Spacer for triple-insulated glazing units

Abstract

A spacer for insulated glazing units having at least one polymeric main body with a wall thickness d having a first pane contact surface and a second pane contact surface running parallel thereto, one first glazing interior surface, one second glazing interior surface, one outer surface, one first hollow chamber, and one second hollow chamber. A groove for receiving a pane runs parallel to the first pane contact surface and the second pane contact surface between the first glazing interior surface and the second glazing interior surface. The first hollow chamber adjoins the first glazing interior surface and the second hollow chamber adjoins the second glazing interior surface. The lateral flanks of the groove are formed by the walls of the first hollow chamber and the second hollow chamber, and the wall thickness d′ in the region of the lateral flanks is less than the wall thickness d of the polymeric main body.

Claims

1. A spacer for insulated glazing units, the spacer comprising at least one polymeric main body comprising a first pane contact surface and a second pane contact surface running parallel thereto, a first glazing interior surface, a second glazing interior surface, an outer surface, a first hollow chamber, and a second hollow chamber, wherein a groove configured for receiving a pane runs parallel to the first pane contact surface and the second pane contact surface between the first glazing interior surface and the second glazing interior surface, the first hollow chamber adjoins the first glazing interior surface and the second hollow chamber adjoins the second glazing interior surface, lateral flanks of the groove are formed by walls of the first hollow chamber and the second hollow chamber, a wall thickness d′ of the lateral flanks is less than 85% of a wall thickness d of all other portions of the polymeric main body; and the lateral flanks of the groove are flexible, such that the groove is configured to affix the pane without adhesive bonding.

2. The spacer for insulated glazing units according to claim 1, wherein the lateral flanks of the groove include an insert.

3. The spacer according to claim 2, wherein the insert comprises an elastomer.

4. The spacer according to claim 3, wherein the elastomer comprises ethylene propylene diene rubber.

5. A method of using the spacer according to claim 1 in multipane glazing units.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the multipane glazing units are insulated glazing units.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the insulated glazing units are triple insulated glazing units.

8. The spacer for insulated glazing units according to claim 1, wherein for the wall thickness d′ in the region of the lateral flanks d′ is <0.7 d.

9. The spacer according to claim 8, wherein d′ is <0.5 d.

10. The spacer for insulated glazing units according to claim 1, wherein an insulating foil is applied on the outer surface of the polymeric main body, the insulating foil comprises at least one polymeric layer as well as at least one metallic or ceramic layer which is alternatingly arranged with the at least one polymeric layer.

11. The spacer according to claim 10, wherein the at least one metallic or ceramic layer comprises at least two metallic or ceramic layers.

12. The spacer for insulated glazing units according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric main body contains a desiccant.

13. The spacer according to claim 12, wherein the desiccant is silica gels, molecular sieves, CaCl2, Na2SO4, activated carbon, silicates, bentonites, zeolites, or mixtures thereof.

14. The spacer for insulated glazing units according to claim 1, wherein the first glazing interior surface or the second glazing interior surface has at least one opening that connects the corresponding first or second hollow to an interpane space.

15. The spacer according to claim 14, wherein the at least one opening is a plurality of openings.

16. An insulated glazing unit comprising at least one first pane, one second pane, and one third pane, and one peripheral spacer surrounding the panes, the peripheral spacer being the spacer according to claim 1, wherein the first pane contacts the first pane contact surface, the second pane contacts the second pane contact surface, and the third pane is inserted into the groove of the spacer.

17. The insulated glazing unit according to claim 16, wherein a gasket is mounted between the first pane and the first pane contact surface or the second pane and the second pane contact surface.

18. The insulated glazing unit according to claim 17, wherein the gasket comprises a polymer.

19. The insulated glazing unit according to claim 18, wherein the polymer is a silane-modified polymer.

20. The insulated glazing unit according to claim 17, wherein the gasket comprises organic polysulfides, silicones, room temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber, high temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber, peroxide vulcanizing silicone rubber, addition vulcanizing silicone rubber, polyurethanes, butyl rubber, polyacrylates, or a combination thereof.

21. The insulated glazing unit according to claim 16, wherein the first pane, the second pane, or the third pane contain glass or polymers or a combination of glass and polymers.

22. The insulated glass unit according to claim 21, wherein the glass or polymers or a combination of glass and polymers comprises quartz glass, borosilicate glass, soda lime glass, polymethyl methacrylate, or mixtures thereof.

23. The spacer for insulated glazing units according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric main body contains polyethylene, polycarbonates, polypropylene, polystyrene, polybutadiene, polynitriles, polyesters, polyurethanes, polymethyl methacrylates, polyacrylates, polyamides, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, preferably acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, acrylonitrile styrene acrylester, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polycarbonate, styrene acrylonitrile, PET/PC, PBT/PC, or copolymers or mixtures thereof.

24. A method for producing an insulated glazing unit comprising at least one first pane, one second pane, and one third pane, and one peripheral spacer surrounding the panes, the peripheral spacer comprising at least one polymeric main body comprising a first pane contact surface and a second pane contact surface running parallel thereto, a first glazing interior surface, a second glazing interior surface, an outer surface, a first hollow chamber, and a second hollow chamber, wherein a groove configured for receiving a pane runs parallel to the first pane contact surface and the second pane contact surface between the first glazing interior surface and the second glazing interior surface, the first hollow chamber adjoins the first glazing interior surface and the second hollow chamber adjoins the second glazing interior surface, lateral flanks of the groove are formed by walls of the first hollow chamber and the second hollow chamber, and a wall thickness d′ in the region of the lateral flanks is less than 85% of a wall thickness d of all other portions of the polymeric main body; wherein the first pane contacts the first pane contact surface, the second pane contacts the second pane contact surface, and the third pane is inserted into the groove of the spacer, wherein at least the third pane is inserted into the groove of the spacer, the first pane is abutted against the first pane contact surface of the spacer, the second pane is abutted against the second pane contact surface of the spacer, and the pane arrangement of the panes and the spacer is pressed together.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein, first, the spacer is preformed into a rectangle open on one side, the third pane is pushed into the groove of the spacer, and the remaining edge of the pane is closed with a spacer.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the interpane spaces between the first pane and the third pane as well as between the second pane and the third pane are filled with a protective gas.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the following, the invention is explained in detail with reference to drawings. The drawings are purely schematic and not true to scale. They in no way restrict the invention. They depict:

(2) FIG. 1 one possible embodiment of the spacer according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 a cross-section of the insulated glazing unit according to the invention, and

(4) FIG. 3 a flowchart of one possible embodiment of the method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIG. 1 depicts a cross-section of the spacer according to the invention (I). The glass-fiber-reinforced polymeric main body (1) comprises one first pane contact surface (2.1), one second pane contact surface (2.2) running parallel thereto, one first glazing interior surface (3.1), one second glazing interior surface (3.2), and one outer surface (4). Between the outer surface (4) and the first glazing interior surface (3.1) is situated a first hollow chamber (5.1), while a second hollow chamber (5.2) is arranged between the outer surface and the second glazing interior surface (3.2). Between the two hollow chambers (5.1, 5.2) is situated a groove (6), which runs parallel to the pane contact surfaces (2.1, 2.2). The lateral flanks (7) of the groove (6) are formed by the walls of the two hollow chambers (5.1, 5.2), while the bottom surface of the groove (6) directly adjoins the outer surface (4). Thus, a maximum depth of the groove (6) is obtained. The lateral flanks (7) of the groove (6) are inclined inward in the direction of a pane to be received in the groove (6) pane. This creates, at the level of the glazing interior surfaces (3.1, 3.2), a tapering of the groove (6), which favors the fixing of the pane in the groove (6). The wall thickness d of the polymeric main body is 1 mm, while the reduced wall thickness d′ in the region of the lateral flanks is 0.8 mm. The outer surface (4) runs largely perpendicular to the pane contact surfaces (2.1, 2.2) and parallel to the glazing interior surfaces (3.1, 3.2). The sections of the outer surface (4) nearest the pane contact surfaces (2.1, 2.2) are, however, inclined at an angle of preferably 30° to 60° relative to the outer surface (4) in the direction of the pane contact surfaces (2.1, 2.2). This angled geometry improves the stability of the polymeric main body (1) and enables better adhesion of the spacer according to the invention (I) to an insulating foil. The polymeric main body (1) contains styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) with roughly 35 wt.-% glass fibers. The glazing interior surfaces (3.1, 3.2) have, at regular intervals, openings (8), which connect the hollow chambers (5.1, 5.2) to the airspace located above the glazing interior surfaces (3.1, 3.2). The spacer (I) has a height of 6.5 mm and a total width of 34 mm. The groove (6) has a depth of 3 mm, while the first glazing interior surface (3.1) is 16 mm wide and the second glazing interior surface (3.2) is 16 mm wide. The total width of the spacer (I) is the sum of the widths of the glazing interior surfaces (3.1, 3.2) and the thickness of the third pane (15) with insert (9) to be inserted into the groove (6).

(6) FIG. 2 depicts a cross-section of the insulated glazing unit according to the invention with a spacer (I) of FIG. 1. The first pane (13) of the triple-insulated glazing unit is connected to the first pane contact surface (2.1) of the spacer (I) via a gasket (10), while the second pane (14) is connected to the second pane contact surface (2.2) via a gasket (10). The gasket (10) is made of butyl rubber. A third pane (15) is inserted via an insert (9) into the groove (6) of the spacer. The insert (9) surrounds the edge of the third pane (15) and fits flush into the groove (6). The insert (9) is made of ethylene propylene diene rubber. The insert (9) fixes the third pane (15) stress-free and compensates thermal expansion of the pane. Moreover, the insert (9) prevents development of noise due to slipping of the third pane (15). The intermediate space between the first pane (13) and the third pane (15) is defined as the first interpane space (17.1) and the space between the third pane (15) and the second pane (14) is defined as the second interpane space (17.2). The first glazing interior surface (3.1) of the spacer (I) is in the first interpane space (17.1), while the second glazing interior surface (3.2) is arranged in the second interpane space (17.2). Via the openings (8) in the glazing interior surfaces (3.1, 3.2), the interpane spaces (17.1, 17.2) are connected to the respective hollow chamber (5.1, 5.2) lying therebelow. A desiccant (11) made of a molecular sieve is situated in the hollow chambers. Via the openings (8), a gas exchange takes place between the hollow chambers (5.1, 5.2) and the interpane spaces (17.1, 17.2), by means of which the desiccant (11) withdraws the atmospheric moisture from the interpane spaces (17.1, 17.2). On the outer surface (4) of the spacer (I), an insulating foil (12) is applied, which reduces the heat transfer through the polymeric main body (1) into the interpane spaces (17). The insulating foil (12) can, for example, be affixed on the polymeric main body (1) with a polyurethane melt adhesive. The insulating foil (12) comprises four polymeric layers made of polyethylene terephthalate with a thickness of 12 μm and three metallic layers made of aluminum with a thickness of 50 nm. The metallic layers and the polymeric layers are each mounted alternatingly, with the two outer layers being formed by polymeric layers. The first pane (13) and the second pane (14) protrude beyond the spacer (I) such that a circumferential edge region is created, which is filled with an external insulation (16). This external insulation (16) is formed from an organic polysulfide. The first pane (13) and the second pane (14) are made of soda lime glass with a thickness of 3 mm, while the third pane (15) is formed from soda lime glass with a thickness of 2 mm.

(7) FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of one possible embodiment of the method according to the invention. First, the third pane (15) is prepared and washed. Optionally, an insert (9) is then applied on the edges of the third pane (15). The third pane (15) is now pushed into the groove (6) of the spacer according to the invention (I). Three spacers (I) can, for example, be preformed into a rectangle open on one side, with the third pane (15) pushed into the groove (6) via the open side. Then, the fourth edge of the panes is closed by a spacer (I). The corners of the spacers are either welded or linked to each other by corner connectors. The first three process steps serve for the preparation of the third pane (15) with a spacer (I) according to the invention. Such a preassembled component can then be further processed in a conventional double glazing system. In the double glazing system, the assembly of the first pane (13) and the second pane (14) against the pane contact surfaces (2.1, 2.2) is done via a gasket (10) in each case. Optionally, a protective gas can be introduced into the interpane spaces (17.1, 17.2). In a last step, the insulated glazing unit is pressed together.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

(8) I spacer 1 polymeric main body 2 pane contact surfaces 2.1 first pane contact surface 2.2 second pane contact surface 3 glazing interior surfaces 3.1 first glazing interior surface 3.2 second glazing interior surface 4 outer surface 5 hollow chambers 5.1 first hollow chamber 5.2 second hollow chamber 6 groove 7 lateral flanks 8 openings 9 insert 10 gasket 11 desiccant 12 insulating foil 13 first pane 14 second pane 15 third pane 16 external insulation 17 interpane spaces 17.1 first interpane space 17.2 second interpane space