Vehicle Glazing with Partially Deleted Heatable Coating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing glazings with heatable coatings face inefficiencies in localized heating, particularly around wiper and camera areas, where increased heat is needed to prevent deicing and defogging, often requiring multiple busbars and electrical connections that can be cumbersome and reduce transparency.
Innovation Solution
A glazing with a heatable coating featuring partial deletions in specific areas, where the coating thickness is reduced to increase local resistance and heat generation, using either laser or physical abrasion to create these deletions, allowing for differential heating without the need for electrically isolated portions and minimizing busbars, while maintaining transparency and conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the heatable coating thickness is reduced in specific areas to increase local heating, then localized deicing and defogging efficiency is improved, but the coating structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating differential heating zones through selective thinning of the heatable coating in specific areas (wiper park zones, camera openings) while maintaining original thickness in other areas. This allows different regions of the same coating to have different thermal properties, enabling localized deicing and defogging where needed without affecting the entire glazing surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The heatable coating is segmented into regions of different thicknesses, creating distinct heating zones. The coating is divided into thinner regions for localized heating and normal-thickness regions for general heating, allowing independent control of heating intensity in different areas through the same continuous coating structure.
2Power
If multiple busbars and electrical connections are added to provide localized heating, then heating capability in critical areas is improved, but the device complexity and transparency are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the heating control function into the coating structure itself by creating thickness variations within the continuous heatable coating. Instead of using separate electrical circuits and busbars for different heating zones, the entire coating remains electrically connected while achieving differential heating through physical thickness modulation, thereby simplifying the electrical connection system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complexity of multiple electrical connections and busbars by replacing them with a single continuous coating structure that has varying thickness. The heating control is extracted from the electrical connection system and embedded directly into the coating's physical geometry, eliminating the need for complex electrical infrastructure.
3Ease of manufacture
If the heatable coating thickness is uniformly maintained, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but localized heating performance for wiper and camera areas is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining the thickness variation pattern in the heatable coating during the manufacturing process. The differential thickness regions are created in advance during coating deposition, allowing the glazing to be manufactured as a single integrated component with built-in heating zones, rather than requiring post-manufacturing modifications or assemblies.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient deicing and defogging by locally increasing heat in critical areas, such as wiper and camera regions, with controlled partial deletions that enhance heating output while maintaining even heat distribution and compliance with regulatory transparency requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a heatable coating formed on the first glass substrate, the heatable coating including at least one heatable layer
Implementation Method 2
the heatable coating has a thickness thinner at the partial deletion than in a non-deleted portion of the heatable coating
Data Source
AI summary
A coated glazing useful for vehicles includes a first glass substrate and a heatable coating formed on the first glass substrate, the heatable coating including a partial deletion having a thickness thinner than a non-deleted portion of the heatable coating. The partial deletion of the heatable coating is formed in a differential heating area for variably heating the first glass substrate for deicing wiper park areas or any other heating desirable areas.