Safer pint glass shatters into cubes to prevent crime

08-Jun-2011 - Last updated on 09-Jun-2011 at 15:17 GMT

Related tags Pint glass

The Ultimate Pint is said to be five times stronger than regular glasses

Design and glassware firms have joined forces to launch a new pint glass, which they claim is the safest and strongest tumbler produced to date, designed to help cut crime in busy drinking environments.

Launched this week in the UK, the Ultimate Pint was produced by the French firm Arc International and the design agency Design Bridge, which had both been involved in the launch of two ‘safer’ pint glasses introduced last year.

According to Arc International, the latest version is safer and stronger than previous glasses, and is less likely to break into shards that can be used as weapons.

Reverse Breakage

The Ultimate Pint uses a system called SFM, or stress fracture management, which promotes reverse breakage when the glass is hit against another hard surface.

“Each glass goes through a process called tempering (sometimes called toughening in the UK),” explained Helene Klimsza, drinkware product director at Arc.

“This process takes the glass and super heats it just to the point prior to melting; the glass is then rapidly cooled. This creates a skin around the glass that is much stronger and resistant to shocks.”

The new glass, which has already been through a live testing period at pubs across Greene King, Marston’s and Town & City portfolios, is said to be five times stronger than normal glass.

The tumbler is also designed to have a uniform thickness and no sharp angles so that any shock can travel throughout the glass with little resistance.

Base shatters

When it does break, it usually fragments into small cube-like pieces, said Arc.

However, like any glass it can create some sharp shards when shattered, although because these are not connected to the base of the glass, they are less likely to be used as weapons, said Arc.

“The key to this design is the reverse breakage, meaning that the base remains intact,” said the firm’s food service market expert John Goodman. “The base is designed to completely fragment, so it falls away from the hand and can’t be used as a weapon. A glass is still a glass, it does actually break, but this has a second safety measure,” he told BigHospitality.

The Ultimate Pint is available on the UK market immediately. It is priced at £1.05 per glass and is about 15 per cent heavier than a regular conical pint glass.

It is hoped that the uptake of the Ultimate Pint and other ‘safer’ pint glasses will help reduce violent incidents involving glassware. These are currently numbered at 87,000 per year and are thought to cost the NHS £2.7bn.