Flexblade...Next Generation Silicone Windshield Wiper Promises 5-Year Life
Flexblade...Next Generation Silicone Windshield Wiper Promises 5-Year Life
Ballston Spa, NY December 5, 2006: Specialty Silicone Products (SSP) recently launched a new & improved silicone windshield wiper called Flexblade(TM). This new wiper utilizes the same patented, high performance silicone rubber blade coated with a durable non-stick coating, but has a unique curved frame that conforms to today's highly curved windshields. Conventional rubber blades deteriorate after 6-12 months from constant exposure to UV, ozone and extreme heat & cold. Flexblade(TM) lasts for several years because the blade is made from a patented, specially formulated silicone rubber which is resistant to UV and ozone and remains flexible at temperatures between -80F and 400F). The product is guaranteed, unconditionally by SSP, to last 5 years.
This enhanced wiper design provides even and constant pressure across the windshield providing a smooth, chatter free wipe. Conventional wipers have roughly 6 or 8 splines that provide pressure points to keep the blade on the windshield. Flexblade's(TM) unique aerodynamic design helps keep the blade against the glass even at high speeds.
Flexblade(TM) also has fewer moving parts (spring steel bar, wiper and coupler) improving the durability of the frame. With fewer moving parts and no splines for snow and ice to build up on, Flexblade(TM) will perform just as well in the dead of winter with snow and ice.
Last but not least, Flexblade(TM) is designed for easy installation. It comes with an easy to connect adapter for pin attached wipers.
Flexblade(TM), Silblade® & Ultra Silblade® lines of windshield wipers are available at specialty auto parts stores, repair centers, and automotive catalogs in the U.S. and abroad and can now be purchased direct from the company's website at www.silblade.com.
The company's patented process incorporates a PTFE non-stick coating from Dupont, both on and in the silicone rubber blade. The 5-year warranty on the blade is due to the silicone rubber itself. Silicone is a very inert substance, similar in chemistry to glass. The advantage of silicone rubber is that it is not harmed by high and low temperatures, and ultraviolet radiation from sunlight. Natural rubber wipers, the same type that have been used on cars for decades, are not capable of resisting UV radiation as long as silicone rubber. Usually within 6 to 12 months the natural rubber becomes brittle and cracks. Ironically, this is most apparent in locations that have lots of sunlight and very little rain. When the rains do come, the wipers have become useless due to the sunlight exposure.
Although there have been other attempts to offer silicone rubber windshield wipers in the past, the close chemical association of the silicon "backbone" in silicone rubber and glass make the two substances want to bond to each other. The result is a windshield wiper that "chatters" across the glass. The SilBlade/Flexblade patented process of adding PTFE in, and on, the silicone rubber surface eliminates this problem.
Specialty Silicone Products was formed in 1990 by a group of silicone industry engineers, and is a leading manufacturer of high technology silicone products and fabricated parts for pharmaceutical, automotive, and industrial applications.
Contact: Paul DiCaprio
Specialty Silicone Products, Inc.
Corporate Technology Park
Ballston Spa, NY 12020
Phone 518-885-8826
Fax 518-885-4682
email: pdicaprio@sspinc.com
www.silblade.com
