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Could it be useful for automobile windscreens? The article says it's solved for cars with embedded wires but this is not generally seen in the front windscreen
by djmips 4y ago
Could it be useful for automobile windscreens? The article says it's solved for cars with embedded wires but this is not generally seen in the front windscreen - probably because it impairs vision and maybe even makes the glass less robust. I checked and it seems now we do have windscreens with electric heat but perhaps your system could be adapted to the lower end cars.
- lebubule 4y agoYes, of course there is still much work left for full scale industrializing but nothing insurmountable in view.
- cnity 4y agoMy Ford Fiesta has windscreen heating. IIRC the patent is owned by Ford but I could be wrong.
- exar0815 4y agoNot really. Windscreen heating is quite common in the industry, and the patents lie with the glass suppliers (No Vehicle Company builds their glass themselves). Most common techniques are thin tungsten wires or a heatable thin metal layer which additionally acts as IR-reflection.
- hnlmorg 4y agoYou say it’s common but it didn’t used to be. It was common on Fords but no other vehicle manufacturer had it. Rear window heating, sure. But not front windscreen. Moreover, Ford dealerships (in the U.K. at least) would boast that they owned the patent. Looking online, I can see lots of references on car enthusiast sites talking about Ford owning the patent but any documents on the patent I find states it’s owned by an independent window manufacturer (like you suggested it would be). So that leaves me wondering if either Ford had the patent but then sold it (unlikely in my opinion), or if they simply bought exclusively rights?
- cnity 4y agoDo you have a link? The patent I could find was filed by Ford and expired in 2015: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5824993A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US5824993A/en Actually that patent looks different to what I'm describing.
- danw1979 4y agoThe only car I’ve ever owned with a heated windscreen was a Ford Focus. It worked a treat and was still really useful even after some of the conductors corroded and stopped working.
- pbhjpbhj 4y agoOh man, our Ford Mondeo (UK must be 15 years ago) had the fine heating wires in the front windscreen - best defrost/demist ever, almost instantaneous compared to every other vehicle I've driven. Definitely a feature that would sway me from choosing one vehicle over another!
- arethuza 4y agoI've had heated windscreens in various Škodas for 10+ years - now a must have feature for me when buying a new car.
- helsinkiandrew 4y agoFor some reason I've always remembered that Concorde electrically heated its windows using a laminated layer of gold: https://www.heritageconcorde.com/concorde-fuselage-windows https://www.heritageconcorde.com/concorde-fuselage-windows