Patent ID: 8169684

Claim:
A vehicular rearview assembly having a front and a front peripheral portion, the assembly comprising: a mirror element including a front substrate, the front substrate having a first surface that is unobstructingly observable from the front, an edge surface, and a reflecting thin-film stack on one of surfaces of the mirror element; a mounting element having inner and outer surfaces, the mounting element adapted to support the mirror element and to substantially surround the edge surface such that the inner surface is opposite the edge surface and the outer surface is substantially flush with the first surface, wherein the outer surface contains an annular region that is defined around the perimeter of the mounting element and that has a radius of curvature of greater than 2.5 mm; a housing shell defining an inner volume and an aperture corresponding to the front, the housing shell being configured to mechanically engage the mounting element; an electronic circuitry disposed behind the mirror element inside the housing shell; and a user interface (UI) at the front, the user interface including a first electrically-conductive layer that extends on the outer surface and over the annular region of the mounting element and that is electrically-extended to the electronic circuitry, wherein the first electrically-conductive layer includes first indicia configured to be observable from the front, the first indicia corresponding to at least one auxiliary device associated with the assembly, wherein the electronic circuitry is operable to trigger, in response to an input applied to the outer surface, the at least one auxiliary device, and wherein said reflecting thin-film stack includes an electrically-conductive layer that is extended over the edge surface of the mirror element through a conductive member to said electronic circuitry.