Safety glass

Description

Safety glass was patented in 1910 by Édouard Bénédictus in France after he accidentally knocked over a glass test tube containing a dried film of cellulose nitrate film and noticed that the glass fragments remain attached to the plastic rather than scattering. Safety glass is currently made by laminating a sheet of transparent polyvinyl butyral film between two thin plates of glass. Laminated glass was used during World War I to strengthened the windshields of military vehicles. After the war, safety glass was adapted for use in automobile windshields. Bulletproof glass is usually built up using several layers of glass and plastic components. The term safety glass has also been used for tempered glass and wire glass.

Synonyms and Related Terms

vidrio de seguridad (Esp.); verre feuilleté (Fr.); vree de sécurité (Fr.); verre de sureté (Fr.); vetro di sicurezza (It.); vidro de segurança (Port.); laminated glass; shatterproof glass; noshatterable glass; bulletproof glass;