Patented Curved Glass

[Sue]

Living in the Motor City, reading the obituaries sometimes can be a history lesson.


(local newspaper obit)
JOSEPH E. JENDRISAK
Longtime resident of Northville, Michigan passed away Thursday, June 2, 2005 on his 96th birthday. A pioneer in the Auto Glass Field, Joseph patented a process which modernized the automobile by replacing the flat glass windshield with a more aerodynamic, curved windshield. He set up the bending operation at Shatterproof Glass Co. in Detroit retiring in the late 1970s as vice-president.


The rest of the story:

(Toledo Blade)
Former L-O-F worker devised curved glass

Joseph E. Jendrisak, an engineer who devised techniques at a Rossford glass factory for manufacturing curved glass for airplanes and automobiles, died of liver cancer on Thursday in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 96.

Mr. Jendrisak moved to Rossford in the late 1930s from Clarence, Pa., taking a job at the former Libbey-Owens-Ford Co., where he was assigned to an engineering unit, David Jendrisak, his son, said.

"What he did there was he developed curved glass for the B-47 bomber," he said. His production methods enabled glass to be curved for use on the nose of the aircraft flown by Allied forces during World War II.

He also helped develop bullet-proof glass for military tanks. After the war, Mr. Jendrisak and the company were awarded a patent for curved automobile windshields, which proved to be stronger, more aerodynamic, and opened up new options for automotive design.

"He was very intense about everything he ever did," his son said. "He never started anything he didnt complete."

It was in Rossford that he married his wife, Mary Elizabeth, in 1939. The two met at a restaurant in a hotel across the street from the plant where she served meals to workers from the factory.

In 1952, Mr. Jendrisak was recruited to join the Shatterproof Glass Co., a Detroit firm that manufactured automotive replacement glass.

"He came up to Shatterproof and pretty much set up the entire glass-making operation," his son said.

He worked for the firm while residing in Northville, Mich., retiring in the early 1970s. His retirement didnt last long. His brothers convinced him to join them at their injection molding business at Tacoma Products near Akron.

In his spare time, he enjoyed hunting and fishing. His favorite hobby was woodworking. "He always had a shop, and he was always tinkering," his son said.

 

 

[Doug. Houston]

Its well known that the first one-piece curve windshield was on one model of Chryslers 1934 Airflow. Our guy in the obit would have been at a very early stage of his career in the days that this windshield was being develped. (about 23 years of age). At that time, Chrysler was buying a lot of their glass from L-O-F, later to be a strong Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) costomer. In my early career, I worked with the glass industry, in  the development of high ballistic glass panels for armored vehicles (tanks, etc.).

Shatterfroof Glass Co. was a fabricator, and did not actually make glass. It would be interesting to know what role our subject gent would have had in the manufacturiong of curved laminated glass. I was in the Toledo L-O-F plant many times in the early days of panoramic windshields, and the process was tricky, to say the least. From what I had gathered, there were quite a few companies that worked on producing curved laminated glass. There must be a lot of tales to tell about it.

[Sue]

Hi Doug,

Hope that you can make it out to our side of town next week for the Burger Run but well understand if you dont - its a long drive for you.  

Anyhow, thanks for the info - Ed lived on St. James Street, south of Michigan Avenue when he was young; right next door to the Shatterproof Glass Plant.  I understand that it was previously one of the Rickenbacker Plants back in the 1920s.  

[Doug Houston]

Thanks sue. Tomorrow, Im supposed to get rid of the cast on my right leg. Its been on there for two weeks, then a couple more since late April. Its a real task, trying to walk with a left prosthesis and a right cast. I do want to be there. The distance is no  problem.