Auto glass marking. Deciphering the markings of automotive glass

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Every motorist paid attention to the presence of letters and numbers in one of the corners of the car glass. And it seems that this is just a set of incomprehensible designations. But in fact, labeling carries a lot of information. This is how you can find out the type of glass, the date of issue, who produced the auto glass and what standards it meets. How to do this is described below.

Why is the label necessary and what does it contain?

Glasses for cars must be marked (rejuvenation). It contains information about the manufacturer, certification, date of manufacture and other parameters. Car glass is labeled according to certain rules, and they are the same for all manufacturers.

Rejuvenation contains:

• manufacturer's name or trademark;
• standards;
• date of manufacture;
• product type;
• code of the country that granted the approval.

In addition, additional parameters such as built-in heating can be specified onrear windows or anti-reflective coating.

Types of auto glass

As you know, there are three types of glass in a car: front and rear windows, as well as side windows. But in addition, they differ in production technology. And these differences are quite large.

In the production of cars, a type of glass is used, such as stalinite. It is an extremely durable single-layer sheet material. The strength of stalinite is 5-6 times higher than the strength of ordinary glass, which makes it very safe. Manufacturers achieve such indicators due to special high temperature treatment - from 350 to 6800 ° C. With a strong impact, such glass will break up into a large number of blunt small fragments. This means that it will not cause serious injury to the driver and passengers. And yet, this view is not used for windshields, but only for rear and side windows.

Side windows can be:

• colorless;
• athermal;
• have 5% tint in various shades.

The following types are used for windshields:

• Duplex. These are double glazing. They are the simplest type. The first layer is a sheet of toughened glass and the second layer is a thin layer of transparent technical plastic.
• Triplex. Three-layer glasses for cars. In this case, the strengthened glass occupies two layers, which are fastened together with polyvinyl butyral (a special transparent film). With a strong impact, the fragments will not scatter, but will stay on thisfilm. But breaking it is very difficult.
• Laminated glass. They have a similar design with the previous view. Differ in a large number of layers of glasses and films. This type is the most durable, and also has increased noise and heat insulation of the cabin. Well, of course, and the price is much higher and more common in expensive cars.

Labeling standards

Auto glass manufacturers most often use two types of markings - American (another name is "beetle") and European. Although these two standards differ from each other, there are also similar parameters.

Europe has safety standards for automotive glass, which will be installed on cars and sold in its territory. Due to the fact that the legislation of different countries is used, a single standard has been established, which has been approved by all EU members. According to this standard, the letter E must be inside the monogram. There are auto glass components that are sold and installed in the USA that contain the marking and designation AS.

American-style auto glass markings must be made in accordance with FMVSS 205. All products must have safety information. The homologation itself has the form of a monogram, for which it was nicknamed the "beetle". Different manufacturers may apply different monograms, but they must carry the same information.

In Russia, according to the GOST 5727-88 standard, homologation has the form of a code with a set of letters and numbers. It encodes information about the type and grade of the product, the type of auto glass, the thickness of the layersand specifications.

Marking of auto glass is different for different cars. For example, the homologation of Russian cars sometimes differs from the marking of foreign cars. Next, consider the features of markings and their differences.

Auto glass manufacturers

Leader among manufacturers - Pilkington (Finland). He owns every fourth auto glass in the world. Produced under the brands Pilkington, Sicursiv, Arva, Triplex, Sigla, Nordlamex and some others.

Another leader is the French company SEKURIT SAINT-GOBAIN. It manufactures many different products. But automotive glass is handled by a subsidiary of AUTOVER. The company produces high-quality products under the SAINT-GOBAIN SEKURIT brand. Every second European car has glasses of this brand. The range includes windshields, rear windows, side windows, tinted or not, with or without additional features.

The leader in sales on the Russian market of autoglass for foreign cars is the Polish company JAAN. Products are manufactured under the Nordglass brand. Glasses meet all European standards. Manufactured from SAINT-GOBAIN SEKURIT flat glass and Du Pont film.

Spanish manufacturer Guardian produces mirrors, sheet and laminated windshields.

Brand Splintex from the Glaverbel concern, which is owned by ASAHI, has many factories in Europe, as well as in Russia. Glasses are also produced under the brands Lamesafe, Lamit.

Independent company from Hong Kong Xinyi Group (Glass) Co specializes inexclusively in the production of auto glass and a variety of accessories for them. Products have the best value for money.

The Chinese company FUYAO GLASS operates in two directions: production and supply to the primary market, as well as the supply of automotive glass to the secondary market. The company's products are in no way inferior in quality to products of more well-known companies.

Bor Glassworks (BSZ) was acquired and modernized by Splintex back in the 90s. All products strictly comply with the required standards. The plant produces auto glass of light green and darker green color with different heat absorption properties. Currently part of the Japanese holding Asahi Glass Company (AGC).

VAZ auto glass marking

Previously, all Russian cars were equipped with glasses from BSZ. Now this plant is part of the AGC group of companies.

Deciphering the marking of auto glass from BSZ:

• Factory trade mark - BOR
• T - tempered auto glass
• TINTED - light green athermal glass with heat absorbing properties.
• OVERTINTED - athermal dark green auto glass. It has enhanced heat-absorbing qualities.
• WL - wind multilayer (triplex).
• E2 43R 001 207 - certificate that the glass meets all requirements; the country that issued the approval is France.
• ASI M461 DOT 183 - mark of conformity with Americanstandard.
• …8 is the production date, while the dots are the month and the digit is the year.

Chinese and Japanese car glass markings

In fact, the glass marking on Japanese cars is no different from the markings in other countries. They are encrypted with the code "43". As mentioned earlier, the largest manufacturer in this country is Asahi Glass Company (AGC), which produces glass for cars under various brands. Including BOR, Asahimas, Lamisafe and more.

Auto glass manufacturers from China include three letters "C" enclosed in a circle (CCC) in the marking. They mean that the product complies with their safety standard CCC E000199 / E000039. But if the glasses were made for delivery to Europe, then this sign is not placed.

How to decipher the markings

Marking is applied in the corner on the right or left, below or above and is marked in a special way.

Deciphering the marking of automotive glass looks like this:

1. Name of the plant, manufacturer, trademark.
2. Auto glass type: Therlitw, Temperlite, Tempered means tempered glass, Laminated, Lamisafe means laminated auto glass.
3. Expanded glass type for cars. It is written in Roman numerals with a slope: I - reinforced windshield; II - multilayer conventional windshield; III - processed multilayer windscreen; IV - made of plastic; V - not windscreen with light transmittance below 70%; VI - consisting of two layers, which has a light transmittance of less than 70%.
4. Code of the country where the approval was issued. The example shows E1 - Germany, E2 - France, E17 - Finland. In total, auto glass can be certified in 43 countries.
5. Manufacturer code - DOT (Department Of Transportation). The code with numbers indicates the real manufacturer of auto glass. Indicated on all glasses without any exceptions. Here M is a material code that indicates the type (color and thickness inclusive). AS - Indicates that the glass has passed light penetration and transmission tests.
6. 43R - European safety standard.
7. Date of manufacture of car glass.
8. Compliance with Chinese safety standard.

Additional symbols

In addition to marking, the windshield often has additional elements:

• The letters iR enclosed in a circle indicate that this is athermal glass "chameleon". It usually has a purple tint. Between the layers of such glass, in addition to the polyvinyl butyral film, there is another one - silver. Due to this, 70-75% of heat is reflected and dissipated.
• Rain sensor - a sensor element is glued onto the glass, which automatically turns on the wipers when it rains.
• Light sensor - a sensor that will automatically turn on the light and other optical devices if necessary.
• Moisture sensor - turns on the air conditioner when the windows fog up.
• Tinted on top - darkened stripe on top,which serves as protection from the bright sun.
• VIN-number of a car - an identification number, the same as on the body and on the engine. It is applied with a special composition in the form of dots, sometimes completely, and sometimes only the last few digits. In fact, it is simply etched onto glass. For this reason, the number becomes a matte color.
• An ear pictogram or the word Acoustic indicates that the glass absorbs noise.
• The thermometer icon indicates that the athermal glasses have a sun-reflective coating. And if the badge has the letters UU, then the product has a UV filter.
• Athermal glasses with an anti-reflective coating are indicated by a pictogram with a mirrored arrow.
• Water repellent auto glass has a water drop icon.
• If the icon depicts a hammer, then the product has increased impact resistance.

In closing

In conclusion, it is worth saying that when buying a car, it is important to pay attention to the presence of the DOT code (on all glasses without exception) with a reference to the American AGRSS standard. In fact, it will not be difficult to decipher the marking, the main thing is to approach the matter responsibly.