Apple may have abandoned its plans for an Apple Car, but the company continues to be granted vehicle-related patents. The latest is number US 12130521 B1 for “Windows with Liquid Crystal Layers.”
Obviously, a vehicle or other system may have windows. A window may include an outer glass layer having a concave inner surface and an inner glass layer having a convex inner surface. Transparent conductive electrodes may be formed on the concave inner surface and the convex outer surface.
According to Apple’s patent, a liquid crystal layer such as a nanocapsule guest-host liquid crystal layer may be interposed between the transparent conductive electrodes. During manufacturing, a first layer of liquid crystal may be coated onto the transparent electrode on the outer glass layer, and a second layer of liquid crystal may be coated onto the transparent electrode on the inner glass layer.
The two coated glass layers may then be pressed together in a vacuum chamber so that the first and second liquid crystal layers merge and become a homogenous layer, thereby removing surface irregularities in the liquid crystal layers and reducing undesired haze.
