Patent Application
20110027606
Spacers for insulating glass panes generally comprise hollow profile rods that are made of aluminum or stainless steel containing a pourable desiccant, typically molecular sieves. The aim of the desiccant is to bind moisture present in the insulating glass pane, so that the dew point is always met in the insulating glass pane at the temperatures that occur. Metallic spacers are today generally bent in one piece from a hollow profile rod, into which the desiccant has already been filled. Prior to bending a corner, the inside wall is notched, so that the corner forms precisely at the intended site and has a defined appearance. The inside wall shall be understood as the wall of the spacer facing the inside of the insulating glass pane. The all of the hollow profile rod located opposite of the inside wall is referred to as the outside wall or base. The two walls connecting the inside wall and outside wall to each other and facing the individual glass plates inside the insulating glass pane are referred to as the flanks; they typically run predominantly parallel to each other because they have to be glued to the glass plates. At the flanks, during bending the hollow profile rod tends to arch outward and/or form outwardly protruding pleats. In an effort to prevent this, the hollow profile rods are clamped at the flanks between jaws, which force the hollow profile rods not to widen in a corner during bending, see EP 1 281 451 A1.
After bending, the two mutually opposing ends of the hollow profile rod are joined by way of a connector and a closed frame is formed thereby. The hollow profile rods to be bent are generally connected consecutively to each other by straight connectors. The spacers may therefore also comprise a plurality of straight connectors. Such frame-shaped metallic spacers are characterized by good mechanical stability. However, they have the disadvantage that the production thereof is complex.
Furthermore, spacer frames are known that are made of metallic U-profiles, thermoplastic solid profiles, which are extruded directly onto a glass plate, and plastic hollow profiles, which like the spacers made of metallic hollow profile rods can be filled with a granular, pourable desiccant.
Spacers made of plastic hollow profiles have only low thermal conductivity, so that they impair the heat transfer between the individual glass plates of the insulating glass pane in the desirable manner. The disadvantage, however, is that hollow profile rods made of plastic cannot be bent to form squared frames, when they have the hardness and strength required for the use as spacers in insulating glass panes. This applies in particular to hollow profile rods made of glass fiber reinforced plastic. One might consider to form spacer frames from plastic hollow profiles in that straight hollow profile sections, which form the sides of the frame-shaped spacers, are connected to each other by inserting angle pieces made of metal into the corners of the hollow profile sections, where they engage with barbs. This technology known from earlier times for the production of metallic spacers, however, is labor-intensive and results in spacer frames which as a result of a lack of rigidity are overall unstable in the corner region and cannot be easily handled and glued to a glass plate with the necessary precision. In addition, spacer frames comprising such inserted corners are unfavorable in light of the fact that insulating glass panes must be hermetically sealed at the edge thereof to prevent the penetration of moisture.
It is furthermore known to form spacers from metallic hollow rod profiles by connecting individual hollow profile rods at the corners of the spacers by angle pieces, which have two sides that are connected by a hinge and can be latched to each other in a position in which the sides include a right angle with each other. For this purpose, the individual hollow profile rods are first connected to each other in a straight line, provided at the flanks thereof continuously with an adhesive sealant, and then formed into a frame by pivoting the hollow profile rods about the hinge of the respective angle piece, said frame being close by a linear connector that is inserted in the corners of the hollow profile rod. Such a configuration of the corners results in unstable spacers having the disadvantages described above.
In order to produce spacers from plastic hollow profile rods in one piece, it is already known from EP 0 947 659 A2 and EP 1 030 024 A2 to disengage the hollow profile rods at the sites where corners are to be formed by producing V-shaped notches, the tips of which extend to the wall of the hollow profile strip located on the outside in the finished spacer. So as to shape a frame, only the outside wall of the hollow profile rod is bent at the disengaged sites thereof. While in this way spacers are obtained, which also have a closed outside wall at the corners, the frame is an unstable structure and requires stabilization because the sides of the spacer at the corners only adhere to each other by the outside wall thereof. For this purpose, it is known from EP 0 947 659 A2 and EP 1 030 024 A2 to mold a thermoplastic resin in the corner regions of the spacer frame through an open in one of the flanks thereof, wherein the resin bridges the corners and lends the spacer the necessary stability after the plastic has cooled and cured. The disadvantage is that it takes comparatively long until the plastic has cooled off and solidified. In order to shorten the time, it is known from EP 1 030 024 A2 to transfer the spacer during production, after injecting the plastic, in a special curing zone, while maintaining the angle of the bent corner. This method is time-intensive and costly.
In contrast, significant progress was provided by WO 2006/077096 A1, which discloses a spacer for insulating glass panes which is produced from a hollow profile rod made of plastic by providing it at the sites intended for the corners with a recess, which opens the inside wall and the two flanks of the hollow profile wall, but leaves the outside wall intact. In order to stabilize the corners, angle pieces are used, which have two sides connected by a hinge and can be transferred from a rectilinear shape into an angled shape, in which they can be fixed relative to each other. Such an angle piece is initially positioned in a rectilinear fashion in the region of the respective corner that is to be formed. The corner is then formed by bending the hollow profile rod and it is stabilized by the sides of the angle piece that latch to each other in the specified angular position. It is furthermore known from WO 2006/007096 A1 to apply an adhesive sealant and a desiccant-containing compound to the hollow profile rod, which is still in the rectilinear state and in which the angular pieces, which are still in the rectilinear state, have already been inserted, then to form the corners in the hollow profile rod, and to glue the corners of the hollow profile rod to each other.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a possibility for producing a frame-shaped spacer having bent corners for insulating glass pane from metallic hollow profile rods with lower complexity than in the past.
This object is achieved by a method having the characteristics of claim 1. A frame-shaped spacer that is produced according to this method is the subject matter of claim 57. An insulating glass pane comprising such a spacer is the subject matter of claim 60. Advantageous refinements of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
The invention has considerable advantages:
In principle, the hollow profile rod may comprise a desiccant when it is being bent. In this case, care should be taken that the corner region of the hollow profile rod contains less desiccant during bending than is present outside of the corner region. It is beneficial that the contour of the walls of the hollow profile rod resulting from the hollow profile rod being impressed, and the bending operation as such, push desiccant out of the corner region, thereby facilitating the bending operation. The hollow profile rod, however, is preferably impressed and bent in the empty state, and preferably desiccant is also not added into the hollow profile rod subsequently. This has the advantage that the production of the hollow profile rod can be simplified. However, if the hollow profile rod contains a desiccant, it must have a connection to the air space in the insulating glass pane when the insulating glass pane is assembled; for this purpose, the inside wall of the hollow profile rod must be perforated. However, if the hollow profile rod is not filled with a desiccant, the hollow profile rod does not require any perforation whatsoever, but can be produced inexpensively by a simple extrusion press operation. This is particularly suitable for hollow profile rods made of aluminum. As an alternative, the hollow profile rod can be shaped from a non-perforated metal strip by roll forming; in this case, it has a longitudinal seam, which advantageously is secured by welding, in particular by laser welding. The production method by roll forming is particularly suitable for hollow profile rods made of stainless steel. The longitudinal seam is preferably sealed by welding. The longitudinal seam can also be closed by gluing.
It is preferable for the hollow profile rod not to have any opening in any of the walls thereof. This increases the safety against the penetration of moisture into the inside of the insulating glass pane, because the walls of the metallic hollow profile rod produced without openings are diffusion-proof to water vapor. In order to seal the insulating glass pane, only the gaps between the flanks of the hollow profile rod and the two glass slabs of the insulating glass pane must be sealed using an adhesive compound, which is the state of the art. Because the flanks of the hollow profile rod are not pushed outward during bending in the corner region when applying the method according to the invention, but excess material is pushed inward, the corner region that is particularly critical for sealing an insulating glass pane can be provided with a sufficient quantity of adhesive sealant, intermeshed with the pleats developing in the corner region and the diffusion path can thus be extended.
The adhesive sealant to be applied to the flanks is thermoplastic polyisobutylene, for example, and is intended to prevent moisture from diffusing through the gap between the spacer and glass plate sealed by the sealant into the interior space of the insulating glass pane. Such a thermoplastic sealant is also referred to as the primary sealing compound. It is preferably applied after impressing, but before bending the hollow profile rod, more specifically substantially over the entire length of the hollow profile rod, including the impressed sites of the flanks of the hollow profile rod. This has the advantage that, when bending the respective corner, the sealant is not carried along by the inwardly folding section of the flank and tightly pressed in the pleat, so that it can be assured that no hollow spaces develop in the pleat, which are not filled with the sealant. The bending creates an excess of sealant in the corner region of the spacer, said excess further increasing the sealing action during the subsequent pressing operation of the insulating glass pane, in particular in the critical region of the corner, which is particularly advantageous.
When stating here that the adhesive sealant is to be applied substantially over the entire length of the hollow profile rod, it means that initially a small length of the hollow profile rod can remain without the sealant at the ends of the hollow profile rod. After the two ends of the hollow profile rod have been connected by a straight connector, a clearance in the strand of sealant, if necessary, may be closed by subsequently applying sealant.
If the longitudinal seam is located on a flank of the hollow profile rod on a hollow profile rod that has been formed by roll forming, the sealant covers the longitudinal seam and seals any potentially remaining non-tight areas of the longitudinal seam. For this reason, the longitudinal seam is preferably located on a flank of the hollow profile rod.
An adhesive sealant can be applied not only to the flanks of the hollow profile rod, an adhesive compound may also be applied to the inside wall of the hollow profile rod—substantially over the entire length thereof, including the impressed site of the inside wall—specifically advantageously such a compound which contains a desiccant, for example a molecular sieve powder, which is used to bind any moisture potentially present in the insulating glass pane and keep the dew point low. In this case, it may advantageously be foregone to fill a desiccant into the hollow profile rod, so that it requires no perforated inside wall. A further advantage of this measure is that it lends the spacer in the insulating glass pane an appealing appearance. A matte black adhesive compound is less noticeable and less interfering in the insulating glass pane than an uncoated, brightly reflecting metallic surface, as that which is known from spacers made of stainless steel, and notably made of aluminum. In addition, the matte black surface creates a reflex of the color of the window or door frame in which the insulating glass pane is later installed, and therefore adapts well to the appearance thereof. A further considerable advantage is that the corner region of the spacer is given a very appealing appearance by applying the desiccant-containing mass to the inside wall of the hollow profile rod. The fact that the inside wall of the hollow profile rod has been impressed prior to bending the corners is no longer apparent due to the subsequent application of a desiccant-containing compound.
The adhesive sealant and the desiccant-containing compound are preferably applied to the hollow profile rod so that they directly adjoin each other. The hollow profile rod is then continuously coated on three sides, at the flanks and the inside wall thereof, which increases the safety against the diffusion of moisture. The outside wall and the inside wall of the hollow profile rod and the desiccant-containing compound applied to the inside wall each prevent the penetration of water vapor into the insulating glass pane. In the gap between the glass slabs and the flanks of the spacer, the sealant applied there, for example one that is based on polyisobutylene, prevents moisture from penetrating over a relatively long diffusion path. If a small amount of moisture should still diffuse through the adhesive sealant at some point, it can still be absorbed by the desiccant, which is embedded in the compound that adheres to the inside wall of the hollow profile rod and adjoins the sealant applied to the flanks. The desiccant-containing compound used, for example, can be any compound which is known in the production of insulating glass as TPS material, from which spacers are extruded in situ onto a glass pane. Insulating glass panes comprising such a thermoplastic spacer, in which a powdery desiccant has been embedded, are known under the TPS brand. The TPS material is a primary sealing compound based on polyisobutylene, comprising a zeolite powder (molecular sieves) finely dispersed therein as the desiccant.
The sealant applied to the flanks and the compound applied to the inside wall of the hollow profile rod can differ from each other, but they can also be the same. They are preferably applied synchronously in one operation, or with time overlap, to both flanks and the inside wall of the hollow profile rod. When a thermoplastic “primary” sealing compound is used for sealing the gap between the spacer and the two adjoining glass plates, it cannot cause the necessary firm bond between the glass plates and the spacer due to the thermoplastic property thereof. For this, rather a setting “secondary” sealing compound is required, for example a polysulfide (Thiokol), polyurethane, or silicone, to supplement the thermoplastic “primary” sealing compound. In the state of the art, the secondary sealing compound is generally filled into an edge joint of the insulating glass pane, which is delimited by the two glass plates and the outside wall of the spacer offset with respect to the edges thereof.
A particularly advantageous possibility is to apply a setting sealant to the flanks and the inside wall of the hollow profile rod, for example, a reactive hot melt adhesive, in which a powdery desiccant has been embedded. In this way, the insulating glass pane can be sealed and, at the same time, the two glass plates thereof can be mechanically rigidly and permanently connected to the spacer, specifically by the setting process, so that a final sealing process, which would otherwise be required, using a curing mixed adhesive can be dispensed with, which as the “secondary” sealing compound in the prior art typically rigidly connects the spacer to the two glass plates. One example of such a setting sealant, which combines the function of a primary and a secondary sealing compound, is known from WO 2008/005214 A1, the content of which relating to the disclosure of the sealing compound is thereby expressly included by reference.
It is particularly advantageous not to apply the desiccant-containing compound to the inside wall of the spacer profile, but only to the flanks of the spacer profile. For this purpose, the profile of the spacer can be configured narrower in a partial region extending from the inside wall than in a partial region extending from the base of the spacer profile. Such hollow profile rods are used extensively in the production of insulating glass, however contrary to the preferred method of the present invention they are installed in the insulating glass pane such that the narrower partial region is located on the outside, which is to say, the outside wall in the prior art is used as the inside wall of the spacer according to the invention; what is the inside wall of the spacer in the prior art is the outside wall of the spacer according to the invention. Additionally, the hollow profile rods known from the prior art have a perforated inside wall, so that the desiccant accommodated in the hollow profile rod can absorb moisture from the inside space of the insulating glass pane. However, according to the invention it is preferred to arrange the desiccant in an adhesive compound in the hollow profile rod and leave the hollow space of the hollow profile rod empty. A perforated wall of the hollow profile rod is therefore not required by the invention. According to the invention, rather a hollow profile rod that is inexpensive to obtain may be used, which compared to the prior art is even further simplified in that none of the walls connecting the flanks are perforated, whereby the sealing action of the insulating glass pane is improved at the same time.
When using a spacer profile which in a partial region extending from the inside wall is narrower than in a partial region extending from the outside wall, it is particularly advantageous to concentrate the desiccant-containing compound in the narrower region of the spacer profile adjoining the inside wall on the flank thereof, and to provide an adhesive compound containing no desiccant, in particular a primary sealing compound and/or a setting secondary sealing compound, which directly connects or connect to the desiccant-containing adhesive compound, in the subsequent wider region of the spacer profile. The desiccant-containing compound and the adhesive sealant containing no desiccant are preferably applied to the flanks of the hollow profile rod in a common operation. In this case, the invention can advantageously be refined such that the compound containing the desiccant is the same compound that is used as the primary sealing compound. It is also possible to use the desiccant-containing compound as the primary sealing compound if it is sufficiently diffusion-tight, which is the case with the TPS material based on polyisobutylene. Finally, even when the desiccant-containing compound is not disposed on the inside wall of the spacer profile, but on the flanks thereof, these flanks may be exclusively provided with a sealing compound according to WO 2008/005214 A1, which then combines the functions of a primary and secondary sealing compound and additionally contains a desiccant. This variant of the invention is characterized in that it requires a minimal amount of sealing compound and minimal machine complexity. Surprisingly it has been found that even with such a small amount of sealing compound between the flanks of the spacer and the glass plates, which additionally contains a powdery desiccant, good sealing action of the insulating glass pane and flawless cohesion of the insulating glass pane can be achieved.
Preferably any sealing compound, this being the desiccant-containing compound, the primary sealing compound if it is different from the compound containing the desiccant, and the secondary sealing compound which cures and establishes the lasting bond between the spacer and the glass plates, is applied exclusively to the flanks of the hollow profile rod.
This enables insulating glass panes which not only have an appealing appearance, but also require a minimal amount of expensive sealing compounds. Preferably a thermoplastic sealing compound, which contains the desiccant and at the same time fulfills the function of a primary sealing compound, is applied to the flanks, and immediately thereafter a setting sealing compound is applied, which fulfills the function of a secondary sealing compound. For such a refinement of the invention, for the spacer preferably a hollow profile rod is used, in which not only the inside wall, but also the outside wall is narrower than the hollow profile rod, so that the flanks thereof have a central partial region, which runs parallel to the surface of the opposing glass plates, and on either side adjoining this central partial region they have a partial region that is set back and ends at the inside wall or the outside wall of the hollow profile rod, which are narrower than the hollow profile rod overall, which has the largest width thereof between the central partial regions of the flanks.
A spacer having such a profile can be used with particular versatility for purpose of the invention. The recessed partial region adjoining the inside wall can be provided with a sufficient quantity of the desiccant-containing adhesive compound, which contains sufficient desiccant in order to prevent the insulating glass pane from fogging on the inside over the planned service life of more than 20 years, preferably of more than 25 years.
A thin layer of a primary sealing compound may be applied to the central partial region of the flanks, wherein the compound contains no desiccant and reliably prevents both the diffusion of water vapor from the outside and a loss of gas which is different from air and may be added to fill the insulating glass pane. The recessed partial region of the flanks adjoining the outside wall may be provided with a secondary sealing compound, which sets and establishes the permanent mechanical bond between the glass plates and the spacer. However, it is also possible to use a primary sealing compound, in particularly one based on polyisobutylene, in which the desiccant has been embedded in powder form, as the basis for the desiccant-containing sealing compound. Instead of the sealing compound containing no desiccant, the same secondary sealing compound can be applied to the central partial region of the flanks which is also provided in the recessed region of the flanks adjoining the outside wall.
However, it is also possible to provide all three sections of the flanks with a uniform sealing compound, which fulfills both the function of a primary sealing compound and the function of a secondary sealing compound and contains a desiccant.
The recessed regions of the flanks not only make it possible to accommodate sufficient quantities of primary and/or secondary sealing compounds, but also have the advantage that the deflections of the individual glass plates due to wind loads, temperature loads, and fluctuations of the ambient pressure do not result in hairline cracks in the sealing compounds, which would cause leaks in the insulating glass pane. During such deflection movements, the narrow central partial regions of the flanks constitute a fixed point for the deflection movements, which pull the strongest in the vicinity of the inside wall and in the vicinity of the outside wall at the particular sealing compound provided there, but do not cause the formation of cracks in the sealing compound because the thickness of the compound there is so high that the ultimate tensile strength thereof is not exceeded.
The recessed partial regions of the flanks adjoining the central partial region of the flanks may be configured in a stepped manner with sharp edges, but preferably have a concave cross-section, with a preferably rounded contour, which favors complete filling of the interstices between the flanks of the spacer and the adjoining glass panes comprising the sealing compound.
In the cross-section, the contour of the recessed partial regions of the flanks adjoining the respective central partial region of the flanks preferably is such that the spacer profile tapers starting from the central region toward the outside wall of the spacer profile and toward the inside wall of the spacer profile, or initially tapers and transitions into a constant tapered region, in which the flanks run parallel to the central partial regions of the flanks. It should be noted that the inside wall of the spacer shall be understood to mean the wall of the spacer facing the inner space of the insulating glass pane, and the outside wall to mean the wall of the spacer located opposite of the inside wall. The recessed partial regions adjoining thereon are assigned to the flanks.
It is also possible to select the contour of the recessed partial regions of the flanks adjoining the respective central partial region of the flanks such that the spacer profile, starting from the central partial region, initially tapers and then widens again when approaching the outside wall and/or the inside wall of the spacer profile, thereby creating an undercut at the flanks. Such an embodiment, however, is not preferred because it may make sealing the insulating glass pane more difficult.
Preferably, a hollow profile rod is used which has a non-symmetrical configuration with respect to the longitudinal center plane intersecting the flanks, so that the recesses adjoining the inside wall are different from the recesses adjoining the outside wall and can accommodate differing quantities of sealing compounds. This has the advantage that one and the same hollow profile rod can be used to produce spacers in which the larger recesses are either provided to adjoin the inside wall or the outside wall of the spacer. The insulating glass manufacturer can select any embodiment that appears the most suitable for the specific contract. If primarily a large volume of the desiccant-containing compound is important, he will orient the spacer profile in the spacer such that the larger interstices between the glass plates and the flanks face the inside space of the insulating glass pane. However, if a larger volume of the secondary sealing compound is important, he will orient the spacer profile such that the larger interstices between the glass plates and the flanks of the spacer face outward.
With respect to the longitudinal center plane intersecting the outside wall and inside wall, however, the hollow rod profile used for producing the spacer is advantageously configured mirror-symmetrically.
The impression according to the invention of the inside wall and the flanks of the hollow profile rod can be carried out in different ways. Preferably, the hollow profile rod is impressed using a chisel having a rectilinear leading edge, which during the impression process runs at a right angle to the longitudinal direction of the hollow profile rod. Advantageously, three separate chisels are used for impressing the inside wall and the two flanks. The chisels are preferably moved at a right angle to the longitudinal direction of the hollow profile rod when impressing the hollow profile rod. This causes symmetrical indentations to form, which is particularly advantageous for the bending process.
The chisels are only to impress the hollow rod profile. If possible, no cracks should develop. The leading edge of the chisel is therefore preferably not configured as a bezel, but slightly rounded, preferably with a radius of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. This assures good results, in particular for impressing the flanks. For impressing the inside wall, it is also possible to use chisels having a larger radius at the effective leading edge thereof.
For hollow profile rods, the outside wall of which is not narrower than the hollow profile rod as a whole, the following applies:
To ensure that the flanks fold inward in a defined manner when bending the edges, they should preferably be impressed at the full height of the profile of the hollow profile rod. However, the hollow profile rod does not have to be impressed at the edge between the outside wall and the flanks. It is best if the penetration depth of the chisel increases from the outside wall to the inside wall when impressing the flanks. At the outside wall, the flanks are preferably impressed 1.5 mm to 2 mm deep. It has been shown that such an impression of the flanks at the outside wall recedes again when bending a corner, which is particularly advantageous for achieving a diffusion-tight corner in the insulating glass pane.
The flanks may be impressed more strongly at the inside wall of the hollow profile rod, for example 2 mm to 4 mm deep.
The inside wall of the hollow profile rod is preferably impressed more strongly than the flanks, preferably by two thirds to three quarters of the height of the hollow profile rod measured from the outside of the outside wall to the outside of the inside wall. This is beneficial for creating a reproducible contour of the inside wall of the corner after the bending operation.
The following applies to a hollow profile rod, in which also the outside wall is narrower than the hollow profile rod as a while, which is to say in which the flanks adjoining the outside wall have a recessed partial region:
In this case, the flanks should not be impressed so deep that also the edges of the outside wall are impressed. However, the flanks should be impressed up to the recessed partial region adjoining the outside wall, with the depth of the impression again preferably increasing as the inside wall of the hollow profile rod is approached. During impression of the flanks, the edges of the inside wall are preferably impressed as well.
The two flanks are preferably impressed simultaneously, which is not only efficient, but also favors a symmetrical result.
The flanks are advantageously not impressed simultaneously with the inside wall of the hollow profile rod. Whether it is better to impress the inside wall first and then the flanks, or the flanks first and then the inside wall, will depend on whether the hollow profile rods are to be processed further. In cases in which the inside wall of the hollow profile rod is not to be coated with a desiccant-containing compound, it is preferred to first impress the two flanks in a wedge shape and then impress the inside wall of the hollow profile rod in a wedge shape, in particular in the shape of an acute-angled wedge. After bending, the impressed section is located folded inward in the corner of the hollow profile rod and largely excluded from view.
If the inside wall of the hollow profile rod is to be covered by a desiccant-containing compound after impressing, it is preferred to impress the inside wall of the hollow profile rod using a blunt tool and then impress the flanks using an acute-angled, wedge-shaped chisel. The indentation of the inside wall created with the blunt tool is more advantageous in this case, because during bending of the corner a higher-volume pleat in the inside wall is created, which allows a desiccant-containing compound applied to the indentation of the inside wall to disappear in the corner region, so that no visible accumulation of this compound is created there. The wedge-shaped impressing of the flanks ensures that they fold inward and the corner is created precisely at the predetermined site.
The blunt tool, which is used to impress the inside wall of the hollow profile rod, preferably has a convex front, such as a spherical cap-shaped front. A tool having a blunt or convex front, which has an elongated design in the top view, so that an elongated indentation of the inside wall can be generated, also supplies good results, wherein the longitudinal extension of the indentation should agree with the longitudinal direction of the hollow profile rod. In this way, a shallow depression can be generated in the inside wall, which is beneficial for the visual appearance. However, it is also possible to impress the inside wall of the hollow profile rod using a tool that has a planar front or a wedge-shaped front, the wedge surfaces of which include an obtuse angle with each other.
If the inside wall of the hollow profile rod is impressed using a dull tool, this is preferably done prior to impressing the flanks, which are preferably impressed using acute-angled chisels. After impressing the flanks, the impressed site of the hollow profile rod can advantageously be reshaped using a chisel, which has a concavely extending leading edge and is applied in the direction from the inside wall to the outside wall of the hollow profile rod. The concave leading edge can have an arched course, but a wedge-shaped course is also possible.
In order to implement the invention, the straight hollow profile rod is initially impressed at all sites intended for this purpose, where an edge is to be formed. Then, the adhesive sealant is applied to both flanks of the hollow profile rod. If the adhesive sealant which is applied to the flanks is not a desiccant-containing compound, a desiccant-containing compound can additionally be applied to the flanks and/or the inside wall of the hollow profile rod, preferably however only to the flanks. This is preferably carried out in a single operation by way of coextrusion, or with time overlap; the desiccant-containing compound preferably connects directly and completely to the adhesive sealant not containing any desiccant. Thereafter, the edges are bent, which can be done by machines, in the most cost-efficient manner, but is also possible to do manually, because the position and the shape of the corners are already predetermined by the prior impression of the hollow profile rod. Bending can be done particularly easily when no adhesive compound whatsoever is present on the inside wall and on the outside wall of the hollow profile rod, but only on the flanks. The hollow profile rod can then be gripped without difficulty at the inside wall and outside wall thereof, without coming in contact with the compound applied to the flanks, and can then be bent manually or mechanically. Such a procedure can save several machines, which were previously required for producing spacer frames for insulating glass panes, these being a machine for filling hollow profile rods with a desiccant, a machine for bending filled hollow profile rods, and a machine for coating a finished bent spacer frame, for which purpose the frame has to be repeatedly rotated and moved between a nozzle pair, see DE 34 34 545 C1, for example. Coating a straight hollow rod profile prior to bending it into a spacer frame is considerably easier than coating a frame formed by a hollow profile rod. The invention therefore enables a particularly efficient production of coated spacer frames. A secondary sealing compound is preferably also applied to the flanks of the hollow profile rod before the frame is bent, or a uniform sealing compound is applied, which fulfills the functions of the primary and secondary sealing compounds at the same time and preferably also contains the desiccant. In this way, even the sealing machine for the secondary sealing compound can be dispensed with, which in the prior art—see, for example, DE 28 16 437 A1—is the most complex machine on an insulating glass production line.
Finally, the two ends of the hollow profile rod are connected to each other by a straight connector, which is inserted into both ends of the hollow profile rod. When feeding the hollow profile rod to the tools which are to be used for impressing it, the connector may already be inserted in one end of the hollow profile rod, so that after bending the hollow profile rod, the other end thereof only has to be placed on the existing connector.
In order to facilitate the bending operation, the profile rods have grooves or waves running at a right angle with respect to the glass panes, at least on the inside wall. Such grooves or waves are preferably also provided on the outside wall of the hollow profile rods. Each individual groove or wave defines a possible predetermined bending site and, if it is provided on the outside wall, facilitates an expansion of the outside wall during bending. The grooves or waves preferably end at a distance in front of the flanks in order to prevent undesirable, outwardly directly distortions of the flanks during bending.
If the partial regions of the flanks running parallel to each other and parallel to the glass plates extend up to the outside wall of the hollow profile rod, so that the rod is only narrower at the inside wall than at the outside wall thereof, the sealing compound is provided in the gap between the glass plates and the planar sections of the flanks parallel thereto in a thickness of 0.75 mm to 1.25 mm, in particular in a thickness of approximately 1 mm. This suffices in order to prevent the development of fine cracks in the sealing compound due to stresses resulting from fluctuating wind loads, fluctuating temperatures, and fluctuating outside air pressures. However, if hollow profile rods are used in which both the outside wall and the inside wall are narrower than the hollow profile rod as a whole, so that the flanks are recessed on both sides of the planar, central partial region thereof, the development of cracks in the sealing compound due to fluctuating pressure, temperature, and wind loads can already be prevented with a considerably thinner layer of the sealing compound in the gap between the planar central partial regions of the flanks and the adjoining glass plates, specifically with a thickness of the sealing compound of only 0.25 mm to 0.45 mm, preferably of only 0.3 mm to 0.4 mm. In order to produce such a thin layer of the sealing compound, the insulating glass pane does not have be pressed to a specified thickness in a controlled manner, it is rather sufficient to apply a specified specific pressure, for example 40 Newton per running centimeter of the circumference of the spacer, to the insulating glass pane.
The object of the present invention is finally a frame-shaped spacer for insulating glass panes, which is produced from a metallic hollow profile rod according to any one of the method claims.
In summary, the invention enables numerous advantages:
Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the attached drawings and described in more detail hereinafter. Identical and corresponding parts are denoted with agreeing reference numerals in the different embodiments.
Next, as is shown in
It should be noted that the chisels 7, 8, and 9 act on the hollow profile rod 1 at a right angle to the longitudinal direction of the rod, wherein the leading edges 7a, 8a, and 9a, which are preferably rounded with a small radius, are located in a common plane, in which the site 6 marked in
If the hollow profile rod 1 illustrated in
The impression of the inside wall 5 is not absolutely necessary, in particular when the inside wall 5 has waves or grooves running at a right angle to the planar sections 3a and 4a of the flanks, which will be described later.
Since the spacer frame must be glued to the glass slabs of an insulating glass pane, an adhesive sealant or sealing compound is preferably applied to the flanks 3 and 4 after impressing, but prior to bending the hollow profile rod 1.
In the embodiment illustrated in
If a hollow profile rod 1 impressed in this manner is bent, a contour is created in the corner region which has an inwardly located pleat 13 having sufficient volume to accommodate an excess of a desiccant-containing compound forming in the region of the corner due to the bending of the corner and continuously applied previously to the inside wall 5 of the hollow profile rod 1, see also the coating on the flanks 3, 4 and on the inside wall 5 illustrated in
The outside 14 of the corner—as in the first embodiment—is evenly rounded and has a comparatively narrow radius of curvature.
The second embodiment is particularly suited for a procedure in which, after impressing the hollow profile rod 1, but after bending the corners, an adhesive sealant is applied to the flanks 3 and 4 and a desiccant-containing compound is continuously applied to the inside wall 5, wherein the inside wall 5 and the two flanks 3 and 4 are to be covered completely adjoining each other, as is illustrated, for example, in
An insulating glass pane 22, the spacer 16 of which is coated on the flanks 3 and 4 and on the inside wall 5, is illustrated in
It is particularly advantageous when one of the compounds 18 or 19 or both compounds 18 and 19 have setting properties, because then final sealing of an edge joint of the insulating glass pane using a setting mixed adhesive can be foregone. Accordingly, an edge joint is redundant and the spacer 16 can be configured and arranged such that it ends flush or approximately flush with the edge of the glass plates 20, 21, which is illustrated in
The sides 3 and 4 form the flanks of the spacer 16. Connecting to the base 2, they have two planar sections 3a and 4a which are parallel to each other and extend up to a specified distance A from the base 2. In each case, a concave section 3b or 4b connects thereon.
In the region of the parallel, planar wall sections 3a and 4a, a secondary sealing compound 23 is applied to the flanks 3 and 4, for example a single-component of mixed reactive adhesive, which rigidly connects the spacer 16 to the two glass plates 20 and 21 and cures. A compound 24 having a desiccant embedded therein is applied to the wall sections 3b and 4b. This compound 24 can be a primary sealing compound based on polyisobutylene, such as a TPS compound. The sections 3a and 3b as well as 4a and 4b of the flanks 3 and 4 of the spacer 16 can be coated in a single operation by way of coextrusion, more specifically preferred as long as the rod-shaped spacer profile is still in the extended position. After the coating step, an angular, in particular a rectangular, frame-shaped spacer 16 may be formed, for example by folding the profile rod 1 at the sites 6 intended for the corners. This can be done mechanically, but is also easy to do manually, wherein the folding step is particularly easy because the base 2 and the inside wall 5 of the spacer profile are without any coating of an adhesive compound, so that they can be gripped without difficulty. The desiccant-containing compound 24 and any other sealing compound 23 are located exclusively in the two joints 25 and 26 between the flank 3 and the glass plate 20 as well as between the flank 4 and the glass plate 21.
The inside space 27 of the spacer 16 is empty; it only contains air, but no desiccant. All the walls 2, 3, 4, and 5 thereof are sealed.
The embodiment illustrated in
The embodiment illustrated in
As an alternative, the adapter 28 for a muntin 26 may also be glued to the top side 34 of the hollow profile rod 1. This is shown in
In all embodiments, it is preferred for the sealing compound 23, which is located in the gap between the planar walls 3a and 4a of the spacer 16 that are located parallel to the glass plates 20 and 21, to have a thickness of 0.75 mm to 1.25 mm, preferably approximately 1 mm in the finished insulating glass plate 22. For clarification purposes, it should be noted that in the example according to
This is the difference from the prior art. According to the prior art, it is customary to press insulating glass pane such that the joint between the flanks of the spacer and the opposing glass panes is reduced down to approximately 0.3 mm. For this purpose, a pressure of typically 40 Newton per running centimeter of the circumference of the insulating glass pane is applied to the insulating glass panes at the height of the spacer. The larger thickness, which is preferred according to the invention, of the sealing compound in the gap between the flanks and the glass plates is achieved by pressing the insulating glass pane to a specified thickness, using not only the specified pressing pressure. According to the invention, rather the distance of the press plates, between which the insulating glass pane is pressed to the desired thickness, is precisely controlled, so as to in fact achieve the layer thickness of the sealing compound 23 stated above.
When all corners of the spacers 16 are bent, the two corners of the hollow profile rod 1 are located opposite of each other and must be connected to each other in order to close the spacer 16. This connecting site should not be located on a corner of the spacer 16, but between two corners, so that the two ends of the hollow profile rod 1 are aligned with each other in the spacer 16. In order to connect the two corners of the hollow profile rod 1, advantageously a linear connector is inserted into the two corners of the hollow profile rod 1. An oblique view of a particularly suited linear connector is shown in
The linear connector 33 has preferably already been inserted into the one end of the hollow profile rod 1 after the rod has been cut to the length necessary for forming the spacer 16 and before the hollow profile rod 1 is impressed at the sites intended for forming the corners. Advantageously, the linear connector 33 is inserted into the one end of the hollow profile rod 1 with half of the length thereof. In order to close the spacer 16, the free end of the linear connector 33 is inserted into the opposing end of the hollow profile rod 1, see
After the two ends of the hollow profile rod 1 have come together, the outside wall 2 of the spacer 16 is pushed over the conical, wedge-shaped or convex expansion of the hole 39 with a nozzle 40, which has a matching conical or convex tip, into the conical, wedge-shaped or convex expansion of the hole 39, wherein an opening 42, through which a sealing compound 43 can be injected into the spacer 16 by way of the nozzle 40, forms in the joint 41 between the two ends of the hollow profile rod 1. The sealing compound 43 flows through the borehole 39 into the flat cutout 38 on the opposite side of the linear connector 33, is distributed there and flows through the lateral cutouts 37 to the two flanks 3 and 4, and on to the inside of the outside wall 2 of the spacer 16. In this way, the joint 41 between the two ends of the hollow profile rod 1 is completely sealed from the inside out, without the sealing compound 43 exiting the joint 41. The joint 41 is thus not only reliably sealed, it is also very inconspicuous, which is advantageous for the appearance of the spacer 16 in the insulating glass pane. The position of the linear connector 33 in the two ends of the hollow profile rod 1 is secured by the impression of the outside wall into the expansion of the borehole 39 and by the injected sealing compound 43.
In the following embodiments, it is possible to press the insulating glass pane according to the invention using a specified pressure of, for example, 40 Newton per running centimeter of the circumference of the spacer or—if the circumference of the insulating glass pane agrees with the circumference of the spacer—per running centimeter of the circumference of the insulating glass pane; for this case, preferably a spacer profile is used which is shown, by way of example, in
Such a spacer profile has two key advantages: For one, it allows the glass plates 20 and 21 to deflect as a result of fluctuations of the outside air pressure, under wind load, and under the effect of heat, without fine cracks developing in the secondary sealing compound 23, and in particularly in the primary sealing compound 24, which could result in leaks. In addition, when the interstices 49 have a different size from the interstices 50, such a spacer profile can optionally be processed into a spacer 16 and integrated in an insulating glass pane 22 such that the larger interstice 50 is located on the outside (see
In the example of
The embodiment illustrated in
With respect to deflection movements of the glass plates 20 and 21, the insulating glass pane illustrated in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2008 019 800.5 | Apr 2008 | DE | national |
| 10 2008 034 024.3 | Jul 2008 | DE | national |
| PCT/EP2009/001155 | Feb 2009 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2009/002649 | 4/9/2009 | WO | 00 | 10/8/2010 |
