1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an arrangement for closing an opening of a motor vehicle, especially a roof opening, with a pane which is provided with a shatter-proofing element.
2. Description of Related Art
German Patent Application DE 43 23 140 A1 discloses a glass cover for a vehicle roof, the glass pane on its underside being provided with a transparent film, the edge area of which is embedded into foam that is provided around the edge of the pane. Furthermore, the inner cover sheet is foamed into the peripheral foam.
A similar glass cover is described in German Patent Application DE 102 06 717 A1 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,147, between the elastic film and the underside of the glass pane, a solar generator being enclosed. Similar solar covers are described in German Patent Application DE 41 05 396 A1 and German Patent Application DE 101 55 168 A1 that corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,893. However instead of a solar generator, an electrochrome element is enclosed between the film and the pane.
German Patent Application DE 101 51 156 A1 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,288 describe a glass cover in which a shatter-proofing film is cemented directly to the underside of the glass pane, the edge area of the shatter-proofing film extending into the peripheral foam and being provided with holes in order to achieve a better connection to the peripheral foam.
In commonly-owned International Patent Application WO 2004/073976 A1, which published after the international filing date of this application, various embodiments of glass covers with a shatter-proofing film are described, the edge area of the shatter-proofing film being foamed into the peripheral cover foam of the pane or being cemented into a cement connection between the pane edge and the inner cover sheet. In the edge area of the film there are means to increase adhesion to the peripheral foam or a cement bond.
German Patent Application DE 101 55 170 A1 discloses a glass fixing element for a vehicle roof which is cemented to the body-mounted roof frame by means of a cement bond. There is no shatter-proofing film there.
Furthermore, cementing vehicle roof modules into the body frame of the vehicle from overhead by means of a cement bead is known, see, for example, German Patent Application DE 198 17 056 A1, German Patent DE 199 55 710 C1 and German Patent Application DE 102 23 579 A1.
The object of this invention is to devise an arrangement for closing an opening of a motor vehicle, especially a roof opening, with a pane, with provision being made for protection of passengers and the vehicle interior as much as possible when the pane breaks, and furthermore, for attachment of the pane to the vehicle body or a retaining element connected to the vehicle body in a simple and economical manner.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by an arrangement as described herein.
Each of the approaches in accordance with the invention enable a simple and still economical connection of the pane, which is provided with the shatter-proofing element, to the vehicle body. The shatter-proofing element performs the task of retaining the fragments of the broken pane when it breaks by the shatter-proofing element being connected securely to the retaining element and the vehicle body in its edge area, the shatter-proofing element, with the pane broken, is no longer being flexural stiff, but is held in place by the retaining element or the vehicle body. In this way, the passengers can be prevented from being flung to the outside through the broken pane, articles and fragments from outside can be prevented from penetrating into the interior through the broken pane, and the interior is prevented from being freely accessible when the pane is destroyed in case of break-in.
The invention is especially suited for pane arrangements which are a so-called glass fixing element, i.e., a glass pane which is attached fixed in the opening of the vehicle, especially in a roof opening.
The invention is explained in detail by way of examples below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
In its central area, the pane 14 is laminated or cemented on its side facing the vehicle interior with a protective film composite 26 which, on its side facing the pane 14, is provided with an adhesive film or adhesive layer 28, which is used to cement the shatter-proofing film 30, which is made tear-proof and scratchproof to the pane 14. The adhesive film 28 can be, for example, a poly(vinylbutyral) film (PVB film) or a transparent polyurethane (PU) film, while the protective film 30 is preferably a plastic film which is coated to be scratchproof, for example, a polysiloxane-coated poly(ethyleneterephthalate) film (PET film) or a polycarbonate film (PC film).
In its peripheral edge area 24, the protective film composite 26 extends into the first cement bond 20, being embedded at least partially in the first cement bond 20 or extending into it, i.e., in this area, the protective film composite 26 does not adjoin the pane 14. The peripheral edge area 24 and part of the central area of the protective film composite 26 lay between the retaining element 18 and the pane 14. The adhesive film or adhesive layer 28 can be absent in the edge area 24 of the protective film composite 26 that does not adjoin the pane 14.
The first cement bond 20 thus is used not only to connect the retaining element 18 to the pane 14 in interaction with the second cement bond 22, but is also used to securely join the protective film composite 26 to the retaining element 18. In this way, it can be ensured that, even when the glass pane 14 breaks, a certain mechanical integrity of the pane arrangement 10 is preserved by the protective film composite 26, even with the pane 14 broken, remaining clamped in its edge area by means of the retaining element 18 which, for its part, is connected to the vehicle body. In this connection, the protective film composite 26 does lose its flexural stiffness, but remains in place with respect to the retaining element 18, by which, on the one hand, the passengers can be prevented from being flung to the outside through the broken pane 14, and on the other hand, fragments of the pane and articles from outside can be prevented from penetrating into the vehicle interior. Furthermore, in the case of intentional destruction of the glass pane 14, the protective film composite 26 can also provide for a certain protection against break-in. The fragments of the broken glass pane 14 remain hanging on the protective film composite 26, i.e., on the protective film 30, due to the adhesive layer 28. In this way, the protective film 30 acts as a shatter-proofing film.
In the area of the first cement bond 20, the underside of the peripheral foam 12 is provided with a depression 34 which has been mechanically worked out by surface machining, and which can be made, for example, by milling. Surface machining in the area of the depression 34 removes residues of the separating agent from the foaming process so that cement can be applied there. The upper part of the first cement bond 20 in the illustrated example essentially fills the depression 34. In contrast to the embodiment from
The screen 32 is located nearer to the central area of the pane 14 than the first cement bond 20, i.e., is on the inner side of the cement bond 20.
As is shown in
Furthermore, in the
The configuration of the rear area of the pane arrangement 10 from
In all embodiments, the edge area 24 of the peripheral foam 26 can be provided with means to achieve better adhesion between the peripheral foam 12 and the cement bond 20 and the edge area 24 of the protective film composite 26; this can be done, for example, by providing holes in the edge area 24 which can be penetrated by the adhesive or the foam mass (as in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/880,096 which is hereby incorporated by reference) or by special treatment of the /urface of the edge area 24, for example, by mechanical surface roughening or by applying a primer system.
The cement bonds 20, 22 can be produced, for example, by means of a silicone cement or a PU-based cement.
The cement bond between the protective film 30 and the pane 14 can be achieved, instead of with a cement film 28, also by applying the cement to the pane 14 over a large area and then placing and pressing the shatter-proofing film 30 on it.
Furthermore, a function element, such as, for example, a flat solar cell combination, can be enclosed between the protective film composite 28 and the underside of the glass pane 14. Here again, reference is made to the above noted commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/880,096.
In order to achieve an improved visual appearance of the shatter-proofing film 30 from the vehicle interior, the protective film 30 can be provided with a defined, non-flat surface structure, for example, a “grained” structure being produced by means of a die. Alternatively, the protective film foam 30 can be provided with an imprinted regular pattern or can be colored over its entire thickness. The printing can be made such that certain sections of the solar cell combination, for example, the solar cell connectors, are covered. Preferably, both the pane and also the shatter-proofing film are at least partially transparent. However, applications are also possible in which the pane and/or the shatter-proofing film are made opaque. In particular, when there is a solar cell film composite, it can be feasible for the shatter-proofing film to be made at least partially opaque, while the pane is transparent.
The retaining element 18, if the pane arrangement 10 is made as a glass fixing element, can be especially a roof-mounted frame or the bow of such a frame. Instead of a retaining element 18 which is securely joined to the body, analogously, part of the vehicle body can be directly connected to the pane or shatter-proofing element by means of the cement bond or peripheral foam. In this case, the retaining element 18 forms part of the vehicle body, for example, a frame of a roof opening.
When the pane arrangement 10 is made as a movable cover, the retaining element 10 is the inner cover sheet, by means of which the pane arrangement 10 is linked to the positioning mechanism.
Basically, in all embodiments, instead of a shatter-proofing film, the shatter-proofing element can be a shatter-proofing plate, these two versions differing essentially by way of flexural elasticity, and thus, for a given material, by way of the layer thickness of the shatter-proofing element.
Furthermore, although in the illustrated embodiments only a single shatter-proofing element is shown, basically the pane can have several shatter-proofing elements arranged flat next to one another.
Basically, the linking of the shatter-proofing element to the retaining element or the vehicle body can take place by means of cement bonds or screw connections in the edge area of the shatter-proofing element and the pane (this is generally the most advantageous), but alternatively, also farther to the inside in a region of the pane and/or of the shatter-proofing element.
Furthermore, it goes without saying that, in this application, the concept of “peripheral foam” should generally be understood such that a foam mass is applied to the surface, the foam mass not necessarily having to surround the peripheral edge of this surface.
In general, the linking of the shatter-proofing element to the cement bond or peripheral foam can take place either in the entire peripheral edge area of the shatter-proofing element or in segments only in partial regions of the peripheral edge area.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102004007988.9 | Feb 2004 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2005/001459 | 2/14/2005 | WO | 00 | 12/21/2006 |