Production method of multiple panes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10024098-B2
Application number	US-201414546992-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2014
Priority date	May 18, 2012
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

The objective is to propose a production method of multiple panes which can be simple and nevertheless produce a multiple pane in its finished state which does not include any undesired protrusion from an external surface of a glass panel. The production method includes: hermetically bonding, with a sealing member, peripheries of paired glass panels disposed facing each other at a predetermined distance to form a space to be hermetically enclosed between the glass panels; evacuating air from the space through an outlet to make the space be in a reduced pressure state; and dividing, after the space is made be in the reduced pressure state, the space by a region forming member into an outlet region including the outlet and a reduced pressure region other than the outlet region.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A production method of multiple panes comprising:
hermetically bonding, with a hermetically-bonding member, peripheries of paired glass panels disposed facing each other at a predetermined distance to form a space to be hermetically enclosed between the glass panels;
evacuating air from the space through an outlet to make the space be in a reduced-pressure state; and
dividing, after the space is in the reduced-pressure state, the space by a region forming member into an outlet region including the outlet and a reduced-pressure region other than the outlet region,
wherein a partition serving as the region forming member is formed on a front surface of one of the glass panels such that the region forming member and the hermetically-bonding member combine with one another to surround the outlet, and
the partition is formed on the front surface so that ends of the partition are connected to the hermetically-bonding member so as to surround the outlet together with the hermetically-bonding member.

2. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein:
the region forming member includes an air passage interconnecting the outlet region and the reduced-pressure region; and
after the space is in the reduced-pressure state, the space is divided into the outlet region and the reduced-pressure region by closing the air passage.

3. The production method of multiple panes of claim 2 , wherein:
the air passage is an opening in the region forming member; and
after the space is in the reduced-pressure state, the opening is closed by melting the region forming member.

4. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein:
a formation height of the region forming member before being melted is less than a formation height of the hermetically-bonding member before being melted; and
after the space is made to be in the reduced-pressure state after the pair of glass panels are hermetically bonded by melting the hermetically-bonding member, the space is divided into the outlet region and the reduced-pressure region by the region forming member by decreasing the distance between the pair of glass panels.

5. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein:
a melting temperature of the region forming member is higher than a melting temperature of the hermetically-bonding member;
the space is formed by hermetically bonding the pair of glass panels at a temperature causing melting of the hermetically-bonding member to form the space; and
after the space is in the educed-pressure state, the space is divided into the outlet region and the reduced-pressure region by melting the region forming member at a temperature causing melting of the region forming member.

6. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein:
after the space is formed by conducting melting inside a furnace to melt the hermetically-bonding member, and subsequently the space is made to be in the reduced-pressure state after the glass panels are taken out from the furnace, the space is divided into the outlet region and the reduced-pressure region by conducting again melting inside the furnace to melt the region forming member.

7. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein the outlet is formed in at least one of the pair of glass panels.

8. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein:
the space is made to be in the reduced-pressure state by use of an evacuation pipe connected to the outlet; and
the evacuation pipe is removed after the space is divided into the outlet region and the reduced-pressure region.

9. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein the hermetically-bonding member and the region forming member are made from glass frit.

10. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein a spacer for keeping a gap between the pair of glass panels is disposed on a surface of at least one of the pair of glass panels.

11. The production method of multiple panes of claim 10 , wherein the spacer is formed by photolithography.

12. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein a height keeping member for keeping a gap between the pair of glass panels is disposed at a portion on which the hermetically-bonding member is to be formed.

13. The production method of multiple panes of claim 12 , wherein the height keeping member is formed by photolithography.

14. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein a formation height of the region forming member before being melted is less than a formation height of the hermetically-bonding member before being melted.

15. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein a time for melting the region forming member is longer than a time for melting the hermetically-bonding member.

16. The production method of multiple panes of claim 1 , wherein a temperature for melting the region forming member is higher than a temperature for melting the hermetically-bonding member.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Abe Hiroyuki
• Nonaka Masataka
• Uriu Eiichi
• Hasegawa Kenji

Classifications

• B32B17/00

  Layered products essentially comprising sheet glass, or glass, slag, or like fibres · CPC title

• E06B3/67334

  by soldering; Preparing the panes therefor · CPC title

• E06B3/677 Primary

  Evacuating or filling the gap between the panes {; Equilibration of inside and outside pressure}; Preventing condensation in the gap between the panes (by means of spacing elements E06B3/663); Cleaning the gap between the panes · CPC title

• E06B2003/66338

  of glass · CPC title

• E06B3/6612

  Evacuated glazing units · CPC title