Thermoform windshield stack with integrated formable mold
AssigneeRO Technologies, LLC
InventorsStephen S. Wilson, Bart E. Wilson, Roger Cone
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Manufacturing a pre-molded stack of one or more lenses to be installable on a curved substrate such as a vehicle windshield includes placing a moldable stack of one or more lenses and adhesive layer(s) on a mold, applying heat and pressure to the moldable stack to produce a pre-molded stack of one or more lenses from the moldable stack, and removing the pre-molded stack from the mold. The pre-molded stack may have a compound curvature, which may match a curvature of the curved substrate. The mold may be formed using three-dimensional shape data derived from the curved substrate, such as by optically scanning the curved substrate.
Claims12
A moldable covering affixable to a curved substrate, the moldable covering comprising:
- a stack of three or more lenses designed to block ultraviolet (UV) light, each of the three or more lenses being between 0.5 mil and 7 mil thick;
- an adhesive layer interposed between each pair of adjacent lenses from among the three or more lenses and comprising an acrylic adhesive;
- and
- a sacrificial layer disposed on an outermost lens of the stack, the sacrificial layer including a sacrificial lens comprising a polyester film, the sacrificial layer further including a sacrificial adhesive interposed between the sacrificial lens and the outermost lens of the stack, the sacrificial layer being more heat resistant than the outermost lens of the stack such that the sacrificial layer is able to withstand, without deteriorating, directly applied heat that would result in deterioration of the outermost lens of the stack if directly applied thereto.
A moldable covering affixable to a curved substrate, the moldable covering comprising:
- a stack of three or more lenses designed to block ultraviolet (UV) light, each of the three or more lenses being between 0.5 mil and 7 mil thick;
- an adhesive layer interposed between each pair of adjacent lenses from among the three or more lenses and comprising an acrylic adhesive;
- and
- a sacrificial layer disposed on an outermost lens of the stack, the sacrificial layer including a sacrificial lens comprising a polyester film, the sacrificial layer further including a sacrificial adhesive interposed between the sacrificial lens and the outermost lens of the stack, the sacrificial layer being less scratch resistant than the outermost lens of the stack such that the sacrificial layer is scratched by directly applied pressure that would not result in scratching of the outermost lens of the stack if directly applied thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.