Teijin Chemicals Limited, the core company of the Teijin Group's (www.teijin.co.jp/english) plastics business, announced today that the automaker PSA Peugeot-Citroen Group has adopted plastic glazing made from Teijin's Panlite(r) polycarbonate resin in the rear quarter windows ("quarter lite") of the Citroen DS5, a stylish five-door hatchback unveiled at the 2011 Shanghai Motor Show.
The quarter polycarbonate windows incorporating Teijin Chemicals' proprietary material technology were developed jointly with freeglass GmbH Co. KG, a global automotive Tier-1 leader in plastic glazing. PSA Peugeot-Citroen Group has selected freeglass GmbH Co. KG and Saint-Gobain Sekurit to supply the complete glazing car set of the DS5.
During the engineering phase of the DS5 vehicle, Teijin Chemicals and freeglass developed a specific grade of black polycarbonate alloy material, which is incorporated in the composition of the quarter windows. This material will be supplied by Teijin Chemicals for mass production over the next six years. Through the project, Teijin Chemicals and freeglass will expand their cooperative relationship, which started in the end of the 1990s, in the field of plastic glazing for the development of new technologies and materials.
The quarter window is manufactured by molding a transparent glazing and a black gloss pillar cover into an integrated piece by multi-component injection-compression and then applying hard-coating on both the internal and external sides for superior durability. The result is a sophisticated appearance and superior aerodynamic profile. In addition, glazing weight has been reduced by 20% compared to a conventional glazing solution.
Teijin Chemicals' Panlite is already used in a diverse range of vehicles made by Smart, Daimler, Seat, Honda and Porsche. Teijin Chemicals is now developing, in cooperation with freeglass, a new hard-coating technology that will further improve Panlite's weather- and wear-resistance for even wider use in vehicles.
In the drive to produce more environmentally friendly vehicles, the automotive industry is turning increasingly to lightweight plastic for the production of vehicle frames, bodies and windows. Plastic glazing is especially in demand due to its favorable combination of low weight and high impact resistance.
Teijin Chemicals, established in Japan in 1947 and now holding the largest share of the growing Asian market for polycarbonate resin, looks forward to its continued development of advanced plastic glazing technologies and materials together with freeglass, as well as through close working relationships with automotive companies.
Since December 2009, Teijin Chemicals' Mobility Business Project, a specialized unit for providing innovative solutions to the global automotive market, has been increasingly expanding its business. The company boasts one of the world's largest multi-component rotary injection-compression molding machines with 4-axis parallelism control, which enables the production of 1.7 square-meter single-piece molds for multi-component panoramic roof systems and body panels.