How Did Tempered Glass Get Invented?

Tempered glass panels are virtually synonymous with smartphones because of their protective features with reliable touchscreen capability. However, the world has been using tempered glass for more than 300 years. The glass made its first appearance in the Rhine Kingdom, and their innovation began to see improvements as technology advanced.

The 17th Century Rhine Kingdom

Prince Robert of the Rhine Kingdom had glass-oriented hobbies, which saw him put molten glass in sub-zero temperature water. He created a hardened glass droplet, which became powdered rather than fragmented upon collapsing. The "Prince Robert Pellet" didn't have practical uses during its inception, but it opened up possibilities.

The French Connection

By 1874, an unnamed French glassmaker patented the first tempered glass development method, which improved upon the Prince Robert Pellet for practical commercial and industrial uses. The French method used high heat to reach the softening temperature then dipping the glass into ice-cold water afterward.

US-Germany Improvements

After a year, the French glassmaker patented their tempered glass method, Germany's Frederick Siemens and America's George E. Rogens patented their respective tempered glass methods in 1875. Both used it to produce tempered glass for street lamp posts and sturdier wine glasses by 1876.

Modern International Innovations

The 1930-1970s saw a huge improvement to the century-aged tempered glass methods. France's Saint-Gobain, America's Triplux, and UK's Pilkington had moved tempered glass panel manufacturing methods towards mass production. By the 1970s, UK's Triplex had created the world's first -- and now the modern standard - 0.5-1.5mm thin tempered glass panel.

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