1. How it’s made…
WINDSHIELD

2. Have we always had
windshields?
Nope. In fact, drivers of early cars had to make do with a
nifty looking pair of DRIVING GOGGLES to protect them
from any scrapes and bumps. Needless to say, they weren’t
very effective.
So windshields were invented in 1904, but they still weren’t
very safe. Early windshields were very brittle and shattered
on impact, causing some pretty nasty injuries.
Luckily, auto glass nowadays is much safer, thanks to the
process of LAMINATION. But what is this mysterious
process and how does it help? Let’s find out…

3. It all starts with a plain
sheet of glass…
The glass is SCORED (but not cut all the way through) by an
automated cutting wheel.
A robot then heats the score with a very hot flame. The
THERMAL SHOCK completes the cut – this is the best way
to cleanly cut a piece of glass.
The cut edges are then SANDED DOWN by sanding belts to
make them smooth.
The beautifully cut, smooth edged piece of glass is then
washed with SOAPY WATER to prepare it for the next stage
in the process…

4. Pairing, painting and
moulding
The glass is LAYERED with another sheet of glass temporarily
for processing. The sheets are TREATED with a mix of talcum
powder and water to stop them sticking to each other.
The outer rim of the glass is PAINTED black to match the
design of the car.
Then the two sheets are placed onto a special mould and
processed in an oven – the high heat makes the glass MELT
into the correct bended shape for the car.
The glass then goes through a very slow cooling process , so
it comes out the other end EXTRA TOUGH

5. The lamination process
The two pieces are then separated, and a sheet of VINYL is
placed between them.
When the vinyl is first put in place, it is a cloudy white
colour, which would be useless to see through! So, the
windshield is sent to a NIPPER, which is a series of rubber
rollers. The rollers squeeze out any air pockets in the vinyl
to make it clear.
The windshield is then taken to a special PRESSURE
COOKER which takes the very last of the air bubbles out of
the vinyl.
This laminating process ensures that in the event of an
impact, the glass may BREAK but it won’t SHATTER, as the
vinyl will hold the broken glass together.

6. One final check…
The windshields are then manually CHECKED for any chips,
scratches and other blemishes.
Finally, a sample windshield is SAFETY checked. If it passes
the test, the batch is good to go!