Glazing comprising an electronic device and method of reading/writing information in said device

• US 8,384,520 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2006
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saint-Gobain Glass France (Compagnie De Saint-Gobain)
• Original Assignee: Saint-Gobain Glass France (Compagnie De Saint-Gobain)
• Inventors: Fourreau, Frederic
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALAM, MIRZA F
• Application Number:
  US11/912,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20080191841A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,500 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/572.3, 340/572.4, 340/572.7, 340/572.8, 340/539.1, 340/10.1, 340/10.4, 340/10.34, 340/10.42, 340/825.69, 340/825.695, 235/435, 235/454, 235/487, 235/488, 342/124, 342/357.07, 342/242, 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 521/73, 527/861.2, 521/05, 377/12, 701/14
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/1484 Windows B64C1/1492 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2011/0061 Windows displaying outside view, artificially generated
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/0297 including a machine-readable marking, e.g. a bar code digitally marked record carriers in general G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/203 specially adapted to be attached to a transparent surface, e.g. the window of a car

Abstract

A window panel including at least one electronic device that includes at least one electronic memory in which is stored information that can be read remotely using an appropriate reading apparatus. An electronic device connected to the memory receives and processes data so as to transmit and enter information to and in the memory in response to signals received in a programmed way by one or more units for detecting and sending data associated with the window panel and/or a device accommodating the window panel.

Claims

1. A window panel comprising:

one or more sensors for detecting and sending data, the one or more sensors being one of;

electrical current sensors, voltage sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, vibration sensors, accelerometers, inclinometers, mechanical actuation detectors, and counters;

at least one electronic device positioned within the window panel, the at least one electronic device including;

at least one electronic memory containing information readable remotely using an appropriate reading apparatus; and

electronic means including a counter, the electronic means connected to the memory for receiving and processing said data to transmit and enter information to and in the memory, said information stored in the memory relating to the window panel or an electrical element incorporated in the window panel,

wherein

the information is transmitted to and entered in the memory by the electronic means in response to signals received in a programmed way by the one or more sensors for detecting and sending said data,

the one or more sensors detect a first trigger event that causes the counter to accumulate a count corresponding to an operation of an apparatus on which the window panel is situated, and

the one or more sensors detected a second trigger event that causes the counter to stop accumulating the count.

2. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least some of the information stored in the memory is linked to parameters that evolve over time.

3. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein access to the information stored in the memory is reserved for authorized users.

4. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic device is protected from an external environment.

5. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic device is joined to a periphery of the window panel, directly on a substrate of the window panel, or on an element added to the window panel, or on a peripheral frame, and or in a position configured to be concealed by a framework in which the window panel is housed.

6. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic device is incorporated inside the window panel provided with at least two sheets of glass.

7. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the memory of the electronic device includes information already stored before operation of the electronic device in response to the signals received in a programmed way, the information being related to identification, configuration, and production characteristics and to technical characteristics of the window panel or of an electrical element incorporated in the window panel.

8. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information stored in the memory of the electronic device of the window panel is configured to be read by a reading/writing apparatus also operating as an apparatus for writing information into the memory in response to a human choice.

9. The window panel as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

means of communication between the electronic device and the reading/writing apparatus of a radiofrequency link, or a radiofrequency identification system (RFID), or Wi-Fi or Bluetooth®

technology, or using a link by optical signal by infrared, by capacitive, or inductive transmission tracks, or a cable link.

10. The window panel as claimed in claim 9, wherein the means of communication corresponds to radiofrequency signals, the electronic device including an antenna for identification by radiofrequencies associated with the electronic means, the antenna cooperating with another antenna of same type associated with the reading/writing apparatus.

11. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic means includes a system of identifying the electronic device that avoids collision with other information not intended for the electronic device.

12. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a recognition marking providing information on a particular type of the window panel.

13. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, configured to be incorporated in a locomotive device of aeronautical, motor vehicle, or rail vehicle.

14. The window panel as claimed in claim 13, wherein the electronic memory is configured to store flying hours of an aeronautical device.

15. The window panel as claimed in claim 1, configured to be incorporated in a building window panel.