Jan 9 2014
SAGE, the pioneer of electrochromic glass, was granted its 300th patent for SageGlass® dynamic glazing technology, expanding its intellectual property (IP) portfolio in the fast-growing dynamic glass market. SageGlass is electronically tintable dynamic glass that tints or clears on-demand to modulate light, heat gain and glare.
The company continues to rapidly expand its IP leadership advantage, as it was just last spring that SAGE was awarded its 250th patent. In this latest round of patent filings, SAGE had 18 new patents issued in the United States and Europe in the past month, moving it beyond the 300 patent milestone. The patents cover a range of product and process technologies for manufacturing dynamic glass, with several that will result in new breakthroughs for next-generation electrochromic glass windows.
SAGE’s 300th milestone patent covers “lamination of an electrochromic device.” It was granted in Europe and will be applied in eight European countries. It covers foundational technology for SAGE’s proprietary High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) process, which enables SAGE to coat large sheets of electrochromic glass and then pattern each 5 x 10 foot “motherboard” pane of glass into one or more finished insulating glass units (IGU’s). The new process will enable higher throughput and manufacturing flexibility.
The patented technology is already being put to work at SAGE’s new HVM plant, the world’s largest and most advanced electrochromic glass facility, located in Faribault, Minn. The 324,000 square-foot “green” manufacturing plant is producing dynamic glass in sizes up to 5’ by 10’, as well as in a variety of architecturally popular shapes, colors and tinting levels.
“It’s fitting that we hit the 300 patent mark with a breakthrough next-generation electrochromic device patent,” said Dr. Alan McLenaghan, SAGE’s CEO. “The market is reaching a tipping point as we improve our ability to manufacture significant volumes of large architectural-size glass at an affordable cost for the mass market. We have invested strongly in R&D as well as the world’s best available manufacturing technologies to produce dynamic glass of uncompromising quality and reliability. Our patent portfolio is a testament to this history of innovation at SAGE and our parent company, Saint-Gobain.”