Revolutionizing Industries with Corning® ColdForm™ Technology for automotive grade glass
ColdForm™ Technology, from our partner, Corning, is an innovative advancement that's transforming various industries, providing a high-precision, cost-effective, and eco-friendly solution to shape glass. ColdForm™ Technology involves shaping glass at room temperature using pressure, molds, or mechanical forces. This breakthrough is enabling new levels of flexibility, performance, and sustainability across several sectors.
VIA optronics + Corning
Strategic Partnership – A Perfect Symbiose
Core
Technologies
- Pioneering the use of ColdForm™ Technology on frame products as well as three-dimensional formed cover lenses and/or surface products
Manufacturing &
Engineering Platforms
- Existing capability for pillar-to-pillar designs and production. There are cold-formed displays in more than 4 million vehicles currently on the road today.
Market-Access
Platforms
- Utilizing end-market exposure with synergy potential
ColdForm™ Technology
Curved Designs for Automotive Applications
Cover Glass
Manufacturing and processing
in flat state.
- Preservation of pristine, fusion-formed surface without optical distortions and high dimensional tolerance
- Glass substrate is flexible and can be shaped to different designs (only limitation is the display bending radius)
- Better economics for cover glass and tooling cost
- Shipping of flat glass at lower costs (Less packaging material and warehouse space required)
- Shorter lead time for flat cover glass
Surface Treatment
Apply optical, decoration, and strengthening treatments when the glass is flat.
- Uniform optical coatings
- 2D decoration process
- Enables passing Head Impact Test (HIT) with a pass rate of >99,9%
- High IOX tank capacity for flat cover glass
Bonding & ColdForm™ Process
One piece of glass bent
at room temperature.
- Flexible bonding process (2D or 3D)
- Simple, automated process with high reliability and yields on system level
- High shape uniformity and part-to-part consistency
- Low carbon footprint as cover glass can be bent at room temperature
Key Benefits of ColdForm™ Technology:
Precision and Versatility:
Cold forming allows for the creation of ultra-thin, intricate, and complex glass shapes that are difficult to achieve with traditional hot-forming methods.
Energy Efficiency:
Since the process doesn't require high temperatures, it dramatically reduces energy consumption by at least 25%, making it more environmentally friendly.
Less Waste:
With higher material efficiency, there's less scrap glass, leading to a greener production process.
Applications in the Automotive Industry
Today´s Applications
Vehicle Interiors and Displays
As automotive interiors become more tech-driven, with infotainment systems and interactive displays, cold-formed glass offers a perfect solution for creating thin, durable screens with touch sensitivity and high optical clarity which still pass rigorous automotive safety requirements such as the head form-impact test.
Pillar-to-Pillar Displays
Pillar-to-pillar displays, often referred to as "pillarless displays" or "end-to-end displays," are types of screen arrangements or technology used primarily in vehicles, that span across the entire width of the interior. They typically extend across the dashboard or between the two "pillars" (A-pillars) in a vehicle. These displays can offer a seamless, uninterrupted viewing experience, improving aesthetics and functionality.
The goal of these displays is to offer a large, continuous screen or interface that can provide a variety of functionalities, such as navigation, media control, driver assistance features, or passenger entertainment. VIA optronics and Corning are serving this trend with their technologies.
Future Applications
Advanced Windshields
Cold-formed glass allows for the production of lighter, stronger windshields that can integrate features like heads-up displays (HUD), augmented reality (AR) systems, and rain-sensing technologies. This not only improves driver experience but also enhances safety features in modern cars.
Smart Windows
Cold-formed glass is essential in the creation of smart windows, such as those with touchscreen interfaces, to provide an enhanced user interface where the driver and passengers can adjust settings or access information.
The combination of touch functionality with smart windows is a very futuristic concept but may become more mainstream as technologies evolve. It's likely that in the future we'll see these windows seamlessly integrated into vehicles, homes and businesses, providing both aesthetic appeal and functional interactivity.
Display Future in Combination with ColdForm™ Technology
The future of automotive displays is set to be incredibly dynamic, with advancements in technology shaping the way we interact with our vehicles. There are some trends and innovations we can expect to see in automotive displays in the coming years, e.g. Augmented Reality (AR) Dashboards, Flexible Screens, Gesture and Voice Control, Holographic Head-up-Displays (HUDs), Sustainability and Efficiency.
VIA optronics is an expert in optical bonding, equipment design and module assembly for automotive display applications. By combining VIA optronics' expertise with Corning's AutoGrade™ Gorilla Glass and ColdForm™ technology, VIA optronics is able to meet the upcoming trends in the automotive interior market.