Patent ID: 7887204

Claim:
An electrochromic mirror reflective element suitable for use in an exterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle, said electrochromic mirror reflective element comprising: a front glass substrate having a first surface and a second surface; a rear glass substrate having a third surface and a fourth surface; an electrochromic medium disposed between said front and rear glass substrates, wherein said electrochromic medium is bounded by a seal; said electrochromic mirror reflective element comprising a principal planar reflector portion and an auxiliary wide angle curved portion; wherein said principal planar reflector portion comprises a principal mirror reflector disposed at said rear glass substrate; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises one of (a) a curved recess established at a region of said second surface of said front glass substrate by at least one of grinding and ablating and (b) a curved recess established at a region of said fourth surface of said rear glass substrate by at least one of grinding and ablating; wherein said auxiliary wide angle curved portion comprises an auxiliary mirror reflector coated at said curved recess; wherein said first surface of said front glass substrate comprises a generally planar surface; wherein said third surface of said rear glass substrate comprises a generally planar surface; wherein said curved recess has a cross-dimension size that is in the range from about 30 millimeters to about 80 millimeters; wherein said curved recess comprises a radius of curvature that is in the range from about 200 millimeters to about 1,000 millimeters; and wherein said curved recess has a maximum recess depth that is in the range from about 0.11 millimeters to about 4.04 millimeters.