A windshield wiper park position heater employs an area-type heater construction having a flexible substrate supporting a high resistance heater material between electrodes of a lower resistance electrode material. The high length-to-width of the heater element is accommodated through a bus structure that orients current flow along the shortest dimension of the heater and by supplying power at a midpoint of the bus structure to decrease voltage drop over the longest dimension of the heater. A clip structure allows internal conductive layers of laminated connection point between heater components to be simply joined in the crimping operation.

A thermal shield system with wireless control capabilities including a multi-layer shield, a housing containing a power source and processor, and a programmable control mechanism, wherein the control mechanism is in communication with the processor to facilitate direct or remote manual programming of time and temperature of the shield system. The multi-layer shield includes a perimeter having a first layer comprised of reflective material, a second layer comprised of a plurality of conductive pads arranged in a plurality of rows within a structural support sheet, a third layer comprised of thermal material, an electrical wire running through and connecting said conductive pads of the second layer, and a surround spanning the perimeter of the shield. The surround of the shield has flexibility to allow folding or rolling for compact storage of said shield and having rigidity to provide structural integrity of said shield. The electrical wire connects each of the plurality of conductive pads in a series to generate consistent and uniform heat while minimizing depletion of the power source.

Laminated glazings with embedded wire circuits, have many uses. But, due to the higher cost of manufacture, they are not widely used. This invention provides a process to reduce the cost of production for embedded wire laminated glazing. Rather than embedding the wire one interlayer at a time, several circuits are produced on the same sheet, cut out and then inserted into the interlayer of each separate laminate during assembly, reducing the direct labor and capital investment required.

A system such as a vehicle may have windows with one or more conductive layers. The conductive layers may form part of an infrared-light-blocking layer or other layer. The infrared-light-blocking layer or other layer may be formed as a coating on a transparent structural window layer such as an outer or inner glass layer in a laminated window or may be embedded in a polymer layer between the outer and inner layers. Segmented terminals and elongated terminals that may extend past two or more segmented terminals may be coupled to the edges of the conductive layers. Using these terminals, control circuitry can apply localized ohmic heating currents and can make resistance measurements on the conductive layers to detect cracks.

A system such as a vehicle may have windows with one or more conductive layers. The conductive layers may form part of an infrared-light-blocking layer or other layer. The infrared-light-blocking layer or other layer may be formed as a coating on a transparent structural window layer such as an outer or inner glass layer in a laminated window or may be embedded in a polymer layer between the outer and inner layers. Segmented terminals and elongated terminals that may extend past two or more segmented terminals may be coupled to the edges of the conductive layers. Using these terminals, control circuitry can apply localized ohmic heating currents and can make resistance measurements on the conductive layers to detect cracks.

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.

An electrically heatable glazing panel including a substrate and at least a first electrically heatable zone including: (i) a substantially transparent, electrically conductive coating layer, (ii) at least first and second spaced bus bars substantially parallel and configured to supply electrical voltage across the substantially transparent, electrically conductive coating layer, and (iii) a conductive pathway defined between the at least the first and the second busbars. The glazing panel further includes a conductive pathway provided by a pattern of coated and decoated regions in the substantially transparent electrically conductive coating layer of electrically heatable zone to affect electrical resistivity of the coating in the first electrically heatable coated zone.

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 at least one heatable layer, at least one dielectric layer, and at least one integrated portion of a heatable layer and a dielectric layer, wherein the integrated portion is formed in a differential heating area of the heatable coating, for variably heating the first glass substrate for deicing wiper park areas or any other heating desirable areas.

A window glass for a vehicle includes a glass plate; and a conductor placed on a surface of the glass plate. The conductor includes a conductive film and a strip electrode for applying a DC voltage to the conductive film. The strip electrode is formed to have a gap between the strip electrode and an outer edge of the conductive film, and is positioned between the outer edge of the conductive film and an outer edge of the glass plate in a plan view of the glass plate. The window glass for the vehicle includes a terminal part for electrically connecting the strip electrode to a transmission line.

A windshield heating device includes: a heating wire that heats a first part of a windshield of a vehicle, the first part being located in front of a camera; a glass heating apparatus that heats a second part of the windshield, the second part including the first part; and a control unit that controls energization to the heating wire and the glass heating apparatus. The control unit is configured: to determine whether energization to the glass heating apparatus is performed when heating of the first part is requested; to control so that energization to the heating wire is performed when it is determined that the energization to glass heating apparatus is not performed; and to control energization to the heating wire so that an amount of energization to the heating wire is reduced when it is determined that energization to the glass heating apparatus is performed.