Know Your Windshield

1. Article 1 –Mystarautoglass.ca KNOW YOUR WINDSHIELD We all know that windshields are a very important feature of any vehicle. They are the primary component that protect structural integrity of a vehicle. How are they made? This article attempts to shed some light how windshields are manufactured. First the raw glass is prepared for shaping and cutting. Then the cutting wheel scores the windshield shape onto the glass sheet. To cut out the shape, the glass is snapped at the cutting line. After the glass has been cut, the edges are smoothened using a sand belt machine. This is called seaming. Thereafter the glass is washed with deionized water to remove all the dust and undesirable particles. The black outer border is silk screened onto the outer perimeter of one of the pieces. The glass pieces, or windshield, are than inspected visually against a wall of lights for marks, hairline cracks and other imperfections. The windshield is then placed in a glass mold. Bending molds come in all shapes and sizes, depending upon the vehicle the glass is intended for. The glass is carried on the bending mould into the bending furnace, where it is heated over 6000 C and sag bends into the desirable shape. It is now slowly cooled to anneal the now shaped glass. After all this processes, two glass sheets are bonded together with the help of Poly Vinyl Butyral (PVB). Poly Vinyl Butyral is resin with is mainly used for purposes like optical clarity, binding, toughness, flexibility and adhesion to many surfaces. The final lamination takes place in an autoclave; it is a special pressure vessel that uses both heat and pressure to form a single and strong bonded windscreen. In order to ensure high standards, each windscreen undergoes a detailed inspection at the end of manufacturing process. After the final inspection, further detailing in the windscreen is done, such as making rear view mirror bracket and other trim moldings, etc. Now that it is known how much hard work goes into making a windshield, it is advisable to understand that broken windshields can be problematic. Windshield repair is always cheaper than replacing it. Auto glass repair in Waterloo is the best place to go for glass repairing and windshield replacement. Usually the windshield gets chipped bydebris which comes bouncing off the tires of the car going in front of you. The debris comes at very high speeds, which causes a pot like damage in your windshield. Cracked windshield should be fixed immediately; if it isn’t, then the crack starts to elongate. Windshield can be repaired very easily with the help of resins. Polyvinyl butyral is a resin, which fills the pot and helps to bind the windshield back together. First, the crack should be cleaned with alcohol, and then vacuum is created within the pot so that the air present in the windshield is extracted. Secondly, resin is filled in the pot or crack. This is then let alone to dry, to obtain a windshield which is as good as new. For more information, visit www.mystarautoglass.ca ABOUT THE AUTHOR Morgan Bloomwood is an industry expert in vehicle parts manufacturing, having more than ten years of experience dealing with all kinds of vehicle glass repairs. He is of the opinion that www.mystarautoglass.ca is the right place to go to in case you have a damaged auto glass.