hard material, the two electrode substrates face each other at the same distance over the entire surface.

Therefore, the liquid crystal layer between the two electrode substrates has a uniform thickness over the entire surface.

Therefore, a curved anti-glare mirror in which an extremely thin liquid crystal layer has a uniform thickness over the entire surface can be easily realized with high precision even though it has a mil structure. Therefore, when used as a rearview mirror, etc., the field of view becomes wider and safer, and distortion of the anti-OA image and non-uniform brightness are also eliminated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing main parts of another embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 3 is a conventional anti-glare mirror using liquid crystal. FIG. 10...First electrode substrate, 10a...
Reflective layer, 10b...Transparent electrode layer, 10c...
...Transparent electrode layer, 11...Second electrode substrate,
11a...Transparent electrode layer, 12a...Sealing material, 12b...Sealing material, 13...
・Conductive material, 14...Liquid crystal layer, 14a...
・Liquid crystal, 15...Spacer, 16...
LCD drive circuit. Patent applicant Nifco Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Makoto Hayakawa Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] A liquid crystal is held between a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate having a reflective layer for reflecting light, and an electric field is applied between the first electrode substrate and the second electrode substrate. In the anti-glare mirror in which the light transmittance of the liquid crystal is variable by: one of the first electrode substrate and the second electrode substrate being formed in a curved shape from a hard material, and the other electrode substrate being formed in a curved shape, an electrode substrate formed of a flexible material and arranged in a curved shape along the one electrode substrate, and the electrode substrate formed in the curved shape and the other electrode formed of the flexible material. An anti-glare mirror characterized in that the liquid crystal is held in a curved shape between it and a substrate.