HEAVY EQUIPMENT WINDOWS
We offer far superior alternatives to traditional Glass
INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
CLI is focused on creating highly complex, extremely durable products; ideal solutions for heavy equipment windshields and windows as a far superior alternative to glass. Our products are designed and built to achieve the highest level of safety, visibility, operator comfort, and lifelong durability.
There has never been a time in history where technology has advanced at such a rapid pace. CLI is proud to be among the innovators fuelling these advances. The cornerstone of our brand ethos is to create award-winning, exceptionally lightweight products. In addition to these excellent benefits, and more importantly, our designs are built on the premise to be highly resilient and safe in application – products perfectly suited for heavy equipment windshields and windows operating in hazardous environments.
AEROSPACE HERITAGE
CLI has an unblemished history of working closely with many high-profile aerospace enterprises – creating highly complex and extremely durable products as an excellent substitute for traditional glass products.
Indisputably, no other industry demands higher standards of excellence and safety than aerospace. This is where CLI has secured its 35 year long-standing record of excellence – delivering outstanding products designed to perform flawlessly for many years, even when subjected to the most extreme weather and intense external forces.
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW RAW MATERIALS
Amongst the many advances in ‘new’ materials are modern plastic polymers which in recent years have evolved dramatically; advances in composites which were unimaginable just thirty years ago.
Where transport is concerned, there is a dramatic revolution taking place, with the prime focus on safety and the environment. These vehicles must not only be lightweight and fuel efficient, but have passenger compartments offering excellent comfort and protection.
LIGHT-WEIGHT CONSTRUCTION
As electric vehicles take center stage, emphasis is being placed on developing light weight products which offer superior durability incorporate benefits such as improved safety and lower manufacturing costs. This is why our transparencies are playing an important part in this revolution.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT WINDSHIELDS AND WINDOWS SAFETY
Perhaps no other feature is more important to heavy equipment vehicles than safety. Heavy equipment windshields and windows must afford excellent visibility to the operator yet also ensure full protection from the daily rigors when operating within hazardous environments.
For designers involved in creating vehicles for construction and agricultural industries, safety considerations are very much at the heart of every component.
In many cases where safety glass is used, a steel cage is placed around the operator to offer assured protection. Unfortunately these cages are incredibly restrictive, interfering with the operator’s line of sight, thus diminishing visibility and possibly increasing the chances of an accident.
CLI has an impressive record of producing superb polycarbonate transparencies; a far superior material for heavy equipment windshileds and windows. It is no coincidence polycarbonate is always first choice for vehicles operating under extreme conditions or hazardous environments, such as racing cars, deep-sea submarines, super boat racing and theme park rides.
Far more durable than safety glass, polycarbonate can withstand impacts 250 times greater than glass, protecting the operator from life-threatening dangers.
Key Advantages of Modern Polymers
Modern polymers such as polycarbonate, acrylic, and specially formulated PVC are extremely lightweight, highly durable, and remarkably strong.
Modern polymers have higher impact strength than glass and does not shatter when exposed to high strains or blunt force. Crack resistance is especially valuable – representing just one of the many reasons modern polymers are used for viewing ports on deep-sea submarines. The exterior polymer windows are coated to a hardness comparable to glass. Therefore, these windows resist scratching, and many chemicals commonly used to wash vehicles or clean glass.
Furthermore, laminated glass is also subject to delamination – where the bonding between layers fails – displaying unsightly patterns known as “traveling air pockets.” Aside from being aesthetically unpleasant, over time, these air pockets can seriously diminish visibility around the edges of the affected transparencies.
At less than half the weight of glass — (SG: 1.2 vs. 2.45) — modern polymers are an excellent alternative, especially where weight plays a key factor in design. With current trends erring towards ever more efficient, environmentally conscious manufacturing processes for vehicles, designers are becoming ever more focused on shedding as much weight as possible to achieve greater performance and fuel efficiency.
Generally, flat unprocessed glass is less expensive to purchase than acrylic. However, the tempered glass used in most vehicles is about equivalent in cost. Nevertheless, formed and/or laminated glass will be far more costly to produce than modern polymers.
If a window is to have a more defined shape, the forming tools for glass are usually steel or ceramic. Tools used for forming polymer windows are generally made of fiberglass-reinforced resin. As such, the difference in tooling costs is substantial, a consideration that becomes far more important for low-volume production.
Although glass can be formed into curved shapes – due to its restrictive malleability – the finished shape will be quite limited, with complex shapes being far more challenging and costly to achieve.
By contrast, modern polymers can be easily formed into far more radical compound shapes while retaining excellent optical properties and minimum aberration.
Modern polymers transmit more light than glass; in fact, up to 92% of visible light is transmitted through modern polymers. By contrast, mineral glass transmits between 80-90%, depending on the type of glass.
In cases where laminated glass has several layers, such as ballistic formulations, the image observed through the pane tends to adopt a greenish hue, which is not observable in modern polymers.
The thermal conductivity of modern polymers is lower than laminated glass. This is advantageous for insulation, resulting in lower running costs for heating and air-conditioning.
New modern polymer formulations also offer 99% UV blocking and up to 40% IR, depending on the tint being used. This is especially important for equipment operating in a hot environment or under strong sunshine. Furthermore, these specialty grades also protect interior electronic components and upholstery from excessive heat and fading.
The surface of modern polymers are softer and more easily scratched than mineral glass. However, new technologies have been developed where a hard, silicate coating is applied to the exterior surface of polymer transparencies, affording far superior protection, thus resisting most scratches and making the transparencies impervious to chemical attacks.
GLASS vs. POLYMERS COMPARISON CHART
What We Can Offer You
Our enterprise offers exceptional durable heavy equipment windshields and windows to many industries, including agricultural, construction, and commercial vehicles.
Yet, we do not limit our scope to transport, since We can design and create products for any enterprise requiring resilient products created from bi-axially stretched acrylics, (MIL-PRF-25690), crack propagation resistant acrylic, cast acrylics (MIL-PRF-8184 and MIL-PRF-5425), coated polycarbonate, and ABS.
Explore Other Industry Sectors We Serve
If you would like to know more about our comprehensive product lines and services, please drop us a line and we shall be delighted to discuss your enterprise’s specific product and design requirements with great interest.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT WINDSHIELDS and WINDOWS
We offer far superior alternatives to traditional Glass
INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
CLI is focused on creating highly complex, extremely durable products; ideal solutions for heavy equipment windshields and windows as a far superior alternative to glass. Our products are designed and built to achieve the highest level of safety, visibility, operator comfort, and lifelong durability.
There has never been a time in history where technology has advanced at such a rapid pace. CLI is proud to be among the innovators fuelling these advances. The cornerstone of our brand ethos is to create award-winning, exceptionally lightweight products. In addition to these excellent benefits, and more importantly, our designs are built on the premise to be highly resilient and safe in application – products perfectly suited for heavy equipment windshields and windows operating in hazardous environments.
AEROSPACE HERITAGE
CLI has an unblemished history of working closely with many high-profile aerospace enterprises – creating highly complex and extremely durable products as an excellent substitute for traditional glass products.
Indisputably, no other industry demands higher standards of excellence and safety than aerospace. This is where CLI has secured its 35 year long-standing record of excellence – delivering outstanding products designed to perform flawlessly for many years, even when subjected to the most extreme weather and intense external forces.
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW RAW MATERIALS
Amongst the many advances in ‘new’ materials are modern plastic polymers which in recent years have evolved dramatically; advances in composites which were unimaginable just thirty years ago.
Where transport is concerned, there is a dramatic revolution taking place, with the prime focus on safety and the environment. These vehicles must not only be lightweight and fuel efficient, but have passenger compartments offering excellent comfort and protection.
LIGHT-WEIGHT CONSTRUCTION
As electric vehicles take center stage, emphasis is being placed on developing light weight products which offer superior durability incorporate benefits such as improved safety and lower manufacturing costs. This is why our transparencies are playing an important part in this revolution.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT WINDSHIELDS AND WINDOWS SAFETY
Perhaps no other feature is more important to heavy equipment vehicles than safety. Heavy equipment windshields and windows must afford excellent visibility to the operator yet also ensure full protection from the daily rigors when operating within hazardous environments.
For designers involved in creating vehicles for construction and agricultural industries, safety considerations are very much at the heart of every component.
In many cases where safety glass is used, a steel cage is placed around the operator to offer assured protection. Unfortunately these cages are incredibly restrictive, interfering with the operator’s line of sight, thus diminishing visibility and possibly increasing the chances of an accident.
CLI has an impressive record of producing superb polycarbonate transparencies; a far superior material for heavy equipment windshileds and windows. It is no coincidence polycarbonate is always first choice for vehicles operating under extreme conditions or hazardous environments, such as racing cars, deep-sea submarines, super boat racing and theme park rides.
Far more durable than safety glass, polycarbonate can withstand impacts 250 times greater than glass, protecting the operator from life-threatening dangers.
Key Advantages of Modern Polymers
Modern polymers such as polycarbonate, acrylic, and specially formulated PVC are extremely lightweight, highly durable, and remarkably strong.
Modern polymers have higher impact strength than glass and does not shatter when exposed to high strains or blunt force. Crack resistance is especially valuable – representing just one of the many reasons modern polymers are used for viewing ports on deep-sea submarines. The exterior polymer windows are coated to a hardness comparable to glass. Therefore, these windows resist scratching, and many chemicals commonly used to wash vehicles or clean glass.
Furthermore, laminated glass is also subject to delamination – where the bonding between layers fails – displaying unsightly patterns known as “traveling air pockets.” Aside from being aesthetically unpleasant, over time, these air pockets can seriously diminish visibility around the edges of the affected transparencies.
At less than half the weight of glass — (SG: 1.2 vs. 2.45) — modern polymers are an excellent alternative, especially where weight plays a key factor in design. With current trends erring towards ever more efficient, environmentally conscious manufacturing processes for vehicles, designers are becoming ever more focused on shedding as much weight as possible to achieve greater performance and fuel efficiency.
Generally, flat unprocessed glass is less expensive to purchase than acrylic. However, the tempered glass used in most vehicles is about equivalent in cost. Nevertheless, formed and/or laminated glass will be far more costly to produce than modern polymers.
If a window is to have a more defined shape, the forming tools for glass are usually steel or ceramic. Tools used for forming polymer windows are generally made of fiberglass-reinforced resin. As such, the difference in tooling costs is substantial, a consideration that becomes far more important for low-volume production.
Although glass can be formed into curved shapes – due to its restrictive malleability – the finished shape will be quite limited, with complex shapes being far more challenging and costly to achieve.
By contrast, modern polymers can be easily formed into far more radical compound shapes while retaining excellent optical properties and minimum aberration.
Modern polymers transmit more light than glass; in fact, up to 92% of visible light is transmitted through modern polymers. By contrast, mineral glass transmits between 80-90%, depending on the type of glass.
In cases where laminated glass has several layers, such as ballistic formulations, the image observed through the pane tends to adopt a greenish hue, which is not observable in modern polymers.
The thermal conductivity of modern polymers is lower than laminated glass. This is advantageous for insulation, resulting in lower running costs for heating and air-conditioning.
New modern polymer formulations also offer 99% UV blocking and up to 40% IR, depending on the tint being used. This is especially important for equipment operating in a hot environment or under strong sunshine. Furthermore, these specialty grades also protect interior electronic components and upholstery from excessive heat and fading.
The surface of modern polymers are softer and more easily scratched than mineral glass. However, new technologies have been developed where a hard, silicate coating is applied to the exterior surface of polymer transparencies, affording far superior protection, thus resisting most scratches and making the transparencies impervious to chemical attacks.
Glass vs. Polymers Comparison Chart
Modern polymers such as polycarbonate, acrylic, and specially formulated PVC are extremely lightweight, highly durable, and remarkably strong.
What We Can Offer You
Our enterprise offers exceptional durable heavy equipment windshields and windows to many industries, including agricultural, construction, and commercial vehicles.
Yet, we do not limit our scope to transport. We can design and create products for any enterprise requiring resilient products created from bi-axially stretched acrylics, (MIL-PRF-25690), crack propagation resistant acrylic, cast acrylics (MIL-PRF-8184 and MIL-PRF-5425), coated polycarbonate, and ABS.
