Patent Application
20120285605
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a triple glazing in which each cavity situated between two adjacent sheets of glass is filled with gas.
It is known practice, when manufacturing a triple glazing, in a first stage to manufacture a double glazing using two sheets of glass and a spacer, then in a second stage to manufacture the triple glazing from the double glazing and a third sheet of glass, by following the same approach as was used for manufacturing the double glazing, but using a double-glazed unit in place of one sheet of glass. However, this approach means that triple glazing takes twice as long to manufacture as double glazing.
There is therefore a need for a method of manufacture which allows a triple glazing to be manufactured more quickly.
For that, the invention proposes a method of manufacturing a gas-filled triple glazing, the method comprising:
According to another particular feature, the pre-assembly step is performed at a first workstation, the filling step is performed at a second workstation and the pressing step is performed at a third workstation.
According to another particular feature, in the pre-assembly step, at least one of the sheets of glass is positioned vertically.
According to another particular feature, in the pre-assembly step, the three sheets of glass are positioned vertically and substantially parallel to one another, with an angle of inclination between two adjacent sheets of glass equal to 0°.
According to another particular feature, in the pre-assembly step, the sheet of glass positioned between the other two is vertically offset with respect to the other two in order to create an opening into the cavities for the injection of gas.
According to another particular feature, in the pre-assembly step, the sheets of glass adjacent to the sheet of glass situated between the other two are deformed near one of their edges so as to create an opening into the cavities for the injection of gas.
According to another particular feature, in the pre-assembly step, one of the sheets of glass is positioned vertically and the other two sheets of glass are each positioned inclined with an angle of inclination comprised between 3° and 10° with respect to the adjacent sheet of glass.
According to another particular feature, in the pre-assembly step, one of the sheets of glass is positioned inclined by an angle comprised between 3° and 10° with respect to the vertical and the other two sheets of glass are each positioned inclined with an angle of inclination comprised between 3° and 10° with respect to the adjacent sheet of glass.
According to another particular feature, in the filling step, the gas injected is a heavy gas.
According to another particular feature, in the filling step, the gas is injected into the cavities via orifices made in a conveyer belt conveying the sheets of glass.
According to another particular feature, the filling step comprises, once the cavities have been filled, a cursory pressing-together of the sheets of glass at the second station in order to close the cavities.
According to another particular feature, the filling step comprises a prior step during which a vacuum is created in the cavities before the gas is injected.
According to another particular feature, during the pre-assembly and filling steps, the sheets of glass adjacent to the sheet of glass situated between the other two are held in position by suction cups and the sheet of glass situated between the other two is held in position by grippers which clamp either the two faces of the sheet of glass near its edge, or the edge face of the sheet of glass at various points thereon.
According to another particular feature, the pressing step is performed on the sheets of glass all standing vertically or all on a plane that is inclined with respect to the vertical by an angle comprised between 3 and 10°.
According to another particular feature, the pre-assembly step is preceded by a step of fixing the spacer or spacers onto at least one sheet of glass, preferably using a bead of butyl.
According to another particular feature, a spacer is fixed to the sheet of glass situated between the other two or two spacers are fixed to the sheet of glass, each of the spacers being fixed on one of the faces of the sheet of glass situated between the other two or two spacers are fixed each to one of the three sheets of glass so that, following the pre-assembly step, each spacer delimits one or two cavities.
According to another particular feature, following the pressing step, mastic is injected along the spacer or spacers near the edge of the sheets of glass.
Other features and advantages of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:
a to 10f are views in cross section of the successive phases in the method of pre-assembly according to one embodiment.
Reference numbers which are identical in the various figures depict elements which are identical or similar.
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a gas-filled triple glazing. The method comprises:
The method according to the invention allows three sheets of glass to be processed simultaneously, rather than just two. The invention thus allows triple glazing to be manufactured without having to carry out the same steps twice for each triple glazing. This results in a considerable time saving. The time taken to manufacture triple glazing is thus of the order of the time taken to manufacture double glazing.
A triple glazing comprises three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 parallel to one another. One of the sheets of glass, known as the internal sheet of glass 2, is situated between the other two sheets of glass which are known as the external sheets of glass 1, 3.
The three sheets of glass may have the same surface area, as in
The triple glazing also comprises one or two spacers 4, 5, 4′ to keep the sheets of glass apart to form two gas spaces or cavities 8, 9, containing gas. The gas-filled cavities 8, 9 provide the triple glazing with good thermal and acoustic insulation. The two cavities 8, 9 may have the same thickness or have different thicknesses according to the desired application for the triple glazing. Each spacer 4, 5, 4′ is in the form of a frame and is situated between two faces of glass sheet, near the edge of the sheets of glass. In
The triple glazing also comprises, for good sealing, a bead of mastic 6, 7 situated between the external face of the spacer or spacers 4′ or 4, 5, respectively, and the edge of the sheets of glass 1, 3 or 1, 2, 3, respectively.
The method used to manufacture gas-filled triple glazing according to the invention comprises three main steps: a pre-assembly step, a gas injection step and a pressing step.
For preference, each of these three steps is performed at a different workstation. Because the manufacturing steps are separated among a number of workstations, a number of triple glazings can be manufactured simultaneously. Thus, the invention allows a number of triple glazings to be manufactured at the same time without having to perform the same steps twice for each triple glazing.
The pre-assembly step involves positioning three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 on a conveyer belt 10 at a first workstation. The three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 are then held in position and conveyed by the conveyer belt to the second workstation for the gas injection step. The three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 need to be positioned in such a way as to allow easy filling of the gas cavities 8, 9. Once the cavities 8, 9 have been filled with gas, the three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 are conveyed by the conveyer belt to a third workstation at which they are pressed in order to seal the triple glazing.
Three triple glazings can thus be produced at the same time on the same manufacturing line because the method of manufacture is divided into three steps each taking place at a different workstation.
It is common practice to number the various faces of the sheets of glass of triple glazing with numbers ranging from {circle around (1)} to {circle around (6)}. Thus, the external face of the external sheet of glass 1 intended to face toward the outside of a building bears the number {circle around (1)}, the internal face of the external sheet of glass 1 intended to face toward the outside of a building carries the number CD, the face of the internal sheet of glass 2 which faces towards the external sheet of glass 1 bears the number {circle around (3)} CD, the face of the internal sheet of glass 2 that faces toward the external sheet of glass 3 bears the number {circle around (4)}, the internal face of the external sheet of glass 3 intended to face toward the inside of a building bears the number {circle around (5)}, the external face of the external sheet of glass 3 which is intended to face toward the inside of a building bears the number {circle around (6)}, as depicted in
The various steps will now be described in greater detail.
Prior to the pre-assembly step, the method comprises a step of fixing the spacer or spacers 4, 5, 4′ onto the sheet or sheets of glass 1, 2, 3. This step is preferably performed using adhesive bonding, for example using a bead of butyl. Preferently, the spacer or spacers 4, 5, 4′ are equipped with a desiccant able to absorb any moisture than might be present inside the triple glazing. Preferently also, the spacer or spacers 4, 5, 4′ are thermal insulators.
The method of manufacture also comprises, prior to the fixing of the spacer or spacers onto the sheets of glass, a step of washing the three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3, because it will no longer be possible for the faces {circle around (2)} to {circle around (5)} to be washed once the triple glazing has been manufactured since they will find themselves inside the triple glazing. Washing the sheets of glass gives the user better visibility through the triple glazing.
Thus, for triple glazing according to the embodiment of
For a triple glazing according to the embodiment of
All the beads of butyl needed for fixing the spacer or spacers 4, 5, 4′ to the various surfaces of the sheets of glass are applied prior to the pre-assembly step to make later fixing easier and avoid an intermediate bonding step which would slow the manufacturing process.
During the pre-assembly step, the three sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 are conveyed one after the other and positioned beside one another on a conveyer belt 10 by the first workstation. The conveyer belt 10 allows the sheets of glass to be conveyed from the first workstation to the second workstation and then on to the third workstation.
The three sheets of glass are processed at the same time to produce the triple glazing, and this saves a great deal of time over a method in which a double glazing is first manufactured, then triple glazing is manufactured from the double glazing.
Each sheet of glass 1, 2, 3 is positioned inclined by an angle α, β comprised between 0° and 10° with respect to the adjacent sheet of glass. When the angle of inclination is not zero, that means that the triple glazing can be more or less closed on at least one of its four sides. Cavities 8, 9 are defined by the spacer or spacers and by two adjacent sheets of glass. The cavities 8, 9 comprise an opening because the triple glazing is not closed on at least one side. It is via this opening that gas will be injected during the gas injection step.
The pre-assembly step will now be described in conjunction with the various embodiments of
According to the embodiment of
In all the embodiments, the angles a and 13 may be equal.
The embodiment of
The embodiments of
According to the embodiment of
The embodiment of
According to the embodiment of
The embodiment of
According to the embodiment of
In all of the embodiments, one sheet of glass is preferably vertical to make positioning easier.
In all of the embodiments, the opening of the cavities 8, 9 is produced on that side of the triple glazing via which gas filling will take place. In the embodiments of
The external sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 are brought into position by suction cups. In the embodiment of
For the embodiment of
For the embodiments of
a to 10f depict, in cross section, successive phases of the pre-assembly method according to one embodiment.
In this embodiment, the conveyer belt 10 consists of three substantially mutually parallel belt strips 11, 12, 13. These belt strips 11, 12, 13 are able to move in a substantially horizontal direction perpendicular to their longitudinal direction. The three belt strips 11, 12, 13 are secured to a movable support 15, the assembly comprising the movable belt strips 11, 12, 13 and the movable support 15 being able to move with respect to a fixed support 14. The fixed support 14 and the movable support 15 are equivalent to respectively a fixed and a movable frame.
As depicted in
As depicted in
Between
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Between
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As depicted in
The embodiment of
Once the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 have been held in position on the conveyer belt 10, the conveyer belt starts up to move the sheets of glass to the second workstation. This second workstation injects gas at the same time into the two cavities 8, 9 situated between two adjacent sheets of glass. This is the step of filling the cavities with gas. Injection is performed using nozzles. For preference, the conveyer belt 10 comprises a plurality of through-orifices through which the gas is driven from the nozzles into the cavities 8, 9. The cavities 8, 9 are filled until around 90% of the gas with which they are filled is a gas other than air. The fact that the two cavities 8, 9 are filled at the same time saves time.
The nozzles can be moved so that they can be adapted to suit different sizes of triple glazing, namely different thicknesses of sheets of glass and/or of gas gaps.
The gas injected is preferably a heavy gas, of the argon or krypton type, which affords better thermal insulation than air for example. Argon is preferred because it is inexpensive.
Prior to the injection of gas, the step of filling the cavities may comprise a step during which a vacuum is created in the cavities 8, 9 before the gas is injected. That allows the cavities to be filled more quickly once the vacuum has been created, but does entail an additional step.
Once the cavities 8, 9 have been 90% filled with a gas other than air, the second workstation performs a cursory pressing-together of the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 in order to close the cavities 8, 9 so that the gas other than air does not come back out of the cavities 8, 9. In the case of the embodiments of
In the embodiment of
Once the cursory pressing has been performed, the conveyer belt 10 is set in motion to move the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 to the third workstation. During the pressing step, the third workstation presses the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 by applying pressure to the external sheets of glass 1, 3, preferably perpendicularly to and in the direction of the external sheets 1, 3, so as to seal the triple glazing.
During the pressing step, the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 are, for example, all stood vertically. As an alternative, the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 are all arranged on a plane that is inclined with respect to the vertical by an angle comprised between 3° and 10°.
One conveyer belt per main step may be provided, particularly for the embodiment of
The sheets of glass held in position are conveyed from one conveyer belt to another adjacent conveyer belt in order to move from one step to another. Thus in the embodiment of
The fact that the three sheets of glass are all pressed at the same time rather than in two stages, for example where a double glazing is produced first of all, followed by the triple glazing, means:
Thus, the triple glazing is more gastight thanks to the method according to the invention.
After the pressing step, mastic 6, 7 is injected along the spacer or spacers 4, 5, 4′, between their face facing toward the outside of the triple glazing and the edge of the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3. The mastic seals the triple glazing so that moisture or dust does not get in.
Moreover, the sheets of glass 1, 2, 3 may be coated with functional coatings, such as low emissivity coatings (for example on faces {circle around (2)} and {circle around (5)}), antireflective coatings (for example on faces {circle around (3)} and {circle around (4)}), electrochrome stacks, self-cleaning coatings, anti-condensation coatings, sun control coatings, etc. Several functional coatings may be applied to one same face of the triple glazing.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1050859 | Feb 2010 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR11/50184 | 1/31/2011 | WO | 00 | 6/11/2012 |
