Elimination of internal reflections and diffractions from junctures in, and at the periphery of, a segmented mirror

Claim 1

An improved rear view mirror usable in a vehicle, to receive impingement of light rays traveling generally forwardly form the rear, or flank, or flanks of the vehicle and to reflect said rays toward the viewer in the vehcle is traveling forwardly, the improvement combination comprising: (a) the mirror assembly having a myriad of metallized layers providing reflecting adjacent surfaces oriented to reflect said rays, as referred to, for which the surface mirror assembly nearest the viewer has one of the following configurations: (N 1 ) convex rearwardly, (N 2 ) flat, (N 3 ) V-shaped with apex facing rearwardly, (N 4 ) flat rearwardly, in two offset sections angled relative to one another, separated by a mirror surface that is free of said myriad of surfaces, (N 5 ) convex rearwardly, in two offset sections separated by a third section which is flat rearwardly, (N 6 ) flat and convex, rearwardly in two laterally spaced sections, respectively, which are separated by a mirror surface that is free of said myriad surfaces, the mirror assembly adapted to be positioned in the vehicle cab, behind the windshield, and either symmetrically or assemetrically with repsect to the mid-line of the vehicle, (b) said layers providing reflecting adjacent surfaces at the back side of the mirror away from the viewer, said surfaces oriented to produce, in the eyes of the viewer, one virtual image, or separate virtual images from separate portions of such molded mirror, said layers having thinned peripheries, there being a network of zones separating the individual reflecting surfaces, and there being: (i) a material coating the back sides of said zones, and which includes a light absorber, (ii) the coating covering zones between reflecting surfaces and the thinned peripheries of said metallized reflecting layers, whereby undersirable reflections from said zones are substantially reduced.