Could Gorilla Glass be in your Point of Sale system soon?
Smartphone manufacturers have been using Gorilla Glass in their products for some time now…
While being considered great for smartphones, the manufacturer, Corning, who currently indicates that this material which is already used in 1.5 billion electronic devices could be used to reduce overall vehicle weight and lower the center of gravity in automobiles..
Reducing weight is a great way to improve fuel economy; many car makers are already experimenting with materials like carbon fiber and aluminum for chassis and body panels, but so far glass hasn’t entered the equation in a significant way. Gorilla Glass’ scratch resistance could also prevent the small chips and scratches that can gradually grow and ruin automotive glass.
Automotive glass is typically made of two sheets of tempered glass with a sheet oo polyvinyl butyral (PVB) in between. The PVB is a plastic that’s meant to hold everything together if the glass is broken, preventing a hail of glass shards from injuring vehicle occupants.
Gorilla Glass, on the other hand, is all glass. It’s strength and scratch resistance come from its aluminosilicate composition (consisting of aluminum, magnesium, sodium, and silicon dioxide) and a chemical strengthening process that involves bathing the glass in molten potassium salts.
Some possible Point of Sale application for this emerging technology are:
- Break and Damage resistant Point of Sale Touch Screens.
- Child-proof Customer Display Devices.
- Virtually unbreakable Counter Scales.
Currently, while this new technology can mean additional costs to new equipment, it’s strength may well be in that extends the lifespan of all equipment that it is used in, thereby saving the purchaser substantial money over the long term.
If you are interested in more information on this technology as it becomes available for POS hardware, please contact the CCS Retail Systems Support Department.
– John