Windshield of a motor vehicle, a system with a windshield and a motor vehicle

Abstract

A windshield for a motor vehicle with a display unit is disclosed. The windshield is realized in the form of a laminated glass pane with at least an outer pane, an inner pane and an intermediate compound foil. The display unit is arranged between the outer pane and the inner pane, wherein the display unit features a flexible printed circuit and at least one display element arranged on the flexible printed circuit, as well as a secondary coil. The secondary coil is designed for making available electrical energy, which is inductively coupled into the secondary coil, in order to supply the display unit with energy. The present disclosure furthermore relates to a system, as well as a motor vehicle.

Claims

1. A windshield for a motor vehicle comprising: a laminated glass pane with at least an outer pane, an inner pane and an intermediate compound foil; a display unit arranged between the outer pane and the inner pane, the display unit including a flexible printed circuit, at least one display element arranged on the flexible printed circuit and a secondary coil configured to inductively couple with a power source for powering the display unit.

2. The windshield according to claim 1, wherein the flexible printed circuit is fixed on the compound foil.

3. The windshield according to claim 1, wherein the secondary coil is arranged in the flexible printed circuit.

4. The windshield according to claim 3, wherein the flexible printed circuit comprises a plurality of layers and the secondary coil is formed by strip conductors on at least one of the plurality of layers.

5. The windshield according to claim 1, wherein the display unit comprises a luminous display unit and the at least one display element is a lighting element.

6. The windshield according to claim 5, wherein the lighting element comprises a multi-color lighting element configured to activate in multiple colors.

7. The windshield according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit control configured to activate the at least one display element, wherein the display unit includes an inductive signal input for transmitting control signals.

8. A system comprising a windshield according to claim 1 and a primary coil configured to inductively couple into the secondary coil for powering the display unit.

9. The system according to claim 8 further comprising a control unit configured to activate the primary coil.

10. A motor vehicle comprising a windshield according to claim 1 and an inductive power supply for powering the display unit.

11. The motor vehicle according to claim 10, further comprising a data transmitter configured to transmit control signals to the display unit.

12. The motor vehicle according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the inductive power supply or the data transmitter comprises a primary coil inductively coupled to the secondary coil.

13. The motor vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the primary coil is supported on a bracket in a spring-mounted fashion.

14. The motor vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the primary coil is arranged on the windshield opposite of the secondary coil.

15. The motor vehicle according to claim 14, wherein the primary coil is supported in contact with the windshield on a bracket in a spring-mounted fashion.

16. The motor vehicle according to claim 12, further comprising a control unit operably connected to the primary coil.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present disclosure will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements.

(2) FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a cross section through a windshield;

(3) FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of a cross section through an alternative embodiment of a windshield;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross section through a flexible printed circuit with a secondary coil;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a circuit diagram of a system; and

(6) FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section through an exploded view of a motor vehicle with windshield and dashboard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background of the invention or the following detailed description.

(8) FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a cross section through a windshield 2. The windshield 2 features an outer pane 4, an inner pane 6 and a compound foil 8 that connects the outer pane 4 and the inner pane 6 to one another.

(9) A luminous display unit 10 is arranged between the inner pane 6 and the compound foil 8. The luminous display unit 10 may be arranged in the region of a black print of the windshield 2 such that the displayed information has a high contrast and can be easily perceived. The luminous display unit 10, which is explained in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 4, features a luminous display 11 that is applied on a flexible printed circuit 12 (frequently referred to as FPC-foil (Flexible Printed Circuit)). The luminous display 11 may feature lighting elements.

(10) The luminous display unit 10 furthermore features a secondary coil 14 for receiving energy from a primary coil 16 that does not form part of the windshield 2, but is in contact with this windshield, in order to supply the luminous display unit 10 with electrical energy. In some embodiments, control signals for controlling the luminous display unit 10 can be received via the secondary coil 14.

(11) The windshield 2, the luminous display unit 10 and the primary coil 16 jointly form a system 17.

(12) FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of a cross section through an alternative embodiment of a windshield 2. In this embodiment, a flexible compound foil 8 with a flexible printed circuit 12 fixed thereon is used instead of a separate compound foil and connected to the outer pane 4 and the inner pane 6.

(13) The windshield 2, the luminous display unit 10 and the primary coil 16 jointly form a system 17.

(14) FIG. 3 shows a cross section through a potential embodiment of a flexible printed circuit in the form of a multilayer printed circuit 12. The flexible multilayer printed circuit 12 features multiple layers 12.1-12.4, on which strip conductors 18 forming the secondary coil 14 are respectively applied. In this way, the secondary coil 14 can be designed very compact and realized with a thickness of no more than 0.8 cm. The flexible multilayer printed circuit 12 may be realized in the form of a flexible printed circuit 12 according to FIG. 1, as well as in the form of a flexible compound printed circuit of the type described with reference to FIG. 2.

(15) FIG. 4 shows a schematic structure of the system 17. The control unit 20 that operates the primary coil 17 is provided on the motor vehicle side. A DC/AC converter 22 is provided upstream of the primary coil and converts the signals accordingly. On the secondary windshield side, the signals are received by the secondary coil 14 and forwarded to a control unit 24.

(16) The control unit 24 features an oscillator 26, a serial peripheral interface 28 and the memory 30, which convert the signals received via the secondary coil 14 into control signals and electrical energy for light-emitting diodes 32. The light-emitting diodes 32 may be multicolor light-emitting diodes such as RGBW-LEDs that can be activated in multiple colors. An LED driver 34 is provided for operating the light-emitting diodes 32.

(17) FIG. 5 shows a cross section through an exploded view of a motor vehicle 36. The windshield 2 is inserted in an installation direction M and held by a retaining structure 38. A support 40 is provided for this purpose.

(18) A bracket 44 for the primary coil 16 is provided between the retaining structure and a dashboard 42. The bracket 44 is realized elastically in order to provide the primary coil 16 with certain flexibility in the installation direction M. Once the windshield 2 is installed, intimate contact and a small spacing between the primary coil 16 and the secondary coil 14 can be achieved due to the elastic mounting of the primary coil 16 without having to fasten the primary coil 16 on the windshield 2 such that the installation is simplified. Furthermore, the spring pre-load also ensures reliable contact if vibrations or severe shocks occur.

(19) While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents.