3M Ultra Prestige video on local news

February 23, 2011

I have a few chinese manufacturers who make a very nice security film or colored way clearer than 3M. Sure your a 3m dealer and you might land a few high priced jobs, but all of us tinters know the history of 3m.

I would say more than a few...

So tell me the history of 3M films i would be very interested to hear this.

Do your chinese manufactures 4 mil films perform the same ?......

your the one with the 30 year old picture of yourself as an avatar,as an old fart, there shoudnt be a necessity for it.

and by the way vzla tint is right. korean films ttend to be hazy looking=3m=prestige,and nv. just saying

mr i dont work for 3m and get my p@nties in a bunch

That is not a pic of me i am useing in my avatar............. :dunno ............. :thumb

TomTint · February 23, 2011

The poor optical clarity of the 3m security film is one of the biggest hurdles the sales people have to over come. It is well documented by the people in the know, the end user is usually surprised and inevitably unhappy with the appearance after it is installed. If they were not informed of the problem before hand

EWF · February 23, 2011

Howard try Google.....

Hi Retnitorp,

I tried Google

I tried the USPTO

I have written directly to 3M

I wrote to several 3M dealers that made claims on their websites

I have asked all of my best informed sources

I have made requests on these boards in the past

Still, no joy.

Just for good measure, I will repeat the query once again. There have to be scores of 3Mers prowling these boards:

What is the registered US Patent Number for the Micro-multi layer film?

Does 3M actually make it's own base PET for it's own window films?

Where is this window film PET producing plant located?

-Howard

V4V · February 24, 2011

http://www.ptonline.com/articles/microlaye...dreds-of-layers

The patent owner is Dow Corning. 3M has a license from back in 1995 . This is why you will never see a 3M patent for this process. I'd guess that the patent may expire shortly (2012?)

coast2coasttinting · February 24, 2011

that would be great maybe they would come back to reality on the price of that film is they had some comp :thumb

Hell I would have a though time getting donald trump interested in a film as high as 3M prestige :dunno

ljr1977 · February 24, 2011

this is a joke why is both sides edge locked, seems to me both sides are tinted also...that is so cheesey and is not the proper way to sell a product!!! in a home you wouldnt edge lock both sides with dow corney like in this video..

PJF · February 24, 2011

this is a joke why is both sides edge locked, seems to me both sides are tinted also...that is so cheesey and is not the proper way to sell a product!!! in a home you wouldnt edge lock both sides with dow corney like in this video..

Not sure why both sides are attached, but I have filmed both sides of the glass when doing similar demonstrations myself. I would usually film one side and attach it as normal and then put a 4mil clear on the side being hit to act as a spal shield so that slivers of glass did not fly everywhere on impact. Regardless, the purpose of a demonstration like this is to give someone a realistic impression of how film in the field would perform. I think this demonstration accomplishes this. I still give the dealer kudos for being proactive and getting on a local show to promote window films. I am sure that this demo likely even had his competitors phone ringing. Rising tide lifts all boats. :conspiracy

V4V · February 24, 2011

that would be great maybe they would come back to reality on the price of that film is they had some comp
Hell I would have a though time getting donald trump interested in a film as high as 3M prestige

Sorry I just noticed your posting. No one else is interested in this patent because it does not add any true benefit over an average 8 ML film. The 8 ML films are optically clearer and exceed the strength of the ultra 4-5 ml films. Refer to ASTM 1886. 4.5 lb missile and cycling. LLumar, Vista, Armorcoat, Madico, Glassgard, Sunscape Select, SunTek all offer those test credentials. 3M's clear (?) ultra 600 also meets that level of performance.

On GSA and DoD specifications most of the films listed above meet the 3A threshold (ultra films do as well)

So essentially the film costs more for less value and greater haze. This is the reason no other manufacturer is remotely interested in it.

Still it sounds like having better tear resistance makes sense to a consumer- -until you do objective testing and get the facts.

February 24, 2011

http://www.ptonline.com/articles/microlaye...dreds-of-layers
The patent owner is Dow Corning. 3M has a license from back in 1995 . This is why you will never see a 3M patent for this process. I'd guess that the patent may expire shortly (2012?)

What you see below is from the link you posted, looks to me that 3M researcher Andrew Ouderkirk made a breakthrough discovery, however i could be wrong i am just a window tinter, what do you think Mike ? :thumb

3M bought a number of Dow’s microlayer patents, 3M researcher Andrew Ouderkirk made a breakthrough discovery that different thicknesses of adjacent microlayers affect the way light reflects off the interfaces between them. In fact, 3M’s most significant microlayer patents apply to manipulating layer thickness to control specific wavelengths of light. This opened the way for a lot of entirely new microlayer film structures. 3M now makes over a dozen different optical films, trade-named Vikuiti Films, some of them biaxially oriented to enhance their toughness.

These products include reflective polarizers, known as brightness-enhancement filters, which are applied to electronic screens for laptops, cell phones, camcorders, rear-projection televisions, and air-traffic control systems to make LCDs brighter, more uniformly lit, and easier to read.

One example is a 900-layer brightness-enhancing film for the screens of Palm hand-held computers. Another is Mirror Film VM2000, used in “solar light pipes” to transport visible light over long distances from rooftops into lower rooms to save energy.

Window glass is another big commercial market for 3M microlayer optical films. Scotchshield Ultra Safety and Security window films make windows nearly unbreakable. They also block 99% of uv light in architectural and automotive glazing to save energy and prevent fading.