EP0615043A1 - Window with adjustable heat insulation - Google Patents

Abstract

A glazing which is intended for a building and has a regulatable heat-insulating device exhibits a window bay (1) in the case of which an insulating space (4) is formed between two glass panes (3). The insulating space (4) may be filled, from a storage container (6) arranged above the window bay (1), with a filling (5) of insulating particles in order individually to control the through-passage of thermal radiation through the window bays (1) and/or to improve the overall thermal balance. The filling (5) of insulating particles passes out of the storage container (8) into the insulating space (4) exclusively under the force of gravity. The insulating particles are delivered, from the bottom end of the window bay (1), into the storage container (6) via a suction delivery line. The insulating particles are delivered very gently, with the result that mechanical wear and electrostatic charging are, to the greatest extent, avoided. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a building glazing with fillable and emptable, controllable thermal insulation device, with at least one window field which, between two glass panes arranged at a distance from one another, has an insulating space which can optionally be filled with a free-flowing filling of insulating particles, the lower end of which is connected to a storage container via a suction conveyor line , from which the insulating particles reach an upper inlet of the insulating space.

For buildings, in particular residential buildings, increasingly larger glazed outer surfaces are provided in order to use the solar radiation more for heat energy generation. In addition to increasing the window area, modern buildings are increasingly also glazing roof areas or areas adjoining the roof, often in the form of glass porches such as Conservatories or roof glazing such as in shopping arcades.

With the enlargement of the glazed outer surface of buildings, however, the problems due to excessive sunlight or excessive heat loss at low outside temperatures due to radiation also increase. Controllable thermal insulation devices are therefore required, with which the passage of heat radiation through the window field can be controlled in both directions.

Venetian blinds and similar devices only insufficiently meet the requirements for a high-performance thermal insulation device, especially since they only prevent the passage of radiation, but without improving the thermal insulation effect of the window field.

For this reason, thermal insulation devices have been developed in which a free-flowing filling of insulating particles is optionally introduced and sucked into an insulating space between two glass panes. This filling on the one hand prevents the passage of radiation in both directions (insulation or shading), so that undesired heating when the sun is too strong and heat loss at low outside temperatures are prevented; on the other hand, the filling made of insulating particles represents an additional thermal insulation layer, the thermal insulation capacity of which, owing to the lack of convection between the insulating particles, is significantly higher than the thermal insulation capacity of an air layer present between the two glass panes.

A major disadvantage of these thermal insulation devices with a free-flowing filling of insulating particles is that these insulating particles, which are usually made of hard foam, are subject to wear due to the mechanical stress during filling and emptying, which leads to wear due to abrasion, electrostatic charging and compression of the insulating particles (2% plastic, 98% air). On the one hand, this causes disturbing soiling of the window field by abrasion or adhering insulating particles; on the other hand, the wear that occurs makes it necessary to replace the filling after a relatively short time. These difficulties could be reduced by the development of insulating bodies with a closed surface and reduced wear tendency (EP 306 877), but not be completely excluded.

The total energy permeability (g-value) for incident radiation is composed of 1) direct solar energy transmission and 2) secondary emission as a result of solar radiation absorbed in the glazing. This results in clear advantages in the use of incident solar energy when using single insulating glass: The heat balance for incident sunlight from single insulating glass is cheaper than e.g. due to the higher g-value (no heat reflecting coatings). with heat protection glass. However, the radiation losses are higher in the night hours, although this disadvantage does not come into play when using movable thermal insulation due to its insulating effect.

In a known window element (US Pat. No. 3,903,665, in particular FIG. 4) of the type mentioned at the outset, the window field is arranged vertically. The storage container, which holds the filling of insulating particles as long as the radiation passage through the window is to be released, is arranged at a distance from the window field and connected to it via a suction conveyor line through which the filling is transported from the window field to the storage container. A pressure delivery line leads from the storage container to the window field in order to promote the filling of insulating particles from the storage container into the window field, if this is necessary.

The pressure delivery of the insulating particles from the storage container into the window field causes a considerable mechanical stress on the insulating particles, in particular due to the delivery pressure, which must be chosen so high that clogging of the delivery line is avoided. The insulating particles consequently enter the insulating space in the window field at a relatively high speed and are thereby of a high mechanical quality Subject to wear. The delivery pressure is transferred to the insulation area in the window field and leads to considerable mechanical stress on the glass panes, which consequently must be made correspondingly thick.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a building glazing with controllable thermal insulation of the type mentioned that the greatest possible protection of the insulating particles is guaranteed.

This object is achieved in that the storage container is arranged above the insulation space and has a lower, controllable outlet flap which is connected to the inlet of the insulation space, so that the filling only enters the insulation space under the influence of gravity.

The insulating particles are transported very gently in their entire cycle. Since the insulating particles only trickle under the influence of gravity and therefore with very little mechanical energy into the insulating space in the window field as soon as the outlet flap of the storage container is opened, the mechanical stress on the insulating particles is so low that abrasion is largely avoided.

Since the insulation particles are conveyed from the lower end of the insulation space into the storage container arranged at the top exclusively by suction, the mechanical stress on the insulation particles is also very low in this section of the conveyor circuit. Blockages are avoided in that a larger accumulation of insulating particles is reduced by the suction effect on the downstream side in each case, without a delivery pressure having to build up through the entire filling of insulating particles in the delivery line before it reaches the downstream part of the Line filling reached.

Since the supply of the insulation particles to the insulation space takes place exclusively under the influence of gravity, and since the controllable outlet flap of the storage container is closed as long as the insulation body is sucked into the storage container, the insulation space in the window field remains free of pressure changes, so that there is no mechanical stress on the glass panes and Glass seals occurs.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it is provided that the window field and the storage container arranged above it are inclined accordingly to a sloping roof. In this way, in an architecturally appealing manner, controllable thermal insulation of a roof glazing can be achieved without the storage container arranged according to the invention above the window field disturbing the external appearance of the building.

A plurality of window fields can preferably be arranged side by side, each window field being assigned a separate part of the shared or shared storage container. This enables a separate regulation of the thermal insulation for different window fields.

Further advantageous embodiments are the subject of further subclaims.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated below, which is shown in the drawing.

• Fig. 1 in vereinfachter räumlicher Darstellungsweise ein Fensterfeld mit einer regelbaren Wärmedämmeinrichtung,
• Fig. 2 einen schematischen Schnitt längs der Linie II-II in Fig. 1,
• Fig. 3 einen Schnitt ähnlich der Fig. 2 durch ein anderes Ausführungsbeispiel und
• Fig. 4 eine Teilansicht der in Fig. 3 dargestellten Ausführungsform.

It shows:

• Fig. 1 in a simplified spatial representation Window field with an adjustable thermal insulation device,
• 2 shows a schematic section along the line II-II in FIG. 1,
• Fig. 3 shows a section similar to FIG. 2 through another embodiment and
• Fig. 4 is a partial view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3.

The window panel 1 shown in the drawing forms part of a building glazing and is inclined according to the sloping roof of the building. The window field 1 has frame elements 2 and two glass panes 3 arranged at a distance from one another, between which an insulating space 4 (pane spacing 65 mm for 65 mm thermal insulation layer made of insulating particles) is formed, which serves to hold a filling 5 of insulating particles. These insulating particles are, for example, rigid foam balls according to European patent 306 877.

Above the insulating space 4 and the window field 1, a storage container 6 is also inclined according to the sloping roof and serves to hold the insulating particles. The storage container 6 has a lower, manually or motor-operated outlet flap 7, which is shown in Fig. 2 with solid lines in its closed position. The open position is indicated in Fig. 2 with dashed lines. The outlet flap 7 is connected to the upper inlet of the insulating space 4, so that the filling 5 of insulating particles from the reservoir 6 after the opening of the outlet flap 7 can trickle into the insulating space 4 only under the influence of gravity.

In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating space 4 opens via a controllable lower outlet flap 8 into a collecting chamber 9. A suction conveyor line 10 of high electrical conductivity is led out from the lower region of the collecting chamber 9 and opens with its upwardly conically open end 11 (pipe widening) in the upper region of the storage container 6. In FIG. 2, the course of the suction conveyor line is only shown schematically. In practical implementation, it has proven to be advantageous to guide the suction conveyor line 10 upwards in one of the two side frame elements 2, as is indicated in FIG. 1 with a broken line. This eliminates the need to provide pipes running outside the window field 1.

In the upper area of the storage container 6, an upstream filter 12 (also an air drying filter) is connected to a suction fan 13, which is only schematically indicated in FIG. through an insulating body designed as a flow channel, through the suction conveyor line 10 into the reservoir 6. The outlet flap 7 must be closed to build up the vacuum.

In this state, the insulation space 4 of the window field 1 is free of insulation particles and thus completely permeable to the entire incident solar radiation. If further heat input from solar radiation is to be prevented, for example in order to avoid undesired further heating of the interior of the building, or if heat radiation from the building to the outside at low outside temperatures due to radiation losses is to be avoided, the insulating space 4 is filled with the insulating particles.

For this purpose, the outlet flap 7 is opened by a flap drive (not shown). The filling 5 of insulation particles trickles down and fills the insulation space 4.

In order to facilitate the suction conveyance of the insulating particles from the collecting chamber 9, the collecting chamber 9 can be provided with a ventilation opening 14. The space 15 located at the upper end of the insulating space 4 below the outlet flap 7 in the upper region of the window field 1 can be provided with a ventilation opening 16 in order to ventilate the insulating space 4 when the filling of insulating particles flows downwards.

The preceding description also largely applies to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4; to this extent the same reference numerals are used there as in the example according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

4 shows that the suction conveyor line 10 has a conical tube widening 11 at the particle outlet in the storage container 6. In addition, it is indicated in Fig. 10 that the suction conveyor line 10 can be designed as a suction hose. The suction hose or hoses can be equipped with an integrated copper wire in order to obtain a higher electrical conductivity. In this way, any electrostatic charge that arises is dissipated by rubbing the insulating particles on the suction hose and with one another, in particular in the case of aggressive material to be conveyed.

The suction conveyor line 10 can be designed with a line diameter that increases gradually or conically in the conveying direction, so that the insulating particles are gentle due to low speed and because of the conical or conical expansion at the end 11 of the suction conveyor line 10 without impact even in the storage container 6 without compression be moved.

In Fig. 4 it is shown that a manual or motor-operated closure flap 17 is arranged at the beginning of the suction conveyor line 10.

In the example according to FIG. 3, the collecting chamber 9 is provided with insulation 18 and designed as a flow channel. A special fabric 19 is arranged in the collecting chamber 9.

The window field is arranged with an inclination of at least 25 °. At the transition from the storage container 6 to the insulating space 4 there is a thermal separating plate 20. The window field 1 is supported by a beam 21.

Claims (11)

Building glazing with adjustable thermal insulation device, with at least one window field (1) which, between two glass panes (3) arranged at a distance from one another, has an insulating space (4) which can be filled with a free-flowing filling (5) of insulating particles, the lower end of which is via a suction conveyor line (10 ) is connected to a storage container (6), from which the insulating particles reach an upper inlet of the insulating space (4), characterized in that the storage container (6) is arranged above the insulating space (7) and a lower, controllable outlet flap (7 ), which is connected to the inlet of the insulating space (4), so that the filling (5) only flows into the insulating space (4) by gravity. Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that the suction conveyor line (10) has a line diameter which increases in steps or conically in the direction of conveyance. Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that the insulating particles are gentle due to the low speed in the suction conveyor line (10) gradually increasing in diameter and because of the conical or conical widening at the end (11) of the suction conveyor line (10) without impact even in the storage container (6) can be moved without compression. Building glazing according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the suction hose or hoses of the suction conveyor line (10) are equipped with an integrated copper wire for the purpose of higher conductivity for dissipating electrostatic charge due to friction of the insulating particles on the suction hose and with one another (aggressive material to be conveyed). Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that the suction conveyor line (10) has a conical tube widening (11) at the particle outlet in the storage container (6). Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that the window field (1) and the storage container (6) located above it are arranged vertically or inclined according to a roof slope. Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of window fields (1) are arranged side by side and that a separate part of the storage container (6) is associated with each window field (1). Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower end of the insulating space (4) opens into a collecting chamber (9), possibly formed as an insulating body in the form of a flow channel, from which the suction conveyor line (10) is led out. Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized in that the window field (1) has side frame elements (2) and that the suction conveyor line (10) in a side frame element (2) can optionally not be led upwards from the outside. Building glazing according to claim 1, characterized characterized in that the window area (1) is connected in its upper region to a ventilation opening (16). Building glazing according to claim 8, characterized in that the collecting chamber (9) is connected to a ventilation opening (14).

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