State Wide Auto Glass Team

Happy Thanksgiving from State Wide Auto Glass Team!!

Laminated glass is widely used throughout the automotive and architectural industries to keep consumers safe. It’s up to five times stronger than annealed glass and when broken doesn’t shatter into pieces, but do you know where it came from? Here are 7 interesting facts about the glass all around you.
1. Laminated glass dates back to 1903 in France.

French artist and chemist, Édouard Bénédictus, invented laminated glass in 1903. He successfully patented his new product in 1909.

2. Laminated glass was invented on accident.

As it turns out, it was an accident that led Édouard to his new invention! When he accidentally dropped a beaker that had once held cellulose nitrate and it didn’t break into pieces, he knew he was onto something. The solution had formed a plastic coating over the glass so when it cracked, it didn’t shatter into pieces.

3. Laminated glass was first designed to make cars safer.

Windshields were introduced in the auto industry in 1904, but they provided little protection. In fact, when accidents occurred, it was often the shattered glass that caused the most severe injuries. Early proponents of laminated glass saw great potential to improve auto safety with laminated glass, however, it would take a few years for it to become common place.
4. In WWI, laminated glass was widely used in military gear.

Laminated glass was widely introduced commercially during World War I. Not only was it safer than annealed glass for its anti-shatter properties, it also served as an early form of bulletproof glass. Laminated glass was widely used in WWI plane windshields and in the goggles of gas masks.

5. Ford was one of the first to widely use laminated glass in the US.

The story goes that Henry Ford decided he needed to make car windshields safer after he and some of his friends were injured by flying glass in accidents. He produced a laminated safety glass and began using it in ford cars in 1919.

6. Car windshields are required to be made of laminated glass.

Since 1937, laminated safety glass has been a requirement for all vehicles. Since then, advancements in safety glass have continued to drastically improve.

7. Laminated glass is also called “Sandwich Glass”.

Laminated glass as we know it today is sometimes called “sandwich glass” because the safety glazing that keeps it from shattering is sandwiched between two or more plies of glass.

A brief history of automobiles

In 1769, French inventor Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot built a three-wheeled steamer to help the French army haul artillery pieces. Although his contraption was considered to be too slow and impractical, Cugnot is still regarded as the creator of the first motorized road vehicle. In 1805, Oliver Evans, who built an incredibly slow machine designed to work on both land and in water for the City of Philadelphia Department of Health, is considered to be the first American to create a motorized road vehicle. Commercial production of automobiles began in 1896 in the United States, ten years after Karl Benz received a German patent for his invention of the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine. Along with his wife, Bertha, he founded the German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz.

The early 1900s boomed with various types of motorized vehicles being developed around the world. In the United States Ransom E. Olds and his Olds Motor Vehicle Company (later known as Oldsmobile) dominated this era of automobile production. As a result of superior promotional and marketing efforts, sales of the Oldsmobile approached 5,000 in 1904 which, at the time, was unheard of in the industry. The Thomas B. Jeffrey Company developed the world's second mass-produced automobile called the Rambler. In 1902, 1,500 Ramblers were built and sold, and by 1904 production reached 2,342 units.

Perhaps the most famous car of all time is Henry Ford's Model T. In order to keep costs low, Ford focused efforts on improving production methods. His moving assembly line began operation in 1913-1914 making it possible to lower the cost of the Model T and, as a result, increase sales and potential customers. In response to consumer demands manufacturers have reinvented the automobile numerous times over.

From the development of anti-lock braking systems, to hybrid vehicles, to the first highway-capable all electric vehicle, the automobile industry continues to create, innovate and transform the way we live