Active seal assemblies for movable windows
First Claim
1. A vehicle window system, comprising:
- a movable window slidably disposed within a stationary frame;
a seal assembly in sealing communication with the movable window, the seal assembly comprising a active material operative to change at least one attribute in response to an activation signal, wherein a seal force of the seal assembly against the window changes with a change in the at least one attribute of the active material;
an activation device in operative communication with the active material; and
a controller in operative communication with the activation device.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Active seal assemblies employing active materials that can be controlled and remotely changed to alter the seal effectiveness, wherein the active seal assemblies actively change modulus properties such as stiffness, shape orientation, and the like. In this manner, in seal applications such as a vehicle window application, the seal force can be selectively reduced during movement of the window and increased when the window is stationary, thereby selectively changing seal effectiveness. Active materials refers to several different classes of materials all of which exhibit a change in at least one attribute such as dimension, shape, and/or flexural modulus when subjected to at least one of many different types of applied activation signals, examples of such signals being thermal, electrical, magnetic, stress, and the like.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A vehicle window system, comprising:
-
a movable window slidably disposed within a stationary frame;
a seal assembly in sealing communication with the movable window, the seal assembly comprising a active material operative to change at least one attribute in response to an activation signal, wherein a seal force of the seal assembly against the window changes with a change in the at least one attribute of the active material;
an activation device in operative communication with the active material; and
a controller in operative communication with the activation device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A process for operating a vehicle window system, the process comprising:
-
disposing a seal assembly in sealing communication with a movable window, wherein the seal assembly comprises an active material operative to change at least one attribute in response to an activation signal, wherein a seal force of the seal assembly against the window changes with the change in the at least one attribute of the active material;
simultaneously moving the window and reducing the seal force by activating the active material; and
increasing the seal force when the window is stationary by discontinuing the activation signal to the active material. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A vehicle window system, comprising:
-
a movable window slidably disposed within a stationary frame;
a seal assembly in sealing communication with the movable window, the seal assembly comprising a seal structure and an active fluid disposed within the seal structure, wherein the active fluid is operative to change at least one attribute in response to an activation signal, wherein a seal force of the seal assembly against the window changes with the change in the at least one attribute of the active material;
an activation device in operative communication with the active fluid; and
a controller in operative communication with the activation device. - View Dependent Claims (22)
-
Specification