Lighting up the dark

SCHOTT supports manufacturers of halogen lamps all over the world with local technical advice

Mitterteich (Germany), April 2, 2009 – Halogen headlights guide millions of automobiles safely through the dark. The international technology group SCHOTT supplies tubing made of specialized glass for use in manufacturing highly efficient halogen headlight lamps. Here, aluminosilicate glass guarantees a long lifespan and high light output, while also offering additional advantages for manufacturing: The electric feedthroughs can be fused directly with the glass to ensure that the bond is hermetically sealed. This allows for exact positioning of the spiral-wound filament and extremely good illumination of the roadway. The experts at SCHOTT support their customers all over the world in optimizing the assembly and the quality of their products.

The automotive industry is dominated by high cost pressure as well as constantly rising demands with respect to the reliability and efficiency of the materials and suppliers involved. “Solutions for these complex challenges can only be found by working together closely with select partners,” notes Peter Scherer, Vice President Sales & Marketing at SCHOTT-Rohrglas in Mitterteich, Germany.

“With our competence centers in Asia and our technical customer service in Europe, which also covers America, we ensure that our customers have quick access to expert local technical advice. If required, logistic support can be provided by the site in Mitterteich. This pays off for both sides,” Scherer adds.

125 years of expertise for customers all over the world

The international technology group SCHOTT, with around 17,300 employees in more than 40 countries, is present in close proximity to its customers. For more than 125 years, the company has been developing and manufacturing special materials, components and systems for the home appliance industry, as well as the pharmaceutical, solar energy, electronics, optics and automotive industries.

These activities in highly specialized market segments all over the world clearly illustrate the company’s broad spectrum of expertise. This structure also offers considerable independence from market fluctuations and translates into stability that customers benefit from, especially in difficult times. As a partner to the automotive industry, the company sets benchmarks all over the world when it comes to the quality of materials, the problem-solving expertise of its employees and its reliability as a supplier. For this reason, companies like OSRAM and Philips have ranked among its customers for many years.

Working together to make a better product

“The manufacturers of lighting solutions for vehicles are constantly working to introduce lamps with improved light quality, higher energy efficiency and a longer lifespan. At the same time, these must also meet the high standards of the automobile industry,” explains Ingo Kipnik, General Sales Manager for Technical Tubing Specialty Glass at SCHOTT. “We support our customers in developing product innovations that are based on international technological standards and the highest level of quality,” Kipnik adds.

The demands that need to be met by the glasses used are extremely high; after all, bulb temperatures inside H7 lamps can reach approx. 680° Celsius. If the glass contained even the slightest alkali impurities, the halogen cycle could come to a halt prematurely. For this reason, SCHOTT relies on alkali free aluminosilicate glasses. The high geometric exactness of the tubes, excellent workability and direct bonding with molybdenum, as well as the high thermal endurance of the specialized glass, ensure a long life expectancy for the halogen lamps.

Higher quality and efficiency with aluminosilicate glass

Halogen lamps were first produced for the mass market in 1959. At the beginning, only fused quartz was used. Due to the different thermal coefficients of thermal expansion, however, this cannot be fused directly with molybdenum. The intermediate foils in-between that are necessary for this reason reduce the positioning accuracy of the spiral-wound filament and, therefore, the efficiency and longevity of the lamp.

Aluminosilicate glass has been considered to be the material of choice since the early 1970s. It allows for a lower processing temperature and has, therefore, been optimized for use in automated manufacturing. SCHOTT ranks among the world’s leading suppliers of special glass tubing for manufacturing halogen lamps. The alkali free glass types 8252, 8253 and NEO 1730 are particularly well-suited for use with the H4 and H7 to H13 lamps (900x to 900y in the United States) in the automotive field, but also for other types of halogen lamps used in general lighting applications.

To this end, the company has been developing special materials, components and systems for nearly 125 years. The main areas of focus are the household appliances industry, pharmaceuticals, solar energy, electronics, optics and the automotive industry. The SCHOTT Group is present in close proximity to its customers with production and sales companies in all its major markets. The Group’s approximately 17,300 employees generated worldwide sales of approximately 2.2 billion euros for its 2007/2008 fiscal year. The company's technological and economic expertise is closely linked with its social and ecological responsibility. The parent company of the SCHOTT Group is SCHOTT AG, whose sole shareholder is the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (Foundation).