A glass panel unit assembly includes a pair of glass substrates arranged to face each other, a peripheral wall, a partition, an air passage, and an evacuation port. The peripheral wall has a frame shape and is provided between the pair of glass substrates. The partition partitions an internal space, surrounded with the pair of glass substrates and the peripheral wall, into a first space and a second space. The air passage connects the first space and the second space together. The evacuation port connects the second space to an external environment. The partition has a broader width than the peripheral wall.

Vacuum insulating glass (VIG) units, edge seals for VIG units and methods for forming the edge seals are provided. The VIG units include an edge seal that includes a viscous material, which serves to restrict the rate at which gas permeates into a vacuum space defined between the glass sheets of the VIG unit. The edge seals are configured to allow the glass sheets to move laterally relative to one another when the glass sheets experience differential thermal strain and further configured such that viscous shear occurs within at least a portion of the viscous material when there is relative lateral movement between the glass sheets.

The present invention discloses a vacuum plate and a method for manufacturing it. The vacuum plate comprises at least two layers of plate, a plurality of support structures with different heights, and an organic film. The plates in adjacent layers are separated by a plurality of the support structures with different heights, peripheries of the at least two layers of plate are connected and sealed via a sealing mixture; and the peripheries of the at least two layers of plate and the outside of the sealing mixture are covered with the organic film. According to surface undulation of the plate, the supporting structures with corresponding heights are arranged on corresponding positions between the layers of plate, and the heights of the support structures match with the spacings at corresponding positions in the vacuum plate, so that each support structure can be clamped by the upper and the lower plate layers, and effectively plays a supporting role, thereby reducing the security risk from damage of the vacuum plate.

A manufacturing method of a glass panel for a glass panel unit includes a melting step, a spreading step, an annealing step, a cutting step, and a spacer disposition step. The spacer disposition step is a step of disposing spacers onto a glass sheet and is performed by a spacer disposition device prior to the cutting step.

The spacer member being disposed at each of support points set at predetermined intervals on opposing faces of a pair of glass sheets opposing to each other when a gap formed between the pair of glass sheets is maintained under a depressurized state, wherein the spacer member includes: at least one contacting member having a first planar part on one side and a second planar part on the other side coming into contact with the respective opposing faces of the glass sheets, and a projecting piece extending integrally from the contacting member, and on the assumption that an imaginary column that circumscribes the spacer member with its height direction being vertical to the first planar part is provided, the total area of the first planar part or the total area of the second planar part is equal to or smaller than one half of a circular cross section of the column.

The glass panel unit includes a first glass panel, a second glass panel, a seal, an evacuated space, and a spacer. The second glass panel is placed opposite the first glass panel. The seal with a frame shape hermetically bonds the first glass panel and the second glass panel to each other. The evacuated space is enclosed by the first glass panel, the second glass panel, and the seal. The spacer is placed between the first glass panel and the second glass panel. The spacer includes a stack of two or more films including at least one resin film.

The glass panel unit includes a first glass panel, a second glass panel, a seal, an evacuated space, and a spacer. The second glass panel is placed opposite the first glass panel. The seal with a frame shape hermetically bonds the first glass panel and the second glass panel to each other. The evacuated space is enclosed by the first glass panel, the second glass panel, and the seal. The spacer is placed between the first glass panel and the second glass panel. The spacer contains polyimide represented by chemical formula (1):

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The present disclosure relates to a method of providing an edge sealing in the process of providing a vacuum insulated glass (VIG) unit. A first glass sheet (1a) and a second glass sheet (1b) is provided. A glass frit powder material (5) is heated to a softening temperature (T.sub.frit-powder) to soften the glass frit powder material, and the heated, softened glass frit powder material (5) is applied at the first glass sheet (1a) and/or the second glass sheet (1b). The first glass sheet (1a) and the second glass sheet (1b) are paired before or after applying the heated, softened glass frit powder material. The applied glass frit powder material is re-heated by use of at least one heat source (28, 26), the gap between the paired glass sheets is evacuated in a vacuum chamber (22) and the gap between the paired glass sheets is sealed to provide the VIG unit.

A pillar mounting method includes an accommodation step, a mounting step, and a displacement step. The accommodation step is a step of accommodating a plurality of pillars in storage with the plurality of pillars being stacked on each other. The mounting step is a step of pushing one pillar of the plurality of pillars accommodated in the storage out of the storage and mounting the one pillar on a substrate including a glass pane. The displacement step is a step of changing a relative location between the substrate and the storage. The mounting step and the displacement step are alternately repeated to mount the plurality of pillars in a predetermined arrangement on the substrate such that the plurality of pillars are apart from each other.

A glass unit according to the present invention includes a first glass plate having a through hole formed therein, a second glass plate that is arranged facing the first glass plate at a predetermined interval therefrom and forms an internal space with the first glass plate, a sealing member that seals a gap at peripheral edges of the first glass plate and the second glass plate, a cover that closes the through hole, and an adhesive that fixes the cover to the first glass plate. The internal space has been depressurized to a vacuum state, or a predetermined gas has been injected into the internal space, and the first glass plate and the cover are fixed by the adhesive.