WINDSHIELD WRAPPED VEHICLE PILLAR

Abstract

A vehicle includes a driver side pillar extending between a door and a roof. The pillar forms a face having an outer edge adjacent the driver side door and an inner edge. Similarly, a passenger side pillar extends between a door and the roof and forms a face having an outer edge adjacent the door and inner edge. A windshield supported by a cowl and the roof has a driver side edge that extends beyond the inner edge of the driver side face and substantially covers the driver side pillar and a passenger side edge that extends beyond the inner edge of the passenger side face and substantially covers the passenger side pillar. The vehicle further includes a frit bonded around a periphery of the windshield. The frit substantially covers and is bonded to the driver and passenger side pillars making them appear to be a dark or black color.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising: a door; a roof; a windshield supported along a lower edge by a cowl and along an upper edge by said roof; and a pillar extending between said door and said roof and supporting a side edge of said windshield; wherein said side edge of said windshield extends around and substantially covers said pillar.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said pillar includes a face having an outer edge adjacent said door and an inner edge.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, further comprising a frit around a periphery of said windshield.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein said frit is sufficient in width to substantially cover said face of said pillar.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein said frit is black.

6. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein said frit is bonded to said windshield.

7. The vehicle of claim 6, further comprising an end treatment bonded to said side edge of said windshield.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein a margin is formed between said windshield, said pillar, and said end treatment.

9. A vehicle, comprising: a windshield bonded to a first pillar extending between a first door and a roof and to a second pillar extending between a second door and said roof, wherein a first side edge of said windshield extends around said first pillar and a second side edge of said windshield extends around said second pillar.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein said first pillar includes a first face having an outer edge adjacent said first door and an inner edge, and said second pillar includes a second face having an outer edge adjacent said second door and an inner edge.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, further comprising a frit around a periphery of said windshield.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein said frit covers said first face of said first pillar and said second face of said second pillar.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein said frit is bonded to said first face and said second face.

14. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein said windshield includes an outer ply, an inner ply, and a polymer between said inner and outer plies, and said frit is bonded to an inner surface of said outer ply.

15. A vehicle, comprising: a driver side pillar extending between a driver side door and a roof, said driver side pillar forming a face having an outer edge adjacent said driver side door and an inner edge; a passenger side pillar extending between a passenger side door and said roof, said passenger side pillar forming a face having an outer edge adjacent said passenger side door and an inner edge; and a windshield having a driver side edge extending beyond said inner edge of said driver side face and substantially covering said driver side pillar and a passenger side edge extending beyond said inner edge of said passenger side face and substantially covering said passenger side pillar.

16. The vehicle of claim 15, further comprising a frit bonded on a first side to said windshield and substantially covering at least said driver side pillar and said passenger side pillar and bonded on a second side to said face of said driver side pillar and said face of said passenger side pillar.

17. The vehicle of claim 16, further comprising a driver side trim extending along and bonded to said driver side edge of said windshield and a passenger side trim extending along and bonded to said passenger side edge of said windshield.

18. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein a driver side margin is formed by said frit, said face of said driver side pillar, and said driver side trim, and a passenger side margin is formed by said frit, said face of said passenger side pillar, and said passenger side trim.

19. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein said windshield includes an outer ply, an inner ply, and a polymer between said inner and outer plies, and a frit is bonded to an inner surface of said outer ply.

20. The vehicle of claim 19, wherein said windshield is less than 3.7 mm in thickness.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0022] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated herein and forming a part of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the vehicle with wrap-around windshield and together with the description serve to explain certain principles thereof. In the drawing figures:

[0023] FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a prior art A-pillar with the windshield extending to a side of the A-pillar which is painted black after assembly;

[0024] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a prior art A-pillar with the windshield extending to a side of the A-pillar which is covered by an applique; and

[0025] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a vehicle;

[0026] FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of an A-pillar with the windshield extending over a face of the A-pillar;

[0027] FIG. 5 is a windshield having a frit bonded around a periphery; and

[0028] FIG. 6 is an alternate embodiment of a multi-ply windshield.

[0029] Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the vehicle with wrap-around windshield, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures, wherein like numerals are used to represent like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which illustrates a prior art embodiment of a vehicle having an A-pillar 10. In this embodiment, a face 12 of the A-pillar 10 extends between a door 14 and a windshield 16 and is visually exposed. A dark or black tape or paint is applied to at least the face 12 of the A-pillar 10 to provide the desired aesthetics as described above. As shown, the A-pillar 10 includes a hydroform tube 18 which is mounted to a body 20 of the vehicle. The door 14 is shown in a closed position adjacent the A-pillar 10 and a seal 22 is attached to the door and seals the gap between the A-pillar and the door. An outer trim 24 at least partially covers the door seal 22. The windshield 16 extends over and is bonded to a tab 26 extending from a side 28 of the A-pillar 10 using an epoxy 30 or other adhesive. As shown, an edge 32 of the windshield 16 generally abuts the side 28 of the A-pillar 10.

[0031] In a second prior art embodiment, shown in FIG. 2, an applique 34 is secured in position over a face 36 of an A-pillar 38. The face 36 of the A-pillar 38 extends between a door 40 and a windshield 42. Rather than apply tape or paint to the face 36 of the A-pillar 38, the applique 34 covers the untreated pillar and provides the desired aesthetics. As shown, the A-pillar 38 includes a hydroform tube 44 which is mounted to a body 46 of the vehicle. The door 40 is depicted in a closed position adjacent the A-pillar 38 and a seal 48 is attached to the door and seals the gap between the applique 34 and the door. An outer trim 50 at least partially covers the door seal 48. The windshield 42 extends over and is bonded to a tab 52 extending from a side 54 of the A-pillar 38 using an epoxy 56 or other adhesive. An edge 58 of the windshield 42 generally abuts the side 54 of the A-pillar 38 and a side 60 of the applique 34.

[0032] Reference is now made to FIG. 3 showing an embodiment of a vehicle 62 having a windshield 64 that extends around driver and passenger side A-pillars 66, 68. As shown, the windshield 64 is supported along a lower edge 70 by a cowl 72 and along an upper edge 74 by a roof 76. The first, or driver side, A-pillar 66 extends between a driver side door 78 and the roof 76 and supports a driver side edge 80 of the windshield 64. A second, or passenger side, A-pillar 68 similarly extends between a passenger side door 82 and the roof 76 and supports a passenger side edge 84 of the windshield 64. It should be noted that references to edges of the windshield (e.g., driver side edge 80) refers to a portion of a face or a rear face of the windshield adjacent a side of the windshield, the line where the face meets the side, and/or the side of the windshield).

[0033] As shown in FIG. 4, a seal 86 covered by a chrome trim 88 is positioned between the door 78 and A-pillar 66 and the windshield 64 extends around and substantially covers a face 90 of the A-pillar 66 in the described embodiment. The face 90 includes an outer edge 92 adjacent the door 78 and an inner edge 94. Although only the driver side A-pillar 66 is shown in FIG. 4, the windshield 64 similarly extends around and substantially covers a face 96 of the passenger side A-pillar 68 as shown in FIG. 5.

[0034] The windshield 64 is bonded, by epoxy or the like, to the face 90 of the A-pillar 66 at bonding point 98. Compared to the prior art vehicles described above, the location of the bonding point 98 is moved from a tab 26 extending from a side 28 of the pillar 12 (shown in FIG. 1) to the face 90 of the pillar 66 (shown in FIG. 4). The movement of the bonding point eliminates a margin created by bonding the windshield 16 to the tab 26 extending from the side 28 of the pillar 12 shown in FIG. 1, and significantly improves the aerodynamics of the vehicle 62. Improving the aerodynamics decreases wind noise thereby eliminating the need for an applique or other remedy to minimize the effects of the margin.

[0035] Moving the bonding point 78 also creates a new margin between the windshield 64 and the face 90 of the A-pillar 66 as shown in FIG. 4. In order to maintain the improved aerodynamics of the vehicle 62 secured through moving the bonding point 78, an end treatment 100 is bonded to the windshield 64. The end treatment 100 is an injection molded plastic in the described embodiment but other materials (e.g., other hard rubbers or high durometer materials) may be utilized. The end treatment 100 seals the gap between the edge 80 of the windshield 64 and the face 90 of the A-pillar 66 and provides a flange that the door 78 utilizes for sealing.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 5, the windshield 64 in the described embodiment includes a frit 104 bonded around a periphery of the windshield. The frit 104, which is black in color, is sufficient in width to substantially cover the face 90 of the A-pillar 66 as shown in FIG. 4. In this manner, the face 90 of the A-pillar 66 appears black to an observer located outside of the vehicle 62.

[0037] In an alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a windshield 106 includes an outer ply 108, an inner ply 110, and a polymer 112 between said inner and outer plies. In this embodiment, a frit 114 is bonded to an inner surface 116 of the outer ply 108 and the inner ply 110 is a chemically strengthened glass (e.g., glass sold under the registered trademark Gorilla). The utilization of chemically strengthened glass allows for a thinner inner ply to be utilized which reduces the overall weight of the windshield 106. In the described embodiment, the windshield 106 has a thickness less than 3.7 mm.

[0038] The foregoing has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.