IE20120374A1 - Device for removing a window from a frame of a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a device for removing a window from a frame of a vehicle using a cutting wire. The device comprises a base, a plurality of guide rollers mounted to the base for guiding the cutting wire, two spools mounted to the base for winding in two respective end portions of the cutting wire, and two cross-over rollers mounted to the base between the spools. The cross-over rollers are for receiving the end portions of the wires from the guide rollers and guiding the end portions of the wires past one another to the spools.

Description

DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a device for removing a window from a frame of a vehicle, and in particular to a device using a cutting wire to remove the window from the frame.

Such devices are commonly used to sever the adhesive between the edges of the window and the frame to release the window from the frame.

International patent application publication no. WO 2004/103747 describes a device for removing fixed side window elements from vehicles using a length of cutting wire. The two ends of the cutting wire are passed through the adhesive between the window and the frame, from a first side of the window to a second side of the window, leaving a loop at the first side of the window. The ioop is laid over the adhesive around the perimeter of the first side of the window, and then the two ends of the wire are pulled in by the device at the second side of the window to cut through the adhesive until the window is released from the frame.

The device of WO 2004/103747 comprises two rollers to guide the cutting wire from the adhesive to two wind-up rollers. The two wind-up rollers wind in the end portions ofthe cutting wire.

Modern vehicle windows have strong adhesive bonds to the frame, for example direct giazed units that are secured directly to the vehicle body in an aperture of the vehicle body with specific types of specialist strong adhesive. Many direct glazed units act as part ofthe structural integrity ofthe vehicle, and accordingly the adhesives can be hard to sever. During the removal of the window the tension in the cutting wire can reach levels high enough to break the wire and to force the re-starting of the entire procedure. The breakage of a wire which is under very high tension during the removal process can be dangerous to the operative of the device.

II 1 2 0 3 7 4 Further considerations are that the device should preferably be easy and convenient to use and require minimal training on the part of the operative. The device should minimise any damage to the vehicle paintwork.

It is therefore an aim of the invention to provide an improved device for removing vehicle windows from their frames.

According to the invention, there is provided a device for removing a window 10 from a frame of a vehicle using a cutting wire, the device comprising a base, a plurality of guide rollers mounted to the base for guiding the cutting wire, two spools mounted to the base for winding in two respective end portions of the cutting wire, and two cross-over rollers mounted to the base between the spools, the cross-over rollers for receiving the end portions of the wires from the guide rollers and guiding the end portions of the wires past one another to the spools.

In use, two end portions of a length of cutting wire may be inserted through a hole made in the adhesive between the window and the frame, and the remaining loop of cutting wire may be laid over the adhesive around the perimeter of the window. The two end portions may be fixed to the two respective spools of the device via the guide rollers and cross-over rollers, and the spools may be rotated to draw the end portions of the wire onto the spools, thereby forcing the wire to cut through the adhesive.

Advantageously, due to the guide rollers the loop of wire may be fully drawn through the adhesive to the same side of the window as the device in order to fully cut the window away from the frame, without needing to modify the position of the device.

The guide rollers and cross-over rollers act to incrementally change the angle of the wire from the point where the wire exits the adhesive to the point where the wire is wound onto the spool, thereby distributing the change in angle of the wire IE 1 2 Ο 3 7 4 over a longer distance and minimising the chances of breaking the wire when under high tension. Additionally, the greater the angle a particular roller must direct a wire through, the greater the force experienced by the roller, and therefore distributing the required angle change amongst multipie rollers can help to minimise the forces that must be borne by each roller. At least one of the guide rollers may be for guiding one end portion of the wire and at least one of the guide rollers may be for guiding the other end portion ofthe wire. Preferably, there are at least four guide rollers spaced around the periphery or perimeter of the base.

The cross-over rollers help to guide the two end portions of the wires past one another to the spools. Advantageously, the cross-over rollers may be mounted at different heights to one another, the height direction being in substantially the same direction as the axes of the cross-over rollers. Since the cross-over rollers are at different heights, one end portion ofthe wire is spaced apart from the other end portion of the wire at the point where the wires cross one another, preventing the end portions from interfering with one another. Furthermore, the cross-over rollers may be mounted on substantially the same axis as one another.

The word “between” in the context of mounting of the cross-over rollers between the spools means that each cross-over roller is no further left than the leftmost spool and no further right than the rightmost spool when the device is held with the spools aligned along the left-right direction. The cross-over rollers may be equidistant between the two spools.

The tension that is required in the wire to cut through the adhesive is typically reduced the sharper the angle that is between the wire entering the adhesive bond at one side of the window and leaving the adhesive bond at the other side of the window. Accordingly, the guide rollers may be spaced around the periphery or perimeter of the base to draw the wire towards different points on the device depending on how far around the windscreen the cutting wire has cut. This can help to create a sharper angle between the wire entering the adhesive bond at one side ofthe window and leaving the adhesive bond at the other side of the window, Ig 1 20 37 4 thereby minimising the tension that is required in the wire to reduce the chances of wire breakage. The more degrees the wire is bent through, the sharper the angle is considered to be. Preferabiy, the wire is bent through at least 270 degrees, such that an acute angle exists between the wire entering the adhesive bond at one side of the window and leaving the adhesive bond at the other side of the window.

The spools may each have a winding surface with a diameter of at least 20mm to help reduce the strain on the cutting wire and reduce the chances of breakage. io Advantageously, the device may include a handle mounted at the centre of the base and between the two spools. The mounting of the handle at the centre of the base can help aid easy handling of the device and the mounting between the two spools can help avoid any interference of the handle with the cutting wires.

Furthermore, the handle may be an elongate member that extends substantially perpendicular to a direction between the axes of the two spools. The extension substantially perpendicular to a direction between the axes of the two spools means that the spools can be placed closer together than if the extension was in the same direction as the direction between the axes of the two spools, thereby minimising the size and weight of the device.

Preferably, the device comprises a sucker pad mounted to the base for attaching the device to the window. The sucker pad may be a pumped sucker pad for improved suction and to increase the ease of use of the sucker.

The device is not overly sensitive to the type of cutting wire that is used, and various types of suitable cutting wire will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The vehicle may for example be a motor vehicle, such as a car or lorry. The window may be a direct glazed unit. The term frame simply designates the part of the vehicle in which the window is held, for example the part of the vehicle IE 1 2 Ο 3 7 4 surrounding the aperture in which the window is placed. The windows may be made of any suitable material, for example glass or transparent plastics.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the 5 accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1a shows a plan schematic diagram of a device according to an embodiment ofthe invention; Fig. 1b shows a cross sectional diagram along the line B-B marked on Fig. 1a: io Fig. 1c shows a cross sectional diagram along the line C-C marked on Fig. 1a: Fig. 2a shows a plan schematic diagram of a guide element for optional use with the device shown in Figs. 1a - 1c; Fig. 2b shows a cross sectional diagram along the line D-D marked on Fig. 2a; and Figs. 3a - 3c show plan schematic diagrams of the device of Fig.1 being used to remove a direct glazed unit from a vehicle frame.

The plan schematic diagram of Fig. 1a shows a device 10 for removing a 20 window in the form of a direct glazed unit from an aperture of a vehicle using a cutting wire. The device has a base in the form of a plate 12, a plurality of guide rollers 20 and 21, two cross-over rollers 23 and 24, and two spools 26 and 27 mounted to the plate 12. The device is shown as viewed from above and rotated with the spools 26 and 27 aligned along the left-right direction L to R.

The cross sectional diagram of Fig.1 b shows the device along the line B-B marked on Fig. 1a, and the cross sectional diagram of Fig.1c shows the device along the line C-C marked on Fig. 1a.

The plurality of guide rollers 20 and 21 are spaced around the periphery of the plate 12 for guiding a cutting wire 50 (see Figs.3a-3c) from the adhesive seal between the direct glazed unit and the frame to the cross-over rollers 23 and 24. The IE 1 20 3 74 surfaces of the guide rollers 20 and 21 that support the cutting wire extend beyond the perimeter of the plate 12 to help avoid any snagging of the cutting wire against the piate 12. The guide rollers are mounted to the plate using bolts 22, although other types of attachment means are also possible.

The cross over rollers 23 and 24 are both mounted at the periphery or perimeter of the piate equidistant between the spools 26 and 27, and at different heights on the same axis as one another.

One cross-over roller 23 is for directing one end of a cutting wire from the left guide rollers 20 to the right spool 27, and the other cross-over roller 24 is for directing the other end of the cutting wire from the right guide rollers 21 to the left spool 26.

The spool 26 is mounted on the left side of the plate and surrounded over 180 degrees by the left guide rollers 20, and the spool 27 is mounted on the right side of the plate and surrounded over 180 degrees by the right guide rollers 21. In alternate embodiments, the guide rollers may surround the corresponding spool over less or more than 180 degrees, for example over somewhere between 90 degrees and 270 degrees.

Each of the spools 26 and 27 has a winding surface 34, 35 with a diameter of around 30mm for winding in an end of a cutting wire. The left spool 26 is ratcheted to turn anticlockwise and the right spool is ratcheted to turn clockwise, such that the cutting wire is wound onto each spool at the side of the spool that minimises the angle that the cutting wire is bent through around the cross-over roller.

Each of the spools 26 and 27 also has a socket 28 for receiving a tool to rotate the spool and wind in an end of the cutting wire. Other means for rotating the spools could alternately be provided, for example angular protrusions.

IE 1 2 0 3 7 4 For convenience of use, each spool comprises two separate winding surfaces 34 and 35 aligned at different heights on the same axis, the two different heights corresponding to the two different heights ofthe cross-over rollers. The height direction is considered to be in a direction perpendicular to the plane ofthe plate. Therefore, whichever end portion of the cutting wire 50 is connected to a spool first can be directed around the lower height cross-over roller 23 to the lower height winding surface 34 of one ofthe spools, and then the other end portion ofthe cutting wire 50 can be directed around the upper height cross-over roller 24 to the upper height winding surface 35 of the other spool. The upper height is further away from io the plane ofthe plate than the lower height.

A handle 60 is mounted at the centre ofthe piate 12 between the two spools 26 and 27. The positioning of the handle substantially at the centre of mass of the plate helps enable easy one-handed manipulation ofthe device by an operative. The handle is an elongate member in the form of a rod with a substantially circular cross section to aid easy gripping ofthe device by an operative. Furthermore, the direction of elongation of the handle is substantially perpendicular to the direction between the axes of the two spools, so that the elongate handle does not result in the spools having to be placed a large distance away from one another, which could result in an increased size and weight of the device.

A single sucker pad 70 is mounted to the plate on the other side of the plate from the handle and spools, the sucker pad 70 for attaching the device to a glazing unit that is to be removed from a vehicle frame. The handle 60 comprises a plunger 65 for removing air from between the single sucker pad 70 and the glazing unit, thereby creating a vacuum that secures the device to the glazing unit. The use of a single sucker pad coupled to a single handle with a plunger for operating the sucker pad can help ease the handling ofthe device.

Fig. 2a shows a plan schematic diagram of a guide element 80 that may optionally be incorporated in a kit together with the device shown in Fig. 1. The cross IE 1 20 374 sectional diagram of Fig. 2b shows the guide element 80 when viewed looking in from D-D of Fig. 2a.

The guide element 80 comprises a base in the form of a plate 81, three guide 5 rollers 82 mounted to the plate in the shape of an arc, and a sucker pad 85 also mounted to the plate 81 for attaching the guide element to a direct glazed unit.

The guide element 80 also comprises a handle 90 with a plunger 95 for evacuating air from between the sucker pad and the window to secure the guide io element to the direct glazed unit.

Since the guide rollers 82 are mounted to the plate 81 to form an arc shape, each guide roller can provide an incremental change in the angle of a cutting wire passing from the adhesive holding the direct giazed unit in the vehicle aperture to the guide rollers 20, 21 or cross-over rollers 23, 24 of the device.

The surfaces of the guide rollers 82 that face towards the direct glazed unit are laminated with a soft material 86 that will not damage the direct glazed unit if the undersides ofthe guide rollers 82 move too close to the glazing unit. The soft material may for example be rubber, plastic, or fabric.

The operation ofthe device shown in Fig. 1 will now be described with reference to Figs. 3a - 3c. Fig. 3a shows the device 10 secured to a direct glazed unit 100 of a vehicle frame 120 when viewed from outside the vehicle. The device is secured to the external side 102 of the direct giazed unit 100 (outside of the vehicle) by the sucker pad 70. Operation is most effective when the part ofthe device having the cross-over rollers 23, 24 is placed closer to the frame 120 than the other parts of the device, and the device is placed with the closely spaced guide rollers 20 closer to the frame than the less closely spaced guide rollers 21.

A length of cutting wire 50 is aligned along a polyurethane adhesive bond 105 at the internal side 101 of the direct glazed unit 100 (inside the vehicle), and IE 1 2 Ο 3 7 4 extends around the perimeter of the direct glazed unit 100 between the direct glazed unit and the vehicie frame 120. The two ends 51 and 52 of the length of cutting wire 50 pass through a hole in the polyurethane adhesive bond from the internal side 101 of the direct glazed unit to the external side 102 of the direct glazed unit. The end portion 51 is secured to the spool 27 of the device 10 via the guide rollers 20 and the cross-over roller 23, and the end portion 52 is secured to the spool 26 of the device 10 via the guide rollers 21 and the cross-over roller 24.

The cutting of the polyurethane adhesive is performed by rotating the spools io 26 and 27 to draw in the end portions 51 and 52 of the cutting wire 50 through the polyurethane adhesive 105. Fig. 3b shows the position of the cutting wire 50 when the wire has cut through the polyurethane adhesive bond to roughly halfway around the direct glazed unit 100.

The winding in of the end portions 51 and 52 is continued until the cutting wire 50 is completely pulled through the polyurethane adhesive bond 105 to the external side of the direct glazed unit and the direct glazed unit is released from the vehicle aperture formed by frame 120. Fig.3c shows the position of the cutting wire when the wire has cut through almost ail the whole of the polyurethane adhesive bond.

It can be seen that the guide rollers 20 and 21 help maintain a sharp angle in the cutting wire 50 at the point where the cutting wire 50 cuts through the polyurethane adhesive bond. For example, if only the two guide rollers closest to the top of the direct glazed unit as viewed in Fig. 3a-3c were present on the device, then the angle 55 that the cutting wire was bent through as it passed through the polyurethane adhesive bond would be reduced, requiring an increase in the wire tension needed to perform the cut.

The guide element 80 may optionally be used in conjunction with the device to help sharpen the angle of the cutting wire (increase the angle 55) as the cutting wire moves around the perimeter of the direct glazed unit.

IE 120 374 Although the operation ofthe device 10 has been described with the device secured at the external side ofthe direct glazed unit (outside the direct glazed unit and external to the vehicle) and the cutting wire laid around the interna! side of the direct glazed unit (inside the direct glazed unit and internal to the vehicle), the device could alternately be secured to the inside ofthe direct glazed unit with the cutting wire laid around the outside of the direct glazed unit. The cutting of types of adhesive other than polyurethane adhesive is also possible. io In the illustrated embodiment ofthe device, the guide rollers comprise five guide rollers 20 spaced at the left side of the plate closest the left spool, and three guide rollers 21 spaced at the right side of the plate closest the right spool. The closer spacing of the guide rollers at the left side of the plate compared to the right side of the plate provides additional support to the cutting wire being drawn from the left hand side ofthe device, and assists when the device is placed towards the left side of the direct glazed unit, which may be more convenient for the operative than reaching across the direct glazed unit to position the device centrally on the direct glazed unit.

In the illustrated embodiment of the device, both cross-over rollers 23 and 24 are mounted on the same axis and at different heights to one another, although in alternate embodiments the cross-over roliers may be mounted on different axes to one another, and may also be at similar heights to one another.

In the illustrated embodiment of the device, each cross-over roller 23 and 24 is mounted at an angle 41 of about 45 degrees from the left spool and at an angle 42 of about 315 degrees from the right spool, although in alternate implementations the angle 41 may be modified between 30 and 60 degrees or between 10 and 80 degrees, and the angle 42 may be modified between 330 and 300 degrees or between 350 degrees and 280 degrees.

IE 1 20 37 4 In the illustrated embodiment of the device, the base is in the form of a plate, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of base could also be used, for example a framework of members for mounting the various elements of the device.

Further alternate embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims will also be apparent to the skilled person.

Claims (23)

1. A device for removing a window from a frame of a vehicle using a cutting wire, the device comprising a base, a plurality of guide rollers mounted to the base for guiding the cutting wire, two spools mounted to the base for winding in two 5 respective end portions of the cutting wire, and two cross-over rollers mounted to the base between the spools, the cross-over rollers for receiving the end portions of the wires from the guide rollers and guiding the end portions of the wires past one another to the spools. io

2. The device of ciaim 1, wherein the guide rollers are spaced around the periphery of the base.

3. The device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the device comprises at least four guide rollers.

4. The device of any preceding claim, wherein the guide rollers that are closest to one of the spools are spaced more closely together than the guide rollers that are closest to the other one of the spools. 20

5. The device of any preceding claim, wherein the cross-over rollers are mounted at different heights to one another, the height direction being in substantially the same direction as the axes of the cross-over rollers.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the cross-over rollers are mounted on the 25 same axis as one another.

7. The device of any preceding claim, wherein the cross-over rollers are mounted substantially equidistance between the two spools. 30 8. The device of any preceding claim, wherein the spools are each ratcheted to turn in opposite directions to one another.

IE 1 2 0 3 7 4

9. The device of claim 8, wherein each spool is ratcheted to turn in the direction that minimises the angle the end portion of the wire is bent through around the cross-over roller.

5. 10. The device of any preceding claim, wherein the diameter of a winding surface of the spools is at least 20mm.

11. The device of any preceding claim, further comprising a handle mounted at the centre of the base and between the two spools.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the handle is an elongate member that extends substantially perpendicular to a direction between the axes of the two spools. 15

13. The device of any preceding claim, further comprising a pump sucker pad mounted to the base for attaching the device to the window.

14. The device of claim 13 when appended to claim 11 or 12, wherein the handle comprises a plunger for evacuating air from between the pump sucker pad and the 20 window when attaching the device to the window.

15. The device of any preceding claim, wherein the base is a piate.

16. A device for removing a window from a frame of a vehicle using a cutting 25 wire, the device being substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. A kit comprising the device of any preceding claim and a guiding element, the guiding element being separate from the device and comprising at ieast three guide 30 rollers mounted to a base, the guide rollers of the guiding element for guiding a cutting wire towards the guide rollers or cross-over roliers ofthe device. IE 1 20 3 7 4

18. The kit of claim 17, wherein the at least three guide rollers are mounted to the base of the guiding element in an arc shape.

19. The kit of claim 17 or 18, further comprising a cutting wire for use with the 5 device and guiding element.

20. A kit comprising the device of any one of claims 1 to 16, and a cutting wire for use with the device. io

21. Use of the device of any one of claims 1 to 16.

22. Use of the device of any one of claims 1 to 16, comprising fixing the device to a window with the part of the device having the cross-over rollers being positioned closer to a frame of the window than the other parts of the device.

23. Use of the device of claim 4 or the device of any one of claims 5-16 when appended to claim 4, comprising fixing the device to a window with the part of the device having the guide rollers that are spaced more closely being positioned closer to a frame of the window than the part of the device having the guide rollers that are 20 spaced more widely.