Image: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
“In Case of Fire Break Glass.” The instructions are simple enough to follow when they apply to a fire alarm, especially when there is a tiny hammer attached to the alarm box. But victims trapped inside burning buildings or totaled cars would have a much harder time shattering a full-size window to make their escape. Giuseppe Longobardi, a researcher at IBM in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy, recently patented a device that would allow a disaster victim to press a button on a remote control and safely shatter a window several feet away, or engineers could install a sensor to the window that would make it break automatically in case of smoke or extreme heat.
Longobardi’s invention exploits the same phenomenon that makes a wineglass ring when you rub its rim: resonance. A small resonator placed in a window pane creates acoustical or mechanical vibrations at just the right frequency to make the glass shatter. “The energy in the window builds up until the glass breaks,” Longobardi says. During the manufacturing process, technicians could embed so-called frequency channels within the glass that would direct the vibrations to certain break points. In this way, instead of shattering randomly and creating numerous shards and jagged edges, the glass would break into “harmless little cubes,” Longobardi says. Film studios could also use the technology for special effects.
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8 Comments
Add CommentI am a little worried about this device as if it is in the wrong hands they can cause a lot of destruction of personal property.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor that matter every invention and discovery have their flip side. We have to put in place a system which puts their use for betterment of mankind and our earth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLobbing a rock to troublesome for American criminals now?!?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article states:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"A small resonator placed in a window pane..." and;
"During the manufacturing process, technicians could embed so-called frequency channels within the glass that would direct the vibrations to certain break points. In this way, instead of shattering randomly and creating numerous shards and jagged edges, the glass would break into “harmless little cubes.”"
The mentioned remote control device would not give the wearer of the ring the ability to break any glass anywhere, only glass that was manufactured or equipped with that ability.
The idea that glass could be made to 'automagically' break into little cubes in case of fire would relive the victims of the necessity to find some remote control device in the event of such an emergency.
I do wonder how the manufacture of these special features into glass might effect its structural rigidity and other physical characteristics...
The device and it's remote would come with some unique paired code. Presumably more unique that the ones used for garage openers....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is a bright and blistery morning in the country, and a van is making its way towards the main road. The van is traveling at thirty miles per hour and hits a path of black ice. The driver losses control and drives headlong into an ice covered pond, and the van quickly is submerged in water. What do you do in order to save your life and the lives of the passengers of the van. The doors are locked and windows are shut tight, water is flooding into the cabin and panic quickly set in. How do you break the glass windows in order to make a safe escape from a watery grave? Without the ability to shatter the glass, there is no escape from this watery tomb. This scenario has been played out too many times in reality for it not to be treated as what it really is, a life and situation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe invention is really silly. The person with the remote could as easily carry a rock, which can be hurled at the window. Or, the person could use a hammer instead of a remote.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTempered glass breaks into little pieces if hit by a hammer or a rock, or if hit by a bullet, which could come from a gun instead of remote.
The passengers could just wait until the pressure equalizes and the car fills with water. The Mythbusters tested this, and it seems rather conclusive that with some patience there is little danger. The car would require specially a specially manufactured window, possibly also prohibitively expensive. Isn't it also very possible that the remote would short out if it got wet, like it probably would if the car is in a body of water?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt seems to me a very silly invention. Windows are not all that difficult to break already, and requiring what will no doubt be a very expensive window paired with the correct remote makes this invention almost useless. The invention would certainly be feasible if the window did not require the special resonator, but it does.