Toyota patents ‘see-through' A-pillar

By: Funk's Toyota   |   29 Aug 2017

Long known for its innovation, Toyota has thrown down the gauntlet to its competitors yet again by unveiling plans to tackle one of the industry’s most frustrating issues, which is the visual interference caused by a vehicle’s A-Pillars. Most impressive of all, Toyota has announced that its plan is to simply make A-Pillars ‘see-through’! Here we will look at what Toyota’s ambitious new plan is all about, why it matters, as well as the history of similar attempts to deal with the issue.

Why does it matter?

A-pillars play an important role in supporting the overall structure and integrity of a vehicle; however, they can also interfere with your field of vision, especially when you are rounding sharp corners. This can seriously impact your ability to see potential hazards, reducing the time in which you can successfully take evasive action. A-Pillar visibility issues can be a particularly large problem in SUVs, as their A-Pillars need to be wider and stronger in order to provide protection in case of a rollover.

Previous attempts at a solution

Toyota isn’t the first automaker to take on this challenging issue; in fact, there have been several other high profile yet unsuccessful efforts. High tech metamaterials have been used, as has sophisticated video technology systems, while one ambitious automaker even toyed with the idea of creating A-Pillars with tiny windows in them. Unfortunately, all of these previous attempts proved to be either too expensive or undermined the structural integrity of the vehicle.

Toyota’s answer

Toyota’s newly published patent has been titled “Apparatuses and Methods for Making an Object Appear Transparent” and it attempts to overcome A-Pillar visibility issues by essentially making them see-through. Rather than use some form of magic (sorry Harry Potter fans!) it works by using a series of carefully positioned mirrors that reduce blind spots by allowing light, and therefore images, to effectively bend around the A-Pillar.

The benefits of Toyota’s potential solution is that not only will it be significantly cheaper than previous attempts to solve the problem, but it will mean that even the widest A-Pillars won’t interfere with the driver’s view of the road. Furthermore, the same system can also be used to improve the view out the back of a vehicle, which means a significantly clearer view anytime you need to change lanes or reverse park as well.

When will it be available?

While it can take a significant amount of time for a patent to make it all the way to final production, if all goes according to plan you can expect to see these futuristic capabilities in new model Toyotas as early as next year.

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