Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,625,580) for “systems with adjustable windows” — the systems being an automobile. The idea is to allow drivers and passengers to adjust the tint of a vehicle’s windows to ensure privacy.
In the patent data, Apple says that it can be challenging to incorporate light modifying structures such as frosted surfaces and mirror coatings into windows. If care isn’t taken, windows may be too reflective, may be insufficiently transparent for viewing, or may have other undesired attributes.
Here’s the summary of the invention: “A system such as a vehicle may have adjustable structures such as adjustable windows. Adjustable windows may have adjustable layers such as adjustable tint layers, adjustable reflectivity layers, and adjustable haze layers. Adjustable window layers may be incorporated into a window with one or more transparent structural layers such as a pair of glass window layers.
“Adjustable components such as adjustable reflectivity layers, adjustable haze layers, and adjustable tint layers may be interposed between the pair of glass window layers. Fixed partially reflective mirrors, fixed tint layers, and/or fixed haze layers may be used in place of adjustable tint, haze, and reflectivity layers and/or may be incorporated into windows in addition to adjustable tint, haze, and reflectivity layers.”
