Antenna windshield with electrical connector and method of producing the same

Claim 2

In a laminated safety glass windshield, comprising alternate sheets of glass and plastic bonded together in face-to-face relation and having a radio circuit supported on one of said sheets, which circuit includes horizontally disposed wire elements with spaced, parallel, vertically disposed wire elements extending downwardly therefrom; the improvement in which an elongated connecting tab having a middle portion, opposite end portions, and portions connecting said end portions to said middle portion is disposed across and in contact with said vertically disposed wire elements, and each of the wires of said spaced, parallel, vertically disposed elements is wrapped over an edge of one of said connecting portions of said tab while in spaced relation to the other wire of said elements and extends therefrom toward said other wire and is then wrapped around the other connecting portion of said tab.

Claim 3

A laminated safety glass windshield as defined in claim 1, in which said circuit is supported on and embedded into a surface of a plastic interlayer sheet; said tab is bonded to said interlayer sheet with said vertically disposed wire elements therebetween; each of said wrapped wires passes under one of said connecting portions adjacent one end of said tab then across the face of said tab in crossing relation to the other and over and behind the connecting portion adjacent the opposite end of said tab, and terminates adjacent an edge of said tab; and a lead wire is electrically connected to said wires and to the face of said tab where said wires are in said crossing relation.

Claim 4

In a method of producing an antenna windshield structure which is made up of alternate sheets of glass and plastic bonded together in face-to-face relation and has a radio circuit that includes spaced, parallel, vertically disposed wires supported on one of said sheets, the steps of supporting said circuit on said sheet with the ends of said vertically disposed wires unattached to said sheet adjacent its lower edge, locating an elongated metal connecting tab having a middle portion, opposite end portions, and portions connecting said end portions to said middle portion across said wires on said supporting sheet, bonding said middle portion of the tab to the surface of said supporting sheet between said wires, and wrapping the loose ends of each of said spaced wires first over an edge of one of said connecting portions of said tab then across the face of the middle portion of the tab and over and behind an edge of the opposite tab connecting portion to cross each other on the face of said tab.

Claim 5

In a method of producing an antenna windshield structure which is made up of alternate sheets of glass and plastic bonded together in face-to-face relation and has a radio circuit that includes spaced, parallel, vertically disposed wires supported on one of said sheets, the steps of supporting said circuit on said sheet with the ends of said vertically disposed wires unattached to said sheet adjacent its lower edge, locating an elongated metal connecting tab having a middle portion, opposite end portions, and portions connecting said end portions to said middle portion across said wires on said supporting sheet, bonding said middle portion of the tab to the surface of said supporting sheet between said wires, and wrapping the loose ends of each of said spaced wires first over an edge of one of said connecting portions of said tab then across the face of the middle portion of the tab and over and behind an edge of the opposite tab connecting portion to cross each other on the face of said tab.

Claim 6

A method as defined in claim 3, in which said supporting sheet is a sheet of plastic, said circuit is embedded in a surface of said supporting sheet, the portion of said tab lying between said paraLlel wires is heat sealed to said supporting sheet before wrapping said wires and the end portions of said tab are heat sealed to said supporting sheet after wrapping said wires.

Claim 7

A method as defined in claim 3, in which a lead wire is soldered to said wrapped wires and to the face of said tab where said wires cross each other by a high temperature soldering operation.

Claim 8

In a method of producing an antenna windshield structure which is made up of alternating sheets of glass and plastic bonded together in face-to-face relation and has a radio circuit that includes spaced, parallel, vertically disposed wires supported on one of said sheets, the steps of supporting said circuit on said sheet with the ends of said vertically disposed wires unattached to said supporting sheet adjacent its lower edge, locating an elongated metal connecting tab having a middle portion, opposite end portions, and portions connecting said end portions to said middle portion across said wires on said supporting sheet, said tab also including an extension projecting outwardly from said middle portion and out of the plane of the supporting sheet, bonding said tab other than said extension thereof to the surface of said supporting sheet, and wrapping the loose ends of each of said spaced wires to said tab by passing said wires from under said connecting portions of said tab and then toward each other and wrapping them around said outwardly projecting extension and in contact with each other.

Claim 9

In a method of producing an antenna windshield structure which is made up of alternating sheets of glass and plastic bonded together in face-to-face relation and has a radio circuit that includes spaced, parallel, vertically disposed wires supported on one of said sheets, the steps of supporting said circuit on said sheet with the ends of said vertically disposed wires unattached to said supporting sheet adjacent its lower edge, locating an elongated metal connecting tab having a middle portion, opposite end portions, and portions connecting said end portions to said middle portion across said wires on said supporting sheet, said tab also including an extension projecting outwardly from said middle portion and out of the plane of the supporting sheet, bonding said tab other than said extension thereof to the surface of said supporting sheet, and wrapping the loose ends of each of said spaced wires to said tab by passing said wires from under said connecting portions of said tab and then toward each other and wrapping them around said outwardly projecting extension and in contact with each other.