Systems with synchronized windows

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10488686-B1
Application number	US-201715634946-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 27, 2017
Priority date	Jul 28, 2016
Publication date	Nov 26, 2019
Grant date	Nov 26, 2019

Abstract

A system such as a vehicle may have window that exhibit adjustable transparency. The windows may include liquid crystal devices and polymer dispersed liquid crystal devices that exhibit adjustable amounts of light transmission and haze. An optical property of a window such as window transparency may be modulated using an alternating-current modulation waveform. Modulation of the transparency of the window may be synchronized with modulated light output from a light source. The light source may be located inside the vehicle or may be located outside of the vehicle. By synchronizing the modulation of the transparency of the window with the light source output, privacy may be enhanced or glare may be reduced.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an interior;
control circuitry;
an adjustable window in the body that is between the interior and an exterior region surrounding the body, wherein the adjustable window has an optical property that is modulated by the control circuitry; and
a light source that produces output light that is modulated by the control circuitry in synchronization with the modulation of the optical property of the adjustable window, wherein the light source comprises an internal light that emits the output light and wherein the output light at least partially illuminates the interior.

2. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the adjustable window comprises a light modulator layer and wherein the optical property comprises a light transmittance of the adjustable window that the control circuitry modulates using the light modulator layer.

3. The vehicle defined in claim 2 wherein the control circuitry is configured to modulate the light transmittance of the light modulator layer in accordance with an alternating-current light transmittance modulation waveform and is configured to modulate the output light with a synchronized alternating-current light output modulation waveform.

4. The vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein the light modulator layer comprises a light modulator layer selected from the group consisting of: a liquid crystal light modulator with polarizers, a guest-host liquid crystal light modulator layer, and a cholesteric liquid crystal light modulator layer.

5. The vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein the alternating-current light transmittance modulation waveform has a frequency of at least 60 Hz.

6. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the internal light includes at least one light-emitting diode that emits the output light.

7. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the internal light forms part of a display having a pixel array that displays images.

8. The vehicle defined in claim 7 wherein the display has a backlight unit with at least one light-emitting diode that produces the output light.

9. The vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein the light source comprises an image projector.

10. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the adjustable window comprises an adjustable reflectivity layer, wherein the optical property is a reflectivity of the adjustable window that is modulated by the control circuitry, and wherein the adjustable reflectivity layer comprises a cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

11. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein the adjustable window comprises an adjustable haze layer and wherein the optical property is a haze of the adjustable window that is modulated by the control circuitry.

12. The vehicle defined in claim 11 wherein the adjustable haze layer comprises a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer.

13. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an interior;
control circuitry;
an adjustable window in the body that is between the interior and an exterior region surrounding the body, wherein the adjustable window has an optical property that is modulated by the control circuitry; and
a light source that produces output light that is modulated by the control circuitry in synchronization with the modulation of the optical property of the adjustable window, wherein the optical property that is modulated comprises a window transparency for the adjustable window, wherein the window transparency is reduced when the output light is increased, and wherein the window transparency is increased when the output light is decreased.

14. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an interior;
control circuitry;
an adjustable window in the body that is between the interior and an exterior region surrounding the body, wherein the adjustable window has an optical property that is modulated by the control circuitry; and
a light source that produces output light that is modulated by the control circuitry in synchronization with the modulation of the optical property of the adjustable window, wherein the light source comprises an exterior light source and the output light comprises external light supplied by the exterior light source.

15. The vehicle defined in claim 14 , wherein the optical property that is modulated comprises a window transparency for the adjustable window, and wherein the window transparency is modulated by a first alternating current modulation waveform and alternates between a first transparency and a second transparency that is greater than the first transparency.

16. The vehicle defined in claim 15 , wherein the external light is modulated by a second alternating current modulation waveform that is synchronized with the first alternating current modulation waveform, wherein the external light alternates between a first intensity when the adjustable window has the first transparency and a second intensity that is less than the first intensity when the adjustable window has the second transparency, further comprising a light sensor, wherein the control circuitry synchronizes the first alternating current modulation waveform and the second alternating current modulation waveform using information on the external light measured with the light sensor.

17. A vehicle, comprising:
a body having an interior;
control circuitry;
an adjustable window in the body that is between the interior and an exterior region surrounding the body, wherein the adjustable window has an optical property that is modulated by the control circuitry; and
a light source that produces output light that is modulated by the control circuitry in synchronization with the modulation of the optical property of the adjustable window, wherein the optical property that is modulated comprises a window transparency for the adjustable window, wherein the window transparency is modulated by an alternating current modulation waveform and alternates between a first transparency and a second transparency that is greater than the first transparency.

18. The vehicle defined in claim 17 wherein the adjustable window comprises an adjustable reflectivity layer, wherein the optical property is a reflectivity of the adjustable window that is modulated by the control circuitry, and wherein the adjustable reflectivity layer comprises a cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

19. The vehicle defined in claim 17 wherein the adjustable window comprises an adjustable haze layer and wherein the optical property is a haze of the adjustable window that is modulated by the control circuitry.

20. The vehicle defined in claim 13 wherein the adjustable window comprises an adjustable reflectivity layer, wherein the optical property is a reflectivity of the adjustable window that is modulated by the control circuitry, and wherein the adjustable reflectivity layer comprises a cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Melcher Martin
• Wilson James R
• Mazuir Clarisse
• Kingman David E

Classifications

• B60J3/04 Primary

  adjustable in transparency · CPC title

• G02F1/13306

  Circuit arrangements or driving methods for the control of single liquid crystal cells (G02F1/132, G02F1/133382 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02F1/137

  characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect, e.g. field-induced phase transition, orientation effect, guest-host interaction or dynamic scattering · CPC title

• B60J3/06

  using polarising effect · CPC title

• G02F1/13318 Primary

  Circuits comprising a photodetector · CPC title