Tempered

The thrust of technological advancement in the past decade has busted the development of new products, that will better respond to both aesthetic demands and safety and security requirements. Vidrio Plano, in line with this vanguard movement, has incorporated heat treatment equipment in its glass manufacturing processes and developed the Templex® product line.

We manufacture Templex® fully tempered glass in a horizontal system where glass is heat treated in thickness from 3.2mm up to 19mm.

This system gradually heats the glass up to 620°C and then cools it down rapidly with air. The result is a product of compressed surfaces, and a core of tensile stress. These combined stresses produce a pane with optical features comparable to anhealed glass, but 4 times stronger for structural performance. Templex® products are also stronger in terms of thermal stress, and can withstand a temperature differential as high as 250° C in their two faces.

Characteristics acquired in the tempering process also render the glass strong enough for drilling as well as structural applications.

In the Templex® process, we temper CLEAR GLASS, PATTERNED Tinted, and PYROSOL® glass sheets as finished, but REFLECTASOL ® is a heat treated before it goes through the reflective process. As Templex® cannot be shaped or sized as finished, it must first be cut, drilled, beveled and/or engraved as specified. All these features and a top quality manufacture place Vidrio Plano glass products in the forefront of glass construction market. The mechanical improvements gained in the tempering process facilitate a wide range of uses for Templex®. The best choice for both indoor and outdoor applications.

The safety of Templex® glass lies, in addition to its resistance in the way in which a fracture will behave, if broken accidentally, it merely turns into very small fragments. In this way Templex® glass can be used in suspended siding, in doorways, bathtub and shower partitions, fixtures, sliding doors, and in countless other applications where safety is a specified requirement.

SEMITEMPLEX®

Alternatively, we produce a heat strengthened glass called Semitemplex® using a similar process, also at 620°C, but with a slower cool-down. Semitemplex® is twice as strong as common standard glass, but bending and bulging is less evident to the eye. Compared with standard glass, Semitemplex® has an improved resistance to thermal stress and wind loads. Although structural performance of Semitemplex® is better than that of anhealed glass, it does not serve as security glass, whereas the rupture pattern of both is quite similar.

Given the excellent quality of its surfaces, and its double mechanical strength, heat strengthened glass is ideal for applications where thermal stress or wind loads are common occurrences, but safety and/or security are not the most important aspects.

Minimum dimensions 0.05 x 0.30m

Maximum dimensions 2.10 x 3.60m