Patent ID: 7968170

Claim:
A single pane window suitably strong to be used as a window in a fuselage of a commercial jet aircraft, the single pane window comprising: an optically transparent composite portion comprised of at least one fiber preform layer; the fiber preform layer including a first plurality of fibers oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the fuselage of the commercial jet when the single window pane is integrated into the fuselage, and a second plurality of fibers oriented non-parallel to the first plurality of fibers; a resin saturating the fiber preform, the resin having an index of refraction at least approximately matching that of the fiber preform; and a plurality of layers of metallic material integrally formed during manufacture with the optically transparent composite portion about a peripheral portion of the optically transparent composite portion to form a unitary, integral window assembly; at least one of the layers of metallic material forming a single piece, rectangular component with a central opening and a plurality of holes formed in the at least one layer of metallic material, the holes being arranged around the central opening, the holes enabling the resin to engage therein during manufacture of the single pane window; the metal layers enabling securing of the single pane window within an opening in a fuselage of the aircraft.