- Gentex
Gentex (NASDAQ|GNTX) is a company specializing in fire protection and automotive products based in
Zeeland, Michigan , USA.Fire protection
Gentex was founded in
1974 by Fred Bauer as a manufacturer of fire protection products. The company created the first dual-sensor photoelectricsmoke detector , considered to be less prone tofalse alarm s, while still quickly detecting smoldering fires.Automotive
Automatic interior mirror
Gentex first introduced a
rear-view mirror that automatically adjusted to glare conditions in 1982.Auto-dimming mirrors
Interior
Gentex introduced an automatic dimming mirror based on electrochromics in 1987. The reduction of glare eliminates the temporary blind spot caused by the
Troxler effect after the glare source leaves the field of view.These mirrors have forward and rearward facing sensors to measure the ambient light level and glare of approaching vehicles, respectively. An electrochromic gel is placed between two pieces of glass, which allows the mirror to dim in proportion to the glare level.
Exterior
In 1991, exterior electrochromic mirrors were added to the Gentex product line. These mirrors operate on the same principle as the interior mirrors. Different mirror geometries were added in 1997 to accomplish various tasks, such as eliminating blind spots and offering an expanded field of view.
Additional features
* Compass/Temperature display
* Map light - Gentex was the first to introduce cost-effective high-intensity LED lighting into the bottom of the rear-view mirror in 1999.
*OnStar
*HomeLink Wireless Control System
* Tire pressure indicator
* SmartBeam (an automatic highbeam assistant)
* Automotive grade microphones
* Rear camera display (RCD) - a realtime panoramic view of the rear of the vehicle only when in reverse gear
* Exterior mirror LED turn signals
* Complex exterior mirror geometriesAerospace
Gentex signed a contract through PPG Aerospace to deliver automatic dimming windows for the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner . These windows will use electrochromics to adjust the amount of light allowed through the window.References
* [http://www.secinfo.com/dsvR3.u13s.htm SEC Info]
* [http://www.gentex.com Gentex Official Site]Notes
External links
* [http://www.gentex.com/ Gentex official site]
*
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