Film Technologies International Awarded New Patent for Hurricane Proofing

S. patent No.: 6,546,692 B1 for an insulated glass unit design that is permitting window and door manufacturers to pass the Dade County Large Missile Impact and Cycling Protocol without resorting to heavier and more costly PVB laminated glass.The glass lites used are composites of FTI’s heavy gauge Safe-Gard® brand polyester film laminated onto annealed or tempered glass using the Company’s KissKoat dry lamination process.FTI’s design concept is compatible with most existing spacer technologies including Edgetech, TruSeal’s Swiggle and Intercept.

FTI’s testing laboratory at its St. Petersburg, Florida, headquarters is available to window and door producers to perform preliminary tests on their products, prior to seeking Dade County certification. The testing facility includes a pneumatic canon that shoots a 9-pound 2 x 4 at an insulated glass unit at 34 mph. The 2 x 4 impacts, spiders the glass and bounces off, but the glass shards remain fast in the frame, held there by durable Safe-Gard composites, thereby meeting the required impact standards set by the Dade County, Florida protocol.

A full-scale film-to-glass lamination line is set up at FTI’s Florida facility so that visiting window manufacturers can witness the ease with which the film-to-glass composite is produced. The lamination production line fits readily into any manufacturing facility and is set-up with FTI’s assistance.

The lamination line can also be used to produce composites using lighter-gauge Safe-Gard films that meet the ANSI Z97.1 and CPSC 1201, Category II safety glazing standards, and hence can be used in lieu of tempered glass. These composites have also received an NES certificate of compliance with the provisions of the 2000 International Code Council, BOCA National, SBCCI, and ICBO Uniform Standards.