The Bulletproof concept was originally made in 1640. Prince Rupert was the first to have an idea that this could be done. He made a prototype by dropping molten glass into freezing water, although it was not bulletproof. It sparked the idea for Bulletproof Glass. In 1903 a French chemist Edouard Benedictus accidentally dropped one of his flasks on the ground even though the glass broke it did not shatter. He later found out it did not shatter due to the element that was held in it which was liquid nitrate solution. In 1909 Benedictus successfully filled a patent in France for his glass.
In 1914 Benedictus moved to The United States of America and secured a patent for the Glass he created. In World War One in the Gas mask’s eye holes contain his bulletproof glass that saved hundreds of lives. (Douglas Swanitz and Cody Essary, 2013) After the war in 1918 he filled his manufacturing patent for bank teller safety and began manufacturing right away. The glass was used by a bank teller by putting the glass between the banker and the customer. He also made a communication device to improve the banker’s safety.
In 1930 the bulletproof glass was implemented into cars but was mostly limited to criminals and he rich. In 1939 bulletproof glass was used in World War Two for soldier and vehicle protection. Around 1942 bulletproof glass was installed in the Oval Office to protect the president and other important people against a variety of scenarios. In fact, in 1956 the Mona Lisa was attacked by acid and rocks the decided to put it behind bulletproof glass. In 1961 Adolf Eichmann was put on trial for his war crimes and they used a custom bulletproof glass case to prevent assassination attempts.
Not that long ago in 1981 the Pope-Mobile was incased with the bulletproof glass. In the beginning of 2004 the TSS started making doors with extremely strong Barratt Moland Period 2 January 23, 2017 2 bulletproof doors. Today bulletproof glass has been improved many times and most of them were done by the man who invented them, which saved many lives in both the World Wars. It’s no longer just one layer of glass it is three the polycarbonate laminate, bulletproof acrylic, and glass clad polycarbonate. Douglas Swanitz and Cody Essary, 2013)
“The day after the Pearl Harbor bombing, tensions were high and there were plenty of security concerns about a potential assassination attempt on President Roosevelt. Because of that, Secret Service agents had 24 hours to come up with a solution to the threat. Unfortunately, the Sunshine Special (FDR’s usual method of transportation) wasn’t outfitted with security measures like bulletproof glass, and government policy didn’t allow for the expense of buying a new vehicle on such short notice.
That’s when one Secret Service agent put on his thinking cap and remembered they had a viable alternative in storage. As it turned out, The Treasury Department had one of Capone’s 1928 Cadillacs in storage because of his tax evasion conviction. The Cadillac was fully reinforced with bulletproof armor and glass and weighed in at 9000 pounds. President Roosevelt ended up using the Cadillac until the Sunshine Special was repurposed with alternate security measures. (BULLETPROOF BARRIER SECURITY TIPS & NEWS, 2013) Barratt Moland Period 2 January 23, 2017 3 How It works At first glance, bullet-resistant glass looks identical to an ordinary pane of glass, but that’s where the similarities end.
An ordinary piece of glass shatters when struck by a single bullet. Bullet resistant glass is designed to withstand one or several rounds of bullets depending on the hickness of the glass and the weapon being fired at it. So, what gives bullet-resistant glass the ability to stop bullets? It works by a two layers of glass separated by a vinyl acetal sheet then covered in Polycarbonate. John Shriner, 2014) “When a bullet strikes bulletproof glass, its energy spreads out sideways through the layers. Because the energy is divided between a number of different pieces of glass and plastic, and spread over a large area, it is quickly absorbed.
The bullet slows down so much that it no longer has enough energy to pierce through—or to do much damage if it does so. Although the glass panes do break, the plastic layers stop them flying apart. Think of bulletproof glass as “energy-absorbing” glass and you’ll have a good idea how it works. (Bulletproof glass, 2016) “In terms of thickness, bullet proof glass is usually 70 to75 millimeters thick. The thicker it is, the more resistant it is considered to be. Glasses of different thicknesses are needed to withstand penetration from different types of bullets. For example, a handgun bullet wouldn’t strike with the same force as a rifle bullet; therefore, a glass that is meant to withstand rifle bullets should be thicker. (How Bullet Resistant Glass Works, n. d. )
Barratt Moland Period 2 January 23, 2017 4 How Effective Is It? While acrylic, with its relatively low cost and flexible material qualities, is the preferred bullet resistant glass in many applications, it’s not the only option. Monolithic acrylic is great for stopping shots from a 9mm, . 357 Magnum, . 44, or shotgun, but those who need security from something heavier–an AK-47, M16, or hunting rifle–will want layered polycarbonate (another softer thermoplastic, capable of catching and holding a bullet), or even glass-clad polycarbonate, hich is composed of laminated layers of tempered glass and polycarbonate, and can stop many shots from an assault rifle, and even withstand hurricane-force winds. (TSS, 2017)
Bulletproof glass is extremely effective but when buying Bulletproof glass, you are reminded that there is no such thing as bulletproof glass meaning that all glass can be broken so there are chances that the glass could be penetrated and will be broken, also it is reminded that is not “glass” but a Plexiglas. Bulletproof windows are designed to stop projectiles but should be said that they are not made for continuous projectiles. The windows can handle many rounds of fire but after a little you be experiencing holes through glass then you will know that the glass has been penetrated and should be fixed.
In the movies when you see someone’s shooting the windows of a car with bulletproof glass you see the bullets leave a dent in the window, that is a 100% wrong in real life when a bullet hits bulletproof glass the window will make a loud noise and normally the bullet will be lodged inside the window almost all times the bullet hits the window. Bulletproof glass is continuously reminded and should be told that it is a breakable bject it just takes continuous fire to break.
When a round hits the window the outer layer of the glass does not stop the bullet it’s all three of the layers absorbing the force of the speeding bullet to prevent from going beyond. The type of gun that fires the projectile will also be a huge Barratt Moland Period 2 January 23, 2017 5 reaming factor, depending on the type of gun the glass could easily be broken or it could hold back dozens of rounds continuously. (New Scientest, 2015) “Imagine a car equipped with this one-way bullet-resistant glass. If a person outside the ar shoots a bullet into the window, the bullet would strike the brittle side first.
This brittle material would shatter around the point of impact and absorb some of the energy over a large area. The flexible material then absorbs the remaining energy of the bullet, stopping the bullet. A bullet fired from inside the same car would easily pass through the glass because the bullet’s force is concentrated on a small area, which causes the material to flex. This causes the brittle material to break outwards, allowing the bullet to pierce the flexible material and strike its target. (how does “bulletproof” glass work? , n. d.
How would I Improve it? I would improve the bulletproof glass by using the standard instructions of making glass except I would add another layer of polycarbonate then another layer of Plexiglas. After that was complete I would laminate both sides of the glass. I think this design has been probably being thought of before and/or maybe in use but was too thick to install on a normal vehicle. Maybe the military uses a concept like mine since they can install special types on their vehicles so they could use glass built for different scenarios.
