Heated Windscreens and the "Ford Patent"

matt_drummer

Grumpy_chap said:

facade said:

I'd happily have paid another couple of hundred for a heated windscreen if the option had been available when I ordered them, but I'm probably in a group of 1 

Make that a group of (at least) two as I would also pay for heated windscreen as an option.

The Ford system is very good - I had several Mondeo's and Focii with the heated windscreen and my wife has it in her Fiesta.  I'd love the same in my Tesla. 
BUT the real proof of the pudding that the Ford system is very good must be the fact that Mercedes, VW Group and others continue to use the Ford heated windscreen on a licence basis rather than developing an alternative.  I read something somewhere many years back that the Ford licence charge was £1 per screen sold to other manufacturers - that could be a very shrewd move as it makes the solution cheap but also £1 each for a whole load of cars makes a lot of money.

Why?

Your Tesla has a heat pump and instant heat.

My Tesla clears the windscreen without any issues and it takes no longer than a heated front screen without having the issue of the visible heating elements.

I would never want that on my Tesla.

ididgetwhereiamtoday

matt_drummer said:

Grumpy_chap said:

facade said:

I'd happily have paid another couple of hundred for a heated windscreen if the option had been available when I ordered them, but I'm probably in a group of 1 

Make that a group of (at least) two as I would also pay for heated windscreen as an option.

The Ford system is very good - I had several Mondeo's and Focii with the heated windscreen and my wife has it in her Fiesta.  I'd love the same in my Tesla. 
BUT the real proof of the pudding that the Ford system is very good must be the fact that Mercedes, VW Group and others continue to use the Ford heated windscreen on a licence basis rather than developing an alternative.  I read something somewhere many years back that the Ford licence charge was £1 per screen sold to other manufacturers - that could be a very shrewd move as it makes the solution cheap but also £1 each for a whole load of cars makes a lot of money.

Why?

Your Tesla has a heat pump and instant heat.

My Tesla clears the windscreen without any issues and it takes no longer than a heated front screen without having the issue of the visible heating elements.

I would never want that on my Tesla.

Unless it’s an early one that doesn’t have a heat pump?
That said, you can preheat the car from the app anyway. 

AndyPK

They are great. 

ford made a fuss at the time saying it was as used in aircraft 

yeah companies that ford owned previously have been allowed to continue using them 

wouldn’t be without one. 

If you can get group buy of 10 you can get them made for your car. Did this for my old Vauxhall. 

Not quite as long lasting as the ford ones but look the same. 

www.Heatedwindscreen.com

Alanp

I’ve had a couple of fords with hearted screens, as my cars are garaged, it wasn’t a feature I used often, it was good at clearing condensation at this time of year as I left work, I drive a hybrid now and you can remote start it to heat the car , or cool in the summer, however, it only heats to the temperature already set, although, I believe newer versions can alter the temperature via the app…

facade

Rodders53 said:

facade said:

Not really moneysaving, just a question that I can't answer even via google & duckduckgo.

That's odd...

Google quickly found me this A brief history of the heated windscreen | Hagerty UK

I read it, but it doesn't answer the question

photome

facade said:

Not really moneysaving, just a question that I can't answer even via google & duckduckgo.

Supposedly the reason that most cars didn't have heated winscreeens is "because Ford patented it"

Now, reseach via t'nterweb suggests that this was around 1980, as it expired in 2005.

But what exactly did Ford patent? It must have been some niche application or material, as Land Rover offered heated windscreen panels for the series IIA and later III from 1967, using the "thin wires in the glass" that Ford used, and I definitely travelled on 'buses back in the 1970s that used it.

(Aircraft had heated windscreens from the 1940s, initially using a metallised film over the glass.)

Maybe it was use in a curved screen that they actually patented, as the LandRover and bus ones were flat, but my late father's 1967 Rover P6 had a "wires in the glass" rear screen that was very curved.

Obviously, this won't answer why they didn't appear across all makes from 2005 either, which presumably is cost.

Did buses really have heated windscreens back in the 60s/70s?  Assuming they weren’t new vehicles could even have been registered in 50s….I drove buses for 13 years in 80s and 90s and barely had any heat in the cabs , some didn’t have any heat and often had to scrape ice off the inside of the windscreens during the day. Never had one with a heated windscreen. 

Ps I would also pay extra for a heated screen

mgfvvc

Goudy said:
I had it on a Jag and it was a pain when it was dark and wet. It seems to cause oncoming headlights to dazzle and splinter off the wires.

That's odd. I've had a Ford with a heated windscreen for 10 years and I never notice the wires unless I'm deliberately looking for them.

facade

photome said:

facade said:

Not really moneysaving, just a question that I can't answer even via google & duckduckgo.

Supposedly the reason that most cars didn't have heated winscreeens is "because Ford patented it"

Now, reseach via t'nterweb suggests that this was around 1980, as it expired in 2005.

But what exactly did Ford patent? It must have been some niche application or material, as Land Rover offered heated windscreen panels for the series IIA and later III from 1967, using the "thin wires in the glass" that Ford used, and I definitely travelled on 'buses back in the 1970s that used it.

(Aircraft had heated windscreens from the 1940s, initially using a metallised film over the glass.)

Maybe it was use in a curved screen that they actually patented, as the LandRover and bus ones were flat, but my late father's 1967 Rover P6 had a "wires in the glass" rear screen that was very curved.

Obviously, this won't answer why they didn't appear across all makes from 2005 either, which presumably is cost.

Did buses really have heated windscreens back in the 60s/70s?  Assuming they weren’t new vehicles could even have been registered in 50s….I drove buses for 13 years in 80s and 90s and barely had any heat in the cabs , some didn’t have any heat and often had to scrape ice off the inside of the windscreens during the day. Never had one with a heated windscreen. 

Ps I would also pay extra for a heated screen

Definitely the new buses did, I used to take the 'bus every day from 1979 to 1982 (I can count the number of times I've been on a 'bus since on the fingers of my hands) and standing at the door waiting to get off I noticed the silver tape in the glass many times- I actually thought that they were radio aerials at first .

Probably the very last build of the Leyland Fleetline, they were WMPTE buses and they were a really big operator of Fleetlines. (I couldn't tell one from another, the door was at the front for PAYE  and the engine was at the back)

AndyPK

It would make sense Busses having them. Imagine trying to clear a windscreen that size with just a blower fan.

photome

facade said:

photome said:

facade said:

Not really moneysaving, just a question that I can't answer even via google & duckduckgo.

Supposedly the reason that most cars didn't have heated winscreeens is "because Ford patented it"

Now, reseach via t'nterweb suggests that this was around 1980, as it expired in 2005.

But what exactly did Ford patent? It must have been some niche application or material, as Land Rover offered heated windscreen panels for the series IIA and later III from 1967, using the "thin wires in the glass" that Ford used, and I definitely travelled on 'buses back in the 1970s that used it.

(Aircraft had heated windscreens from the 1940s, initially using a metallised film over the glass.)

Maybe it was use in a curved screen that they actually patented, as the LandRover and bus ones were flat, but my late father's 1967 Rover P6 had a "wires in the glass" rear screen that was very curved.

Obviously, this won't answer why they didn't appear across all makes from 2005 either, which presumably is cost.

Did buses really have heated windscreens back in the 60s/70s?  Assuming they weren’t new vehicles could even have been registered in 50s….I drove buses for 13 years in 80s and 90s and barely had any heat in the cabs , some didn’t have any heat and often had to scrape ice off the inside of the windscreens during the day. Never had one with a heated windscreen. 

Ps I would also pay extra for a heated screen

Definitely the new buses did, I used to take the 'bus every day from 1979 to 1982 (I can count the number of times I've been on a 'bus since on the fingers of my hands) and standing at the door waiting to get off I noticed the silver tape in the glass many times- I actually thought that they were radio aerials at first .

Probably the very last build of the Leyland Fleetline, they were WMPTE buses and they were a really big operator of Fleetlines. (I couldn't tell one from another, the door was at the front for PAYE  and the engine was at the back)

Interesting, we never had fleetlines, we had primarily Bristol VR ( double deckers) and lelyland national single deck