MXPA99008911A - Composite insulated glass assembly and method of forming same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a composite insulated glass assembly (10), comprising a pair of spaced substrates (12, 14) with a flexible and resilient polymeric spacing member (16) between the substrates (12, 14), at the periphery thereof. At joints in the spacer, or at corners, where small incisions may be made for ease in forming corners, and such similar discontinuities, sealing material is positioned, bonded in the space to fill any gap (20) or opening and restore any reduction in thermal or other value of the spacer (16) at these positions. The spacer is conveniently positioned adjacent the periphery of the assembly and is substantially free of sealing material except at the corners.

Description

ISOLATED GLASS ASSEMBLY, COMPOSITE AND METHOD FOR THE FORMATION OF THE SAME Field of the Invention This invention relates to composite insulated glass assemblies, and more particularly to a method for improving the integrity and effectiveness of the seal 'between the substrates spaced in a glass assembly, and to the assemblies having the improved seal. The invention relates in particular to assemblies having seals formed of flexible polymers in which thermal integrity is maintained at the corners, and to glass assemblies that characterize a relatively simple manufacturing process.

Background of the Invention The manufacture of insulated, composite glass assemblies, by applying a spacer between the separated glass substrates at the periphery of the substrates, is well known. Most commercially available spacers include a metal structure, the EF .: 31155 which can also incorporate an insulating polymer layer. Increasingly, spacers made entirely of flexible polymeric material are used for their improved insulation and sealing capabilities. However, after application of the spacer, there may be a free space that extends peripherally. A major problem may occur at the corners and / or at the junctions between the adjacent ends of the spacer, and indeed at any position where the cross section of the spacer is reduced. This problem has been faced in the past by expensive and labor-intensive solutions. For example, metal composite spacers typically characterize a butt joint at each corner at the intersection between adjacent spacers. The butt joint spacers are joined by means of an insert or a coupling structure. This arrangement is subject to eventual leakage as the window moves, and requires intensive work to assemble. In a flexible spacer, to provide a relatively sharp corner at the corners of the window, the spacer can form separate lengths that meet at one or more corners. Alternatively, the spacer may be partially cut through to allow the spacer to describe a sharp bend or curvature. As is well known, any discontinuity in the spacer creates significant energy losses and results in a weak point through which moisture can leak. Previously, it has been proposed that small strokes be used or alternatively simply the application of a filler material which is not attached to the spacer. A further limitation of the prior art lies in the position of the spacer relative to the periphery of the glass substrates. Conventional polymeric spacers comprise a generally unitary body and it is difficult to maintain a gas impervious seal between the spacer and the glass substrates. Conventionally, the seal is improved by maintaining a space between the periphery of the spacer and the periphery of the glass substrates, and the application of a substantially impermeable back space material within this free space, approximately at the entire periphery of the assembly . Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for manufacturing an assembly with a flexible, polymeric insulating spacer that eliminates the need to fill the entire periphery of the glass assembly. This can be achieved if the spacer includes at least a partial discontinuity in the corners, thus allowing a relatively sharp bending or bending of the spacer and placement of the spacer substantially adjacent the periphery of the glass substrates. Discontinuity can be introduced if specific steps are taken to ensure that the thermal integrity of the spacer is not compromised in the discontinuity. As well, an improved spacer can be used in an assembly, wherein the spacer incorporates a membrane substantially impermeable to gas, and is characterized by an improved seal. The use of such a spacer allows the spacer to be placed substantially adjacent to the periphery of the glass, thereby substantially eliminating the need to fill around the entire periphery of the assembly. It is known from German Patent DE G 88 11 262.4 (Lisec) to provide an insulated glass assembly incorporating an elastic spacer. However, there is no suggestion of the application of a spacer strip in a manner by which a partial discontinuity is provided at each corner, to allow the spacer to form sharp corners. In addition, there is no suggestion of the application of the meltable, unsealable sealant only at the spacing corners to provide a substantially restored coefficient of thermal conductivity.

Brief Description of the Invention A main objective of the present invention is to provide a method for placing a sealing material capable of chemically fusing with the spacer material, at positions where the cross section of the spacer is reduced, or there may be a gap between the spacer segments, and provide mounts that exemplify the sealant material chemically fused to the spacer material. A further objective is to provide a method for assembling an insulating glass assembly that characterizes a polymeric insulator spacer, whereby filling between the periphery of the spacer and the periphery of the substrates is only required partially around the periphery of the structure. In one aspect, the present invention comprises a method for forming an insulated glass assembly including a pair of substrates with corners, of the known type comprising the steps of: placing a continuous length of flexible insulating polymer spacer between the substrates around from the periphery of the substrates, said spacer is defined by an outer face and an inner face; characterizing by: the provision within the spacer, of at least one partial discontinuity adjacent to at least one corner; the provision of a sealing material having a melting point lower than a melting point of the spacer, the sealant comprising a material chemically compatible with the spacer and capable of fusing therewith; and the introduction of the molten sealant material in contact with the spacer at the corner substantially filling the discontinuity to form a gas-impervious, fused joint, in one piece, generally integral, between the spacer and the sealing material, to restore the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the corner portions, to substantially equal or exceed the thermal conductivity coefficient of the continuous length of the spacer material. The spacer can be cut or engraved to create a V-shaped opening facing the outside of the assembly at the corner of the assembly. Conveniently, the spacer comprises a multi-component structure which characterizes a first layer comprising a flexible insulating polymer, and a second layer comprising a membrane substantially impermeable to gas, flexible. The spacer is placed on the substrates such that the first layer is facing the perimeter of the assembly, and the second layer is facing the inside of the assembly, with the discontinuity extending substantially through the first layer, but not in the first layer. Second layer. In addition, the spacer can remain substantially free of contact with the sealant, • except in one or more corners, where the sealant is applied to fill the discontinuities inside the spacer.

In still another aspect, the invention comprises an insulated, composite glass assembly of the type having corners and corner angles, and comprising: a pair of glass substrates in spaced relationship, each defined by corners and an outer edge in the perimeter of them; and an insulating spacer body between and separating the substrates; characterized by: the spacer body exemplifying a partial discontinuity therein, generally adjacent to at least one of the corners; and the sealing material within the discontinuity in contact with and attached to the spacer body. The spacer body is preferably substantially free of contact with the sealing material, except at the corners of the assembly. It will be noted that the term "glass" as used herein includes substitutes such as Plexiglass (MR) The invention will be fully understood by the description of certain embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an insulated glass assembly; Figure 1 (a) is a perspective view as in Figure 1, showing the invention in use with an alternative spacer; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of two adjacent spacer sections in a corner of the mount; Figure 3 is an enlarged view of two adjacent spacer sections in a cut or engraved corner; Figure 4 is a plan view illustrating an assembly according to the present invention.

Detailed description Referring now to Figure 1, an insulated glass assembly is shown, widely denoted by the number 10. Assembly 10 includes a pair of glass substrates 12 and 14, separated, with a typical insulating polymer spacer, which separates the substrates 12 and 14, placed around the periphery of the assembly 10 in a position substantially adjacent to the periphery of the glass substrates. The spacer in this version comprises a composite, consisting of an inner layer 40, formed from a flexible, elastic cellular material, a vapor barrier which may comprise a substantially gas impermeable layer such as a membrane 42, and a outer layer 44 formed from an elastic cellular material. The compound or compounds in the form of cells comprising the components are flexible and preferably elastic. One or more of the components may comprise a polymeric compound in the form of a foam. Where the spacer is flexed around a corner, a slit is cut inside the spacer, extending from the outer layer 44 inward, towards the membrane 42. The membrane 42 remains intact. The slit thus forms a pie-shaped or pie-slice opening when it extends around the corner, with the vertex pointing inwards towards the inside of the assembly 10 and the wide side that opens towards the periphery of the mounting. Figure 1 (a) illustrates an alternative version in which the spacer body comprises a unitary member 16 'formed from a flexible, elastic, cell-shaped material. Figure 2 illustrates, in a sectional view parallel to the plane of the substrates, two adjacent portions of the spacer 16, where each section 16 is in a junction or gap 20, where the spacer is discontinuous at the point of intersection of two sections Adjacent 16 (a) and (b) that are in a corner of the spacer assembly. The intersecting sections are miter-joined, effectively producing a butt joint, and the adjacent sections 16 intersect substantially at the terminal corner of the insulated assembly. As is well known in this art, any point where there is a discontinuity in the length of the spacer 16 results in significant energy losses and effectively creates a weak point in the assembly, through which moisture and thermal energy can leak, to be transmitted. This has ramifications in terms of the decrease in usable lifetime of the assembly, and contributes to the "fogging" or white clouding on the glass substrates. In order to solve this, it has been found that if the adjacent sections 16 in the free space 20 can be fused or chemically joined together, the results are very dramatic in terms of the restoration of the thermal integrity of the length of the spacer 16, effectively to that of a continuous length. This is achieved since the chemical bond effectively fuses the two adjacent sections together at junction 20, to restore seal integrity at the point where the thermal properties are effectively the same as those that could be found if the seal were integral and in a single piece around the entire periphery of the assembly 10. In Figure 2, a sealant 22 is placed between the adjacent ends of the spacer 16. The spacer 16 will further include at least one polymer capable of bonding with a suitable polymeric sealant. As an example, the spacer may be composed of polysilicones, EPDM, polyurethanes, among a variety of other materials known in the art to provide superior insulation quality. In terms of the sealant, any of the known sealants capable of chemically bonding with the polymeric material of the spacer 16 can be selected. Suitable sealants are well documented in the prior art and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. In the case where the sealers that are chosen require thermal energy to induce fusing between the adjacent sections of the spacer 16 and the sealing material 22, the assembly may be exposed to ultraviolet light, infrared heat or simply convection heat in order to induce fusion between the sealant 22 and the adjacent sections of the spacer 16. Where the content of the polymer spacer material and the sealant does not lead to thermal bonding with one another, additives may be included in the sealant to induce chemical fusion without the external energy contribution. Figure 3 is an enlarged view showing the spacer material that has been cut or divided into a corner portion to provide generally triangular free space 20 where it flexes. The angle formed by the sides of the free space is approximately equal to the angle of the mounting corner. Thus, in a rectangular, conventional assembly, the angle approaches 90 °. The spacer remains intact and in one piece towards the inside of the assembly, but is discontinuous on the outside of the assembly, as shown. Conveniently, the intact portion of the spacer may include a gas impermeable membrane, thereby maintaining the integrity of the seal against gas leakage. In this way, the spacer 16 remains at least partially integral towards the inside of the assembly, but is slotted or cut to accommodate bending around the corner portions of the window assembly. It will be understood that the spacer 16 can be similarly cut or slotted in order to flex the spacer 16 around one of the remaining corners of the assembly. In this arrangement, the sealing material 22 is injected into the generally triangular free space 20, in order to fusedly connect the adjacent sections of the spacer 16, thereby restoring the thermal properties substantially to the same as a completely intact section. of the spacer. At the terminal corner (not shown) where the spacer begins and ends, the junction or junction between the adjacent sections may be similar to that illustrated in Figure 3. In a further aspect of the invention, the spacer is placed substantially adjacent to the perimeter of the glass panels, thus eliminating the step during assembly of the filling around the complete spacer assembly. In this version, the spacer comprises a flexible polymer composite structure, which characterizes a gas impermeable membrane, adjacent to a first of the assembly, which when the spacer is installed is facing inward toward the interior of the window assembly. The triangular incisions within the spacer define sharp corners, with the incision leaving the membrane intact, as described above. The combination of the impermeable membrane and the corner sealing material allows the fabrication of a window assembly that does not require filling around the entire periphery of the spacer to provide additional sealing or insulation. The Figure illustrates a mounting where the four corners characterize a slit or peripheral incision of the seal and the corner sealant, according to the present invention, with the spacer extending substantially to the edges of the assembly. As shown, the spacer is substantially free of contact with the sealant, except in the corners, where the sealing material fills the discontinuities of the corners inside the spacer. In order to apply the spacer and sealing material, any of the known automatic systems or gun or firing arrangements may be employed. In practicing the present invention described herein, significant results have been obtained in terms of restoring the thermal conductivity of the corner portions or the buffer sections or the adjacent spacer sections, which have been found to be restored substantially to the same conductivity of an uninterrupted length of sealing material. This is in marked contrast to what the prior art has previously proposed, where the corner portions were simply tapped or the sealing material was injected, which did not facilitate the joining between the sections, but rather simply constituted the filling material with In order to remove the empty space in the length of the spacer material around the periphery of the assembly. As indicated above, suitable sealants and the polymeric content of the spacer material will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. This is equally true for the firing or filling techniques and the media, where required, to induce fusing between the adjacent sections of the spacers 16. The sealing material 22 has a melting point lower than that of the polymeric material of the former. which spacer 16 is made, such that there is no harmful effect to the spacer 16 but rather only a melting or reduction of the viscosity of the sealing material, such that it is capable of performing the fusible interaction with the spacer 16. Although the embodiments of The invention has been described above, it is not limited thereto, and it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous modifications form part of the present invention, as long as they do not depart from the scope of the claimed invention.

It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (17)

RE IVINDICATIONS

1. A method for forming an insulated glass assembly, of the type comprising the steps of: providing a pair of glass substrates having corners; the placement of a continuous length of flexible polymeric insulating spacer between the substrates around the periphery of the substrates, the spacer being defined by an outer face and an inner face; characterized by: the provision, within the spacer, of at least one partial discontinuity adjacent to at least one of the corners; the provision of a sealing material having a melting point lower than the melting point of the spacer, the sealant comprising a material chemically compatible with the spacer and capable of fusing therewith; and the introduction of molten sealant material - in contact with the spacer in at least one corner, filling substantially at least one discontinuity, to form a gas-tight joint, fused, in one piece, generally integral, between the spacer and the sealing material, to restore the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the corner portions, to substantially equal or exceed the thermal conductivity coefficient of the continuous length of the spacer material.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the spacer is grooved to create the discontinuity.

3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the incision comprises a groove or cut extending from the outer face towards the inner face, which, when extending around the corner, opens into an opening in general in the form of V, the angle of which approaches the corner angle.

4. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises the step of creating the incision that partially transects the spacer at a point where the spacer is adjacent to at least a corner portion of the substrate, to form a point of flexion around the which the spacer can be flexed around at least one corner.

5. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the additional steps of: exposing the assembly to a source of energy, sufficient to melt at least partially the sealing material; and the fusion of the spacer with the sealant, to form an integral one-piece seal between the substrates.

6. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the spacer comprises a multi-component structure which characterizes a first layer comprising an elastic insulating material, and a second layer comprising a flexible layer substantially impermeable to gas; the spacer is placed on the substrates such that the first layer faces the perimeter of the assembly, and the second layer faces the inside of the assembly, and where the discontinuity extends substantially through the first layer, but not within the second layer .

7. A method according to claim 6, characterized in that the spacer is grooved in the corner to create the partial discontinuity.

8. A method according to claim 6, characterized in that the spacer is substantially free of contact with the sealing material, except in at least one corner.

9. An insulated, composite glass assembly having corners and corner angles of the type comprising: a pair of glass substrates in spaced relationship, each defined by corners and an outer edge on the perimeter thereof; a spacer body polymeric, elastic, insulating, between and separating the substrates, the spacer body is characterized by: a partial discontinuity in it generally adjacent to at least one of the corners; and the sealing material within the discontinuity in contact and attached to the spacer body.

10. An assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the discontinuity comprises a V-shaped opening adjacent to at least one corner of the assembly and opening outwards towards the outside of the assembly, and which characterizes an opening angle substantially equal to Corresponding corner angle.

11. An assembly according to claim 10, characterized in that the V-shaped opening extends partially through the spacer body.

12. An assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the spacer body is placed around the perimeter of the substrates and substantially adjacent to the outer edges thereof.

13. An assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the spacer body is formed from a first material comprising a flexible, elastic, insulating material, and the sealing material is fuseably connected to the first material, to form an integral seal of a single piece between the spaced substrates.

14. An assembly according to claim 13, characterized in that the sealing material comprises a material different from the first material.

15. An assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the spacer body comprises a multi-component structure which characterizes a first layer comprising an elastic insulating material, and a second layer comprising a flexible layer, substantially impermeable to gas, the first layer it faces the perimeter of the assembly and the second layer faces the inside of the assembly, and where the discontinuity extends substantially through the first layer, but not within the second layer.

16. An assembly according to claim 15, characterized in that the discontinuity comprises a V-shaped opening generally adjacent to at least one corner of the assembly, and that opens out towards the periphery of the assembly.

17. An assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the spacer body is substantially free of contact with the sealing material, except in at least one corner.