Glass Laminate Thin Insert Obscuration for Optical Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fired black frit obscurations in laminated automotive glazing cause surface defects, thermal gradients, and optical distortions, leading to reduced strength and optical quality, which are exacerbated by the need for buffer zones and increased production costs, especially in areas with high electronic content and camera systems.
Innovation Solution
Creating obscurations by inserting a thin, substantially opaque plastic sheet into the laminate after heating and bending the glass, eliminating the need for fired frits and allowing for the use of coatings incompatible with frits, thereby improving optical quality and strength while maintaining a glossy appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If fired black frit is used to create obscurations, then the obscuration provides opacity and aesthetic appearance, but surface defects are created and strength is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful firing process from the obscuration creation method. Instead of firing frit onto the glass surface, the invention uses a pre-formed opaque insert that is placed into the laminate during assembly, eliminating the thermal processing step that creates surface defects and weakens the glass.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of how opacity is achieved - from chemical composition (frit pigments) and thermal processing (firing) to a physical insert material (opaque plastic or metal) that is mechanically integrated into the laminate without thermal exposure.
2Illumination intensity
If fired black frit is used to create obscurations, then the obscuration provides aesthetic appearance, but optical distortion and residual stress are created
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the thermal processing step that causes optical distortion. By using a cold-pressed opaque insert instead of fired frit, the glass surfaces remain free from thermal gradients and residual stress, maintaining superior optical quality while still achieving the desired aesthetic appearance.
3Ease of manufacture
If fired black frit is used to create obscurations, then the obscuration is created during glass processing, but production costs increase and complexity is added
Solution Approach 1:
The opaque insert is pre-formed and prepared separately before being integrated into the laminate assembly process. This preliminary preparation allows the insert to be manufactured using simple cutting or shaping operations, and then easily positioned and bonded into the final product without requiring complex in-line processing equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
Black enamel frit obscurations are commonly printed on laminated and tempered automotive safety glazing where they serve to hide the adhesive used to bind the glazing to the automotive body and to protect the adhesive from ultraviolet radiation. However, frit has a number of drawbacks. Frit weakens the surface of the glass. It can create distortion in the glass due to thermal gradients. Printed frit obscurations are incompatible and cannot be used with many types of coatings. Standard frit blocks ion exchange and cannot be used with the chemical tempering process. In addition, while many types of frits are available for printing on soda-lime glass, there are very few, if any, for non-soda lime glass. As the market moves towards thinner and lighter glazing, non-soda lime glass types are finding increasing application in automotive glazing. These limitations are overcome by replacing the printed black obscuration with an obscuration formed from a thin sheet of plastic, which is integrated into the laminate. This results in a laminate having superior optical quality, higher strength and a lower probability of breakage as compared to a laminate with a black enamel frit obscuration.