GLAZING WITH HEATING WIRES HAVING FEEDS ON THE EDGE FACE OR AN EXTERIOR FACE OF THE GLAZING

Abstract

A laminated glazing with a network of heating wires includes at least two rigid transparent sheets that are connected to one another pairwise by an intercalary adhesive layer, wherein at least one network of heating wires is arranged on a face of one of the at least two rigid transparent sheets other than the exterior main faces of the laminated glazing, the network of heating wires being supplied with power by contact with at least two feeds that are connected to an electric current source, the feeds being arranged on the edges of the laminated glazing and/or on its exterior main face that is intended to be oriented, in the mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere.

Claims

1. A laminated glazing comprising at least two rigid transparent sheets that are connected to one another pairwise by an intercalary adhesive layer, and at least one network of heating wires, wherein the at least one network of heating wires is arranged on a face, not forming one of two exterior main faces of the laminated glazing, of one of said at least two rigid transparent sheets, the at least one network of heating wires being supplied with power by contact with at least two feeds that are connected to an electric current source, wherein the at least two feeds are arranged on edges of the laminated glazing and/or on an exterior main face of the laminated glazing that is to be oriented, in a mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere.

2. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein a thickness of the laminated glazing is between 15 and 100 mm.

3. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least two rigid transparent sheets are each made of mineral glass having a thickness between 0.5 and 20 mm, a rigid transparent sheet forming the exterior main face of the laminated glazing that is to be oriented, in the mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere alternatively being made of polymer material and having a thickness between 0.1 and 10 mm.

4. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 3, wherein the mineral glass is annealed, thermally tempered or chemically toughened.

5. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intercalary adhesive layer is made of polyvinyl butyral, polyurethane or ethylene-vinyl acetate having a thickness between 0.2 and 10 mm.

6. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein any rigid transparent sheet over the edges of which heating wires are folded has edges that are shaped to be rounded with a radius of curvature that is at least equal to 1 mm.

7. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein, between the heating wires and the edge or the exterior main face of the laminated glazing that is be oriented, in the mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere, an opaque material or a material providing flexibility is interposed.

8. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeds are arranged at a periphery of the exterior main face of the laminated glazing that is be oriented, in the mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere so as to be entirely covered, in the mounting position, by a frame to which the laminated glazing is configured to be fixed.

9. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeds are covered by a material capable of providing them with protection, durability and electrical insulation.

10. A process for manufacturing a laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1, comprising: placing a network of electrically conductive heating wires on an intercalary adhesive layer; in a zone at the ends of the heating wires, placing feeds on top of and under them; soldering the heating wires to the feeds; placing the intercalary adhesive layer between the rigid transparent sheets; the network of heating wires and the feeds protruding from the rigid transparent sheets; folding these protruding portions of the heating wires and the feeds over two opposite sides of the edge of the laminated glazing or of its exterior main face that is to be oriented, in the mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere.

11. A method comprising utilizing a laminated glazing as claimed in claim 1 as a ballistic glazing for a land, air or water vehicle, or for building.

12. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 3, wherein the mineral glass is a soda-lime glass, aluminosilicate glass or borosilicate glass.

13. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 3, wherein the polymer material is a polycarbonate (PC) or poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET).

14. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 13, wherein the polymer material includes a polysiloxane anti-scratch coating.

15. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 13, wherein the thickness of the polymer material is at most 7 mm.

16. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 5, wherein the thickness of the intercalary adhesive layer is between 0.38 and 4.56 mm.

17. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 6, wherein the radius of curvature is at least equal to 2 mm.

18. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 17, wherein the radius of curvature is at least equal to 3 mm.

19. The laminated glazing as claimed in claim 9, wherein the material is opaque.

Description

[0029] The invention will be better understood in light of the following description of the appended drawings, in which:

[0030] FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic representations of two distinct embodiments of laminated glazing with heating wires of the prior art;

[0031] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of the laminated glazing according to the invention; and

[0032] FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic view of two arrangements of feeds on a laminated glazing according to the invention and of a frame (or trim) that is fixed to the mounting surround.

[0033] With reference to FIG. 1, a laminated glazing V is composed of a first sheet 1 of soda-lime glass of 8 mm in thickness, of a second and of a third sheets 3 and 5 of soda-lime glass of 12 mm in thickness and of a fourth sheet 7 of soda-lime glass of 10 mm in thickness. The second and third sheets 3 and 5, or only the third sheet 5, of soda-lime glass are/is thermally tempered or chemically toughened.

[0034] The first and second sheets 1 and 3 of soda-lime glass are bonded by a layer 2 of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) of 1.52 mm in thickness.

[0035] The second and third sheets 3 and 5 of soda-lime glass are bonded by a layer 4 of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) of 0.38 mm in thickness. The third and fourth sheets 5 and 7 of soda-lime glass are bonded by a layer 6 of PVB of 0.38 mm in thickness.

[0036] The fourth sheet 7 of soda-lime glass could be replaced with a sheet of polycarbonate (PC) or poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) including in particular a polysiloxane anti-scratch coating, and of at most 10 or even 7 mm in thickness. A sheet of polycarbonate may be from 2.5 to 3 mm thick, by way of indication. This sheet of polymer material (PC or PET) is bonded to the third sheet 5 of soda-lime glass by a layer 6 of polyurethane (PU).

[0037] The laminated glazing V has a main surface 8 that is intended to make contact with the exterior atmosphere, and an opposite main surface 9 that is intended to make contact with the interior of the vehicle or building, in the mounting position.

[0038] In a known manner, the faces of the laminated glazing V are numbered from the exterior inward, from number 1 for the main surface 8 to number 8 for the main surface 9.

[0039] A network of heating wires 10 is arranged on the face 2 of the laminated glazing V, i.e. on the face of the first sheet of glass 1 that is directed toward the interior of the vehicle or building, in the mounting position of the laminated glazing. The heating wires 10 may be made of copper, tungsten or ferronickel depending on the envisaged application and the required mechanical properties. They are connected to an electric current via feeds (or busbars) 11 and 12 consisting of conductive braided connectors, electric cables or other conductive materials.

[0040] A black peripheral protective strip 20 made of polyurethane covers the edge of the laminated glazing V; it prevents moisture from penetrating into the lamination, decreases the risk of delamination, provides the lamination with durability and also has an electrical insulation function.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows how the field of view from the interior of the vehicle or building is limited by the interior edges of the two feeds 11 and 12. Additionally, it is easily understood that the positioning of the feeds 11 and 12 between the sheets 1 and 3 of soda-lime glass may make it necessary to increase the distance between them 1, 3.

[0042] The laminated glazing V of FIG. 2 differs from that of FIG. 1 in the arrangement of the heating wires 10 on the face 3 of the laminated glazing, i.e. on the face of the second sheet 3 of soda-lime glass that is oriented toward the exterior of the vehicle or building, in the mounting position of the laminated glazing.

[0043] The face 2 of the laminated glazing V, i.e. the face of the first sheet of glass 1 that is oriented toward the interior of the space delimited by the laminated glazing, has a peripheral strip that is quite wide and coated with enamel 21 with a view to hiding the feeds 11 and 12 from view from the exterior. The field of view from the interior of the vehicle or the building is limited even more than with the laminated glazing V of FIG. 1.

[0044] In FIG. 3, the heating wires 10 are arranged as in FIG. 1 but a peripheral fraction of the wires 10 protrudes from the laminated glazing V all around the edge thereof V. On two opposite sides of this protruding peripheral fraction of the network of wires 10, this network 10 is soldered to at least one feed 11 on one side and to at least one feed 12 on the other side. In a way not shown in FIG. 3, the feed 11 and the feed 12 each consist of a portion on top of the wire ribbon 10 and of a portion underneath said ribbon 10, which is thus sandwiched between the two feed portions, and the three components are soldered together. The protruding portions of the heating wires 10 and the feeds 11 and 12 are folded over the edge of the laminated glazing V, with a material that is opaque and/or providing flexibility (22) being interposed. Thus, the feeds 11 and 12 are hidden from view from the interior of the vehicle or building; the flexibility of the material 22 ensures the durability of the assembly. The material 22 is electrically conductive, and capable of forming a connection, or else electrically insulating.

[0045] The black peripheral protective strip 20, described above with reference to FIG. 1, is here bonded on top of the folded heating wires 10 and feeds 11 and 12, on the edge of the laminated glazing V.

[0046] By virtue of the invention, the vision area is not limited like for the laminated glazing V of FIGS. 1 and 2. The distance between the first and second sheets 1 and 3 of soda-lime glass may be decreased by virtue of the feeds 11 and 12 being shifted out of the laminated structure V proper.

[0047] FIG. 4 shows the two positionings of feeds according to the invention: the feeds 11 and 12 on two opposite sides of the edge of the laminated glazing V, and the feeds 13 and 14 on two opposite peripheral zones of its exterior main face 9 that is intended to be oriented, in the mounting position, opposite the exterior atmosphere.

[0048] In the configuration of FIG. 4, the feeds 11 and 13 are electrically connected to the same potential, as are the feeds 12 and 14, but to a different potential from that of the feeds 11 and 13. It would also be in accordance with the invention for the plus and minus terminals of the electrical power supply for the network of heating wires 10 to consist not of two feeds each as in FIG. 4, but of a number that is equal to or different from one or more feeds in both cases.

[0049] In FIG. 4, the feeds 11, 12, 13 and 14 are positioned behind a frame 30 that is rigidly connected to the mounting structure such as a vehicle or a building. If the frame 30 needs to be electrically insulated from the feeds 11, 12, 13 and 14, the laminated glazing V could be bonded by means of a sufficient thickness of a sufficiently electrically insulating adhesive, for example polyurethane (PU) or the like.