The modern trend in the installation of fixed vehicle windows is away from the old method of a separate frame built up piecemeal after the glass panel was lain in place in the window opening with a bead of sealant, and toward simpler methods and structures, such as the retention of a glass panel with adhesives in various flush glass or near flush glass configurations, or the recent use of unitized or modular windows in which glass, gasket and frame are molded or otherwise held together as a separate unit and dropped into place as a unit.
Flush glass styles of windows are preferred when a bright exterior molding is not desired. Two general styles of modular windows incorporating a bright molding are illustrated by the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Morgan, 4,139,234, and to Morgan et al, 4,364,595. The basic structure disclosed in the patent to Morgan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,234, is a modular window including a glass panel and a peripheral bright molding or bezel with a polyvinylchloride gasket molded integrally around the peripheral edge of the panel and apertured attachment members on the inside of the bezel to maintain the glass panel and bezel as a modular or unitized assembly. Attachment bolts are also joined to the inside of the bezel and pass through apertures in the window opening pinchweld as the unit is assembled in place. Fastening nuts maintain the window unit in place and act to compress a bead of sealant between the inside of the bezel and the outside surface of the vehicle body adjacent the window opening. The main problem with such a structure and its variations is that it is difficult and expensive to maintain all elements in the proper position within the mold and to quality control the glass so that the mold glass contact edge does not allow the escape of any polyvinylchloride during the injection molding step. In addition, the area between the peripheral edge of the glass window panel and the window opening pinchweld is obstructed by the attachment bolts passing therethrough, which makes sealing more difficult, as may be seen in FIG. 5 of the patent.
The patent to Morgan et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,595, shows a different approach to modular assembly. In the embodiments there disclosed, a series of separate clip and stud assemblies are adhesively attached to the back of a window panel very near the peripheral edge thereof, creating a relatively simple modular unit, these studs passing again through holes in the body pinchweld defining the window opening. However, the addition of a separate decorative trim member is necessary to mask the clips, which would otherwise be visible from the outside of the vehicle, and the sealant area between the window opening pinchweld and peripheral edges of the glass is again obstructed by the attachment bolts.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds