Window pane mounting for vehicles

In the particular embodiment described in the specification, a window pane mounting for a vehicle includes a flange on the vehicle forming a window opening, a cement bead extending between the flange and a window supported in the opening, and a resilient molding mounted on the flange and having a support structure including wire loops embedded in the resilient member joined to wire loops projecting through the cement bead, and a continuous wire joining the portions of the loops projecting through the cement bead so that the cement bead will be severed when the molding is removed from the flange.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to window pane mountings for vehicles and, more 
particularly, to a new and improved window pane mounting which is 
especially adapted to facilitate removal of the window pane when 
necessary. 
Heretofore, window panes for vehicles have been mounted by providing a bead 
of cement between a flange of the vehicle body extending approximately 
parallel to the surface of the pane and bounding an opening to receive the 
window and an edge section of the pane which faces the flange, and a 
flexible molding is removably mounted on the flange to cover the joint 
between the flange and the window pane. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,792 for 
example, a window pane is mounted on the flange of a vehicle by a bead of 
curable adhesive material confined between the flange and a rubber dam, 
and the molding is formed with projecting wire loops which embrace an 
adjacent portion of the flange and project into the region of the cement 
bead so as to be enveloped by the curable adhesive material when the 
window is mounted on the flange. 
When a window mounted in this manner is to be replaced, the molding is 
stripped from the flange, pulling the wire loops from the adhesive 
material but leaving the main body of the adhesive material intact, and 
thereby requiring substantial force or the use of a cutter or adhesive 
dissolving material to separate the window pane from the frame. U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,123,100 discloses a weatherstrip sealing arrangement in which a 
strip of resilient material contains a ladder-shaped assembly of 
deformable metal strips connected between continuous cords at their 
opposite ends, the ladder being embedded in a strip of resilient material. 
That weatherstrip arrangement is applied to a flange without the use of 
adhesive or mastic material by deforming the metal strips into a U-shape 
so as to clamp them around the flange while embracing a tubular rubber 
gasket. Because of the absence of an adhesive, that arrangement does not 
lend itself to the mounting of a window pane on a vehicle. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved window pane mounting for a vehicle utilizing a cement joint 
between the window pane and a vehicle flange by which the cement joint can 
be seperated in a simple and convenient manner when it is necessary to 
remove the window pane from the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In the typical embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, a 
flange 1 of a vehicle body forms a frame for a window pane 3 which is 
affixed to the flange by a cement bead 2. The window pane 3 has a 
surrounding frame 4 in which a resilient molding 5 is mounted to as to 
engage the frame 1 of the vehicle body. 
A weatherstrip 6 comprising a resilient member 7 formed with a sealing lip 
8 which engages the window pane 3 has a partially embedded support 
structure 9 consisting of a continuous wire formed into a succession of 
loops and bent into a U-shape so as to embrace the flange 1. Thus, the 
portion 10 of the wire member 9, which is embedded within the resilient 
member 7, consists of a series of adjacent loops which are joined by 
adjacent loops in a section 11 which projects from the member 7 on the 
opposite side of the flange 1 and extends through the cement bead 2. 
In the drawing, the end 12 of one of the loops in the portion 11 is 
illustrated in section to indicate that it projects upwardly from the 
plane of the drawing to form the remainder of the loop before passing back 
into the resilient body 7. In this way, the support structure for the 
weatherstrip 6 is provided with wire members 11 extending parallel to the 
direction in which the weatherstrip is mounted on or removed from the 
flange 1. 
In accordance with the invention, the projecting ends 12 of each of the 
members 11 are joined by a thin flexible connecting wire having at least 
one filament, which is woven through the successive loops 11 of the 
support 9. Accordingly, if the window pane 3 is to be removed from the 
vehicle, the weatherstrip 6 is pulled away from the flange 1, causing the 
legs of successive loops 11, which are embedded in the cement 2, to pull 
through the cement and carry with them the wire 13 which completely severs 
the cement bead as the weatherstrip is withdrawn from the flange. 
Although the invention has been described herein with reference to a 
specific embodiment, many modifications and variations therein will 
readily occur to those skilled in the art. For example, the invention may 
be used to mount a pane in the frame for a pivoting window as well as 
window panes which are fixed in the vehicle frame, such as windshields and 
rear windows. Accordingly, all such variations and modifications are 
included within the intended scope of the invention as defined by the 
following claim.