US5213828A — Heatable windshield

Claim 1

Independent Claim 91 words

A laminate comprising: a pair of glass sheets laminated together about an interlayer; a cut out area in a first one of said sheets and said interlayer; at least one gas permeable member supported on a second one of said sheets in said cut out area; a sealant material in said cut out area, said sealant material applied before said sheets are laminated together as evidenced by the absence of bubbles in said interlayer in the vicinity of said cut out area after prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity conditions.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 91 words

A laminate comprising: a pair of glass sheets laminated together about an interlayer; a cut out area in a first one of said sheets and said interlayer; at least one gas permeable member supported on a second one of said sheets in said cut out area; a sealant material in said cut out area, said sealant material applied before said sheets are laminated together as evidenced by the absence of bubbles in said interlayer in the vicinity of said cut out area after prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity conditions.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 34 words

The laminate as in claim 1 wherein said laminate is a heatable windshield having heating means between said sheets and said gas permeable member is means to provide electrical access to said heating means.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 53 words

The laminate as in claim 2 wherein said heating means includes a pair of spaced bus bars and an electroconductive member extending along a major surface of said second sheet and between and joined to said bus bars and further wherein said electrical access means includes lead portions extending from said bus bars.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 15 words

The laminate as in claim 3 wherein said electroconductive member is a transparent, electroconductive coating.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 44 words

The laminate as in claim 1 wherein said sealant is air impervious, does not decompose during laminating of said glass sheets to said interlayer, does not give off fumes or other gases during lamination, does not adversely affect the permeable member and is resilient.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 173 words

A laminate comprising: a pair of glass sheets laminated together about an interlayer; a cut out area in a first one of said sheets and said interlayer; a gas permeable member supported on a second one of said sheets, said gas permeable member having portions in said cut out area to provide external access to said member; and a sealant material in said cut out area, said sealant material applied to said portions of said gas permeable member in said cut out area and to selected peripheral portions of said first one of said sheets and said interlayer in said cut out area, said sealant material applied to cut out portion of said member and said peripheral portions before said sheets are laminated together as evidenced by minimal formation of bubbles in said interlayer in the vicinity of said cut out area after submerging at least said cut out area of said laminated windshield in water heated to a temperature of about 212° F. (100° C.) for a period of about 2 hours.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 173 words

A laminate comprising: a pair of glass sheets laminated together about an interlayer; a cut out area in a first one of said sheets and said interlayer; a gas permeable member supported on a second one of said sheets, said gas permeable member having portions in said cut out area to provide external access to said member; and a sealant material in said cut out area, said sealant material applied to said portions of said gas permeable member in said cut out area and to selected peripheral portions of said first one of said sheets and said interlayer in said cut out area, said sealant material applied to cut out portion of said member and said peripheral portions before said sheets are laminated together as evidenced by minimal formation of bubbles in said interlayer in the vicinity of said cut out area after submerging at least said cut out area of said laminated windshield in water heated to a temperature of about 212° F. (100° C.) for a period of about 2 hours.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 34 words

The laminate as in claim 6 wherein said laminate is a heatable windshield having heating means between said sheets and said gas permeable member is means to provide electrical access to said heating means.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 53 words

The laminate as in claim 7 wherein said heating means includes a pair of spaced bus bars and an electroconductive member extending along a major surface of said second sheet and between and joined to said bus bars and further wherein said electrical access means includes lead portions extending from said bus bars.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 15 words

The laminate as in claim 8 wherein said electroconductive member is a transparent, electroconductive coating.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 44 words

The laminate as in claim 9 wherein said minimal formation of bubbles after prolonged exposure to high temperature and humidity conditions includes bubbles in up to 5% of the interlayer overlaying said leads in the vicinity of said cut out area after boil testing.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 52 words

The laminate as in claim 7 wherein said sealant material is air impervious, does not decompose during lamination of said glass sheets to said interlayer, does not give off toxic fumes or other gases during lamination, does not adversely affect the permeable member, does not contain sulfur, in non-electroconductive and is resilient.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 29 words

The laminate as in claim 11 wherein said sealant material is selected from a group of materials including silicon elastomer sealant, butyl based sealant, flexible epoxy and soldering flux.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 158 words

In a method of making laminate wherein the method includes the steps of: providing a first glass sheet; providing a gas permeable member on the first sheet adjacent a marginal edge portion of the sheet; providing an interlayer and a second glass sheet each having a cut out portion at their marginal edge portions; positioning the interlayer between the first and second sheets such that the gas permeable adjacent the marginal edge portion of the first sheet is accessible through a cut out area defined by the cut portions of the second sheet and interlayer; and laminating the first and second sheets together, wherein during laminating gas moves through the gas permeable member at the cut out area between the glass sheets, the improvement comprising: providing a sealant over the gas permeable member at the cut out area before practicing the laminating step to prevent gas from moving between the sheets during the practice of the laminating step.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 158 words

In a method of making laminate wherein the method includes the steps of: providing a first glass sheet; providing a gas permeable member on the first sheet adjacent a marginal edge portion of the sheet; providing an interlayer and a second glass sheet each having a cut out portion at their marginal edge portions; positioning the interlayer between the first and second sheets such that the gas permeable adjacent the marginal edge portion of the first sheet is accessible through a cut out area defined by the cut portions of the second sheet and interlayer; and laminating the first and second sheets together, wherein during laminating gas moves through the gas permeable member at the cut out area between the glass sheets, the improvement comprising: providing a sealant over the gas permeable member at the cut out area before practicing the laminating step to prevent gas from moving between the sheets during the practice of the laminating step.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 37 words

The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein the laminate is a heatable windshield having heating means between the sheets, the gas is air and the gas permeable member provides electrical access to the heating means.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 89 words

The method as in claim 14 wherein said heating means is an electroconductive coating and the step of providing a gas permeable member on the first sheet includes the step of providing first and second electroconductive bus bars along opposing edges of and interconnected by the coating, wherein a portion of each of the bus bars extends to a peripheral edge of the first sheet and portions of the bus bar are accessible at the cut out area after said laminating step to provide electrical access to the coating.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 37 words

The method as in claim 15 wherein said providing a sealant step includes sealing at least a portion of said exposed bus bar portions at the cut out area prior to the practice of the laminating step.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method as in claim 16 wherein said sealing step includes applying a temperature and pressure resistant, non-electrically conductive sealant over said bus bar portions.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method as in claim 17 wherein said sealing step includes covering the entire exposed bus bar portions.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method as in claim 18 wherein said sealing step further includes filling said notch area with said sealant.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 37 words

The method as in claim 19 wherein said sealing step includes covering said entire exposed bus bar portion with a sealant selected from the group of silicone elastomer sealant, butyl based sealant, soldering flux and flexible epoxy.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 49 words

The method as in claim 20 wherein after said laminating step, further concluding the step of securing electrical connections to said exposed bus bar portions and filling said notch area with additional material such that said material is flush with an exposed major surface of said second glass sheet.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 12 words

The method as in claim 21 wherein said material is flexible epoxy.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method as in claim 15 wherein said bus bars are a silver containing material and said providing a sealant step includes the step of coating at least a portion of the exposed bus bar portions with an essentially sulfur free sealant.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1996-05-24	1996-11-23	1997-05-25	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2000-05-24	2000-11-23	2001-05-25	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2004-05-24	2004-11-23	2005-05-25	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Heatable windshield

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