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SLIDING TRUCK WINDOW MOUNTS FLUSH WITH AID OF DUPONT RYNITE AND DELRIN
Phil Taylor, Guardian’s product marketing manager for the new unit said “The sleek flush-mount design of our HPS G-1.0 window represents a major styling and functional advance over other sliding truck windows.” Other designs, which use metal rails, have an overlap of the center panel and fixed rear panels when in the closed position. The sliding truck window is available in the automotive aftermarket for GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups. Versions for Ford F150 and Dodge Ram trucks are due out soon. The new window has upper and lower guide rails molded from Rynite PET. Their design is crucial to the window’s innovative flush-mount feature with guide channels that have an angled change of direction near each side of the window opening. The angled channel guides the sliding center window assembly into alignment with the fixed window as it closes. The slider’s glass pane is framed in a one-piece carrier molded from Rynite. A separate elastomer part attached around the perimeter of the carrier’s outside surface provides a seal against the inside surface of the fixed glass panel. The elastomer seal is a bulb design that prevents the passage of high-pressure water past the seal, according to Guardian. The stiffness and strength of the rails molded from Rynite are crucial to the application of force for tight, reliable seals. The slider assembly is held in the rail by guide components mounted at the top and bottom of the carrier. Molded from Delrin 100AL, formulated for especially low friction properties, the guides travel smoothly in channels in the upper and lower rails made of Rynite. The upper guides are spring-loaded to maintain their position in the upper rail’s channel. Delrin 100AL also provides the good strength, stiffness and dimensional stability required for the guide components. “Rynite gives us an ideal combination of properties for the rails and center carrier,” said Darrin Neitzke, Guardian’s program manager for development and manufacturing of the flush-mount sliding rear window. “Its coefficient of linear thermal expansion is nearly the same as glass’s, which is crucial for effective sealing and operation over a wide temperature range. Rynite also provides the excellent surface appearance, dimensional stability, strength and stiffness required.” The grade used, a black-colored version of Rynite 530, passes SAE’s J1885 interior UV weatherability standard. DuPont specialists provided crucial assistance during development, according to Neitzke. “They recommended materials and grades for our evaluation and provided design input and computer-aided mold flow and warp analysis that helped us meet quality and productivity goals,” he said. DuPont also assisted Guardian by conducting molding trials at its Automotive Technical Center in Troy, Mich. Guardian’s HPS G-1.0 flush-mount window consists of the slider and a one-piece, full-width rear window with a cutout. It can replace either a fixed glass backlite or an OEM sliding window system in selected existing vehicles. It is available from distributors of Guardian Automotive Products and from a select group of installers. DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.
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