Stellantis, owners of Jeep amongst many other brands, has now patented removable windows for open-air driving. Evidently the process involves a minimum of manual labor.
Jeep Wrangler drivers can already remove their vehicles’ roof and its doors but it’s not necessarily an easy process.
That got the Stellantis subsidiary working on a simple “removable window system”. The patent was filed in 2023, and published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Aug 1st this year.
In the application, Stellantis says that manually removable hard tops can be hard work, and suggests removable windows as a way to increase airiness without having to remove the roof.
The company appears to be targeting the rear window and quarter-panel windows specifically. These can’t normally be lowered, the automaker says in the application. Removing them will enhance the open-air driving experience in combination with lowering the side windows or removing the doors.
To achieve this, Stellantis proposes fitting them with multiple latches. Rotating a handle on each mechanism causes retention clips to move out of the way, allowing the window to be removed.
While this might seem like a natural fit for the Wrangler (shown in the patent images), there is no indication as to which vehicle might get this feature if it reaches production. Images of the Jeep Recon that first emerged in 2022 reveal open rear-quarter windows. So this feature might be destined for that model.
While Jeep said the Recon would launch in 2024 it hasn’t to date. However, the Wagoneer S that was shown alongside the Recon in 2022 is due to debut soon. It is Jeep’s first full electric machine for the U.S. and does indeed have the removable window feature.
