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A new technology that allows digital images to be printed directly on the DuPont™ SentryGlas® automotive safety interlayer blends form and function by introducing design possibilities to an important safety feature.

Featured at the 2005 SAE World Congress this week in booth #1959, DuPont™ SentryGlas® Expressions™ patent-pending technology allows designers to print photographic, graphic images or lettering using DuPont proprietary ink and ink-jet printing on DuPont™ SentryGlas® before it is sandwiched between inner and outer glass layers.

“There are a number of opportunities for designers and brand managers alike – anything from brand logos, advertising on commercial vehicles, introducing color or images to the shade band, back window, sunroofs and/or sidelight,” said David Lee, marketing manager for Automotive Glass Laminating Solutions.  “Like many of the design solutions with DuPont materials, this introduces a new palette for designers by blending form and function.”

Styling and design were identified as “very important” consumer attributes by 34 percent of engineers and automotive designers planning to attend the 2005 SAE World Congress in Detroit, according to the 11^th annual DuPont/SAE survey – just behind enhanced safety systems and better vehicle performance. (Editors – see separate release: Collaborating to Deliver Consumer-Focused Innovation Will Help Strengthen the Auto Industry, Say Engineers Attending the 2005 SAE World Congress.)

SentryGlas® Expressions™ is easy to laminate and conforms more readily to the curved shape of vehicle glass, compared to competitive technologies.   No tooling is needed, and virtually any color is available, with varying degrees of translucency.  The designer simply supplies the image to DuPont, which sees it through to production, with unprecedented turnaround time.

Editor's Note:   Please double-click on image to open a high-resolution file for print use.

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