SAFETY GLASS CONTAINING SUPPORT FOR ATTACHMENT OF LABELS

VERRE DE SECURITE COMPORTANT UN SUPPORT DE FIXATION D'ETIQUETTES

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The invention relates to safety glass comprising a silicate glass
layer and a coating of an elastic material forming a protective layer on at
least one side of said glass layer. The coated side has a delineated area
formed of a relatively hard, scratch resistant material to which a label may
be attached. Thus, when the label is scraped from the glass, the protective
layer is not damaged.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Safety glass comprising at least one layer of glass
and a coating of an elastic material forming a protective
layer on at least one side of said glass layer, said one side
having at least one delineated label support area of approx-
imately label size formed of a relatively hard, scratch
resistant material to which a label may be attached and
removed by scraping without damaging said protective layer.
2. The safety glass of claim 1 wherein a delineated area
of the glass layer is exposed through said protective layer to
form said hard, scratch resistant surface.
3. The safety glass of claim 1 wherein said hard, scratch
resistant surface is formed by a layer of material adhered to
said protective layer.
4. The safety glass of claim 3 wherein said layer of
material adhered to said protective layer consists of clear
transparent plastic material.
5. The safety glass of claim 3 wherein the layer of
material is colored.
6. The safety glass of claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the
layer of material is adhered to the layer of protective
material by a layer of adhesive.
7. The safety glass of claim 3 or 4, wherein the layer
of material is adhered to the layer of protective material by
a layer of colored adhesive.

8. A safety glass windshield consisting of a first
sheet of silicate glass, an intermediate layer of thermoplastic
material, a second sheet of silicate glass coated with a
protective layer of soft plastic material which protective layer
cannot withstand scraping to remove a label affixed thereto,
said protective layer having adhesively secured directly to a
delineated area thereof, a label support consisting of a hard
scratch resistant plastic material about 20 to 200 microns thick
to which a label can be adhesively affixed and of sufficient
hardness to resist aging, said delineated area with label support
being approximately of label size and dimensions and distinguished
from the remaining area by coloring.
9. A safety glass comprising at least one sheet of
silicate glass substrate coated with a protective layer of soft
plastic material having a label support consisting of a
polyethylene therephthalate adhesively secured to said protective
layer with a reactive thermosetting aliphatic polyester
polyurethane.
10. A safety glass comprising at least one sheet of
silicate glass substrate coated with a protective layer of soft
plastic elastic material having a label support consisting of a
hard polyvinyl chloride adhesively secured to said protective
layer with a nitrile rubber.

Description

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BACKGROUND OF T~IR INVENTION
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to improvements in safety glass construction.
2. Description of Prior Art
In general, safety glass consists of a single sheet of tempered glass
or of laminated glass. Such safety glass sheets can be coated on one surface
with an elastic material which forms a protective layer. The elastic coating
prevents lacerations from occupant impact to the windshield during a collision.
Due to its elasticity, the protective layer also absorbs small scratches and
other surface deformations which may result for instance from cleaning the
windshield.
It has become a common practice to affix various labels to vehicle
windshields, particularly to the inner surface of the windshield. For example,
in certain European countries, a iax label must be glued to the inner surface
of all windshields. This label indicates payment of a required vehicle tax.
In this country, many state laws require inspection stickers to be affixed
to the inner surface of vehicle windshields. These labels must be securely
affixed to the windshields, yet they must be removed and replaced yearly. To
remove the label, it is often lecessary to scrape it from the window using a
sharp instrument such as a knife or razor blade. When the windshield is con-
structed of safety g:Lass coated with a protective layer, scraping the protect-
ive material to remove the label may damage said protective layer, particularly
if this layer consists of a relatively soft plastic. The present invention
discloses coated safety glass having a delineated area of its surface comprising
a hard, scratch resistant material to which a label may be affixed. Thus, any
damage to the protective layer occasioned by scraping off the label is eliminated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to safety glass comprising at least one sheet
of a silica~e glass substrate coated with an elastic material which forms a
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10957~0
protective layer. The safety glass has at least one area of its coated surface
comprising a hard, scratch resistant material to which labels may be affixed.
In this manner, when the label is removed, even if a knife or razor blade is
used, the proteceive layer is not damaged.
In a first embodiment, a small area of the glass substrate is not
coated with the elastic material. Labels are, therefore, attached directly
to the uncoated portion of the glass substrate.
In the preferred embodiment, the entire glass substrate is coated
with the elastic protective material. A label support consisting of a hard,
scratch resistant material is secured d;rectly to the protective layer.
Labels are attached to the label support. Therefore, in either embodiment,
when a label is removed from the surface of the resistant material, the pro-
tective layer is not disturbed. To facilitate attachment of the label to the
; scratch resistant material5 it is advantageous to color the area of the label
support. This is accomplished by employing a colored support material or by
using a colored adhesive for securing transparent label support material to
the protective material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiment of the invention is descr bed hereinbelow
with reference to the drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a ~ehicular windshield with a label
support a~tached to the protective layer; and
Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of Fig. 1, partially in cross-
sectlon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to Fig. 1, a windshield 1 is shown having an area of a hard
reslstant material which comprises label support 2 affixed to the lower right
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hand corner of the inner surface of windshield 1. As shown in Fig. 2, wind-
shield 1 is a safety glass consisting of a first sheet of silicate glass 3,
an intermediate layer of a thermoplastic material 4, a second sheet of silicate
~lass 5, and a protective elastomeric layer 6. Suppor~ 2 is affixed to pro-
tective layer 6 using a layer of glue 7.
Support 2 has a thickness from about 20 to 200 ~ m and preferably from
about 50 to 150 ~ m and consists of any plastic with a sufficient hardness to
resist aging; Such materials include polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes,
polyvinyl chloride, polyacrylates, polycarbonates, cellulose esters, and copoly-
mers~ styrene and acrylonitrile.
Adhesive layer 7 has a thickness from about 5 to 100 ~ m and prefer-
ably from about 10 to 50 ~ m. The adhesive itself may consist of thermoplastics
of the materials disclosed above. Condensation resins such as epoxy resins,
cyanoacrylates or polyurethane prepolymers as well as self-adhcrin~ pressure-
sensitive substances such as polyvinyl acetate, polyethylacrylates, polybutyl-
acrylates, poly (ethyl-hexyl) acrylates, butadiene styrene polymers, poly-
~, isobutenes, polychloroprenes, nitrile rubbers, rubbernitrile phenol resins,
and natural rabber may also be used.
In a preferred embodiment, support 2 consists of 1~0 ~ m of poly-
2~ ethylene terephthalate such as ~OSTAPHAN BNH marketed by the Kalle Company
(Wiesbaden). It is secured to protective layer 6 with a reactive thermose*ting
aliphatic polyester-polyurethane such as IPDI-U-628 marketed by Veba Chemie
(~anne-Eickel~. Good results are also obtained by using 100 ~ m of a hard
polyvinyl chloride such as GENOTHERM V.G. marketed by the Kalle Company as
support 2 which is secured to protective layer 6 with a nitrile rubber such
as ~COTCH CLAD-ED-776 marketed by the ~I Company (Neuss).
The improved safety glass disclosed in this invention is not limited
to use in vehicles but can also be employed for glass doors or partitions.
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