Protective laminate films

Abstract

Protective laminate films protect an underlying windshield from damage due to impacting rocks and other debris. The protective laminate films generally include a flexible polymer substrate having a scratch resistant coating and an adhesive layer on opposing surfaces thereof. Each layer is transparent such that, when applied to a windshield, the laminate film does not inhibit visibility. Each layer may also be flexible so that the laminate films can be molded to a curved windshield. Generally, the scratch resistant coating protects the laminate films from scratching or other damage from impacting debris and/or from windshield wipers. The substrate provides structural integrity to the laminate films and may provide some degree of impact dispersion. The adhesive layer, in addition to adhering the laminate films to the windshield, may also provide significant impact resistance that helps protect the windshield from cracks or chips due to impacting rocks or other debris.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A laminate film adapted for use in protecting a transparent surface from scratching or optical damage, comprising:
 a flexible polymer substrate formed from a first composition and having a first surface and a second surface;   a flexible scratch-resistant coating adhered to the first surface of the flexible polymer substrate and being formed from a second composition different and more scratch-resistant than the first composition; and   a flexible adhesive layer adhered to the second surface of the flexible polymer substrate,   the flexible polymer substrate, the flexible scratch-resistant coating, and the flexible adhesive layer being selected, and the laminate film having an overall thickness, so as to provide the laminate film with a consistent refractive index across the laminate film.   
     
     
         2 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible polymer substrate is comprised of a material selected from polyester materials and polycarbonate materials. 
     
     
         3 . A laminate film as in  claim 2 , wherein the polyester material comprises polyethylene terephthalate. 
     
     
         4 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible scratch-resistant coating is in direct contact with the flexible polymer substrate without any intervening layers. 
     
     
         5 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible polymer substrate has a thickness in a range of about 2 mils to about 10 mils. 
     
     
         6 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible adhesive layer is a pressure sensitive adhesive. 
     
     
         7 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the flexible adhesive layer is a pressure sensitive adhesive formed from an acrylic resin. 
     
     
         8 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer has a thickness from about 12 grams per square meter (GSM) to about 30 grams per square meter (GSM). 
     
     
         9 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the scratch-resistant coating is formed from a mixture comprising one or more acrylic monomers and colloidal silica. 
     
     
         10 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the scratch-resistant coating has a thickness from about 2 microns to about 20 microns 
     
     
         11 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , wherein the scratch-resistant coating has a thickness from about 7.5 microns to about 12.5 microns. 
     
     
         12 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , further comprising a flexible protective release liner adjacent to the flexible adhesive layer. 
     
     
         13 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , further comprising a backing layer adjacent to the flexible scratch-resistant coating. 
     
     
         14 . A laminate film as in  claim 1 , the laminate film being shock absorbing and flexible so as to readily conform to a shape of a transparent surface or be wound and stored as a roll while remaining substantially optically transparent and shock absorbing and retaining a consistent refractive index. 
     
     
         15 . A laminate film adapted for use in protecting an exterior surface of a vehicle windshield, comprising:
 a flexible polymer substrate comprising a first surface and a second surface, the flexible substrate having a first composition;   a flexible scratch-resistant coating adhered to the first surface of the flexible polymer substrate, the flexible scratch-resistant coating having a second composition that is different and more scratch-resistant than the first composition; and   a flexible adhesive layer adhered to the second surface of the flexible polymer substrate,   the flexible substrate, the flexible scratch-resistant coating, and the flexible adhesive layer being selected, and the laminate film having an overall thickness, so as to provide the laminate film with a consistent refractive index across the laminate film.   
     
     
         16 . A laminate film as in  claim 15 , wherein the flexible polymer substrate is comprised of a material selected from polyester materials and polycarbonate materials. 
     
     
         17 . A laminate film as in  claim 15 , wherein the flexible scratch-resistant coating is in direct contact with the flexible polymer substrate without any intervening layers. 
     
     
         18 . A laminate film as in  claim 15 , wherein the flexible adhesive layer is comprised of a pressure sensitive adhesive. 
     
     
         19 . A laminate film as in  claim 15 , further comprising a flexible protective release liner adjacent to the flexible adhesive layer. 
     
     
         20 . A laminate film as in  claim 15 , further comprising a backing layer adjacent to the flexible scratch-resistant coating. 
     
     
         21 . A laminate film as in  claim 15 , the laminate film being shock absorbing and flexible so as to readily conform to a curvature of an exterior surface of a vehicle windshield or be wound and stored as a roll while remaining substantially optically transparent and shock absorbing and retaining a consistent refractive index. 
     
     
         22 . A laminate film having shock absorbing properties and being adapted for use in protecting an automobile windshield, the laminate film comprising:
 a combined scratch-resistant, shock absorbing, and flexible polymer substrate comprising a monolithic material and having an exterior surface and an interior surface, the exterior surface comprising a polymer material that is substantially scratch-resistant, wherein the polymer material includes at least one of a scratch-resistant polyester, scratch-resistant acrylic acrylate, or colloidal silica, the flexible polymer substrate having a thickness in a range of about 2 mils to about 10 mils; and   a shock absorbing and flexible adhesive layer adhered to the interior surface of the flexible polymer substrate, wherein the shock absorbing adhesive layer of the laminate film has a thickness and a Shore A hardness so as to be effective to:
 contribute to dispersing the impact forces of debris that contacts the laminate film when adhered to an automobile windshield and thereby reduce damage to the windshield; and 
 securely adhere the laminate film to an exterior surface of an automobile windshield when applied thereto while substantially maintaining optical transparence, 
   the combined scratch-resistant, shock absorbing, and flexible substrate and the shock absorbing and flexible adhesive layer being selected and having thicknesses so as to provide the laminate film with a consistent refractive index across the laminate film so as to be substantially optically transparent and protect against scratching by a windshield wiper, and   the laminate film being flexible so as to readily conform to a curvature of an exterior surface of a vehicle windshield or be wound and stored as a roll while remaining substantially optically transparent and shock absorbing and retaining a consistent refractive index.   
     
     
         23 . A laminate film adapted for use in protecting an outer surface of a window, comprising:
 a flexible polymer substrate comprising a first surface and a second surface, the flexible substrate having a first composition;   a flexible scratch-resistant coating adhered directly to the first surface of the flexible polymer substrate without any intervening layers, the flexible scratch-resistant coating having a second composition that is different and more scratch-resistant than the first composition; and   a flexible adhesive layer adhered to the second surface of the flexible polymer substrate for adhering the laminate film to an outer surface of a window,   the flexible substrate, flexible scratch-resistant coating, and the flexible adhesive layer being selected, and the laminate film having an overall thickness, so as to provide the laminate film with a consistent refractive index across the laminate film so as to be substantially optically transparent,   wherein the laminate film is configured to provide shock absorbance to a window and is pre-sized so as to approximate a size and shape of the window surface to which it is designed to be attached.