Vehicles of all sorts have various surfaces that are subject to icing under cold climactic conditions. In particular, icing of motor vehicle windshields and windows, and of aircraft surfaces can interfere substantially with the safe operation of the vehicle. Motorists in particular have long been burdened with the need to scrape ice off of motor vehicles on which ice has accumulated following exposure of the vehicle to wintry conditions. Scraping as a method of ice removal can be a difficult, tedious and cold job, especially when the ice has accumulated to significant thickness. Various coating compositions have been proposed to reduce ice accumulation on vehicle surfaces exposed to cold, wet weather conditions, and to aid in ice removal. The coatings are applied to exposed surfaces before or during the occurrence of weather conditions conducive to icing, typically work by lowering the melting temperature of ice and preventing the ice from bonding to the expose surface. As a result, ice and snow deposited on the treated surfaces remains soft and slushy, and any remaining on the surface is easily cleared without the need for vigorous scraping. Most of these ant-icing coatings incorporate organic or inorganic chemicals such as resins, silones or salts that are not very environmentally sound. A need therefore exists in the art for improved anti-icing compositions with a reduced impact on the natural environment.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds