The technique of mounting automobile glazings onto a sheet metal bracket by gluing, without intermediary components, is often called "direct gluing".
Automobile glazings which are intended for direct gluing are generally equipped with a coating of a hot paint or an enamel which is opaque to light and ultraviolet rays. This coating is applied on the edge of the windshield on the glazing surface directed towards the sheet metal bracket and serves to protect the bead of glue from the action of ultraviolet rays and to prevent the bead from being visible through the glazing from the outside.
Further, instead of the coating or, in addition to it, there are automobile glazings used for direct gluing which utilize a plastic component placed in advance on the marginal portions of the glazing. Alternatively, there are glazings used for direct gluing which are equipped on their periphery with a plastic component having a wing directed toward the sheet metal bracket and perpendicular to the surface of the glazing (see, for example, EP No. 121,481). This wing is always located on the margin of the component toward the inside of the windshield and thus serves only to limit the lateral overflow of the adhesive compound or glue used during the installation of the glazing in the window opening or bay of a vehicle.
With direct gluing, the glazings must be positioned precisely relative to the rabbet of the window opening of the vehicle body. The space remaining between the edge of the glazing and the edge of the rabbet should be constant since the imposed minimal requirement makes it necessary to have an upper horizontal groove which has a constant given width. In many cases, the lower edge of the glazing of both the windshield and the rear window is hidden behind the elements of the body and only the upper groove is visible. In direct gluing, it is necessary to hold the glazing mechanically in the window opening until the bead of glue sets and is hard enough to resist deformation under the weight of the glazing. Otherwise, the glazing would move so that the upper horizontal groove would not meet the acceptable tolerances.
Several methods are known for temporarily fastening the glazing during the setting time of the glue; for example, it is possible to glue bendable metal straps to the periphery of the glazing. After gluing of the glazing, these straps are bent back into the rabbet. This method requires a precise positioning of the glazing in the rabbet and further demands additional manual work to bend all the straps at the end of the operation, and is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,159.
The object of the invention is a labor-saving solution for positioning and fastening an automobile windshield to a support bracket by the direct gluing method. This solution guarantees, at a minimum, that the upper and/or lower horizontal groove between the edge of the glazing and the edge of the rabbet has a definite and uniform width and that the glazing and bracket are immobilized in the bay in the appropriate position.