KR910002590B1 - Multiple pane glass unit with insulating film - Google Patents

Abstract

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Description

Multiple glass window unit with insulating film

1 is a perspective view of a partially cutaway section of a window unit of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of a window unit showing an improved sealant on the outer periphery of the window unit.

3 is a state diagram before the sealed window unit of FIG. 2 enters a heating environment.

4 is a state after the sealed window unit of FIG. 2 is removed from the heating atmosphere.

The present invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of insulating glass units for use in windows, doors, refrigerator cabinets and the like.

In glass units with stretched plastic films between a pair of glass windows, the optical quality of the finished glass unit depends on flatness and on the degree of tension.

The wrinkles of the film can be clearly observed. If the film loses its expandability, the view through the glass unit and the reflection of the film are distorted. Therefore, the film actually used must maintain its flatness and tightness under all conditions of use.

Many attempts have been made in the past to ensure that the plastic films of such glass units are always flat and taut. However, the attempt was not completely successful for several reasons. For example, US Pat. No. 4,355,166 discloses a sealant, such as a regular silicone resin, inserted into the outer periphery of the windowpane of a palm print unit. However, this sealant did not prevent the plastic film from releasing little by little, which eventually resulted in the loss of flatness and stiffness of the film, which did not serve the intended purpose as the palm print unit.

In another attempt, a curable epoxy resin other than a sealant was used as the sealant. However, this technique was also not completely satisfactory because some additional assembly steps were required to produce the window units of the type described above.

Because of the above disadvantages, there was a need to improve the plurality of glass window units of the type described above with inner plastic films that always maintain flatness and tautness for the lifetime of the window unit itself. The present invention satisfies these requirements.

The present invention provides a glass unit consisting of a pair of glass windows that keep the plastic film between the glass windows separated by the spacers and always remain flat and taut. The edge portion of the outer circumference of the plastic film enters between the spacer members and is in a space formed on the outer surface of the spacer members. The space is filled with an improved seal, while filling the space between the windows, joining the windows together as well as the spacers. In addition, the film is bonded to the opposite outer peripheral edge of the film with a seal so that the film does not escape and maintains its flatness and tightness. The seal also prevents water vapor from entering the interior space of the glass unit between the two windows.

The sealing material serves to firmly bond the glass windows, the spacers and the edges of the thin film to each other. The windows are thus joined together, the spacers are coupled to the windows, and the film also does not escape from the spacers.

The spacers are made of steel, fiber reinforced plastic or aluminum. If formed from iron, the spacers are electroplated or glued to enhance the adhesion of the sealant to them. In particular, steel is suitable for use as the spacer. This is because the film does not wrinkle at low temperatures because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion.

A first object of the present invention is to provide an improved glass unit having a stretched plastic film stretched between a pair of insulated glass panes of the glass unit, wherein an improved polyurethane sealant is inserted into the outer periphery of the glass unit to isolate the glass panes. By adhering the glass window together with the outer circumference of the spacer members, and simultaneously bonding the film, the film does not move from the spacer members and always maintains flatness and tightness, and also prevents water vapor from entering through the space between the windows. To provide an integrated glass unit.

The above and other objects of the present invention can be clearly understood from the following description described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The window unit of the present invention is generally indicated by reference numeral 10, which is generally comprised of a pair of glass windows 12, 14 and a plastic film or thin film 16 between the glass windows 12, 14, which are isolated in parallel. The film 16 is parallel to the windows 12 and 14 but is isolated from each window therein. The thickness of the film 16 has been slightly enlarged to merely describe the position of the film relative to the windows 12 and 14.

There are a number of interconnecting spacers 18 between the window 2 and the outer periphery of the plastic film 16.

Similarly, there are a number of interconnecting spacing members 20 between the window 14 and the outer periphery of the plastic film 16.

In use, the window unit 10 is mounted in an outer frame 22 as shown in FIG. 1, whereby the frame supports a window unit used as a window, door, or the like. Frame 22 may be any suitable configuration known in the art, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The spacers 18 and 20 are formed with respective frames of rectangular or square shape and the spacers have a cross section as shown in FIG. The spacers have a cavity into which the absorbent can be placed for drying.

The adsorbent is a type that absorbs water, hydrocarbon vapor and the like. This material may be silica gel, multi-process molechler sieves (3 A or more), a mixture of gels and sieves. Such materials keep the humidity and chemical vapor in the window unit 10 low.

Spacing members 18 and 20 form a hermetically sealed tube of steel, fiberglass reinforced plastic or aluminum. If formed of steel, each spacer has an electroplated or glued surface to enhance adhesion as will be described later. Steel having a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than aluminum does not corrode the film at low temperatures, which is better.

Glass fiber reinforced plastics are suitable for use as the material of the spacer. This is because it has almost the same coefficient of thermal expansion as the film 16. The frame composed of spacers on each side of the plastic film 16 may be constructed using zinc, nylon or aluminum corner keys. Each spacer tube is cold rolled to obtain such a cross-sectional shape.

And the seam of each tube is welded with a laser to have a twisting force. Other techniques for joining seams can also be used if desired.

Each spacer 18 or 20 has a pair of flat side surfaces that abut the adjacent window and adjacent surfaces of the plastic film 16. It is advisable to seal these side surfaces against the adjacent window and the plastic film 16.

As a result, layers 24 and 26 of suitable sealing material are filled in the plastic film 16 and the adjacent window between the sides of the spacers. This sealant is usually polyisobutylene, i.e., non-curable hot melt butyl. However, it can also be a double sided adhesive tape. This tape is good for assembly but does not improve sealing durability.

The spacers 18 and 20 each have a pair of curved side surfaces 19 and 21 which are slightly recessed inwardly from the outer periphery of the windows 12 and l4 as shown in FIG. Forming 28 makes it possible to fill the sealing material 30, which is a special material, to perform at least three important functions. This sealant forms a resilient sealant and an adhesive by mixing the two components of liquid polyurethane in a suitable ratio.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the sealing material 30 is filled between the windows 12 and 14, the following functions are performed.

1. It not only joins the two spacers 18 and 20 together but also acts as an elastic structural adhesive that bonds the windows 12 and 14 together.

2. It functions as an elastic structural adhesive that bonds both sides of the outer edge 23 of the plastic film 16. The plastic film here protrudes into a central groove or groove communicating with the outside formed by curved side surfaces 19 and 21 (FIG. 2) between the opposing flat sides of the spacers 18 and 20.

3. It functions as a sealing material to prevent water vapor from entering into the space between the cabinets 12 and 14, ie inside the window unit 10.

Suitable sealing materials capable of adhering and sealing such systems as described above are manufactured by PA 19006, Huntington Valley, PO Box 8, Emhart Chemical Group of New Road and Counter Line, Woodmont Products Inc. The product name is 3180HM.

The seal 30 is filled in the central and outer spaces 28 formed by specific cross sections of the spacers 18 and 20 as shown in FIG.

Because of its adhesive properties, the sealant is applied to both surfaces of the outer peripheral edge 23 of the plastic film 16 as well as the surfaces of the sealant layer 26 abutting the windows 12 and 14 and the spacers 18 and 20. Are glued.

After such a good mechanical bond between the sealant and such surfaces, the plastic film remains taut once the window unit 10 is placed in a heating atmosphere and the film is shrunk to make it taut once.

The plastic film 16 may be a polyester film coated with a high light transmissive metal that exhibits low heat dissipation surface properties. The film may also be other clean, different types of plastics, such as polycarbonate, polypropylene, etc., as well as other metal films that do not have high light transmission.

Windshields 12 and 14 are all commercially available types of glass, whose specifications may be floating, stretched, quenched, heat strengthened, tempered, laminated, tinted, or single yarn treated glass.

In order to assemble the glass unit 10, the spacers 18 and 20 are placed on both sides of the outer periphery of the film 16.

The glass windows 12 and 14 are then assembled and the sealant 30 is injected into the space adjacent the outer periphery of the spacers 18 and 20 between the windows 12 and 14. At this time, the window unit has the shape shown in FIG. 3 before entering the heating atmosphere.

Then, when the window unit 10 is heated, the film 16 deforms and becomes taut as shown in FIG. 4, and when the assembly of the window unit 10 is completed, it is inserted into the frame 22 and ready to be used immediately. .

Heating atmospheres can be created using warmth or heat dissipation techniques. The time and temperature required to deform the film 16 depends on the curing conditions of the sealant. The seal can be suitably cured by exposing the glass unit 10 to temperatures between 100 ° F. and 160 ° F. for 1-12 hours prior to the film expansion step. Typically, the film is moderately tensioned in the window unit 10 after shrinking at 210 ° F. for 1 hour.

Claims (8)

A pair of glass windows 12 and 14 and a pair of spacer members 18 and 20 interposed between the glass windows to form an internal space between the glass windows to form an outer peripheral space 28 near the outer periphery of the window. And, the outer periphery is sandwiched between the spacer member and the plastic film 16 extending outwardly in the tensioned state in the inner space, the outer peripheral space 28 is filled in the windows, the spacer members and the film Insulation characterized in that it consists of seals 30 having the function of adhering the upper surfaces of the outer periphery together, bonding the windows together, bonding the windows to the spacer members and also preventing water from entering the space between the windows. A plurality of glass window units having a film. The unit of claim 1, wherein the spacers (18, 20) are filled with an absorbent material in a tubular shape. 2. The spacer of claim 1, wherein the spacers (18, 20) have a pair of opposing flat sides that abut the surface portions of each window (12, 14) and each surface portion of the film (16). Special glass window unit with characteristic insulating film. 2. The spacer of claim 1, wherein the spacers (18, 20) have a pair of opposed generally flat sides, and the first sealing layer (24) at one side of each of the spacers and a portion of the surface that is in contact with each glass window. And a second sealing layer (26) between the other side of each of the spacers and the surface portion of the plastic film that are in contact with each other. 2. The spacer members (18) of claim 1, wherein the spacer members (18, 20) each have a pair of curved side surfaces (19, 21) near the outer periphery, wherein the side surfaces (19, 21) are the spacer members. And glass windows are assembled to define a plurality of grooves communicating with the outer periphery space 28, wherein the sealing material 30 is filled in each groove to be mutually bonded to the curved side surfaces 19 and 21 of the spacer members. A plurality of glass window units having a characteristic insulating film. The plurality of glass window units of claim 1, wherein the spacers (18, 20) are made of steel. 7. The multiple window pane unit of claim 6 wherein the steel is electroplated and has an adhesive surface. 2. The plurality of glass window units of claim 1 wherein the spacers (18, 20) are made of a plastic material reinforced with glass fibers.

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