Segmented Dome Windshield Assembly for Adhesive Leak Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for dome-shaped windshields in standard motor vehicles that meet compliance, assembly safety, and aesthetic requirements while ensuring adequate visibility and shattering resistance in collisions, and adhesive application without leakage.
Innovation Solution
A windshield design featuring a frame with concave rims and gaskets, using adhesive beads to secure tempered glass windows and laminated glass plates, ensuring secure attachment and improved visibility with reduced shattering risk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a dome-shaped windshield is used to improve aerodynamic properties and visibility, then the aerodynamic performance and visibility are improved, but the windshield structure becomes more complex and adhesive leakage occurs during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The windshield is divided into multiple glass plates (first glass plate, second glass plate, third glass plate) separated by gaskets, allowing each segment to be independently positioned and secured. This segmentation enables the complex dome shape to be constructed from manageable components that can be precisely fitted together.
Solution Approach 2:
Gaskets are introduced as intermediary elements between the glass plates and the frame, and between adjacent glass plates. These gaskets serve as mediators that facilitate precise positioning, enable adhesive application in controlled locations, and prevent adhesive from leaking to visible areas during assembly.
2Strength
If adhesive material is applied in a bead to secure the windshield, then the attachment strength is improved, but adhesive material falls or leaks during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
Gaskets act as intermediaries that control adhesive placement and containment. The gaskets are positioned between glass plates and the frame, creating defined channels and barriers that keep adhesive beads in designated locations during assembly, preventing leakage to visible surfaces while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The gaskets are pre-positioned in specific locations before adhesive application. This preliminary positioning establishes predetermined pathways and containment structures that guide where adhesive will be applied and how it will be contained, ensuring that when adhesive is subsequently applied in bead form, it remains in appropriate locations and does not leak.
3Reliability
If tempered glass and laminated glass are used to reduce shattering risk, then safety is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The windshield is segmented into multiple glass plates with different material properties - tempered glass for certain positions and laminated glass for others. This segmentation allows each glass type to be optimized for its specific functional requirements while being manufactured and assembled as separate components, making the overall manufacturing process more manageable despite the variety of materials used.
Solution Approach 2:
Different glass materials (tempered and laminated) are applied to different locations and positions within the windshield structure based on specific safety and functional requirements. This local quality approach ensures that each area of the windshield has the appropriate material properties for its location, optimizing shattering resistance where needed while simplifying manufacturing by not requiring uniform complex materials throughout the entire structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A windshield for a motor vehicle is described, comprising: a frame with a first rim defining a first opening, and a first window engaging the first opening, supported by the first rim; the frame comprises, in turn, a first and a second cross member opposite one another; and one pair of first pillars opposite one another and extending crosswise to the first and second cross member; the first and second cross member and said pillars delimit said first rim; the frame comprises a second rim and a third rim distinct from one another and arranged on respective opposite sides of the first rim; the frame comprises a pair of third cross members smoothly joined to the first cross member by respective opposite side bands of the first cross member; and a pair of fourth cross members smoothly joined to the second cross member; the second rim is delimited by the first pillar, by a respective third cross member and by a respective fourth cross member; the third rim is delimited by the second pillar, by a respective third cross member and by a fourth cross member.