Benni

Is it true that ford perfected the quick clear Heated front screen? My dads friend owns some fancy cars and tells me none of them have a heated front screen as it's only fords that have them. I can't see this being true and seeing someone else's thread about heated front screens i thought i would ask how much truth is in what i've been told?.

Cheers ben.

GazzaG

i've only ever seen em on fords too

Paul_RS

iTrader: (4)

Seats have them, wel the Alhambra does anyway (but its really just a galaxy!)

dojj

iTrader: (3)

ford have the patents, so any ford owned stuff will get it
but they won't let anyone else have the rights to use it so to you bmw owners in the winter

some astons had the option of heated headlight glass too

Paddy

They were definitely the first!

I remember them when they first put them in Granadas 20 years ago

This was at a time when all montegos did was speak to you

smokey

Thats right, when I looking for a Zafira GSI, I couldn't find any with front-heated windscreens...only to be told they didn't do them, only Fords had them.....

Bullett

iTrader: (2)

someone told me this the other day and i thought no they must be in other cars like mercs etc.but been looking since and i aint seen any other than fords

cfoster

They only got them as they were too tight to fit aircon in there!!

James

lol, air-con just does as good a job imho just much quicker than a heated screen will do it, thatgs assuming all the screen actually clears and not just various strips down the middle!

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

Now that's something I didn't know! My new Transit has a quickclear windscreen and aircon

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

Aircon will not help with a frozen screen!

cfoster

An ice scraper will though!!

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

So will a blow torch!

Dave Henshall

as patents only last 20 yeaqrs from registration, they must be getting to the end of the life on it before others can use the idea under licence....?

James

does the heated screen work when it's frosted over? it don't get icey down south so i don't know?!

DazC

iTrader: (1)

Not if they renew the patent Dave. Once the patent has lapsed, it's a free for all then.

Dave Henshall

didnt think you could renew a patent - i work in the pharmaceutical buisiness, when a patented drug comes out of patent and generic copies of it are allowed to the market, we have to give up as its not economicaly viable to keep on producing in the UK when the same thing can be made in china or india for a fraction of the cost here in the uk.

if that were the case, there wouldn't be loads of generic medicines on the market today, aprin, paracetemaol, ibuprofen etc.

AlexD

iTrader: (3)

Hmm Interesting Fact

Escort-Ian

My Mondeo has heated screen and air con

Absolutely godsend on frosty morning is the screen

THE RADMAN

iTrader: (2)

that would be a good option as i was looking at a DB9 yesterday and the h/lamp covers were covered in condensation inside for that money i wouldnt have expected that

dojj

iTrader: (3)

i think they were only offered on them big arse vantage things from a few years ago, clarckson did a bit on them

S1sam

You can buy replacement screens for other cars with them in though,,

Neil

my friends classic subaru has a heated front screen

AlexF

Why ?????????????????????


BMWs can have a heated front screen - its an option on most of them

Dave Henshall

electrically heated like the ford ones with elements in the glass? or just a high powered electrical heater to rapidly demist the screen via the blower...? like most other stuff..?

FasterFords

Thought I saw it as an option on the Mini

AlexF

element in the screen.....

There is even a patch in the bottom at the centre where you need to point your garage/electric gate remote control.

Its a bit of a pain with satnav but then again you should have not been so tight and got the proper BMW satnav when you ordered

Martyn

There is a place that will make them for any car if you can get a group buy together, I know someone who sorted one out for cavaliers

DazC

iTrader: (1)

The quick clear screen is patented. Other manufacturers should be able to use the heated screen but not the quick clear technology that ford use.

Dave, i might not be right. I was talking to some one who has been involved in patents and getting products patented. He told me that they last 10 years and if they don't get renewed in the final 6 months of the patent ending and the patent lapses, them it can't be re patented. Maybe a product can only be patented for a total of 20 years then? I'm no expert on this. Just what i was told by someone who has patented products over the last 15 years.

dave_y

iTrader: (4)

haha thats well funny, i was sittin in my dads 53 reg volvo and he pressed the 'heated front screen button' and loads of blowers came on - pathetic!

i told him he should buy a proper luxury car like an RST

Drapoon

There is one small disadvantage to a heated front screen........
last winter I had a frosted screen on my ST170, stuck the quick clear on & hey presto cleared in seconds only to discover the screen had split cleanly in two where the sudden heat change had caused a small stone chip in the glass to crack - gutting!. That'll teach me not to get a small pin-prick chip sorted

big_wig_074

ive seen novas with them!

dojj

iTrader: (3)

you sute they haven't just bodged them in with filler

Less.

u learn something new every day

Dave Henshall

How Long Does A Patent Last?
In the UK the legal rights last for a maximum term of 20 years from the date of filing of the patent application at the Patent Office. The patent has to be maintained by payment of renewal fees. Once the 20 year term has expired or the patent has lapsed through non-payment of renewal fees, the invention can be worked by anyone as long as there are no other intellectual property rights associated with the invention.



Can I re-register a patent?
Once a patent has been granted (and in the UK and some other countries before grant) the details of the invention are published. Once in the public domain an invention cannot be patented again even by the owner of the original patent. Whilst the patent monopoly has a limited life the information needed to use the invention remains public knowledge for ever.


taken from http://www.bl.uk/collections/patents/faq.html

gingeRS

just boil the kettle and chuck it over the screen

worst thing is when you have slightly 'damp' car (thorugh leaks and old age) and the inside of the screen freezes up

as used to happen on my old RST on a regular basis

Mr Orange

My dads 51 plate mondeo has it, car was left for 5 days untouched last winter, windscreen was coated in ice, pushed button an waited 2 mins, flicked his wipers an windscreen was clear again!!


he's lookin at getting a x-type jag but they only get the heated screen as an option,

ill never buy a car unless i can get it with the quik clear windscreen

Andreas

Yes its works fine, even in Sweden.

Sean Bicknell

Just in the process of getting one for my Lotus

DENNIS

the heated screen ( quick clear ) is a heated elements in the screen ( like the one on the rear screen, but finer and more of them ), only ford , or ford owned companies can use them as they hold the patent for it, as far as i know they are not renewing it as most of the vauxhall range will have it soon / next year. you can get windscreen companies to make them for you if they hold the patten for your car, or demon tweeks do some ( mk 2 escort ect ) in there motor sport cat......
an absolute god send on a cold frosty morning .....

just a shame my car never comes out in that weather to use it !! lol