Compressible pillar for a vacuum insulated glazing unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10533366-B2
Application number	US-201916274875-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2019
Priority date	Feb 14, 2018
Publication date	Jan 14, 2020
Grant date	Jan 14, 2020

Abstract

A compressible pillar is disclosed for the preparation of a vacuum insulated glazing (VIG) unit, having a longitudinal extent in a longitudinal direction when in an uncompressed state, and comprising:
a deformable part comprising an open structure, wherein the open structure at least partially collapses under a compression force acting in the longitudinal direction of the compressible pillar, the compression force being of at least one value selected within the range of 60 N to 320 N such as a value of the compression force being selected from the range of 60 N to 140 N, from the range of 140 N to 230 N, or from the range of 230 N to 320 N, wherein the longitudinal extent of the compressible pillar decreases to a compressed longitudinal extent when the compressible pillar is subjected to the compression force, and wherein the compressed longitudinal extent of the compressible pillar increases to an expanded longitudinal extent when the compression force is released, wherein the increase in the longitudinal extent is less than the decrease in the longitudinal extent. Furthermore is disclosed a process of manufacturing a compressible pillar, a method of producing a vacuum insulated glazing unit by the use of such pillars and a vacuum insulated glazing unit comprising such pillars.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A compressible pillar for the preparation of a vacuum insulated glazing (VIG) unit, having a longitudinal extent in a longitudinal direction when in an uncompressed state, and comprising:
a deformable part comprising an open structure, wherein the open structure at least partially collapses under a compression force acting in the longitudinal direction of on the compressible pillar, the compression force being of at least one value selected within the range of 60 N to 320 N, wherein the longitudinal extent of the compressible pillar decreases to a compressed longitudinal extent when the compressible pillar is subjected to the compression force, and
wherein the compressed longitudinal extent of the compressible pillar increases to an expanded longitudinal extent when the compression force is released, wherein the increase in the longitudinal extent is less than the decrease in the longitudinal extent.

2. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the value of the compression force may be selected anywhere in the range of 60 N to 140 N.

3. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the compression force is at least one value selected within the range of 140 N to 230 N.

4. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein a relative increase in the longitudinal direction of the compressible pillar is in the range of 0.5% to 50% of the relative decrease, and wherein the relative increase is calculated by dividing the increase in the longitudinal extent by the longitudinal extent in the uncompressed state, and the relative decrease is calculated by dividing the decrease in the longitudinal extent by the longitudinal extent in the uncompressed state.

5. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the relative decrease in the longitudinal extent of the compressible pillar under the compression force is equal to a compression factor multiplied by the compression force, wherein the compression factor is in the range of 0.8·10 −3 N −1 to 5.0·10 −3 N −1 .

6. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal extent in the uncompressed state is in the range of 0.2 mm to 1.2 mm.

7. The compressible pillar according to claim 6 , wherein the longitudinal extent in the uncompressed state is in the range of 0.3 mm to 0.8 mm.

8. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the deformable part comprises a metal or a metal alloy.

9. The compressible pillar according to claim 8 , wherein said metal or said metal alloy has compressive yield strength greater than 1 GPa at 20° C.

10. The compressible pillar according to claim 8 , wherein said metal alloy is an austenitic nickel-chromium-based superalloy.

11. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , further comprising an upper part and a lower part having a top contact surface and a lower contact surface, respectively, for abutting with first and second glass panes of the VIG unit,
wherein the top contact surface and the lower contact surface are substantially planar to each other.

12. The compressible pillar according to claim 11 , wherein the top contact surface and the lower contact surface each has an area that is the same or different, and is in the range of 0.1 mm 2 to 0.3 mm 2 .

13. The compressible pillar according to claim 11 , wherein the compressible pillar further comprises a substantially uniform cross-section in a parallel plane, wherein the parallel plane is perpendicular to the top contact surface and the lower contact surface.

14. The compressible pillar according to claim 13 , wherein the deformable part of the pillar comprises two structures separately connecting a first end structure and a second end structure.

15. The compressible pillar according to claim 14 , wherein each of said structures comprises a first element extending from the first end structure towards the second end structure at a first slanted angle to the longitudinal direction of the pillar and a second element extending from the second end structure towards the first end structure at a second slanted angle to the longitudinal direction of the pillar, the first and the second slanted angles being of substantially the same magnitude so that the first element and the second element are slanted in opposite directions.

16. The compressible pillar according to claim 15 , wherein the first element and the second element of each of said structures of the deformable part of the pillar are joined in a joining part of the deformable part, wherein the joining part is formed with a partly annular cross-section with a curved transition to the first and second elements.

17. The compressible pillar according to claim 13 , wherein the first end structure, the second end structure and the deformable part form a cross-section in said parallel planes of essentially the shape of a capital sigma.

18. The compressible pillar according to claim 17 , wherein the first end structure, the second end structure and the deformable part form a cross-section in said parallel planes of essentially the shape of a capital sigma joined with a mirrored capital sigma.

19. The compressible pillar according to claim 13 , wherein the deformable part comprises a first element extending from the upper part towards the lower part at a first angle to the longitudinal direction of the compressible pillar and a second element extending from the lower part towards the upper part at a second angle to the longitudinal direction of the compressible pillar, wherein the first and the second angles have substantially the same absolute magnitude so that the first element and the second element are angled in opposite directions.

20. The compressible pillar according to claim 19 , wherein the first element and the second element of the deformable part are connected in a joining part, wherein the joining part has a partially annular cross-section with a curved transition to each of the first and second elements.

21. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the open structure is configured so that the upper part and the lower part are displaced towards each other substantially in the longitudinal direction when the compressible pillar is subjected to the compression force.

22. The compressible pillar according to claim 1 , wherein the pillar in the compressed state is susceptible to shear strain when exposed to a shear force between substantially parallel and substantially plane end surfaces of the pillar suitable for being in abutment with the surfaces of the glass panes of the VIG unit, the shear strain being a shear factor time the ratio of the shear force to the average area of the first and second substantially plane end surfaces, wherein the shear factor is less than 55 GPA for shear forces less than 100 N.

Assignees

• Vkr Holding As

Inventors

• Özden Utku Ahmet
• Johnsen Simon
• Krisko Annette Johncock

Classifications

• E06B3/66304 Primary

  Discrete spacing elements, e.g. for evacuated glazing units · CPC title

• E06B3/67334

  by soldering; Preparing the panes therefor · CPC title

• E06B3/6612

  Evacuated glazing units · CPC title

• E06B3/6775

  Evacuating or filling the gap during assembly · CPC title

• E06B3/6736

  Heat treatment (for soldering E06B3/67334) · CPC title