The invention is concerned with a glazing, having a ply of plastic material, in which antennas are embedded.
The number of antennas in glazing is increasing due to, for example, the demand for more communication systems in vehicles. Such communication systems in vehicles includes radio (AM, FM), digital audio broadcasting (DAB), television (TV), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-t), telephone (GSM), navigation (GPS), WLAN, remote keyless entry (RKE), car-to-car communication and car-to-infrastructure communication (car2X) and paging systems. For all these communication systems, it is desirable to have separate optimised antennas, which need to be connected to electronic devices within automotive vehicles, typically located away from the glazing. A large number of proposals for providing such antennas and connections have been made in the art.
DE4415675C1 discloses a glazing comprising a ply of plastic material, used as an interlayer of a laminated glass, and two antenna wires in electrical isolation from each other, embedded in the ply of plastic material. Each antenna is provided with a direct current connection to a conductor folded around an edge of the ply of glazing material so that a conductive connection is made between the antenna in the glazing and an external circuit via the conductor.
US2010/0231466A1 discloses a glazing comprising a ply of plastic material, used as an interlayer of a laminated glass, and at least one antenna embedded in the ply of plastic material, comprising a plurality of antenna elements. A plurality of antenna elements forming an intersection are replaced with an antenna element in the shape of the intersection stamped from a sheet-like conductor. All antenna elements have uniform thickness so as to eliminate the problem that two antenna wires overlapping in the thickness of the ply of plastic material could result in gaps between the ply of plastic material and the two plies of glazing material after a lamination process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,250 discloses a glazing comprising first and second conductors in direct current isolation from each other and being arranged to run adjacent to, and parallel to, each other so that alternating current coupling occurs between them. The first conductor is connected to an external circuit and the second conductor is connected to an antenna, so that signals received by the antenna are transmitted to the external circuit via the first and second conductors. The first and second conductors flank each other with a non-zero distance between adjacent edges in the plane of the glazing.
It is desirable to find a glazing, and a method of manufacturing such glazing, having a plurality of antennas in the glazing and a means of connection to an external circuit in a compact arrangement that will take up less of the glazing area, and having a low risk of gaps resulting after lamination. The present invention aims to address these problems.