Wiper Blades

During development of a new high-performance silicone windshield wiper refill for automobiles, manufacturer, Shin-Etsu studied 1) basic constituent elements, 2) optimum compounds to improve wiping stability, 3) optimum combinations of various ingredients and 4) unique molding technology based on long years of experience with silicone rubber-processing techniques.

Increases the Life Span of a Water-Repellent Coating Ten-Fold When Compared with Other Wipers

It is a recent tendency of consumers to apply an after-market, water-repellent coating to their car windshields to improve vision and repel rain. A problem is that the water-repellent coating does not last long enough and frequently needs to be re-applied.

Almost all of the wipers on automobiles today are made of rubber. When rubber wipers are used in conjunction with a water-repellent coating, the coating is gradually removed within one or two months. Since natural rubber does not have an affinity with the water-repellent, sliding resistance is increased and abrasion occurs.

Shin-Etsu's High Performance Silicone Refill, however, has an affinity with the water-repellent coating because the High Performance Silicone wiper and the water-repellent are composed of a similar material structure.

Furthermore, High Performance Silicone wipers repair the water-repellent coating by releasing special silicone ingredients gradually from inside the wiper. The special silicone ingredients that are released also have a similar material structure as water-repellents.

(According to our evaluation, the water-repellent coating is expected to last approximately 10 times longer with our wipers)

More Consistent and Smoother Wiping

As described above, when wiping with a natural rubber blade on a water-repellent-coated windshield, the layer of water-repellent is gradually shaved. To make matters worse, the force that is applied by the wiper to the windshield is distributed unevenly throughout the wiper. This results in the repellent coating peeling off unevenly. In short, the surface of the windshield is divided into sections where the water-repellent coating layer remains, and sections where the layer has been removed. In consequence, surface energy on a windshield will vary too much from place to place. This means sliding resistance also varies from place to place. Such a situation will cause conventional natural rubber wipers to rattle when used on water-repellent coated windshields.

High Performance Silicone wipers, however, minimize the shaving action of the water-repellent coating. The water-repellent layer remains intact over a long period of time because of the appending and repairing effect of the ingredients released from inside the wiper. As a result, variation of surface energy on the windshield (i.e. variation of sliding resistance) tends not to occur, thus enabling smooth wiping.

Operational Quality and Outstanding Silence

Silicone rubber maintains elasticity for a long period of time under a wide temperature range (about -40~200). Furthermore, the refill is extremely quiet because of smooth wiping.

New Generation Wiper with Excellent High-Speed Stability

Windshields of future automobiles are expected to have factory-installed water-repellent-coated glass. Raindrops will flee from the driver's field of vision. The high-performance wiper is a new generation wiper that promptly adapts to the market needs. In addition to a consumer applied water-repellent coating, the silicone wiper will work very well in combination with a factory-installed coated glass.

Silicone Rubber Combined with High-Level Ingredients

Many companies in the world have tried to develop a silicone wiper in the past. As far as we understand, however, no company other than Shin-Etsu Polymer has succeeded in producing a refill good enough to be accepted by vehicle owners. Shin-Etsu concentrated on using its outstanding silicone rubber know-how and original processing technology and has succeeded in developing a silicone refill that firmly protects a water-repellent coating, a new type of silicone rubber for wipers with the following indispensable qualities.

1) Made of maximum strength silicone rubber
2) Molded from an optimum compound that will improve sliding of wiper along windshield
3) Has a unique silicone compound specified for water-repellent coatings
4) Uses an optimum combination of each material

We are confident that the Shin-Etsu Silicone Refill is state-of-the-art and uniquely suited to the water-repellent-coated windshield wiper market.