Movable or removable closures – Closure seal; e.g. – striker gasket or weatherstrip
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-05
2001-07-31
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Closure seal; e.g., striker gasket or weatherstrip
C049S498100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06266925
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to devices and methods for vehicle weather stripping and more particularly to devices and methods for a heated vehicle weather stripping system that comprises a power supply, a number of weather stripping elements each including a resilient rubber weather stripping portion and a heating element installed within the resilient weather stripping portion that is controlled by a control unit that prevents the heating elements from being heated to a temperature above the point where the resilient rubber weather stripping would be damaged, the control unit further comprises a thermostat for keeping the weather stripping above the freezing point and thus preventing the doors and hatches of the vehicle from being frozen shut.
BACKGROUND ART
A problem frequently encountered in colder climates is the freezing of weather stripping around doors and hatches of vehicles which prevents a user from either entering or exiting the vehicle when the weather stripping has become frozen to body parts of the vehicle. A substantial amount of force is required to overcome the boding created by the frozen weather stripping. A typical person is usually unable to supply sufficient force to overcome the frozen bond accordingly, a need exists for a device which would alleviate the force required to overcome frozen weather stripping in doorways and hatches of vehicles.
Prior art patents which are concerned with vehicle weather stripping are as follows:
Yamashita, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,533 which discloses a door weather strip.
Balcerski, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,741 which discloses a method for making a weather strip.
Takeuchi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,914 which discloses a weather strip.
Omura, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,830 which discloses a roof side weather strip for a motor vehicle.
Miyakawa, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,655 which discloses a weather strip for the window glass of an automobile.
Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,702 which discloses a door seal.
As can be seen from the prior art patents there has never been a device as the present which overcomes the problem associated with frozen weather stripping on vehicle doors and hatches. Additionally, there has never been a weather strip system as the present which includes a power supply, a number of weather stripping elements each including resilient rubber weather stripping portions and a heating element installed within the resilient rubber weather stripping portion that is controlled by a control unit wherein the control unit prevents the heating element from being heated to a temperature above the point where the weather stripping would be damaged and further the control unit includes a thermostat for keeping the weather stripping above the freezing point and preventing the doors and hatches from being frozen shut from frozen weather stripping, further wherein the power supply is either 115 volt conventional AC power or 12 volt VC power from the vehicle's battery and further wherein the system is either activated remotely by a small key ring remote control, an external on/off switch or an on/off switch mounted within the interior of the vehicle.
GENERAL SUMMARY DISCUSSION OF INVENTION
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a Heated vehicle weather stripping system that prevents the doors and hatches of a vehicle from freezing shut by providing a system that heats the doors and hatches weather stripping.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a Heated vehicle weather stripping system that includes a power supply which may be either 115 volt AC or 12 volts DC supplied from the vehicle's battery.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a Heated vehicle weather stripping system that comprises a power supply, a number of rubber weather stripping elements each including a resilient rubber weather stripping portion and a heating element installed within the resilient rubber weather stripping portion that is controlled by a control unit that prevents the heating element from being heated to a temperature above the point where the weather stripping would be damaged and further includes a thermostat for keeping the weather stripping above the freezing point and preventing the doors and hatched of a vehicle from being frozen shut from frozen weather stripping.
Accordingly, a Heated vehicle weather stripping system is provided that comprises a power supply that is either 12 volt VC or 115 volts AC and includes a number of rubber weather stripping elements each including resilient rubber weather stripping portions and a heating element installed within the resilient rubber weather stripping portion that is controlled by a thermostatic control unit that prevents the heating element from being heated to a temperature above the point where the weather stripping would be damaged and further activates the heating strip to prevent the weather stripping on the vehicle's doors and hatches from being frozen, further wherein the device is activated either by a remote control actuating device which may carried by a user on his/her key chain, and alternatively may be activated by a on/off switch located outside the vehicle and alternatively may be activated by an on/off switch located within the interior of the vehicle.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3633374 (1972-01-01), Canter
patent: 4080764 (1978-03-01), Stowik et al.
patent: 5511344 (1996-04-01), Dupuy
patent: 5791407 (1998-08-01), Hammons
Breaux Joseph N.
Stodola Daniel P.
Thompson Hugh B.
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