WO2018178824A1

WO2018178824A1 - Triple layer automotive laminate with improved acoustic performance

Info

Publication number: WO2018178824A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/051956
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mario Arturo MANNHEIM ASTETE; Charles Stephen Voeltzel; Alfredo Daniel KOC LI; Andres Fernando SARMIENTO SANTOS
Original assignee: Agp America S.A.
Priority date: 2017-03-31
Filing date: 2018-03-22
Publication date: 2018-10-04
Also published as: CO2017007566A1

Abstract

As the use of laminated glass in vehicles has extended beyond just the windshield, the total glazed area and size of the glass parts has been increasing. It is also noted that the thickness of the glass decreasing with the introduction of new technologies such as chemical tempering being used as the automotive OEMs strive to reduce weight to improve efficiency. Unfortunately, as the mass of the glazing decreases and the area increases, the sound dampening ability of the glazing decreases. The invention substantially improves acoustic performance by distributing the mass of the laminated glass across three equivalent layers rather than just two as in a conventional laminate.

Description

TRIPLE LAYER AUTOMOTIVE LAMINATE WITH IMPROVED ACOUSTIC

PERFORMANCE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of light weight automotive laminates.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In response to the regulatory requirements for increased automotive fuel efficiency as well as the growing public awareness and demand for environmentally friendly products, automotive original equipment manufacturers, around the world, have been working to improve the efficiency of their vehicles.

One of the key elements of the strategy to improve efficiency has been the concept of light weighting. Often times, more traditional, less expensive, conventional materials and processes are being replaced by innovative new materials and processes which while sometime being more expensive, still have higher utility than the materials and processes being replaced due to their lower weight and the corresponding increase in fuel efficiency. Vehicle glazing has been no exception.

For many years, the standard automotive windshield had a thickness of 5.4mm. In more recent years, we have seen the thickness decrease to 4.75 mm. While a reduction of 0.65 mm may not seem significant, at a density of 2600 kg per cubic meter for standard soda lime glass, each millimeter that the thickness is reduced, decreases the weight by 2.6 kg per square meter. The weight of a typical 1.2 square meter windshield going from 5.4 mm to 4.75 mm is reduced by over 2 kg approximately. On a vehicle with a total of 6 square meters of glass, a 1 mm reduction on all of the windows translates into a savings of 15.6 kg.

Today, windshields with a 2.1 mm outer glass layer 201 (Figure 1A), a 1.6 mm inner glass layer 202 and a 0.76 mm plastic interlayer 4 totaling just under 4.5 mm in total thickness are becoming common. This may be close to the limit of what can be done with conventional annealed soda lime glass. Annealed glass is glass that has been slowly cooled from the bending temperature through the glass transition range. This is done to relieve stress in the glass. Annealed glass breaks into large shards with sharp edges. In a laminate, two sheets of annealed glass are glued together using a sheet of thermos-plastic (plastic layer). If the laminated glass should break, the plastic layer holds the shards of glass together, helping to maintain the structural integrity of the glass. The shards of broken glass are held together much like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. A vehicle with a broken windshield can still be operated. On impact, the plastic layer also helps to prevent penetration by the occupant or by objects striking the laminate from the exterior. Heat strengthened glass can be used in all vehicle positions other than the windshield. Heat strengthened (tempered) glass has a layer of high compression on the outside surfaces of the glass, balanced by tension on the inside of the glass. When tempered glass breaks, the tension and compression are no longer in balance and the glass breaks into small beads with dull edges. Tempered glass is much stronger than annealed laminated glass. The limits of the typical automotive heat strengthening process are in the 3.2 mm to 3.6 mm range.

Glass can be chemically tempered. In this process, ions in and near the outside surface of the glass are exchanged with ions that are larger. This places the outer layer of glass in compression. With some glass compositions, compressive strengths in excess of 100k PSI are possible. The practice of chemically tempering glass is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and shall not be detailed here.

Unlike heat tempered glass, chemically tempered glass breaks into shards rather than beads. This property allows for its use in laminated windshields. However, in standard windshield thicknesses of 2.0 mm or greater, chemically strengthened glass would actually be too strong. In the event of a crash and a head impact, the windshield must break, absorbing the energy of the impact rather than the head of the occupant. Therefore, depending upon the tempered strength, thicknesses of 1.1 mm or less must be used. Laminated glazing, once limited to just the windshield, is finding more and more application in other positions in the vehicle to improve safety, security and comfort.

In recent years, the security of automotive vehicle ignition systems has been improved to the point where it has become virtually impossible to steal a car without having the keys or a tow truck. Similarly the doors and locks have been improved making it extremely difficult to get into a car without either the keys or breaking the glass. While these improvements decrease the incidence of vehicle related theft they have led to an increase in more serious crimes known as "smash and grab" and "carjacking" as thieves have adapted to the new technology. In a smash and grab, the thief breaks a window and grabs a purse, computer, GPS or other valuable. In a car-jacking, the driver is forced to hand over the vehicle to the thief.

Vehicles are especially vulnerable to these types of crimes due to the type of glass that is used in most of them. A closed window does not deter a determined thief due to the ease with which most car windows can be broken.

The glass used in the doors, rear window and side windows of most vehicle is made from tempered glass. While tempered glass can withstand high loads, it can be easily broken by striking with a hard object or through the use of a spring loaded center punch. When tempered glass fails, the entire window opening is left unprotected.

As a result, on some higher end vehicles, laminated glass has been used for the doors rather than tempered glass. This is at least in part to improve the safety and security of the occupants but also for the improved sound dampening that a laminate provides and to facilitate the use of heat reflecting coatings for solar control. Laminated glass has also been used for the side windows on some passenger vans, primarily to improve occupant retention in the event of a rollover accident.

Large glass panoramic roofs are another area where the use of laminated glass is spreading. As the glass area gets larger, the use of tempered glass becomes impractical. In the event of an accident, especially a rollover, tempered glass provides no protection for the occupants.

One benefit of the thicker heavier glazing being replaced was in the area of sound dampening. While there are several factors that play a role in the level of sound transmission, mass is a major one. As the thickness and total mass of the glass decreases, the sound transmitted goes up. Going from a 5 mm thickness to a 3.6 mm thickness will have a noticeable negative impact on perceived cabin noise. In general, one can say that: sound dampening increases with increasing glass thickness and decreases as the glass area increases.

Sound dampening improves with the use of laminated glass due to the dampening effect of the plastic interlayer. The interlayers work by decoupling the layers of glass from each other so that they do not vibrate in unison. The impedance mismatch between the hard stiff glass and the soft pliable interlayer serves to absorb the sound energy converting it to heat. Further, sound dampening (acoustic) interlayers have been developed which are softer and more elastic than conventional PVB interlayers. However, even these parts are being made thinner though the use of chemically tempered glass. It would be desirable to be able to have a thinner laminate with an acoustic interlayer that had the same or better performance as a thicker laminate with an acoustic interlayer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Simply increasing the interlayer thickness does not appreciably improve the sound dampening of a laminate further. To achieve further sound dampening improvement, the present invention distributes the mass of the glass across three layers rather than just two. This allows for two sheets of interlayer to be used. The two sheets further decouple the three glass layers while creating an additional energy absorbing layer with an additional impedance mismatch. The three layers of glass serve to reinforce each other such that even thinner glass layers can be used. The strength of the laminate is equivalent to a single layer of glass having a thickness equal to the sum of the three separate layers of glass.

Sound dampening can also be further improved by using different glass thicknesses. This serves to minimize resonate vibrations which occurs when glass of the same thickness is used. In some of the embodiments, two or three different thicknesses are used. In the same manner, the sound dampening can be further improved through the use of different types of interlayers for the plastic bonding layers. Advantages of the present invention include:

• Improved sound dampening;

• Resistance to breakage;

• Weight savings; • Improved solar control.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the following embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 A shows an exploded view of a two layer laminate according to prior art. Figure IB shows a cross section of the two layer laminate of Figure 1A.

Figure 2A shows an exploded view of a three layer laminate according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2B shows a cross section of the three layer laminate of Figure 2A.

Figure 3A shows a cross section of a three layer laminate according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3B shows a cross section of a two layer laminate of the same total thickness of the three layer laminate of Figure 3 A.

Figure 4A shows a cross section of a three layer laminate according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4B shows a cross section of a two layer laminate of the same total thickness of the three layer laminate of Figure 4 A.

Figure 5A shows a cross section of a three layer laminate according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5B shows a cross section of a three layer laminate according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5C shows a cross section of a three layer laminate according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

2 Glass

4 Plastic interlayer

12 Infrared reflecting film

15 Scratch resistant coating

20 Infrared reflecting coating

101 Surface one of exterior glass layer

102 Surface two of exterior glass layer

103 Surface three of interior glass layer

104 Surface four of interior glass layer

105 Surface five of middle glass layer

106 Surface six of middle glass layer

201 Exterior glass layer

202 Interior glass layer

203 Middle glass layer DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention (Figure 2A), it is disclosed a laminate having three glass layers 2 having opposing major faces bonded together permanently by a set of at least two plastic interlayers 4. The three glass layers 2 comprise an external glass layer 201, a middle glass layer 203 and an interior glass layer 202.

In the drawings and discussion, the following terminology is used to describe the configuration of a laminated glazing. A typical automotive laminate (Figure IB) is comprised of two layers of glass 201 and 202 that are permanently bonded together by a plastic interlayer layer 4. The glass layer on the exterior side of the vehicle is layer 201. That surface of layer 201 that faces the outside of the vehicle is referred to as surface one 101 or the number one surface. The opposite face of the exterior layer of glass 201 is surface two 102 or the number two surface. The glass layer on the interior side of the vehicle is layer 202. The glass surface that faces the inside of the vehicle is referred to as surface four 104 or the number four surface. The opposite face of the inside layer of glass is surface three 103 or the number three surface. The various embodiments of the invention (e.g. Figure 2B) comprise an additional third middle glass layer 203 having a surface five 105 on the face adjacent to the exterior layer 201 and a surface six 106 on the face adjacent to the interior layer 202.

Tempered monolithic windows can only make use of heat absorbing compositions to control solar load. One of the big advantages of a laminated window over a tempered is that a laminate can make use of infrared reflecting coatings 20 (Figure 3A) and infrared reflecting films 12 (Figure 4A) in addition to heat absorbing compositions.

A heat absorbing window can be very effective but the glass gets hot and transfers energy to the passenger compartment through convective transfer and radiation whereas the infrared reflecting coatings and films reflect the heat back to the atmosphere allowing the glass so stay cooler.

Infrared reflecting coatings 20 (Figure 3A) include but are not limited to the various metal/dielectric layered coatings applied though Magnetron Sputtered Vacuum Deposition (MSVD) as well as others known in the art that are applied via pyrolytic, spray, controlled vapor deposition (CVD), dip and other methods.

Infrared reflecting films 12 (Figure 4A) include both metallic coated substrates as well as organic based optical films which reflect in the infrared.

In addition to the metallic and non-metalic films, a wide variety of other films are available for use in laminates to add capability and enhance other properties. To control light transmission there are available: electrochromic, photochromic, thermocromic and filed effect films which are designed to be incorporated into laminates. Of particular interest are suspended particle devices (SPD) and polymer dispensed liquid crystal (PDLC) films which can quickly change state under the control of an electrical field. These films will be collectively referred to as performance films. The glass layer may be annealed or strengthened. Two processes can be used to increase the strength of glass. They are thermal strengthening, in which the hot glass is rapidly cooled, and chemical tempering which achieves the same effect through an ion exchange chemical treatment.

Chemical tempering is performed by immersing the glass in a bath of molten potassium nitrate. During the process, potassium ions replace ions of smaller elements in the glass surface creating a compression layer. The tempered strength is a function of the time that the glass is treated, the temperature of the bath, and the glass composition. The strength correlates to the depth of the compression layer. Typical parameters for chemical tempering are treatment at a temperature ranging from 350 °C to 475 °C for a period from 2 to 24 hours.

Unlike heat tempered glass, chemically tempered glass breaks into shards rather than the small bead typical of heat treated glass further improving the intrusion resistance of the window as the shards, held together by the bonding layer, tend to interlock maintaining structural integrity.

The bonding layer has the primary function of bonding the major faces of adjacent layers to each other. As an example, in a two glass layer laminate (Figure IB), surface two 102 of the exterior glass layer 201 is bonded to surface three 103 of the layer adjacent and below by the bonding layer 4. The material selected is typically a clear plastic when bonding to another glass layer 202.

For automotive use, the most commonly used bonding layer or interlayer is polyvinyl butyl (PVB). In addition to polyvinyl butyl, ionoplast polymers, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), cast in place (CIP) liquid resin and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) can also be used. These are all broad families with a wide range of formulations, thicknesses, additives, cross sections, colors and properties. Ultra violet inhibitors are a common additive in automotive formulations. It is also possible to alter properties by changing the type of plasticizer and/or the ratio of plasticizer to plastic resin in some types.

Interlayers are available with enhanced capabilities beyond adhering the glass layers together. The invention may include interlayers designed to dampen sound. Such interlayers are comprised whole or in part of a layer of plastic that is softer and more flexible than that normally used. Early versions of sound dampening acoustic interlayers required handling at low temperatures as they were tacky even at the lower temperatures (15 °C) that are commonly used in automotive laminate assembly rooms.

Newer versions sandwich the softer tacky layer between two layers of more typical material to improve handling. In one commonly used acoustic interlayer, a 100 micron layer of PVB, having a glass transition point of 0 °C is sandwiched between two layers of PVB having a glass transition point of 20 °C. However, it should be noted that thickness of interlayer may vary depending on the use of the interior layer and exterior layer. In some embodiments, the total interlayer thickness may vary from 0.38 mm o 1.2 mm.

Sound dampening can be further enhanced through the use of interlayers that are not the same in a given laminate. By not the same it is meant that the plastic layers are different in thickness, composition, plasticizer ratio, treatment or other measurable characteristic. Each type and thickness of interlayer will have a characteristic response to vibration. By using, as an example, a high modulus and a low modulus material, the response can be improved over that of laminates comprised of identical plastic layers of either by spreading the dampening over a wider range of frequencies.

The frequency response can be empirically tuned in such a manner. In addition to the wide range of plastic interlayer material commercially available, the response of the interlayers can be altered through treatment of the interlayers with plasticizers and other solvents. The solvent can be applied by brush, spray, dip or any other means. The solvent serves to alter the stiffness of the material shifting the frequency response and also alters the degree of decoupling of the glass layers.

The types of glass 201, 202, 203 (Figures 2A, 2B, 3A, 4A, 5A, 5B, 5C) that may be used include but are not limited to: the common soda-lime variety typical of automotive glazing as well as aluminosilicate, lithium aluminosilicate, borosilicate, glass ceramics, and the various other inorganic solid amorphous compositions which undergo a glass transition and are classified as glass included those that are not transparent.

These broad families of glass have multiple compositions with varying properties all of which can potentially be used. The glass layers may be comprised of heat absorbing glass compositions as well as glass having infrared reflecting and other types of coatings. The use of thin glass layers has been found to improve resistance to breakage from impact such as stone chips. The thinner glass is more flexible and absorbs the energy of the impact by deflecting and then bouncing back rather than breaking as is the case with a thicker suffer layer of glass. Also, embodiments comprising a borosilicate exterior layer are substantially more resistant to impact than soda lime glass due to the nature of the composition. Embodiments comprising a chemically tempered exterior layer will also exhibit superior resistance to impact as compared to ordinary soda-lime glass due to the high surface compression of such glasses. These chemically tempered glass compositions, in the range of about 0.025 mm to about 0.5 mm are known as ultra-thin glass.

The ultra-thin glasses where developed for use as display covers initially and that is still the primary use for this type of glass. It is now also being used as a substrate for various display technologies including thin-film-transistor (TFT), organic light emitting diode (OLED) and electroluminescent displays. Such displays can be readily incorporated into the triple layer construction of the invention as the middle glass layer 203 (Figures 2A, 2B, 3A, 4A, 5A, 5B, 5C). Sound dampening can be further enhanced through the use of different thicknesses of glass in the same laminate. Each type and thickness of interlayer will have a characteristic response to vibration. By using, as an example, a 0.050 mm middle layer, with a 0.7 exterior layer and a 1.2 mm interior layer, the response can be improved over that of laminates comprised of identical glass layers by spreading the dampening out over a wider range of frequencies. The frequency response can be empirically tuned in such a manner. It should be noted that two or more polymers (interlayers) of different materials can be used in the configuration of a laminated glazing, wherein each polymer will have different dampen range of spectrum.

The glass layers are formed using gravity bending, press bending, cold bending or any other conventional means known in the art. Gravity and press bending methods for forming glass are well known in the art and will not be discussed in the present disclosure. On parts with minimal curvature, one or more of the glass layers, a flat sheet of glass can be bent cold to the contour of the part. Cold bending is a relatively new technology. As the name suggest, the glass is bent, while cold to its final shape, without the use of heat. This is possible because as the thickness of glass decreases, the sheets becomes increasingly more flexible and can be bent without inducing stress levels high enough to significantly increase the long term probability of breakage. Thin sheets of annealed soda-lime glass, in thicknesses of about 1 mm, can be bent to large radii cylindrical shapes (greater than 6 m). When the glass is chemically or heat strengthened the glass is able to endure much higher levels of stress and can be bent along both major axis. The process is primarily used to bend chemically tempered thin glass sheets (<=1 mm) to shape. Cylindrical shapes can be formed with a radius in one direction of less than 4 meters. Shapes with compound bend, that is curvature in the direction of both principle axis can be formed with a radius of curvature in each direction of as small as approximately 8 meters. Of course, much depends upon the surface area of the parts and the types and thicknesses of the substrates. The cold bent glass will remain in tension and tend to distort the shape of the bent layer that it is bonded to. Therefore, the bent layer must be compensated to offset the tension. For more complex shapes with a high level of curvature, the flat glass may need to be partially thermally bent prior to cold bending. The glass to be cold bent is placed with a bent to shape layer and with a bonding layer placed between the glass to be cold bent and the bent glass layer. The assembly is placed in what is known as a vacuum bag. The vacuum bag is an airtight set of plastic sheets, enclosing the assembly and bonded together it the edges, which allows for the air to be evacuated from the assembly and which also applies pressure on the assembly forcing the layers into contact. The assembly, in the evacuated vacuum bag, is then heated to seal the assembly. The assembly is next placed into an autoclave which heats the assembly and applies high pressure. This completes the cold bending process as the flat glass at this point has conformed to the shape of the bent layer and is permanently affixed. The cold bending process is very similar to a standard vacuum bag/autoclave process, well known in the art, with the exception of having an unbent glass layer added to the stack of glass.

Scratch resistance coatings 15 (Figure 4A) are widely known in the art and typically used on transparent plastics such as automotive headlamp housings. A common type envisioned in the embodiments includes silica coatings applied using a magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) process or by a sol -gel process. As can be appreciated, other chemistries and application methods are available and will become available which are equivalent. The scratch resistant coating is provided for additional protection.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS a) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 3A, comprising a 0.7 mm exterior glass layer

201 with an infrared reflecting coating 20 the on the surface two, a 0.38 mm PVB plastic layer 4, a 0.7 mm middle glass layer 203, a 0.38 mm PU plastic layer 4 and a 0.7 mm interior glass layer 202 for a total thickness of 2.86 mm. Figure 3B shows a two layer laminate, of the same total thickness, comprising a 1.05 mm exterior glass layer, a 0.76 mm interlayer and a 1.05 mm interior glass layer. b) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 4A, comprising a 1.6 mm exterior glass layer

201 with a scratch resistant coating 15 applied to the surface one 101 (Figure 3) and an infrared reflecting coating 12 on the surface two, a 0.38 mm low modulus plastic layer 4, a 1.6 mm middle glass layer 203, 0.38 mm high modulus interlayer 4 and a 1.6 mm interior glass layer 202 for a total thickness of 5.56 mm. Figure 4B shows a two layer laminate, of the same total thickness, comprising a 2.4 mm exterior glass layer, a 0.76 mm interlayer and a 2.4 mm interior glass layer. c) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 5A, comprising a 1 mm exterior glass layer

201, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4, a 0.4 mm middle glass layer 203, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4 and a 1 mm interior glass layer 202 for a total thickness of 3.16 mm. d) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 5A, comprising a 1.6 mm heat strengthened exterior glass layer 201, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4, a 0.4 mm middle glass layer 203, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4 and a 0.55 mm interior glass layer 202 for a total thickness of 3.31 mm. e) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 5A, comprising a 1.6 mm heat strengthened exterior glass layer 201, 0.38 mm heat and sound dampening plastic layer 4, a 0.7 mm middle glass layer 203, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4 and a 0.7 mm interior glass layer 202 for a total thickness of 3.76 mm. f) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 5B, comprising a 1 mm exterior glass layer

201, a 0.38 mm heat reflecting film 10 and sound dampening plastic layer 4, a 0.7 mm middle glass layer 203, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4 and a 0.4 mm cold bent glass interior layer 202 for a total thickness of 2.86. g) A three layer laminate, as shown in Figure 5C, comprising a 1 mm exterior glass layer

201, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4, a 0.05 mm middle glass layer 203, 0.38 mm sound dampening plastic layer 4 and a 1 mm interior glass layer 202 for a total thickness of 2.81 mm. h) All of the embodiments can be laminated with an ultra-thin glass containg active OLED display in place of an ordinary glass middle layer. i) Any of the previous embodiments can be laminated with an SPD layer, PDLC layer, Liquid Crystal layer or Electrochromic Layer.

It must be understood that this invention is not limited to the embodiments described and illustrated above. A person skilled in the art will understand that numerous variations and modifications can be carried out that do not depart from the spirit of the invention, which is only defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A laminated glass comprising:

an exterior glass layer having oppositely disposed major faces;

an interior glass layer having oppositely disposed major faces;

a middle glass layer having oppositely disposed major faces, said middle glass layer situated between one of the major faces of the exterior glass layer and the interior glass layer, respectively; and

at least two plastic layers;

wherein at least a first plastic layer of said at least two plastic layer is situated between one of the major faces of the exterior glass layer and the middle glass layer, respectively, to bond said glass layers to each other; and wherein at least a second plastic layer of said at least two plastic layer is situated between one of the major faces of the middle glass layer and the interior glass layer, respectively, to bond said glass layers to each other.

2. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein said glass layers have at least two different thicknesses.

3. The laminated glass of claim 1, further comprising at least one ultra-thin glass layers.

4. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein the middle glass layer is an ultra-thin glass layer with a thickness in the range of about 0.05 mm to about 0.4 mm.

5. The laminated glass of claim 4, wherein the ultra-thin glass layer include a display.

6. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least two plastic layers of said at least two plastic layers are not the same.

7. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein each plastic layer of said at least two plastic layers has a glass transition point of less than about 20 °C.

8. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein each plastic layer of said at least two plastic layers has a glass transition point of less than about 10 °C.

9. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the laminate is in the range of about 2.0 mm to 6.0 mm.

10. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the laminate is in the range of about 2.0 mm to about 4.0 mm.

11. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers has a thickness of less than or equal to about 1.2 mm.

12. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers has a thickness in the range of about 0.4 mm to about 2.1 mm.

13. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers is a chemically strengthened glass layer.

14. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers is a thermally strengthened glass layer.

15. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers is a borosilicate glass layer.

16. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers is an aluminosilicate glass layer.

17. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one of the glass layers is formed by means of a cold bending process.

18. The laminated glass of claim 1, further comprising at least one scratch resistant coating.

19. The laminated glass of claim 1, further comprising a heat reflecting film.

20. The laminated glass of claim 1, further comprising a heat reflecting coating.

21. The laminate glass of claim 1, further comprising a heat absorbing layer.

22. The laminated glass of claim 1, further comprising a performance film layer.

23. The laminated glass of claim 1, wherein at least one plastic layer of said at least two plastic layers is an acoustic dampening plastic layer.

24. A vehicle comprising the laminated glass of claim 1.