More than a century has passed since Edouard Benedictus, a French chemist and inventor, accidentally broke a glass flask containing a chemical mix that created an internal protective adhesive film. The flask had obviously shattered, but the shards of glass held their shape. Thus, he invented laminated glass, opening the age of safety glass that with more research and development yielded a myriad of different solutions.
In 2002, after lengthy experience as a manufacturer of fusing and bending kilns, RCN SOLUTIONS entered the lamination market. At that time, the company understood the importance of offering something new and significant: the opportunity for small or medium companies to diversify production with a limited investment.
The Lammy System line was the first one produced in a very small size, 3000 by 1800 millimetres. Travelling around the world visiting customers, RCN realized the glaziers liked the new idea of lamination, in particular because the new system was autoclave-free.
At the same time, the use of EVA interlayer drew the attention, though limited, to support all those jobs that could not be processed with PVB, since EVA was making the lamination more flexible and could be used to laminate other materials in between the glass such as PET, metal, paper and so on. It took several years before EVA was finally considered a valid laminating interlayer specified in some projects.
Therefore the demand for laminating machines started growing faster and other different sizes have been manufactured. There is one, unique RCN machine that revolutionized the concept of lamination: Powerlam, the first bag-free turn-around system.
Introduced during the 2008 Glasstec exhibition, this machine provided fast lamination and significantly reduced production time and labour. One operator can easily handle the entire job from glass entrance to the exit. For the first time since the introduction of lamination with EVA, a new concept was making its way to facilitate a job that was becoming more and more professional and crucial for most glaziers.