US4641922A — Liquid crystal panel shade

Claim 1

Independent Claim 196 words

In combination with a vehicle having a window through which sunlight shines into an interior occupant space of the vehicle, an electrically controllable sun shade comprising a liquid crystal medium disposed as a layer having a area of expanse overlying a certain area of the window of a vehicle to provide for sun shading of an occupant, said liquid crystal medium having an electro-optical characteristic wherein the degree of opaqueness is correlated with the voltage gradient existing at any point in the medium, a pair of electrodes bounding the area of expanse of liquid crystal medium on opposite sides, means for creating a selectable voltage across said electrodes, and hence across the area of expanse of said liquid crystal medium layer, and means for creating from said selectable voltage desired sun shading patterns within the interior space on the occupant by creating different voltage gradients at different locations over the area of expanse of the liquid crystal medium layer wherein the different voltage gradients result from the liquid crystal medium layer having different thicknesses at different locations over its area of expanse corresponding to the desired sun shading patterns to be achieved within the interior space.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 196 words

In combination with a vehicle having a window through which sunlight shines into an interior occupant space of the vehicle, an electrically controllable sun shade comprising a liquid crystal medium disposed as a layer having a area of expanse overlying a certain area of the window of a vehicle to provide for sun shading of an occupant, said liquid crystal medium having an electro-optical characteristic wherein the degree of opaqueness is correlated with the voltage gradient existing at any point in the medium, a pair of electrodes bounding the area of expanse of liquid crystal medium on opposite sides, means for creating a selectable voltage across said electrodes, and hence across the area of expanse of said liquid crystal medium layer, and means for creating from said selectable voltage desired sun shading patterns within the interior space on the occupant by creating different voltage gradients at different locations over the area of expanse of the liquid crystal medium layer wherein the different voltage gradients result from the liquid crystal medium layer having different thicknesses at different locations over its area of expanse corresponding to the desired sun shading patterns to be achieved within the interior space.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 65 words

The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said certain area of the window has a vertically downward component to its area of expanse and the thickness of the liquid crystal medium progressively increases along that vertically downward component of expanse, and including a control associated with the medium for selectively setting the downward extent of a zone of opaqueness provided by the medium.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 184 words

In combination with the windshield of a vehicle through which sunlight shines into an interior space of the vehicle, an electrically controllable shade comprising a liquid crystal medium disposed as a layer having an area of expanse overlying a certain area adjacent the top of the windshield, said liquid crystal medium having an electro-optical characteristic wherein the degree of opaqueness is correlated with the voltage gradient existing at any point in the medium, a pair of electrodes bounding the area of expanse of the liquid crystal medium on opposite sides, means for creating selectable voltage across said electrodes, and hence across the area of expanse of said liquid crystal medium layer, and means for creating from said selectable voltage desired shading patterns within the interior space of the vehicle by creating different voltage gradients at different locations over the area of expanse of the liquid crystal medium layer wherein the different voltage gradients result from the liquid crystal medium layer having different thicknesses at different locations across its area of expanse corresponding to the desired shading patterns to be achieved within the interior space.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 184 words

In combination with the windshield of a vehicle through which sunlight shines into an interior space of the vehicle, an electrically controllable shade comprising a liquid crystal medium disposed as a layer having an area of expanse overlying a certain area adjacent the top of the windshield, said liquid crystal medium having an electro-optical characteristic wherein the degree of opaqueness is correlated with the voltage gradient existing at any point in the medium, a pair of electrodes bounding the area of expanse of the liquid crystal medium on opposite sides, means for creating selectable voltage across said electrodes, and hence across the area of expanse of said liquid crystal medium layer, and means for creating from said selectable voltage desired shading patterns within the interior space of the vehicle by creating different voltage gradients at different locations over the area of expanse of the liquid crystal medium layer wherein the different voltage gradients result from the liquid crystal medium layer having different thicknesses at different locations across its area of expanse corresponding to the desired shading patterns to be achieved within the interior space.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 27 words

The combination set forth in claim 3 in which said liquid crystal medium progressively increases in thickness in the direction away from the top of the windshield.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 40 words

The combination set forth in claim 4 including a control associated with said medium and comprising means presettable by an occupant of the interior space of the vehicle for setting the desired shading pattern in relation to the occupant's eyes.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 18 words

The combination set forth in claim 5 in which said means presettable by an occupant comprises a potentiometer.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 32 words

The combination set forth in claim 6 in which said control comprises means for causing said selectable voltage to be selected in accordance with the setting of said potentiometer by an occupant.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 39 words

The combination set forth in claim 5 including a control associated with said medium and including a photocell responsive to sunlight shining onto the windshield, said control comprises means for rendering said photocell effective to control said selectable voltage.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 33 words

The combination set forth in claim 8 in which a light shield is associated with said photocell and the light shield and photocell are relatively positionable to a predetermined relationship to the horizon.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 47 words

The combination set forth in claim 9 in which the light shield is positionable in relation to the incidence of sunlight on the photocell in the same relationship as the liquid crystal medium is in relation to the incidence of sunlight on the eyes of the occupant.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 60 words

The combination set forth in claim 8 in which the control includes means for vertically adjusting the shading provided by the medium such that the shading is caused to track the elevation of the sun above the horizon to maintain the shading in a desired relationship to the occupant's eyes for a given setting of the control by the occupant.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1990-02-09	1990-08-11	1991-02-10	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1994-02-09	1994-08-11	1995-02-10	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1998-02-09	1998-08-11	1999-02-10	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Liquid crystal panel shade

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