[djmips]

Could it be useful for automobile windscreens? The article says it's solved for cars with embedded wires but this is not generally seen in the front windscreen - probably because it impairs vision and maybe even makes the glass less robust. I checked and it seems now we do have windscreens with electric heat but perhaps your system could be adapted to the lower end cars.

[helsinkiandrew]

For some reason I've always remembered that Concorde electrically heated its windows using a laminated layer of gold:

https://www.heritageconcorde.com/concorde-fuselage-windows

[lebubule]

Yes, of course there is still much work left for full scale industrializing but nothing insurmountable in view.

[cnity]

My Ford Fiesta has windscreen heating. IIRC the patent is owned by Ford but I could be wrong.

[danw1979]

The only car I’ve ever owned with a heated windscreen was a Ford Focus. It worked a treat and was still really useful even after some of the conductors corroded and stopped working.

[pbhjpbhj]

Oh man, our Ford Mondeo (UK must be 15 years ago) had the fine heating wires in the front windscreen - best defrost/demist ever, almost instantaneous compared to every other vehicle I've driven. Definitely a feature that would sway me from choosing one vehicle over another!

[exar0815]

Not really. Windscreen heating is quite common in the industry, and the patents lie with the glass suppliers (No Vehicle Company builds their glass themselves). Most common techniques are thin tungsten wires or a heatable thin metal layer which additionally acts as IR-reflection.

[hnlmorg]

You say it’s common but it didn’t used to be. It was common on Fords but no other vehicle manufacturer had it. Rear window heating, sure. But not front windscreen.

Moreover, Ford dealerships (in the U.K. at least) would boast that they owned the patent.

Looking online, I can see lots of references on car enthusiast sites talking about Ford owning the patent but any documents on the patent I find states it’s owned by an independent window manufacturer (like you suggested it would be).

So that leaves me wondering if either Ford had the patent but then sold it (unlikely in my opinion), or if they simply bought exclusively rights?

[cjrp]

Surely Volvo had it? Feels like a very Volvo feature.

[_yb2s]

The VW egolf had it in 2015 or so…

[hnlmorg]

Yeah, I’m talking a good few years ago now.

The patent would have long since expired — never mind any deals between patent holders.

[cnity]

Do you have a link? The patent I could find was filed by Ford and expired in 2015: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5824993A/en

Actually that patent looks different to what I'm describing.

[arethuza]

I've had heated windscreens in various Škodas for 10+ years - now a must have feature for me when buying a new car.