The History Of Laminated Glass

Not all inventions were intentional

Not all inventions were intentional. Some of the most prevalent, useful items in today's society were discovered by sheer accident. Laminated glass is one of those inventions. Edouard Benedictus accidentally discovered laminated glass in his laboratory.

Benedictus had been experimenting with cellulose nitrate when his assistant returned a flask to the shelf. The flask had not been cleaned properly - it contained a liquid form of cellulose nitrate that had invisibly coated the interior of the flask. At a later time, Benedictus himself was climbing a ladder and accidentally knocked the flask off the shelf. As expected, the flask broke, but instead of splintering into many shards of separate glass, the flask maintained its shape and form; it was held together by the cellulose nitrate.

Benedictus immediately recognized the value of his discovery and began trying to perfect the production of laminated glass. It would be years before the world finally accepted his invention and found a practical use for it.

In this modern, safety-conscious world, it is very difficult to imagine that an automobile would be allowed on the road without a laminated windshield installed. In the early days of the auto industry, all automobiles had normal, everyday glass installed as their windshield. As you can imagine, autos without laminated glass were a prescription for death or serious injury when involved in an auto accident - the cause of the injury was typically due to the glass and not the accident itself. Benedictus knew how dangerous the windshields were at the time and he unsuccessfully tried to convince the auto makers into using laminated glass for their windshields.

It took a World War for the value of laminated glass to finally be recognized by anyone other than Benedictus. Chemical warfare created a need for gas masks. The early versions of gas masks used regular pieces of glass. As you can imagine, there were many problems associated with glass eye pieces that could easily break. The military began using laminated glass in the gas mask eye pieces. The results were spectacular, and the value of laminated glass was finally realized.

After the successful use of laminated glass by the military, auto makers began to use the glass for their front windshields. Henry Ford insisted that every car off his assembly line have a laminated glass windshield.

The production of laminated glass has evolved since Benedictus. The early process used cellulose as a substrate, much like Benedictus's flask. The modern process uses PVB (Polyvinyl Butyral) between two sheets of glass. The major drawback to the use of cellulose was that the substrate would darken with extended exposure to the sun. PVB not only maintains its clarity over a very long period of time, but it also blocks most of the harmful UV rays that come from the sun.

Few people realize the value of laminated windshields. Not only can you clearly see the road while you're driving, but the windshield itself acts as a protective barrier between you and the world outside your automobile. Next time you get in your car and take it for a spin, think twice about the history behind your car's windshield!

by: Josh Strate

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