Methods and apparatus for creating an integral assembly formed from a transparent member and a housing formed at least in part of a bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy. The methods and systems create integral transparent member and amorphous metal alloy-containing parts using thermoplastic molding techniques in which the amorphous metal is molded to the transparent member in a thermoplastic, not liquid, state.

Methods and apparatus for creating an integral assembly formed from a transparent member and a housing formed at least in part of a bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy. The methods and systems create integral transparent member and amorphous metal alloy-containing parts using thermoplastic molding techniques in which the amorphous metal is molded to the transparent member in a thermoplastic, not liquid, state.

What is disclosed is a lead-free glass, which is a V.sub.2O.sub.5TeO.sub.2RO (at least one selected from the group consisting of MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO)ZnO glass and has a low softening point, comprising: 5-55 wt % of V.sub.2O.sub.5, 5-75 wt % of TeO.sub.2, 1-25 wt % of RO (at least one selected from the group consisting of MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO) in total, 0.1-6 wt % of ZnO, and 0.1-3 wt % of R.sub.2O (at least one selected from the group consisting of Li.sub.2O, Na.sub.2O, and K.sub.2O) in total. This glass can be used as a sealing material providing fluidity which is capable of being sealed at a temperature of 400? C. or less.

A stress-engineered frangible structure includes multiple discrete glass members interconnected by inter-structure bonds to form a complex structural shape. Each glass member includes strengthened (i.e., by way of stress-engineering) glass material portions that are configured to transmit propagating fracture forces throughout the glass member. Each inter-structure bond includes a bonding member (e.g., glass-frit or adhesive) connected to weaker (e.g., untreated, unstrengthened, etched, or thinner) glass member region(s) disposed on one or both interconnected glass members that function to reliably transfer propagating fracture forces from one glass member to other glass member. An optional trigger mechanism generates an initial fracture force in a first (most-upstream) glass member, and the resulting propagating fracture forces are transferred by way of inter-structure bonds to all downstream glass members. One-way crack propagation is achieved by providing a weaker member region only on the downstream side of each inter-structure bond.

A method of forming a solder composition comprises mixing indium, nickel, copper, silver, antimony, zinc, and tin together to form an alloy that consists of about 4% to about 25% by weight tin, about 0.1% to about 8% by weight antimony, about 0.03% to about 4% by weight copper. about 0.03% to about 4% by weight nickel, about 0.03% to about 1.5% by weight zinc, about 66% to about 90% by weight indium, and about 0.5% to about 9% by weight silver. The solder composition formed by this method can be used to solder an electrical connector to an electrical contact surface on a glass component.

In the case of a structural glass element with a plastic-coated glass panel and at least one assembly element attached hereon, the glass panel is coated in particular with a silicone-based elastomer across its entire surface, and the coating at the same time creates an adhesive joint with one section of the assembly element supported on the glass panel.

A vehicle window glass comprises a glass substrate layer, an electrically conductive layer forming a conductive pattern over the glass substrate, a lead-free solder layer on the conductive layer and a metal plate element of an electrical connector on the solder layer. Optionally a coloured ceramic band layer is sintered between the glass substrate layer and the conductive layer. The thickness of the metal plate element is between 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm.

A method of producing a vehicle glass assembly, includes (A) providing a connector made of metal plate and comprising a first flat portion, a second flat portion and a bridge portion connecting between the first and the second flat portions, each the flat portion having a respective surface to be soldered, (B) soldering lead-free solder onto the surfaces to form first and second blocks of lead-free solder on the surfaces of the first flat portion and the second flat portion, respectively, (C) providing a glass substrate layer on which an electrically conductive layer comprising a wire pattern and a busbar is formed, and (D) sandwiching the lead-free solder blocks between their respective surfaces and the busbar, and then melting the blocks to form solder connections between the connector and the busbar; wherein the amount of lead-free solder in each of the blocks is between 15 mg and 50 mg.

A method of producing a vehicle glass assembly, includes (A) providing a connector made of metal plate and comprising a first flat portion, a second flat portion and a bridge portion connecting between the first and the second flat portions, each the flat portion having a respective surface to be soldered, (B) soldering lead-free solder onto the surfaces to form first and second blocks of lead-free solder on the surfaces of the first flat portion and the second flat portion, respectively, (C) providing a glass substrate layer on which an electrically conductive layer comprising a wire pattern and a busbar is formed, and (D) sandwiching the lead-free solder blocks between their respective surfaces and the busbar, and then melting the blocks to form solder connections between the connector and the busbar; wherein the amount of lead-free solder in each of the blocks is between 15 mg and 50 mg.

A method for curing adhesive during assembly of glass syringes, including: dispensing adhesive onto a glass syringe; and curing the adhesive using a UV LED line array. The method may include one or both of pre-curing the adhesive using a UV LED spot and heating at least one of the glass barrel, needle and adhesive at one or more points during the method. A system for curing an adhesive during assembly of a glass syringe, the system including: a dispensing station for dispensing the adhesive onto a glass barrel and needle; a pre-curing station for pre-curing the adhesive; a curing station for curing the adhesive; and at least one infrared heater for heating at least one of the glass barrel, needle and adhesive at one or more points in the system. The glass syringe may be operated on by a subset of the stations in the system.