A heater for vehicular sensors is configured to pass sensing energy and thereby permit placement of the heater directly over the sensing area in the path of the sensed energy. In this way, direct heating of the sensing area is provided minimizing the energy necessary to prevent icing and improving deicing speed.

Provided are a planar heat generating body and a vehicle windshield device that are capable of effectively suppressing adhesion of foreign matter thereto. The planar heat generating body includes: a heat generating wire that repeatedly folds so as to cover a surface surrounded by an outline; and a conducting wire for supplying current to the heat generating wire, that has a lower electrical resistance than the heat generating wire, as a result of having a greater width than the heat generating wire, and follows the outline.

Provided is a windshield including a glass body with a rectangular shape including a peripheral edge that includes a first side and a second side and a third side that meet the first side; and a heating element disposed at or near the peripheral edge of the glass body, the heating element heating the glass body for deicing. The glass body includes a first region extending along the first side, a second region located along the first side adjacent to the first region, and a third region located along the first side adjacent to the second region on an opposite side to the first region. The heating element is disposed at least in the first region and the second region, heats the first region to higher temperatures than the second region, and heats the second region to higher temperatures than the third region.

A method to automatically activate at least one cold weather feature of a vehicle includes determining if the vehicle is in a state for activating at least one cold weather feature, and then determining at least one cold weather condition exists for activating at least one cold weather feature. When it is determined that at least one cold weather condition exists the at least one cold weather feature is automatically activated.

A sliding window assembly, a cable drive system and methods of operating the same, are disclosed. The sliding window assembly includes a guide track and a sliding window movable relative to the guide track. A heating element is coupled to the sliding window for heating the sliding window. A drum of a drive assembly rotates and includes a conductive terminal connected to a power supply of the vehicle. A cable is coupled between the sliding window and heating element and the drum. The drum rotates to mechanically wind or unwind the cable for moving the sliding window. A conductive element is coupled to at least one of the drum and the cable and is electrically connected to the cable and is movable during movement of the sliding window. The conductive element contacts the conductive terminal to provide electrical current to the cable for energizing the heating element.

A window glass heating device for a vehicle is provided with: a window heater; a window heater control unit that controls operation of the window heater based on an operation on an operation switch; a camera heater; and a camera heater control unit that controls supply of power to the camera heater to defog the camera-imaging window area. The camera heater control unit is configured to acquire window heater operation information which is operation information on operation of the window heater and to limit supply of power to the camera heater when it is estimated that the camera heater is potentially overheated by heat applied from the window heater to the camera heater based on the window heater operation information.

A vehicle window glass according to the present invention includes a glass plate having a defogger region and an antenna region, a defogger disposed in the defogger region and having a plurality of horizontal heating wires, and an antenna including at least an FM antenna and disposed in the antenna region, the FM antenna including a first power supply part disposed on the glass plate, and an FM antenna body having a first horizontal part, a second horizontal part closer to the defogger than is the first horizontal part and at least one vertical part linking both the horizontal parts, and connected to the first power supply part.

The invention relates to a method for regulating, by means of a computer, a resistive element arranged to deice and/or demist a support, the method comprising:

a) a loop for monitoring the temperature T and the moisture level H at the support;

b) a deicing and/or demisting sequence which, as long as the temperature T and the moisture level H monitored by the monitoring loop a) are indicative of an absence of frost or mist on the support, keeps the resistive element inactive and, in the contrary case, demands, in a step b2), the circulation of a current I in the resistive element so that the latter dissipates a thermal power P.sub.th, adjusted according to the temperature T and the moisture level H, and providing deicing or demisting of the support over a predetermined period D.sub.p.

A blocked imager detection system includes a rearview assembly having an actuator device. The actuator device is adjustable to tilt an electro-optic element, thereby moving the electro-optic element to an off-axis position which changes an activation state of a display module. The actuator device is also adjustable to tilt the electro-optic element in another direction, thereby moving the electro-optic element to an on-axis position which changes the activation state of the display module. An imager is configured to capture image data of a scene external to the controlled vehicle and to generate image data for display on the display module. When a controller determines that the operational capability of the imager to capture image data is at least partially diminished, the controller can generate a control signal indicating that imager performance has been compromised and deactivate the display module.

A window glass apparatus includes a heater for heating a part of a windshield which is a particular part of a window glass of a host vehicle, and a control ECU configured to control an amount of the electric power supplied to the heater. The control ECU detects a preceding vehicle and controls the amount of the electric power supplied to the heater in such a manner that the amount of the electric power supplied to the heater is reduced as compared with a case where the preceding vehicle is not detected, using information on the detected preceding vehicle.