I have copied some of the relevant passages from this article. For those long term shareholders like myself it is nice to see how SPD is finally achieving a place in the automotive industry. I think this article will shed some light on the complexities of the industry and why Hanglas and MSC and other licensees are taking so much time to bring products to market. We are almost there and this article acknowledges that we are a contender.
Excerpt from Optics & Photenics News/February 2000
AUTO INDUSTRY EMBRACES OPTICAL TECHNOLOGIES
The auto industry is an enormous proving ground for technological advances, exceeded only by the defense and aerospace industries...
Historically, the use of optical devices---other than mirrors and focusing lenses for lamps---has been limited?.Now however, the situation is rapidly changing. Several new optical-based products are already (or will soon be) available as factory-installed or after-market equipment. Two particularly significant technologies are smart glass and night vision systems.
SMART GLASS
Manufacturers of automotive glass are hungry for glazing solutions that offer effective and controllable darkening capabilities without consuming large amounts of electric power...
For safety considerations, U.S. regulations require that all windows in vehicles be at least 70percent luminous?European standards are comparable.
Industry marketing surveys estimate that vehicle glazing surface areas will increase by 25 percent or more over the next several years, as styling and accessory demands dictate. Therefore, the industry is looking for some kind of switchable technology that isn?t much more expensive than conventional glass. Such technology must quickly adjust its transparency and (ideally) remain dark when the vehicle sits; in short smart glass...
Two technologies are currently under consideration: suspended particle devices and electrochromics.
SUSPENDED PARTICLE DEVICES
A promising newcomer in the automotive glazing field is the suspended particle device (SPD), the domain of Research Frontiers, Inc. of Long Island, NY. Capitalizing on a technology discover nearly a century ago, company founder and president Dr. Robert Saxe has spent three decades developing a product that shows great promise for solving automotive as well as industrial glazing problems.
SPD operates on the principle that particles ...[EXPLANATION OF HOW SPD WORKS.]...
The refractive index match between the suspended particles and the polymer matrix changes with the angle of observation, possibly limiting certain automotive applications such as windshields.
No one has produced a commercial SPD product to date but the potential is enormous. For instance, one of the most lucrative automotive aftermarket products is the sunroof. Thousands of shops around the country install accessory sunroofs on new and older vehicles and there is no end in sight to this over $1 billion market. SPD technology has the ability to conform to any shape and to adhere to any material, allowing great versatility for sunroof designs. In addition, since the system is dark when the vehicle is parked, no inner shield is required, so intrusion on the vehicles interior can be minimized. Also of great benefit is the fact that there is no current drain when the vehicle is in the dark mode.
Self-dimming mirrors represent huge potential in a market that has grown att an annual rate of 35 percent since 1992. Industry analysts predict that eventually one half of the 50 million vehicles produced yearly will contain an automatically dimming mirror. SPD technology fits this market very well, since such mirror surfaces can change faster than currently used electrochromics, not only from light to dark (to minimize glare to the driver?s eyes) but back to the high-reflectance to permit good visibility when conditions require it.
ELECTROCHROMICS
The industry has embraced electrochromic devices in the form of rearview and outside mirrors and considerable study into their use for overall glazing is underway. [ARTICLE CONTINUES WITH EXPLANATION OF HOW EC WORKS. MENTIONS THAT RESPONSE TIME DEPENDS ON SIZE OF WINDOWS. MENTION THAT MOST MAJOR AUTOMOTIVE GLASS COMPANIES HAVE PROGRAMS DIRECTED AT EC GLAZING]
AUTOMOTIVE CONSIDERATIONS
From the perspective of automotive engineers, any glazing system must conform to size and shape parameters, necessitating development of devices for which the complete electrochromic stack or SPD film can be deposited onto a single substrate which can itself be laminated. Further if such devices are to be used in windshield applications, high transmission must always be guaranteed in situations involving power loss.
Additional challenges to those developing smart glass technologies are the necessity for minimum visual distortion, integrity of the glazing during crashes, low current demands on the vehicle's battery and long-term resistance to UV exposure.
Last, glazing systems must be cost-effective when it comes to automotive products, there is little price flexibility on the part of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) unless the component can add significant value that can be passed along to the consumer in the form of optional equipment.
NIGHT VISION
[ARTICLE CONCLUDES BY DISCUSSING THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY] |
