• GM filed a patent application for self-cleaning technology for touch screens.
• Thanks to a process using photocatalysis, cleaning of the screens would be done automatically, or at the request of the occupants.
• GM offers massive screens, especially on the Cadillac side. Cleaning these huge surfaces is a challenge.
If your vehicle is equipped with a touch screen, you will have noticed just like us that it does not take too long before seeing it stained and marked by fingerprints and the accumulation of dust. When the sun beats down on it, the impression of dirt is horrible.
General Motors (GM) might have good news for anyone who cares. Indeed, the American giant is working on a self-cleaning touch screen. A patent to this effect was filed last week by the company with the US office responsible for the matter (USPTO: United States Patents and Trademak Office).
The filing of the claim was discovered by the autoevolution.com site. The system that is described in the document submitted by GM indicates that the technology relies on a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove oil residue, fingerprints and other dirt.
Photo : Cadillac
Cadillac Escalade V – Touchscreen
In more detail, the information provided by GM explains that touch screens with LEDs emit red, green and blue light which is visible. The purple light of the proposed self-cleaning unit is a fourth LED, this time invisible. It reacts to the photocatalyst in the clear coating of the touch screen as well as the humidity in the air to clean the glass surface.
GM’s patent indicates that this process can be activated manually or automatically, depending on the degree of sun exposure or other circumstances.
And what is a photocatalyst? We asked ourselves the question and we guess that many of you will do the same. According to the aquaportail.com website, “a photocatalyst is a material that absorbs light to bring it to a higher energy level and provides this energy to a reactive substance to cause a chemical reaction, photocatalysis. “Photocatalysts are defined as materials that break down harmful substances under sunlight containing UV rays. The photocatalytic process eliminates odors, purifies the air and cleans surfaces.
With increasingly massive screens, as we have seen at GM, but also elsewhere such as at Mercedes-Benz, it is normal for a manufacturer to tackle the problem of stains and dirt that accumulate on surfaces. glazed.
Obviously, don’t look for this technology tomorrow on a GM vehicle. We will have to see if the idea will make it to production. In the meantime, we’re going to have to keep washing this down using the good old method; a good rubbing by hand.