Car insulation films are becoming more and more popular in daily life. For car owners, insulation films not only enhance privacy but also block direct sunlight, providing insulation and full of practicality. But do you know the history of automotive insulation films? Do you know that the origin of automotive insulation films is also related to Edison! Today, the editor will introduce to you the origin, development, and process history of automotive insulation films!

Origin of Automotive Insulation Film

In 1888, after Edison invented the phonograph, he shifted his focus to developing movies. In his research, he found that the darker the color of the film, the more it can block and absorb the heat emitted by the electric light. So, this accidental discovery was gradually adopted by later generations, becoming the foundation and origin of the birth of insulation films.

Development of Automotive Insulation Film

With the continuous progress of history, the automotive insulation film has gone through a total of five periods (or five generations):

1、First generation: Sun paper (tea paper)

Time: 1930;

Positioning: Thermal insulation film entering the market;

Process: The coating composite process is used;

Features: Used to block strong sunlight, without insulation function;

Introduction: Early sun paper, commonly known as tea paper, was mainly used to block strong sunlight. This type of film has no insulation effect and is only used for shading. Like sunglasses, they only change the visual sense of light, and the surface of the sunglasses is also very hot. So this type of product has poor insulation, is prone to fading, and has extremely poor clarity. With the increasing demand for insulation, tea paper has gradually faded out of the market.

2、Second generation: endothermic film (staining film)

Time: 1960;

Positioning: The emergence of insulation film;

Process: Dyeing process is used;

Features: Absorbing infrared to achieve insulation effect, sacrificing clarity (poor clarity) and easy fading (color fading, insulation function attenuation);

Introduction: Heat-absorbing film, also known as dyeing film, is commonly seen in the market as a deep dyeing process. By adding a heat absorbing agent through deep dyeing, it absorbs infrared rays from sunlight to achieve thermal insulation. Due to its absorption of visible light at the same time, the visible light penetration rate is insufficient, and the dyeing process itself is limited, resulting in poor clarity. In addition to poor clarity, another major weakness of this type of film is that its insulation function decays quickly and is prone to fading. After a period of time (perhaps six months to a year), the film will fade, no longer insulate, and will blister, seriously affecting the visual appearance. This type of film is particularly suitable for instant insulation testing (4S stores will use this feature to deceive customers). The color can be directly observed with the naked eye.

On December 6, 1966, 3M Company in the United States obtained the world’s first patent for solar insulation film.

3、Third generation: metal film

Time: early 1990s;

Positioning: The insulation film is thriving;

Process: Vacuum thermal evaporation process;

Features: Adding a metal layer on the film, utilizing reflection to achieve insulation effect, low clarity, and easy reflection.

Introduction: This type of film originated in the early 1990s. The vacuum thermal evaporation process involves evaporating an aluminum layer onto a substrate and utilizing reflection to achieve thermal insulation. This marks the official entry of the era of metal film insulation film, which has long-lasting insulation properties. However, its weakness lies in low clarity and affects visual comfort. Its prominent feature is high reflection. Aluminum coating is a clear representative among them. They and staining membranes occupy the largest market share.

4、Fourth generation: Modern metal film (improved)

Time: late 1990s

Positioning: Mature insulation film technology;

Process: Vacuum magnetron sputtering technology;

Features: Sputtering multiple layers of metal on the film, utilizing reflection to achieve insulation effect, high clarity, non reflection, but will interfere with the signal.

The fourth generation vacuum magnetron sputtering technology officially entered the market in the late 1990s and underwent various technological innovations. The magnetron sputtering process combines nickel, silver, titanium, gold, and ceramics

Advanced aerospace alloy materials such as materials use the most advanced multi cavity high-speed rotating equipment, utilizing the principles of electric and magnetic fields to uniformly sputter metal particles at high speeds and forces under high tension

On PET substrate. The products of magnetron sputtering process not only have good metal texture and stable thermal insulation performance, but also have clarity and low reflection that other processes cannot achieve

Durable color. A truly high-quality film can achieve high clarity, high insulation, low reflection, and no dyeing at the same time, making it a mainstream technology product in the current market.

However, the drawbacks of metal film are also quite obvious. Due to the physical characteristics of the metal itself, the metal film is prone to oxidation and can block signals from wireless communication systems in the car such as GPS. Currently

The car configuration is generally upgraded, with DVD navigation system, electronic dog, mobile phone, and highway wireless toll system. The drawbacks of metal film on cars are obvious.

5、Fifth generation: Ceramic membrane (IR membrane)

Time: 21st century;

Positioning: Advanced insulation film technology;

Process: Spectral selection technology;

Features: Sputtering multiple layers of metal on the film, utilizing reflection to achieve insulation effect, high clarity, non reflection, but will interfere with the signal.

The fifth generation automotive insulation film is a “ceramic film”, which is different from traditional insulation films made with metal or dyeing processes. The original ceramic film was internationally referred to as “IR film or heat absorption”

Film, which uses a coating layer containing ITOATO (metal oxide powder) to strongly absorb infrared and ultraviolet rays, solves oxidation problems and metal layer screens compared to metal films

The problem of signal masking is that the service life is more than twice that of a metal film. The improved version of the nano ceramic film adopts spectral selection technology, with reflection and spectral selection transmission, truly achieving the perfect window

In summary, the origin of automotive insulation films originated from a small discovery: it has undergone continuous upgrades and improvements in five generations of different processes and technologies, resulting in the mature and high-performance products we see today.