Vehicle glass includes

windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...

s, side and rear windows, and

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

panel roofs on a

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

. Side windows can be either fixed or raised and lowered by depressing a button (

power window Power windows or electric windows are automobile windows which can be raised and lowered by pressing a button or switch, as opposed to using a crank handle. History Packard had introduced hydraulic window lifts (power windows) in fall of ...

) or switch or using a hand-turned crank. The power

moonroof A sunroof is a movable panel that opens to uncover a window in an automobile roof, allowing light and fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs can be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styl ...

, a transparent, retractable

sunroof A sunroof is a movable panel that opens to uncover a window in an automobile roof, allowing light and fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs can be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styl ...

, may be considered as an extension of the power window concept. Some vehicles include

sun blind A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mater ...

s for rear and rear side windows. The windshield of a car is appropriate for safety and protection from debris on the road. The majority of vehicle glass is held in place by glass run channels, which also serve to contain any fragments of glass if the glass breaks. Back glass also called rear window glass, rear windshield, or rear glass, is the piece of glass opposite the windshield in a vehicle. Back glass is made from

tempered glass Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the interior into tension. ...

, also known as

safety glass Safety glass is glass with additional safety features that make it less likely to break, or less likely to pose a threat when broken. Common designs include toughened glass (also known as tempered glass), laminated glass, and wire mesh glass ...

, and when broken will shatter into small, round pieces. This is different from a front windshield, which is made of

laminated glass Laminated glass (LG) is a type of safety glass that holds together when shattered. In the event of breaking, it is held in place by a thin polymer interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), lonoplast polyme ...

, glass which consists of two pieces of glass, with vinyl in between. This piece of glass may contain heating coils or antennae, depending on the year, make, and model of the vehicle. When broken, a back glass may be replaced by a technician to the specifications of the original glass of the vehicle

Repair

Repairing a car glass is an environment friendly option. Though it is only limited to car windscreens as they are laminated glass and have a PVB layer to support glass on impact. Small stone chip or cracks in upper windscreen layer that have no impact on PVB or inner layer are repairable. Repair process use a specialized process and crack repair depends upon - size, position, type and depth of crack. In most cases impact up to 2 inches are repairable, crack beyond this size generally needs replacement. Yet, local laws may vary regarding safe windscreen repair. Any variation can become a reason of compromised structural integrity. Windscreen repair require to clear the impact area and removing air through vacuum creation. A transparent fluid is used to fill the crack, the fluid is than treated with UV light to chemically transform its state to solidify and filling the crack eventually. If the repair is carried out by a professional, the clarity is restored up to 95% with complete structural integrity.

Replacement

Vehicle glass other than windshield shatter on impact and hence need replacement. On the other hand, any impact that is more than 3 inches need replacing the windscreen. For most of the vehicle body glass i.e. Door Glass, Vent Glass are non bonded and doesn't require adhesive for installation. But windscreen, sunroof and rear window glass are generally bonded in most of the cars. They require adhesive to bond the glass with car frame. US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 212/208 ensures reliability of adhesives used in vehicle across US. For a bonded glass replacement can take up to an hour. One of the important thing that ensure a safe installation is the time require for the adhesive to cure. This is known as Safe Drive Away Time or Minimum Drive Away Time. Complete adhesive curing is necessary to ensure that your car glass can withstand any sort of impact during a mishap or accident.

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Virtual widescreen

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Repair

Replacement

See also

References

External links