Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Storm-front shield – apron – or robe
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-25
2001-08-14
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Storm-front shield, apron, or robe
C296S180100, C296S041000, C427S476000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273488
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a system and method for removing liquid from a rear window (i.e., backlite) of a vehicle such as a car, truck, or sport utility vehicle. More particularly, the system and/or method may include a rear spoiler or air deflector designed to accelerate air/wind flow and direct the same toward the backlite which may include a hydrophobic coating provided thereon, so that liquid (e.g., rain) and/or dirt may be easily removed from the backlite.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, rain and dirt are typically removed from vehicle backlites (i.e., rear windows) using a rear wiper(s), especially in sport utility vehicles. Unfortunately, rear wipers tend to be rather fragile, costly and prone to damage.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need in the art for a system and corresponding method for removing rain and/or dirt from vehicle backlites without the need for use of a rear wiper.
Rear spoilers for directing air/wind onto vehicle backlites are known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,674,788, 4,881,772 and 5,845,960, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The '788 patent discloses a rear spoiler which may be manipulated between two different positions.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of vehicle
3
including the '788 rear spoiler
5
mounted thereon. In the first position, spoiler
5
diverts air flowing along upper vehicle body surface
7
(i.e., roof) upwardly so as to exert a downward force and enhance traction of vehicular wheels
9
. In the second position, spoiler
5
guides air flow toward a rear window (i.e., backlite)
11
surface so as to remove rain water, dust and so forth from the major exterior surface thereof.
Unfortunately, the system of the '788 patent is less than desirable for at least the following reasons. First, while the spoiler may guide air flow toward the backlite, it does not serve to accelerate the speed of the air flow. Thus, when the vehicle is traveling at rather slow speeds (e.g., 20 mph), the air flow will often be insufficient to clean/remove rain and the like from the surface of backlite
11
.
Second, the backlite appears to be of conventional glass in the '788 patent (the contact angle &thgr; of conventional uncoated soda lime silica glass is about 22-24 degrees). As a result, even when air is caused to flow across the surface of the backlite, rain may not be sufficiently removed therefrom due to the inherent tendency of glass to hold water on its surface due to its naturally low contact angle &thgr;.
The '772 and '960 patents also disclose rear spoilers designed to direct air flow toward backlites. Unfortunately, the '772 and '960 patents suffer from the same problem as the '788 patent in that the backlite appears to be of conventional glass thus having an inherently low contact angle &thgr;. As a result, even when air is caused to flow across the surface of the backlite, rain may not be sufficiently removed therefrom due to the natural tendency of glass to hold water on its surface due to its inherently low contact angle &thgr;.
It will be apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a system and/or method for efficiently removing water (e.g., rain) from the exterior surface of a rear backlite.
It is a purpose of different embodiments of this invention to fulfill any or all of the above described needs in the art, and/or other needs which will become apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide a system and/or method for efficiently removing liquid such as rain from an exterior surface of a vehicle backlite (i.e., rear window).
Another object of this invention is to reduce the need for a rear wiper on a vehicle by providing a system and/or method which may remove a significant amount of liquid such as rain from the backlite without the need for a wiper.
Another object of this invention is to provide a rear spoiler including a plurality of venturi-like channels or passages therein for accelerating air flow and directing the accelerated air flow toward a surface of the backlite.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hydrophobic coating on the exterior major surface of a vehicle backlite so as to enable air flowing over the surface to more easily remove (or blow off) liquid such as rain therefrom.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hydrophobic coating on a vehicle backlite to be used in combination with a spoiler designed to accelerate air flow and/or direct the same toward the backlite with hydrophobic coating thereon, in order to efficiently remove liquid such as rain from the coated surface of the backlite. This may eliminate the need for a rear wiper in certain embodiments, and in other embodiments where a rear wiper is provided on the vehicle may reduce the need for its use to remove rain and/or dirt from the backlite's exterior major surface.
Another object of this invention is to provide the backlite with a hydrophobic coating including SP
3
carbon—carbon bonds and a wettability W with regard to water of less than or equal to about 23 mN/m, more preferably less than or equal to about 21 mN/m, and most preferably less than or equal to about 20 mN/m, and in most preferred embodiments less than or equal to about 19 mN/meter (these units may also be explained or measured in Joules per unit area (mJ/m
2
).
Another object of this invention is to provide the backlite with a hydrophobic coating including sp
3
carbon—carbon bonds and a surface energy &ggr;
c
of less than or equal to about 20.2 mN/m, more preferably less than or equal to about 19.5 mN/m, and most preferably less than or equal to about 18 mN/m. Another object of this invention is to provide the backlite with a hydrophobic coating thereon, the backlite with coating having an initial (i.e. prior to being exposed to environmental tests, rubbing tests, acid tests, UV tests, or the like) water contact angle &thgr; of at least about 70 degrees, more preferably of at least about 100 degrees, even more preferably of at least about 110 degrees, and most preferably of at least about 125 degrees.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hydrophobic coating for a vehicle backlite, wherein at least about 15% (more preferably at least about 25%, and most preferably at least about 30%) of the bonds in the coating are sp
3
carbon—carbon (C—C) bonds; and wherein the coating includes by atomic percentage at least about 5% silicon (Si) atoms (more preferably at least about 15%, and most preferably at least about 20% Si), at least about 5% oxygen (O) atoms (more preferably at least about 15% and most preferably at least about 20%), at least about 5% hydrogen (H) atoms (more preferably at least about 10% and most preferably at least about 15%) taking into consideration either the coating's entire thickness or only a thin layer portion thereof. In certain embodiments, an increased percentage of H atoms may be provided near the coating's outermost surface. In certain embodiments, the coating has approximately the same amounts of C and Si atoms.
Another object of this invention is to provide a coating for a vehicle backlite, wherein the coating includes a greater number of sp
3
carbon—carbon (C—C) bonds than SP
2
carbon—carbon (C—C) bonds. In certain of these embodiments, the coating need not include any sp
2
carbon—carbon (C—C) bonds.
Another object of this invention is to provide a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating on the major exterior surface of a vehicle backlite, wherein the coating includes different portions or layers with different densities and different sp
3
carbon—carbon bond percentages. The ratio of sp
3
to sp
2
carbon—carbon bonds may be different in different layers or portions of the coating. Such a coating with varying compositions therein may be continuously formed by varying the ion energy used in the deposition process so that stresses in the coating are reduced in the interfacial po
Pike Ryan E.
Veerasamy Vijayen S.
Guardian Industries Corporation
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
Pape Joseph D.
Patel Kiran B.
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