Heatable device for use with a vehicle mounted image acquisition unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12214754-B2
Application number	US-202117313168-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 6, 2021
Priority date	Nov 6, 2018
Publication date	Feb 4, 2025
Grant date	Feb 4, 2025

Abstract

A heatable device for use with a vehicle-mounted image acquisition unit includes a main body including a first end, a second end opposite the first end, an interior cavity defined therein extending between the first and second ends, and a receiving portion disposed at the second end, the receiving portion including an opening therein providing access to the interior cavity, a transparent glass substrate fixed to the main body at the first end and including a transparent electrically-conductive coating on an inner surface thereof or the glass with contact foil stripes without a transparent electrically-conductive coating, the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate facing the first end of the main body, and at least one electrically-conductive unit disposed at least partially outside of the interior cavity defined in the main body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heatable device for use with a vehicle-mounted image acquisition unit, the heatable device, comprising:
a main body including a first end, a second end opposite the first end, an interior cavity defined therein extending between the first and second ends, and a receiving portion disposed at the second end, the receiving portion including an opening therein providing access to the interior cavity;
a transparent glass substrate fixed to the main body at the first end and including a transparent electrically-conductive coating on an inner surface thereof, the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate facing the first end of the main body;
at least one electrically-conductive unit disposed at least partially outside of the interior cavity defined in the main body and contacting the transparent electrically-conductive coating on the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate, the at least one electrically-conductive unit configured to receive electric current selectively provided by a vehicle-mounted power supply and conduct the electric current to the transparent electrically-conductive coating on the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate, thereby selectively heating the transparent glass substrate; and
a sealing member configured to couple the opening in the receiving portion of the main body with at least a portion of a vehicle-mounted image acquisition unit such that the interior cavity defined in the main body is hermetically sealed and the vehicle-mounted image acquisition unit has a field of view extending through the interior cavity and through the transparent glass substrate to an outside environment surrounding a vehicle.

2. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein
the transparent glass substrate is fixed to the main body by way of a non-conductive adhesive, and wherein at least one of:
the non-conductive adhesive is a non-conductive ultraviolet (UV) light curable adhesive, or
the non-conductive adhesive comprises at least one non-conductive double-sided adhesive member.

3. The heatable device according to claim 2 , wherein the non-conductive adhesive is disposed between the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate and a peripheral face of the main body, the peripheral face surrounding an opening of the interior cavity at the first end of the main body.

4. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein
the transparent electrically-conductive coating on the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate is an indium-tinoxide (ITO) electrically-conductive coating, or
the transparent electrically-conductive coating on the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate is an electrically-conductive resistance heating coating.

5. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein
the transparent glass substrate further includes a transparent anti-reflective (AR) coating on at least a portion of the inner surface thereof,
the transparent glass substrate further includes an anti-reflective (AR) coating on an outer surface thereof, the outer surface of the transparent glass substrate facing away from the first end of the main body, or
the transparent glass substrate further includes a transparent anti-reflective (AR) coating on at least a portion of the inner surface thereof and an anti-reflective (AR) coating on an outer surface thereof opposite the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate.

6. The heatable device according to claim 5 , wherein
the at least one electrically-conductive unit contacts the transparent electrically-conductive coating on at least one contact portion of the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate, with the at least one contact portion being devoid of the transparent anti-reflective coating, or
the at least one electrically-conductive unit comprises at least two electrically-conductive units, the at least two electrically-conductive units contacting the transparent electrically-conductive coating on at least two contact portions of the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate which correspond to the at least two electrically-conductive units, respectively, with the at least two contact portions being devoid of the transparent anti-reflective (AR) coating.

7. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein the transparent glass substrate comprises a borosilicate glass or a borosilicate float glass.

8. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein in response to the transparent glass substrate being selectively heated, the transparent glass substrate is capable of reducing or eliminating at least one or more of fog, frost, snow, ice, water, and moisture on an outer surface thereof, the outer surface of the transparent glass substrate facing away from the first end of the main body.

9. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein
the at least one electrically-conductive unit comprises a busbar disposed on the main body, wherein at least one of:
the busbar comprises a material selected from the group consisting of silver, copper, copper-beryllium, gold, aluminum, zinc, nickel, brass, bronze, and combinations thereof, or the busbar being screen printed.

10. The heatable device according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one electrically-conductive unit further comprises:
an electrically-conductive contact spring compressed between the busbar and the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate, the electrically-conductive contact spring contacting the transparent electrically-conductive coating on the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate.

11. The heatable device according to claim 1 , wherein
the at least one electrically-conductive unit comprises at least two electrically-conductive units disposed on the main body, and
the at least two electrically-conductive units each comprising a busbar.

12. The heatable device according to claim 11 , wherein the main body further includes a peripheral face facing the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate, the peripheral face surrounding an opening of the interior cavity at the first end of the main body and including at least two spaced-apart recesses therein, and the at least two electrically-conductive units are disposed within the at least two spaced-apart recesses in the peripheral face, respectively.

13. The heatable device according to claim 11 , wherein
the at least one electrically-conductive unit comprises first and second electrically-conductive units,
the heatable device further comprises a one-piece assembly comprising:
at least one non-conductive carrier supporting the first and second electrically-conductive units on an outer surface of the non-conductive carrier;
a first non-conductive double-sided adhesive member fixed to the outer surface of the at least one non-conductive carrier; and
a second non-conductive double-sided adhesive member fixed to the inner surface of the at least one non-conductive carrier opposite the outer surface thereof, and

wherein the first non-conductive double-sided adhesive member is further fixed to the inner surface of the transparent glass substrate and the second non-conductive double-sided adhesive member is further fixed to a peripheral face of the main body surrounding an opening of the interior cavity at the first end of the main body, thereby fixing the transparent glass substrate to the main body at the first end.

14. The heatable device according to claim 13 , wherein
the second non-conductive double-sided adhesive member covers the non-conductive carrier and the first and second electrically-conductive units, in particular a first and a second busbar, and
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Assignees

• Motherson Innovations Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hein Peter
• Dobrete Alexandru
• Batinic Ivan

Classifications

• H05B2203/013

  Heaters using resistive films or coatings · CPC title

• H05B3/84 Primary

  Heating arrangements specially adapted for transparent or reflecting areas, e.g. for demisting or de-icing windows, mirrors or vehicle windshields · CPC title

• H05B3/03

  Electrodes · CPC title

• G02B27/0006

  with means to keep optical surfaces clean, e.g. by preventing or removing dirt, stains, contamination, condensation (G02B1/18 takes precedence; cleaning in general B08B) · CPC title

• G02B7/028

  with means for compensating for changes in temperature or for controlling the temperature; thermal stabilisation · CPC title