Tempered Glass Vehicle Window Laminate for Lower Weight and Drag
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle windows, particularly in aircraft, are heavy, complex, costly, susceptible to damage, and create drag due to their design, which includes multiple panes and frame assemblies made of brittle acrylic material.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle window assembly using a laminate stack of multiple tempered glass sheets bonded together, secured directly to the vehicle body without a frame, and optionally incorporating a fairing pane that bulges outward to reduce drag.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If multiple panes and frame assembly are used to secure acrylic window material, then the window assembly provides structural support and resistance to crazing, but the weight of the vehicle increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the frame assembly entirely, securing the window pane directly to the vehicle body. This extraction of the frame component eliminates its weight while maintaining structural support through direct mounting, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a laminate stack of multiple tempered glass sheets bonded together, creating a composite material structure that provides high strength-to-weight ratio. This composite construction replaces the heavier acrylic material and frame assembly, achieving structural support with reduced weight.
2Strength
If multiple panes and frame assembly are used to secure acrylic window material, then the window assembly provides structural support and resistance to crazing, but the complexity and cost of fabrication and installation increase
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the frame assembly, the patent simplifies the overall structure from multiple components (frame, multiple panes, mounting hardware) to a single integrated window pane. This reduction in component count directly decreases fabrication and installation complexity while maintaining structural support.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of the frame assembly and window panes into a simplified direct-mount configuration. The window pane itself becomes both the structural and functional element, eliminating the need for separate framing components and reducing overall system complexity.
3Reliability
If acrylic window material is made substantially thick to reduce the risk of crazing, then the resistance to crazing improves, but the weight of the window assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a laminate stack of multiple tempered glass sheets bonded together. This composite structure provides superior resistance to crazing and mechanical stress while maintaining a lighter weight compared to a single thick acrylic pane, as the distributed lamination structure resists crack propagation more effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from acrylic to tempered glass, and modifies the structural parameter from single thick pane to multi-layer laminate. This parameter transformation achieves enhanced crazing resistance through the inherent properties of tempered glass and the lamination structure, without requiring excessive thickness that would increase weight.
4Strength
If the acrylic window material is made relatively flexible to withstand pressure differential, then the window can handle pressure changes during flight, but the window bulges outward into the airstream creating additional drag
Solution Approach 1:
The laminate stack of tempered glass sheets provides sufficient flexibility to withstand pressure differentials during flight while maintaining a smoother exterior surface profile. The bonded lamination structure allows controlled elastic deformation under pressure without the excessive bulging that occurs with acrylic, thereby reducing aerodynamic drag.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material from acrylic to tempered glass laminate, fundamentally altering the pressure-response characteristics. The glass laminate exhibits different elastic properties that allow it to accommodate pressure differentials with minimal outward bulging, thus reducing the harmful aerodynamic drag effect while maintaining pressure resistance.
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 results in a lighter, less complex, and more aerodynamic window assembly that reduces weight, installation complexity, and drag, while providing enhanced structural support and resistance to damage.
Implementation Method 1
a medial portion of the fairing pane is separated from the window pane by a gap that contains a gas. The medial portion is configured to bulge outward away from the window pane, increasing a size of the gap, based on a pressure differential experienced by the fairing pane
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle window assembly includes at least one body panel and a window pane. The at least one body panel defines a window opening along an exterior surface of a vehicle body. The vehicle body defines an internal cabin. The window pane is secured to the at least one body panel and positioned to cover the window opening. The window pane is a laminate stack of multiple tempered glass sheets bonded together.