Glass Types

All American Lock offers the full range of service for Storefront and Glass Glazing  installation, service, and repair. Regardless of where or why, you can trust that All American Lock will provide the best glass installation service anywhere.

GLASS TYPES

Does your business need to install glass? Our installation team brings the experience, expertise, and efficiency that any project needs.

There are a variety of options, including:

• Beveled
• Smart
• Tempered
• Tinted
• Laminated
• Plate
• Security
• Energy Efficient

Not sure which option is for you? Our install team can walk you through the options and help you determine which option is best for your business.

BEVELED GLASS

Beveled glass can be obtained as clusters which are arranged to create a specific design. These can vary from simple three or four piece designs, often used in top lights (commonly known as transoms) of windows and conservatories, to more complex combinations of many pieces, suitable for larger panels such as doors and side screens (known in the door industry as sidelites).

Beveled glass has also been used with clear and colored textured glass to create designs. Textured glass is typically 1/8″ thick and has a distinct visible texture. The combination of beveled glass is juxtaposed to the textured glass creating dramatic visual effects.

SMART GLASS

Smart glass technologies include electrochromic devices, suspended particle devices, micro-blinds and liquid crystal devices.

The use of smart glass can save costs for heating, air-conditioning and lighting and avoid the cost of installing and maintaining motorized light screens or blinds or curtains. When opaque, liquid crystal or electrochromic smart glass blocks most UV, thereby reducing fabric fading; for SPD-type smart glass, this is achieved when used in conjunction with low emissivity coatings.

Critical aspects of smart glass include installation costs, the use of electricity, durability, as well as functional features such as the speed of control, possibilities for dimming, and the degree of transparency of the glass.

TEMPERED GLASS

Tempered glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering creates balanced internal stresses which cause the glass, when broken, to crumble into small granular chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury.

As a result of its safety and strength, tempered glass is used in a variety of demanding applications, including passenger vehicle windows, shower doors, architectural glass doors and tables, refrigerator trays, as a component of bulletproof glass, for diving masks, and various types of plates and cookware. In the United States, since 1977 Federal law has required glass located within 18 in (46 cm) of a floor or doorway to be tempered.

TINTED GLASS

There are many types of window tint available in the market for a wide variety of uses from solar heat reduction to UV protection, privacy to safety and security, decorative applications to heat retention.

Please call and talk to a representative to find out what kind of tint would be suitable for your needs.

LAMINATED GLASS

Laminated glass is a type of safety glass that holds together when shattered. In the event of breaking, it is held in place by an interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), between its two or more layers of glass. The interlayer keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken, and its high strength prevents the glass from breaking up into large sharp pieces. This produces a characteristic “spider web” cracking pattern when the impact is not enough to completely pierce the glass.

Laminated glass is normally used when there is a possibility of human impact or where the glass could fall if shattered. Skylight glazing and automobile windshields typically use laminated glass. In geographical areas requiring hurricane-resistant construction, laminated glass is often used in exterior storefronts, curtain walls and windows. The PVB interlayer also gives the glass a much higher sound insulation rating, due to the damping effect, and also blocks 99% of incoming UV radiation.

PLATE GLASS

plate glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windshields. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is sometimes bent after production of the plane sheet. Flat glass stands in contrast to container glass (used for bottles, jars, cups) and fiberglass (used for thermal insulation and optical communication). Most flat glass is soda-lime glass, produced by the float glass process.

SECURITY GLASS

Safety and security window films are polyester films that are applied to glass and glazing in order to hold them together if the glass is shattered (similar to laminated glass). The main difference between film and laminated glass is that the film can be applied to the glass or glazing after manufacture or installation, i.e., it is a retrofit product. These films are used widely all over the world; they can be found on trains, buses, cars, and buildings.

ENERGY EFFICIENT GLASS

Low emissivity (low e) – actually low thermal emissivity – is a quality of a surface that radiates, or emits, low levels of radiant thermal (heat) energy. All materials absorb, reflect and emit radiant energy. This article is primarily about material properties within a special wavelength interval of radiant energy – namely thermal radiation of materials with temperatures approximately in the interval -40..60°C.

Emissivity is the value given to materials based on the ratio of heat emitted compared to a blackbody, on a scale of 0 to 1. A blackbody would have an emissivity of 1 and a perfect reflector would have a value of 0.

Reflectivity is inversely related to emissivity and when added together their total should equal 1 for an opaque material. Therefore, if asphalt has a thermal emissivity value of 0.90 its thermal reflectance value would be 0.10. This means that it absorbs and emits 90% of radiant thermal energy and reflects only 10%. Conversely, a low-e material such as aluminum foil has a thermal emissivity value of 0.03 and a thermal reflectance value of 0.97, meaning it reflects 97% of radiant thermal energy and emits only 3%. Low-emissivity building materials include window glass manufactured with metal-oxide coatings as well as housewrap materials, reflective thermal insulations and other forms of radiant thermal barriers.