Vehicle windshield lubrication system

• US 4,531,607 A
• Filed: 05/31/1984
• Issued: 07/30/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Motors Corporation (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Browne, Alan L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lazarus, Ronald H.
• Application Number:
  US06/615,915
• Time in Patent Office: 425 Days
• Field of Search: 180/282, 280/730, 280/736, 296/84 K
• US Class Current: 180/282
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/00 Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles B60R22/00; seats constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats, B60N2/42; energy-absorbing arrangements for hand wheels for steering vehicles B62D1/11; energy-absorbing arrangements for vehicle steering columns B62D1/19

Abstract

A coating of viscous lubricant, such as silicone, is applied to the inner surface of a vehicle windshield after the onset of vehicle impact with an obstacle exceeding a predetermined level. The coating provides a lubricant film between the pieces of the fractured inner layer of the windshield and the head of an occupant should the occupant engage and fracture the windshield.

Claims

1. In combination with a vehicle including a windshield and an occupant seated in the vehicle adjacent the inner surface of the windshield, a vehicle body windshield lubrication system comprising a source of lubricant, means operable to sense an impact of the vehicle with an obstacle exceeding a predetermined level, and means actuated by the sensing means for applying a coating of lubricant from the source to the inner surface of the windshield within a predetermined time after initiation of vehicle impact and prior to any contact of the head of the occupant with such inner surface of the windshield.

2. In combination with a vehicle including a windshield and an occupant seated in the vehicle adjacent the inner surface of the windshield, a vehicle body windshield lubrication system comprising a source of lubricant mounted on the vehicle, means for spraying lubricant from the source on the inner surface of the windshield, a sensor for sensing impacts of the vehicle with an obstacle exceeding a predetermined level, said spray means being actuated by the sensor for spraying the lubricant on the inner surface of the windshield within a predetermined time after initiation of vehicle impact and prior to any contact of the head of the occupant with the inner surface of the windshield.