The History Of Tempered Glass

The true origin of tempered glass is not easily discernible

. Because the process involves heating and cooling glass after it has been formed, many people could have been using tempered glass without realizing it. Therefore, the very first example of tempered glass is unknown, and may very well remain a mystery for all time.

Some believe tempered glass was used extensively in the 1600's. However, nobody knew it was tempered glass at the time, they only prepared their glass in a manner similar to the modern day manner of production: heating and then rapidly cooling the glass. The earliest recorded process of tempered glass was in the making of "Prince Rupert's Drops", which were created by dropping molten pieces of glass into a bucket of cold water. The result was teardrop-shaped shards of tempered glass.

Frances de la Bastie is the earliest, officially recognized inventor of Tempered Glass. He did so in 1874. Bastie discovered any glass that was heated and cooled repeatedly would no longer break into dangerous shards of glass when broken. He officially discovered that tempered glass shattered into small pieces of relatively harmless glass. While Bastie recognized the value of how the glass would shatter in tiny pieces of glass, he did not take notice of how much stronger the glass had become after repeatedly heating and cooling it.

The first patent on tempered glass was issued to Rudolph A Seiden. He was an Austrian chemist who escaped to the United States, inadvertently avoiding what is now remembered as the Holocaust.

The early speeds of automobiles were terribly slow - not much of a need for windshield glass in a slow moving vehicle. But as the automobiles advanced in technology, so did their top speeds. The initial role of the windshield was to literally block the wind from the driver's face. However, those early windshields shattered and splintered into dangerous pieces of glass whenever the windshield was hit by a rock or any other solid object. The result was typically some form of severe injury to the driver and passenger from flying glass. It wasn't too long before automobile manufacturers began to use laminated glass for windshields and tempered glass for all other windows.

Laminated glass is ideal for the auto windshield because it will not break into individual shards, making it the safest choice amongst all glass types. Even if completely shattered, a laminated windshield will maintain its shape and form. It takes a great deal of effort to break through a piece of laminated glass.

Tempered glass is ideal for the other windows of the car because it is much cheaper to produce than laminated glass, and because it allows for rescue crews to remove people from an automobile accident without much difficulty. If every glass in an automobile was laminated, it would be very difficult for rescue crews to do their job - people would become trapped inside their vehicles after an accident.

Tempered glass has many uses outside the automobile. You can find it in use in your home, at work, and in commercial environments every day. Laminated glass, on the other hand, doesn't have nearly as much widespread use as tempered glass.

by: Josh Strate

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