VS1000/1200 Vertical Bar Code Scanners
Fixed Glass Information

Fixed Scanner Glass Information

 

Overview

This product bulletin is intended to provide a better understanding of our glass tops and their performance differences. In general, the major contributing factors for durable glass tops are:

To date, commercially available technologies are:

Two Piece Lamination Process (LLT: Long Life Top)

This process consists of standard glass heat tempered with an "adhered" sheet of Sapphire or Fused Quartz ribbon. Both of these materials are grown in sheets, then the front and back are polished (~.023" thick) to optical clarity, then the edges are machined to size. The crystalline sheets are then "adhered", with an optically clear glue, to the substrate glass. The physical properties of Sapphire and Ruby (AL203) are closely matched with

Diamond for its hardness characteristics (1200 Knoops) and its durability, but if used Quartz (SiO2) is much softer (600 Knoops) and prone to damage such as star like dents due to damaged crystalline. (Knoops / Wicker are units of measure for hardness).

PSC Inc. LLT design uses the Sapphire version for its high durability. Typical environments are Retail, Hardware, and Tier 1 Food.

Diamond Like Coating (WRG: Wear Resistant Glass)

This "proprietary" process is done inside a chamber with an ion deposition process during which layers of various materials are deposited to a certain thickness. This achieves a hardness characteristic of diamond (1100 Knoops) and a very slick surface. There are only two suppliers capable of manufacturing this product and no other manufacturer is known to have attempted this technology.

This product is widely-used by PSC Inc. as "WRG"; it is also used by NCR in their model 7870. Typical environments are Retail and Tier 1 Food.

Tin Oxide Glass (SnO2)

This is standard float glass coated with a thin layer (~ 1 � inch) of SnO2 as a protective coating, which also provides slightly added durability. This coating is applied via spray or brush after the float operation, then pressure heated to finish the process prior to fabrication and heat tempering. There are only three foundries in the world that manufacture float glass for the industries with quarterly allocations. The product variability among these foundries is negligible, since they have to follow an international standard.

Scanner Glass Characteristics

Below is a comparison based on all the testing that has been done since the inception of these products at PSC Inc. The window designs are ranked in order of performance in a supermarket environment.

SCANNER WINDOW CHART

Window Design	Durability / Cost Hardness	Hardness (Knoops)	Coating Thickness	Coeff. of Friction
Sapphire (LLT)	6 - 10 yrs / High	1200	.023 inch	.11
Diamond Like Coating (WRG)	2 � 5 yrs / Medium	1100	NA (proprietary)	.14
Tin Oxide (SnO2)	2 � 6 weeks / Low	650	1 micron	.12

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