Liquid crystal mirror for use as a rear-view mirror for vehicles

Claim 1

A liquid crystal rear-view mirror, for use in a vehicle, of the type comprising: a body adapted to be attached to the vehicle, a number of optical elements supported by said body and including a transparent electrically insulating front plate, a thin transparent first layer of electrically conductive material covering the rear surface of the front plate, a rear electrically insulating plate spaced from said front plate and having a front surface facing the said rear surface of said front plate and a rear surface opposite to its front surface, a second thin transparent layer of electrically conductive material covering said front surface of the rear plate, a reflecting layer on said rear surface of the rear plate, a band of insulating material interposed and fluid-tightly sealed between said front and rear plates around the peripheries of said rear and front surfaces to define a cell between said plates, a film of liquid crystal in nematic form contained within said cell, and means for connecting said conductive layers electrically to a voltage source to create an electric field in the liquid crystal film, wherein the improvement consists in said first layer of electrically conductive material having a lattice form bounded by straight mutually perpendicular lines which define a number of exposed areas of said rear surface of said front plate free of electrically conductive material, said exposed areas being square in shape and having a side substantially 0.3-1 mm long, the centres of said areas being separated from each other by 1.5-3 mm.