A high speed parallel manufacturing line for manufacturing insulated glass units, the manufacturing line including a gas filling topping press that mates a spacer applied lite supplied to the topping press and a topping lite supplied to the topping press to create an insulated glass unit and fills the insulated glass unit with a non-air gas. A heating station applies localized heat to adhesive of the spacer material. A sealing press applies pressure to the insulated glass unit and facilitates further sealing of the spacer material to the spacer applied lite and the topping lite. The line may include a fourth corner sealer that completes sealing of the airspace of the IGU prior to finishing of the IGU.

When being sealed, insulating glass blanks (5) are held in a sealing station (2) gripped at the base by grippers (17) of a gripper arrangement (16) and/or by suction heads (15) and rest at the top against a roller beam (7) fitted with rollers (8). As the insulating glass blank (5) is sealed, only the nozzle (11) of a sealing assembly (10) moves along the outer edge of the insulating glass blank (5), which is stationary during the sealing process. When the lower edge of an insulating glass blank (5) is sealed, grippers (17) engaging the lower edge are released and move away downwards. Sealed insulating glass is removed from the sealing station (2) by a removal robot (24) onto the side opposite the sealing assembly (10), moved to a temporary store and placed therein on A-bearing supports (29) and fan frames (30) sorted according to production lots.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of bent glazed modules comprising a metal framework and a panel comprising a laminated glazing comprising glass substrates separated by an interlayer made of polymer material, the panel being bent, after the laminated glazing has been assembled, by a force which causes it to take the shape of the metal framework and then held in this shape by a holding means, the bending being carried out while the interlayer is at a temperature between 30 and 80 C. The invention reduces the loads necessary for the bending and also the shear stresses between the interlayer made of polymer material and the glass substrates, which reduces the risks of delamination.

This invention describes a process flow and method to assemble triple IG units without contaminating the center glass lite. A non-contact vacuum pad is used to lift a glass lite off from a horizontal or vertical support that conveys it from a glass washer to an assembly station. Each of multiple pads has a capacity to lift approximately seven to ten pounds. Use of multiple pads per glass sheet or lite allows lites having dimensions up to 70 by 100 inches (assuming glass thickness of one quarter inch) to be assembled.

A multiple pane insulated glazing unit for a fenestration unit includes a first outer pane including a first thickness defined between a first outer surface and a first inner surface. A first spacer is coupled to the first inner surface. A second outer pane has a second thickness defined between a second outer surface and a second inner surface. A spacer is coupled to the second inner surface, and an intermediate pane is coupled to at least one of the first spacer and the spacer. The intermediate pane has a third thickness defined between a third inner surface and a fourth inner surface that is less than the first thickness and the second thickness. The third thickness is between about 0.2 millimeters (mm) to about 1.2 millimeters (mm), and the first outer pane, the second outer pane and the intermediate pane are composed of boron-free soda lime silicate glass.

An apparatus for sealing an insulating glass unit includes a frame for supporting first and second clamping arrangements. The clamping arrangements support the insulating glass unit during a sealing operation. First and second dispensing assemblies are connected to the frame and movable relative to the frame. Each first and second dispensing assembly includes a nozzle for controlled dispensing of a sealant along a prescribed portion of the supported insulating glass unit during the sealing operation.

Provided is a vacuum insulation glass panel assembly manufacturing method and apparatus. The vacuum insulation glass panel assembly manufacturing method includes an edge sealing step of sealing an edge of a glass panel assembly of glass panels spaced apart at a predetermined interval, and an exhaust port sealing step of causing a lid member to seal an exhaust port of the glass panel assembly formed so as to communicate with a space between the glass panels whose edges are sealed. A glass solder having a high melting point is used in the edge sealing step, and a glass solder having a low melting point is used in the exhaust port sealing step. A specially designed lid member closing device is used for exhaust port sealing.

The invention relates to a glazed module comprising a metal framework and an insulating glazing comprising a water-tight barrier, said insulating glazing being cold-bent, the metal framework and the insulating glazing being rendered integral by a holding means which forces the insulating glazing to retain the bent shape conferred on it by the framework. The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of the glazed module comprising a metal framework and an insulating glazing, the insulating glazing being cold-bent, after it has been assembled with a water-tight barrier, by a force which causes it to take the shape of the metal framework and then held in this bent shape by a holding means.

This invention describes a process flow and method to assemble triple IG units without contaminating the center glass lite. A non-contact vacuum pad is used to lift a glass lite off from a horizontal or vertical support that conveys it from a glass washer to an assembly station. Each of multiple pads has a capacity to lift approximately seven to ten pounds. Use of multiple pads per glass sheet or lite allows lites having dimensions up to 70 by 100 inches (assuming glass thickness of one quarter inch) to be assembled.

An automatic device and an automatic method for filling with gas other than air the insulating glazing unit composed of at least two glass panes and at least one spacer frame. The device comprises mechanisms for flattening the glass panes when they are not sufficiently flat, for example in the case of laminated or tempered panes. This allows to perform in an optimum manner the filling with gas and to process insulating glazing units with special spacer frames.