Plexiglass
Plexiglas is a brand name for acrylic glass (chemical polymethyl methacrylate , abbreviation PMMA). Until it was sold in 2019, Evonik Röhm GmbH, a subsidiary of Evonik Industries AG, owned the brand. In March 2019, Evonik sold its methacrylate compound, which also includes the Plexiglas division, to the financial investor Advent International . It now operates under the name Röhm GmbH .
history
The chemist Otto Röhm researched special plastics with the aim of finding a type of "acrylic rubber". He laid the foundation for this as early as 1901 with his dissertation, Polymerization Products of Acrylic Acid. But first he got into the business of enzymatic products for the leather industry with the establishment of the company Röhm & Haas together with his partner Otto Haas in 1907. When the resulting production was profitable, Röhm turned back to acrylic research from 1911. Although he did not succeed in his original goal of producing synthetic rubber from the tough polyacrylate compounds, he entered the acrylate business in 1928 with the production of multilayer safety glass. After his success in the field of acrylates, he turned to methacrylates in the late 1920s. Here he and his research team achieved the decisive breakthrough. Chance came to their aid: A sample of the monomeric methyl methacrylate (MMA) had been kept in a bottle by the window. When daylight fell on it, it started a polymerization reaction. It destroyed the bottle, but left a block of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). In further experiments it was possible to polymerize the raw material in a controlled manner between conventional glass panes and to obtain thin acrylic glass panes. The new material was named "Plexiglas" and was registered as a trademark in 1933. The trademark was registered on December 4th of the same year under the trademark number 461639.
In 1936 the partner company Rohm & Haas Company , which had been founded as a Philadelphia branch by Otto Haas , took over the know-how for the production of Plexiglas and was subsequently registered with the Plexiglas brand, which was only valid for America. With the beginning of the Second World War , contacts between the two companies broke off.
In 1970 the Haas family sold their shares in Röhm & Haas GmbH, and thus also the trademark rights to the Plexiglas brand for Pan America, to the chemical company BASF in Germany. In the course of this, the Darmstadt company was renamed Röhm GmbH in 1971.
In 1976, Röhm GmbH and an American partner founded the joint subsidiary CYRO Industries in the USA, which was supposed to supply the American market with acrylic glass. Due to the lost trademark rights in America, the PMMA products have since been sold under the brand name Acrylite.
In 1989 Röhm GmbH was sold to Hüls AG in Marl, which had already acquired BASF AG's shares in Röhm nine years earlier. Hüls AG later became part of the new Degussa AG group. Here, Röhm's Plexiglas products formed their own business unit.
Meanwhile, in 1992, Rohm & Haas, Philadelphia, and the European chemical group Elf Atochem founded an acrylic glass joint venture called AtoHaas Americas Inc. Six years later, Elf Atochem took over all of the joint venture shares from Rohm & Haas. Shortly thereafter, AtoHaas Americas Inc. and Elf Atochem North Inc. merged to form Atoglas. In 2003, the company adjusted its acrylic glass brands: In addition to Plexiglas only in Pan America, it sold its acrylic glass products under the Altuglas brand in other market regions.
In 2006, Degussa AG was taken over by the Essen-based RAG group and part of Evonik Industries AG, which was founded in 2007. The business of what was then Degussa was transferred to the new company Evonik.
With the sale of Evonik's methacrylate group in March 2019, the Plexiglas division went to the newly renamed Röhm GmbH. Since then Röhm GmbH has been selling PMMA products under the Plexiglas brand in Europe, Asia, Oceania / Australia and Africa. On the American continent, the products are sold under the Acrylite brand. Trademark reasons separate the acrylic glass Plexiglas manufactured in and only for America by the Arkema company from the acrylic glass products of the original Plexiglas brand of Röhm GmbH, Germany, which are sold in other world markets.
Development of products and applications
The development of Plexiglas was seen as a breakthrough for the then Röhm & Haas, because on this basis a very wide range of products for diverse applications has been created from the 1930s until today.
1930s and 1940s
In 1933, the world's first production of cast plates made of PMMA began, which were marketed under the Plexiglas trademark. The cast acrylic sheets exhibited properties such as transparency, brilliance, weather resistance, malleability and breaking strength. As a curved windshield for automobiles, Plexiglas shaped the streamline design of the 1930s. 1935 was an important year for the development of Plexiglas. In addition to plates and blocks, the first tubes made of Plexiglas, which were produced using the centrifugal casting process, were soon introduced . In addition, Otto Röhm and his chemists dealt with experiments for the production and processing of pearl-shaped granulates and developed the first types of injection molding. For this purpose, PMMA blocks were first polymerized and then ground. The granulate was then marketed to customers for further processing under the then trademark Plexiglas. Today the granulate is sold under the name Plexiglas molding compound . These products in the injection molding sector are widely used in household items, writing and drawing implements, light covers, vehicle rear lights, traffic systems as well as lenses or optical data carriers. Röhm & Haas received the gold medal for Plexiglas at the world exhibition in Paris in 1937. This increased the awareness of the product at home and abroad enormously.
1950s
In 1952 the patents for Plexiglas in Germany expired, so that Röhm & Haas was forced to break new ground. By compressing the molten Plexiglas molding compound and using nozzles with appropriate devices, the first Plexiglas tubes and rods could be extruded, followed by corrugated sheets a few years later. Against the background of the reconstruction in Germany after the Second World War, Plexiglas played a special role in architecture and design in the 1950s. The material gave new buildings a special touch with balcony glazing, lights and dome lighting as well as illuminated advertising . Music machines, neon signs or covers for record players, such as the famous "Snow White Coffin" SK-4 from Braun , are further examples of the trend-setting use of Plexiglas in the 1950s.
1960s
In 1968 stretched PMMA sheets made of Plexiglas were introduced (e.g. Plexiglas GS 215), which were used, among other things, for the roofing of the Olympic Stadium in Munich . The roof structure of the Munich Olympic Stadium, which "floats" on a rope net, made of approx. 90,000 m² of stretched Plexiglas panels, revolutionized architecture and opened up further perspectives for the use of acrylic glass in construction.
The block material made of Plexiglas, which has been manufactured since the mid-1930s and had previously been used as bulletproof glazing, e.g. in banks, found its way into aquarium and underwater glazing. In 1967, plexiglass was used for the world's first underwater cable car, the Téléscaphe de Callelongue in the Gulf of Toulon, west of Marseille.
Organically shaped dishes or avant-garde furniture were other applications. In the "space design" of the 1960s, characterized by enthusiasm for technology and pop culture, the possibilities of Plexiglas as a material were exploited even more consistently. Plexiglass was also popular in the sanitary area. For this purpose, Creanit was introduced at the time , a plexiglass product that is provided with mineral pigments and was specially marketed for bathroom and kitchen production. The product has meanwhile been marketed under the brand name Plexicor and is now part of the family brand Plexiglas Mineral.
1970s
In 1971 the first multi-skin sheets made of Plexiglas were introduced. The cavity panels with a low weight and particularly good insulating properties were developed in cooperation with the Technical University in Hanover for greenhouse glazing. Later these were also used for patio roofs as well as industrial glazing and other construction applications. An installation system specially developed for the canopy additionally increased sales. In order to secure sales and increase sales for Plexiglas multi-skin sheets, various coatings have also been developed for the material, for example to reduce scratch sensitivity. Depending on their needs, customers were offered heat-insulating, highly transparent or impact-resistant material for roofing greenhouses, winter gardens or terraces.
1980s and 90s
In the 1980s, too, work was carried out on the further development of the roofing products, especially since the competitive pressure from other plastics, e.g. B. polycarbonate increased. The multi-skin sheets were given a water-spreading "NO-DROP" coating, which promoted self-cleaning of the surface. Improvements in product properties were also achieved in the field of greenhouse construction. In 1992, multi-skin sheets were introduced under the name Plexiglas Alltop especially for greenhouse construction, which had 100 percent UV permeability and should thereby promote the growth of the plants. The brand name from that time has been used to this day. In the same year, another roofing product was introduced. This new, translucent PMMA under the name Plexiglas Heatstop reflected incident solar energy by means of an integrated coating, so that the heating of the interior and the air conditioning costs could be reduced. This was confirmed in a simulation calculation in cooperation with the Technical University of Cologne . The material, initially available in the form of solid sheets and later also in the form of corrugated and multi-skin sheets, is still used today in skylights, winter gardens, barrel vaults, bus stops or light strips.
Progress was also made in block production. In 1982 we were able to produce blocks in a format of 380 × 180 cm. The requirements with regard to higher dimensions have steadily increased since then.
Research in the field of high-tech surface finishes led to another high point in product history in the early 1990s. A new material that fulfilled the building protection requirements of the time and also had unbreakable product properties made it possible to manufacture noise barriers, initially using the casting process and later using the extrusion process , which were marketed under the name Plexiglas Soundstop . From 1991, sheets with a thickness of up to 25 mm could also be produced using the extrusion process; This was previously only possible using the casting process.
In the area of molding compounds, Röhm brought the first heat-resistant types onto the market in 1983 for applications in which the use of heat-resistant plastics is necessary. These have been further developed over the years. A breakthrough was achieved in 1996 with the development of Pleximid , a polymethacrylmethylimide which, compared to Plexiglas, had improved heat resistance and chemical resistance. Pleximide is used today, for example, as a light guide in automobile lights.
From 2000
An intensification of research and development at the beginning of the 21st century led to a number of new product developments and modifications for different applications. The following table shows the current Plexiglas product family:
| Product name | description |
|---|---|
| Plexiglass Alltop | Solid or multi-skin sheet with a special surface finish and particularly translucent |
| Plexiglass films | Film for security applications, weather protection, lighting applications, lamination and printing |
| Plexiglass heatstop | a multi-skin sheet that was specially designed to avoid heat build-up under transparent roofs. |
| Plexiglas Hi-Gloss | multi-layer extruded PMMA sheets consisting of colorless and colored layers to intensify the surface gloss |
| Plexiglass LED | extruded or cast PMMA sheets with maximum light transmission, enables flowing color change effects and prevents annoying hotspots |
| Plexiglas Optical HC (Hard Coated) | extruded PMMA sheets with inline scratch-resistant coating |
| Plexiglass reflections | Solid sheet in mirrored and reflective design |
| Plexiglass resist | extruded PMMA multi-skin, corrugated and solid sheet with a particularly high resistance, impact-modified |
| Plexiglass Satinice | PMMA sheets and tubes with a satin finish |
| Plexiglass solar | PMMA sheets with a high UV and weather resistance, complies with the minimum requirements of the international standard IEC 62108 for the design suitability and approval of CPV modules and CPV arrangements. |
| Plexiglass sound stop | Solid sheets for noise and wind protection, for example for use on bridges |
| Plexiglass Textures | extruded structured PMMA sheets |
Plexiglas is available in the form of solid sheets, blocks, foils, tubes, rods, multi-skin sheets and corrugated sheets.
Plexiglass today
The applications of cast and extruded Plexiglas have developed in many ways over the last few decades. Today design-oriented and technical products are made from it. Plexiglas is used in various areas such as furniture construction, communication technology, trade fair construction, aerospace, optoelectronics and the construction of seawater aquariums. In addition to sheets, foils, tubes and rods, molding compounds as starting products for all injection molding and extrusion applications play a central role in the portfolio of polymethyl methacrylates.
Advertising and marketing
History of the logo
The associated logos have been further developed since the Plexiglas word mark was registered :
| year | logo | Image description | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 |  |
Old logo of the registered word / figurative mark, 1939 | first logo of the Plexiglas brand |
| 1942 |  |
Old logo of the registered word / figurative mark, 1942 | The 1942 logo was acquired in 1940. The "Plexiglas rune" represents the letters P and X (therefore also called the symbol "PX") and was combined with the name Plexiglas in capital letters as a unified whole. |
| 1952 |  |
Old logo of the registered word / figurative mark, 1952 | In 1951/52 the sales department at that time requested a characteristic name in cursive instead of the lettering in uppercase, which was then developed. The lettering was combined with the rune sign. Since the combined logo was bulky and difficult to use in advertising, the rune took a back seat and the Plexiglas lettering was preferred. |
| 1957 |  |
Old logo of the registered word / figurative mark, 1957 | From 1957 the symbol “PX”, ie the rune, was used in combination with the words “Röhm & Haas Kunststoffe” until the 1960s |
| 1965 |  |
Old logo of the registered word / figurative mark, 1965 | The lettering was taken from the campaign with the advertising figure of "King Acrylius". |
| 2002 |  |
Old logo of the registered word-image brand, 2002 | This logo was created in 2002 and included the addition "the original from Röhm". In doing so, the company tried to combat the inflationary use of the term "Plexiglas" for all types of plastics and also to set itself apart from increased competition. The blue “plexiglass turbine” represents the extrusion screw that is required in the manufacturing process of extruded sheets. |
| 2011 |  |
Current logo of the registered word-image brand | In 2011 the “Plexiglas” brand and logo were relaunched . The "turbine" was replaced by the "swing". This should symbolize openness, limitless creativity and dynamism and express that Plexiglas has been used in a wide variety of ways for over 80 years - from architecture and automotive engineering to medical technology and energy generation. |
| 2019 |
|
Current logo of the registered word and image brand since 2019 | The logo from 2019 embraces the new owner Röhm GmbH. The word-image brand is similar to the Röhm corporate brand itself and should be characterized by "a straightforward and self-confident appearance". The fracture in the letters X and A is also intended to represent transparency, lightness, brilliance and malleability. |
Other campaigns
1957
Since the expiry of the patents in Germany, Röhm & Haas had to fight hard against the fact that the name Plexiglas was used uncritically and almost inflationary for all types of acrylic glass, i.e. as a generic term. The company has always tried to counteract this development and clarify that Plexiglas is the trademark and only the name of the Röhm product. One result of these efforts is the series of advertisements "Fingerzeiger" from 1957.
1963
In 1963 the advertising figure of King Acrylius was created , derived from the generic name acrylic glass. This year Röhm & Haas had decided to advertise with advertisements in the opinion-forming press - previously, they had been limited to direct mail and individual advertisements in trade magazines. In order to underline that Plexiglas has a “royal” position among plastics because of its transparency and resistance to aging and weathering, the king Acrylius was invented as a contact figure for this message. It should make it easier for the company to personalize the approach and better illustrate the product.
As part of the “König Acrylius” campaign, the 253,000 hours advertising film was produced, which informed the specialist audience about the various uses of Plexiglas. The Plexiglas advertising film cut from this industrial film was the first German advertising film to receive the Grand Prix du Cinema at the 12th Cannes International Film Festival, and in 1966 in New York it was recognized as the best advertising film outside of North America.
From 2000
At the beginning of the 21st century, marketing focused more and more on emphasizing the diversity of the material in order to counteract the image of a transparent plastic. In 2003, the Magic Box was introduced under the motto "Plexiglas - It's Magic", which contained a number of product samples and was distributed to around 50,000 designers and architects. The “Magic” concept was also implemented in all trade fair appearances. Furthermore, advertisements for the campaign were published in specialist magazines, e.g. B. “Himself is the man”, switched. In addition, in addition to product placement in television programs, e.g. B. Living as desired , started a dedicated video channel under the name Plexiglas TV, in which short articles on various applications are shown.
Since 2006 the Plexiglas brand has been one of the brands of the century. This award is given by the "German Standards" to products that are particularly characterized by their awareness, quality and availability.
A second edition of the Magic Box followed in 2010 under the name Inspiring Case , which, in addition to samples, also enabled sample demonstrations in connection with light. True to the brand essence “Inspiration”, the brand vision is followed: Due to its unique, functional and aesthetic material properties, plexiglass repeatedly enables new applications in product design and architecture, in automotive engineering and medical technology, right up to energy generation. "Plexiglas inspires to shape the future." Since then, the guiding vision has been communicated and implemented in all communication channels with a focus on online marketing.
literature
- R. Beil (Hrsg.): Plexiglas material in architecture and design. Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-87909-925-2 .
- F. Langenscheidt (Ed.): German Standards: Brands of the Century. Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-8349-2044-4 .
- Röhm GmbH (ed.): 100 years of the future. Röhm GmbH from 1907 to 2007. Darmstadt 2007.
Web links
- Evonik Industries AG website (German / English)
- Plexiglas brand website (German / English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brand Lexicon ,
- ↑ Financial investor takes over: Plexiglas in new hands. In: www.faz.net. March 5, 2019, accessed March 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Evonik sells methacrylate network for € 3 billion to Advent International. In: www.plexiglas.de. March 4, 2019, accessed March 5, 2019 .
- ↑ R. Gäth: Streiflichter from the history of plastics. In: W. Glenz (Ed.): Plastics - a material makes a career. Munich / Vienna 1985.
- ↑ DPMA trademark register
- ↑ a b Evonik history portal
- ^ Altuglas International
- ↑ Evonik Röhm GmbH history portal
- ↑ History of the Plexiglas brand
- ↑ Press release: "Röhm becomes an independent company". Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Frankfurter Neue Presse
- ↑ Röhm GmbH: 100 years of the future. Röhm GmbH from 1907 to 2007. Darmstadt 2007, p. 39.
- ^ K. Buchholz: Plexiglas - material in architecture and design. Darmstadt 2008, p. 64.
- ↑ Röhm GmbH: 100 years of the future. Röhm GmbH from 1907 to 2007. Darmstadt 2007, p. 92.
- ↑ Evonik press releases ,
- ↑ Logo history
- ↑ Press release "Plexiglas has a new word-image brand". Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ^ Clio Awards
- ↑ Design in Acrylics, Darmstadt of 2006.
- ↑ Selbst-ist-der-Mann, Plexiglas special edition
- ↑ Plexiglas TV channel
- ^ F. Langenscheidt (ed.): German standards: brands. Cologne 2006, p. 396.