SPACER FOR INSULATED GLAZING

Abstract

A spacer for multipane insulated glazings, includes a polymeric main body, including two pane contact surfaces running parallel to one another, a glazing interior surface, and a base surface, wherein the pane contact surfaces and the base surface are connected to one another directly or via connecting surfaces and an insulating film, which has at least one metallic or ceramic layer and is applied on the polymeric main body, wherein the insulating film covers the base surface and the two pane contact surfaces completely and the glazing interior surface at least partially.

Claims

1. A spacer for multipane insulated glazings, comprising: a polymeric main body, comprising two pane contact surfaces running parallel to one another, a glazing interior surface, and a base surface, wherein the two pane contact surfaces and the base surface are connected to one another directly or via connecting surfaces and an insulating film, which has at least one metallic or ceramic layer and is applied on the polymeric main body, wherein the insulating film covers the base surface and the two pane contact surfaces completely and the glazing interior surface at least partially.

2. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film covers at least 80% of an area of the glazing interior surface.

3. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film completely covers the glazing interior surface.

4. The spacer according to claim 3, wherein opposite sides of the insulating film abut one another edge to edge or are arranged overlappingly.

5. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film is a metal foil or a multilayer films.

6. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the multilayer film has at least one metallic barrier layer, at least one polymeric layer, and 1, 2, or more metallic or ceramic thin layers, or has a polymeric carrier layer, at least one other polymeric layer, and at least two metallic or ceramic layers.

7. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film is opaque and/or wherein the insulating film is colored.

8. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film is bonded to the polymeric main body via an adhesive.

9. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film is provided with through-holes in a region that is applied on the glazing interior surface.

10. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric main body has at least one hollow space and is provided with openings in the glazing interior surface, or the insulating film completely covers the glazing interior surface and is provided with through-holes in the region that is applied on the glazing interior surface that are positioned at least partially above the openings to form a common opening.

11. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric main body contains recycled plastic that is recycled polypropylene, recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, and/or recycled styrene-acrylonitrile.

12. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric main body is glass fiber reinforced.

13. Insulating glazing comprising at least two panes, a spacer according to claim 1 circumferentially arranged between the at least two panes in an edge region of the at least two panes, a sealant, and an outer sealing layer, wherein a first pane of the at least two panes rests on a first pane contact surface of the two pane contact surfaces, a second pane rests on a second pane contact surface of the two pane contact surfaces, the sealant is placed between the first pane and the first pane contact surface and between the second pane and the second pane contact surface, and the outer sealing layer is placed between the first pane and the second pane in an outer edge space adjacent the insulating film.

14. Method for producing a spacer according to claim 1, comprising placing the insulating film on the polymeric main body.

15. A method comprising installing a spacer according to claim 1 in a multiple glazing.

16. The spacer according to claim 2, wherein the insulating film covers at least 98% of the area of the glazing interior surface.

17. The spacer according to claim 4, wherein opposite sides of the insulating film are arranged overlappingly.

18. The spacer according to claim 5, wherein the multilayer film has at least one polymeric layer and at least one metallic or ceramic layer.

19. The spacer according to claim 6, wherein when the multilayer film has at least one metallic barrier layer, at least one polymeric layer, and 1, 2, or more metallic or ceramic thin layers, then an outer layer is the metallic barrier layer, and when the multilayer film has a polymeric carrier layer, at least one other polymeric layer, and at least two metallic or ceramic layers, then an outer layer is the polymeric carrier layer and the at least two metallic or ceramic layers and the at least one other polymeric layer are arranged in an alternating sequence.

20. The spacer according to claim 10, wherein the insulating film does not completely cover the glazing interior surface such that the openings are not covered by the insulating film.

Description

[0057] In the following, the invention is explained in greater detail with reference to exemplary embodiments. The drawings are purely schematic representations and not to scale. They in no way restrict the invention. They depict:

[0058] FIG. 1 a cross-section of a prior art spacer,

[0059] FIG. 2 a cross-section of a spacer according to the invention,

[0060] FIG. 3 a cross-section of another spacer according to the invention,

[0061] FIG. 4 a cross-section of the spacer according to the invention of FIG. 2 with further details,

[0062] FIG. 5 a plan view of the glazing interior surface of a spacer according to the invention provided with insulating film,

[0063] FIG. 6 a plan view of the glazing interior surface of another spacer according to the invention provided with insulating film,

[0064] FIG. 7 a cross-section of a suitable insulating film,

[0065] FIG. 8 a cross-section of another suitable insulating film,

[0066] FIG. 9 a cross-section of another suitable insulating film,

[0067] FIG. 10 a cross-section of another suitable insulating film, and

[0068] FIG. 11 a cross-section of an insulating glazing according to the invention.

[0069] FIG. 1 depicts a cross-section of a prior art spacer 1. The glass fiber reinforced polymeric main body 2 comprises two pane contact surfaces 3.1 and 3.2 running parallel to one another. The pane contact surfaces 3.1 and 3.2 are connected via a base surface 5 and a glazing interior surface 4. Two angled connecting surfaces 6.1 and 6.2 are preferably arranged between the base surface 5 and the pane contact surfaces 3.1 and 3.2. The connecting surfaces 6.1, 6.2 preferably run at an angle α (alpha) of 30° to 60° relative to the base surface 5. The glass fiber reinforced polymeric main body 2 preferably contains styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) and approx. 35 wt.-% of glass fiber. The main body has a hollow space 8. Furthermore, the glazing interior surface 4 is provided with openings 7. The wall thickness of the polymeric main body 2 is, for example, 1 mm. The width b (see FIG. 4) of the main body 2 along the glazing interior surface 4 is, for example, 12 mm. The total height g (see FIG. 4) of the polymeric main body is, for example, 6.5 mm. Applied on the base surface 5 and on a part of the pane contact surfaces 3.1, 3.2 approx. up to half the height h of the pane contact surface is an insulating film 10, which can, for example, be one of the insulating films depicted in FIG. 7 to 10. The insulating film is bonded to the main body with an adhesive (not shown). On the pane contact surfaces, there is a transition region, in which the pane contact surfaces of the main body are not provided with insulating film.

[0070] The entire spacer has thermal conductivity of less than 10 W/(m K) and gas permeation of less than 0.001 g/(m.sup.2 h).

[0071] FIG. 2 depicts a cross-section of a spacer 1 according to the invention. The data concerning the spacer of FIG. 1 apply mutatis mutandis, unless otherwise indicated in the following. The spacer according to the invention of FIG. 2 differs from the prior art spacer of FIG. 1 in particular in that the insulating film 10 completely covers the base surface 5, the two pane contact surfaces 3.1, 3.2, and the glazing interior surface 4. The opposite sides of the insulating film 10 are arranged overlappingly in the central region on the glazing interior surface 4, resulting in an overlapping region 22.

[0072] The main body 2 is covered by the insulating film 10 such that the appearance of the spacer is determined by the insulating film. The insulating film can be colored and opaque. Consequently, even a main body made of a recycled plastic can be used, since the inhomogeneous appearance of the main body resulting from recycled plastic is irrelevant. For example, a main body made of recycled polypropylene, recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, or recycled styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) can be used. The main body containing recycled plastic is preferably glass fiber reinforced.

[0073] FIG. 3 depicts a cross-section of another spacer 1 according to the invention. The spacer corresponds to the spacer of FIG. 2 according to the invention, except for the fact that the overlapping region 22 is implemented in the central region on the base surface 5.

[0074] FIG. 4 depicts a cross-section of the spacer of FIG. 2 according to the invention with further details. Depicted here is the fact that the insulating film 10 is attached via an adhesive 11, in this case a polyurethane hot-melt adhesive. The polyurethane hot-melt adhesive bonds the insulating film particularly well to the polymeric main body 2, e.g., when an insulating film per FIG. 7 to 9 is used and is bonded to the main body with the metallic barrier layer 12. The polyurethane hot-melt adhesive is preferably a non-gassing adhesive in order to avoid gases defusing into the glazing interior 19 and causing visible precipitates to form there. The width bÜ of the overlapping region 22 is, for example, greater than 0 to 5 mm.

[0075] FIG. 5 depicts a plan view of the glazing interior surface (not visible) provided with insulating film 10 of a spacer according to the invention analogous to FIG. 3. In the variant depicted, the insulating film 10 is provided with through-holes 21 in the central region on the glazing interior surface. The through-holes 21 are in each case positioned above the openings in the glazing interior surface such that a common opening is formed, which, in the installed state, forms a connection between the hollow space of the main body and the glazing interior space of the insulating glazing which serves for gas exchange.

[0076] FIG. 6 depicts a plan view of the glazing interior surface (not visible) provided with insulating film 10 of a spacer according to the invention analogous to FIG. 2. In the variant depicted, the insulating film 10 is provided with-through-holes 21 in the overlapping region 22 in the central region on the glazing interior surface. The through-holes 21 are in each case positioned above the openings in the glazing interior surface such that a common opening is formed, which, in the installed state, forms a connection between the hollow space of the main body and the glazing interior space of the insulating glazing, which serves for gas exchange.

[0077] FIG. 7 depicts a cross-section of an insulating film 10 that is suitable for the spacer according to the invention. The insulating film 10 is a multilayer film and comprises a metallic barrier layer 12 made of 6-μm-thick aluminum, a polymeric layer 13 made of 12-μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and a metallic thin layer 14 made of 10-nm-thick aluminum. The film layers are arranged such that the aluminum layers, i.e., the metallic barrier layer 12 and the metallic thin layer 14 are on the outside. The film is preferably arranged on a polymeric main body according to the invention such that the metallic barrier layer 12 faces the base surface 5. Then, the metallic thin layer 14 faces outward and acts at the same time as an adhesive layer relative to the material of the sealant 18 and the outer sealing layer 17.

[0078] FIG. 8 depicts a cross-section of an alternative embodiment of an insulating film 10 that is suitable for the spacer according to the invention. The materials and thicknesses are as described in FIG. 7; however, the order of the individual layers differs. The metallic thin layer 14 lies between the metallic barrier layer 12 and the polymeric layer 13. In this arrangement, the polymeric layer 13 protects the metallic barrier layer 12 against damage.

[0079] FIG. 9 depicts a cross-section of another embodiment of an insulating film 10 that is suitable for the spacer according to the invention. The structure of the insulating film 10 is essentially as described in FIG. 8. In addition, a further metallic thin layer 14 is arranged adjacent the polymeric layer 13. This thin layer 14 improves the adhesion to the material of the sealant 18 and the outer sealing layer 17 in the finished insulating glazing.

[0080] FIG. 10 depicts a cross-section of another insulating film 10 that is suitable for the spacer according to the invention. The insulating film 10 is a multilayer film and comprises a polymeric carrier layer (13, lowest layer) with a thickness of 12 μm made of LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene), 3 more polymeric layers (13) made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) with a thickness of 12 μm and 3 metallic layers (14) made of aluminum, each with a thickness of 50 nm. The metallic layers (14) and the polymeric layers (13) are applied alternatingly to the polymeric carrier layer.

[0081] FIG. 11 depicts a cross-section of the insulating glazing according to the invention with the spacer 1 according to the invention analogous to FIG. 2 or FIG. 6. Arranged between a first glass pane 15 and a second glass pane 16 is the glass fiber reinforced polymeric main body 2 with the insulating film 10 bonded with an adhesive 11 secured thereon. The insulating film 10 completely covers the base surface 5, the connecting surfaces 6.1, 6.2, the pane contact surfaces 3.1, 3.2, and the glazing interior surface 5. The opposite ends of the insulating film overlap on the glazing interior surface 5.

[0082] The first pane 15, the second pane 16, and the insulating film 10 delimit the outer edge space 20 of the glazing, which is filled with the outer sealing layer 17, which contains, for example, polysulfide. Together with the outer sealing layer 17, the insulating film 10 insulates the glazing interior space 19 formed between the panes and the spacer and reduces the heat transfer from the glass fiber reinforced polymeric main body 2 into the glazing interior space 19. The insulating film can be secured on the polymeric main body 2 with PUR hot-melt adhesive, for example.

[0083] In the region of the pane contact surfaces 3.1, 3.2, a sealant 18 is arranged between the insulating film 10 and the glass panes 15, 16, e.g., a sealant based on polyisobutylene. The sealant 18 is in contact with the insulating film such that possible interfacial diffusion is prevented. Relative to the spacer, the sealant 18 is in contact only with the insulating film. A transition area that is customary with conventional spacers, in which the sealant is in direct contact with the side contact surface of the spacer, is avoided. Compared to prior art spacers, this results in greater process reliability during processing and significantly improves the tightness of the spacer against moisture and gas diffusion.

[0084] The polymeric main body 2 has a central hollow space 8, into which a desiccant 9 is introduced, e.g., molecular sieves. The glazing interior surface 4 includes relatively small openings 7 or pores that enable a gas exchange with the glazing interior space 19. For this purpose, the insulating film is provided with through-holes 21 in the overlapping region, which are positioned above the openings 7, resulting in a common passage.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0085] (1) spacer [0086] (2) polymeric main body [0087] (3.1) first pane contact surface [0088] (3.2) second pane contact surface [0089] (4) glazing interior surface [0090] (5) base surface [0091] (6.1) first connecting surface [0092] (6.2) second connecting surface [0093] (7) openings [0094] (8) hollow space [0095] (9) desiccant [0096] (10) insulating film [0097] (11) adhesive [0098] (12) metallic barrier layer [0099] (13) polymeric layer or carrier layer [0100] (14) metallic or ceramic layer or thin layer [0101] (15) first pane [0102] (16) second pane [0103] (17) outer sealing layer [0104] (18) sealant [0105] (19) glazing interior space [0106] (20) outer edge space of the insulating glazing [0107] (21) through-hole of the insulating film [0108] (22) overlapping region of the insulating film [0109] h height of the pane contact surfaces [0110] b width of the polymeric main body along the glazing interior surface [0111] g total height of the main body along the pane contact surfaces [0112] bÜ width of the overlapping region