PAGE TITLE
Overview
PAGE SUMMARY
Traditional car mirrors on a driver’s side are flat, providing a narrow field of view ranging from 15 to 17 degrees. This leaves a significant area behind the car invisible to the driver because it is not covered by the side or rear-view mirrors. This area, known as the blind spot, can be made visible using a spherical mirror, which drivers can mount over or instead of the original flat mirror. Unfortunately, such mirrors are considerably curved and significantly distort the image.
To solve these problems, Drexel’s mathematics professor, Dr. R. Andrew Hicks, has invented a new driver’s side mirror that eliminates the blind spot with only a minor distortion of the reflected image. Unlike the flat mirror, the field of view of the new mirror is about 45 degrees. This is achieved by a specially designed reflective surface defined by a complex mathematical formula that makes the surface only slightly curved. The picture on the right compares the standard car mirrow (bottom) with the new mirrow (top). A much larger area behind the car is visible through the new mirror. Notably, the important, lower, portion of the reflected image is undistorted, and only the upper part of the image is slightly altered. This alteration is insignificant as the upper part of the image is of no importance to the driver.
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IP STATUS
Intellectual Property and Development Status
United States Issued Patent- 8,180,606
http://patft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8180606.PN.&OS=PN/8180606&RS=PN/8180606
PUBLICATIONS
References
Pubinfo should be the citation for your publication. Publink is the full url linking to the publication online or a pdf.
Driver’s Side Mirror with No Blind Spot Receives U.S. Patent
http://www.drexel.edu/now/archive/2012/June/Drivers-Side-Mirror-With-No-Blind-Spot-Receives-US-Patent/
Disco ball-inspired mirror gets rid of driver's blind spot
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/08/tech/blind-spot-mirror-patent/
Patent Watch: Non-Distorting Mirror
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patent-watch-wide-angle-non-distorting-mirror/
New Mirror That Does Not Have Blind Spots- YouTube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hxC_wDJyVU
Objects in Mirror No Longer Disappear
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/06/18/drexel_professor_andrew_hicks_invents_side_view_mirror_with_no_blind_spot.html
Commercialization Opportunities
Alexey Melishchuk
Associate Director, Licensing
Office of Applied Innovation
Drexel University
Tel: 215-895-0304
amelishchuk@drexel.edu
3180 Chestnut Street, Suite 104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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