Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Composite – Of quartz or glass
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-27
2001-12-11
Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Composite
Of quartz or glass
C428S441000, C428S442000, C428S328000, C428S436000, C428S437000, C428S699000, C428S702000, C428S407000, C428S329000, C428S331000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06329061
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a laminated glass with an interlayer resinoid film containing functional ultra-fine particles dispersed therein and a method of producing this laminated glass.
There have been proposed colorless or colored architectural glasses having functions of heat insulation, ultraviolet ray insulation and improved radio wave transmission. Furthermore, there have been proposed automotive glasses having a function of heat insulation for insulating solar radiation energy incident on car interior and thus for lowering the air conditioning load, and a function of ultraviolet ray insulation. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for an architectural or automotive laminated glass having functions of heat insulation, ultraviolet ray insulation, and improved radio wave transmission, while this glass has a sufficient visible light transmittance.
There are several proposals that fine particles are contained in the interlayer film of laminated glass, for providing the laminated glass with a certain function(s). For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication JP-A-2-22152 discloses an interlayer film of laminated glass, for insulating short wavelength light rays. This interlayer film is made of a plasticized polyvinyl butyral containing at least one light absorbing agent selected from special benzotriazole derivatives and an inorganic matter in the form of fine powder. 90% by weight of this inorganic matter has a particle diameter within a range from 250 to 400 nm. This interlayer film is characterized in that light rays of up to 400 nm wavelength is substantially insulated and that light rays of at least 450 nm wavelength is substantially transmitted therethrough. The light absorbing agent's content is from 0.4 to 6 wt %, and the inorganic matter's content is from 2 to 17 wt %.
As another example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication JP-A-4-160041 discloses an automotive window glass having a layer interposed between transparent platelike members. This layer is made of a mixture of a glass component and ultra-fine particles having an average diameter of up to 0.1 &mgr;m. The glass component is an organic silicon or an organic silicon compound and serves to bond together at a relatively low temperature two glass plates of a laminated glass or an inter resinoid film and a glass plate. The ultra-fine particles has a function of transparent electric conductiveness, infrared reflection function, electromagnetic insulation function.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication JP-A-4-261842 discloses a laminated glass comprising an organic glass member, a transparent member, and an interlayer film interposed therebetween. This interlayer film contains 100 parts by weight of an ethylene-ethylacrylate copolymerized resin prepared by graft modification of a vinylsilane and 3-30 parts by weight of optional silicon dioxide fine particles. When the particle diameter of the fine particles is from 0.1 to 400 nm, scatter of light rays which are transmitted through the interlayer film can be prevented.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a laminated glass which has a good quality requisite for an architectural or automotive laminated glass itself and of which interlayer film has various additional functions such as heat insulation, ultraviolet ray absorption and the maintenance of a sufficient radio transmittance.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laminated glass comprising:
first and second transparent glass plates;
an interlayer film interposed between said first and second glass plates; and
functional ultra-fine particles which have a particle diameter of up to 0.2 &mgr;m and are dispersed in said interlayer film.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of. producing a laminated glass, comprising the steps of:
(a) interposing an interlayer film between first and second glass plates, said interlayer film having functional ultra-fine particles which are dispersed therein and have a particle diameter of up to 0.2 &mgr;m; and
(b) bonding together said first and second glass plates and said interlayer film.
As is mentioned above, a laminated glass according to the present invention has an interlayer film containing ultra-fine particles which have a particle diameter of up to 0.2 &mgr;m and are dispersed in the interlayer film. With this, the laminated glass has various additional functions such as the provision of colorlessness or a certain desired color tone, heat insulation, ultraviolet ray insulation, the maintenance of a sufficient radio transmittance, and the like, without adding an adverse effect on the interlayer film's basic characteristics requisite for an architectural or automotive laminated glass. Therefore, the laminated glass is capable of improving the air conditioning effect and inhabitability of automobile, building and the like, of reducing an adverse effect of ultraviolet rays on the interior of automobile, building or the like, and of maintaining a sufficient radio transmittance equivalent to that of a conventional float glass, for receiving and transmitting radio waves.
A laminated glass according to the present invention is well controlled in color tone, extremely low in haze value, and superior in transparency and in reduction of reflection and glare. For example, the laminated glass has requisite basic characteristics for an automotive safety glass. These basic characteristics are substantially equivalent to those of conventional automotive laminated glass and provide satisfactory results in various tests- of Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) R 3212 and the like.
In a method of producing a laminated glass according to the present invention, it is not necessary to use a glass plate having a special composition nor a glass plate having a special surface finish. A conventional production line for producing conventional laminated glasses can be used for producing a laminated glass of the present invention. Therefore, the laminated glass can be easily and economically produced. Furthermore, it can be flexibly produced according to the size and shape of the laminated glass.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the following, a laminated glass according to the present invention will be described in detail. This laminated glass comprises first and second transparent glass plates and an interlayer film interposed therebetween. The interlayer film has functional ultra-fine particles which have a particle diameter of up to 0.2 &mgr;m and are dispersed therein. These particles are used to provide various functions such as heat insulation, thereby maintaining the solar radiation transmittance within a range of up to 65%, while the scattering and reflection of the visible light rays is suppressed. In spite of the fact that the interlayer film contains the functional ultra-fine particles, it has been unexpectedly found that the laminated glass has an extremely low haze value, a good radio transmittance and a sufficient transparency and that the interlayer film is sufficient in bond strength against the first and second glass plates, in transparency, durability and the like. Even though the interlayer film contains the functional ultra-fine particles, the laminated glass can be produced in a production line for conventional laminated glasses. The functional ultra-fine particles have a particle diameter preferably up to 0.15 &mgr;m or from 0.001 to 0.2 &mgr;m, more preferably from 0.001 to 0.15 &mgr;m or from 0.002 to 0.15 &mgr;m, and still more preferably from about 0.001 to about 0.10 &mgr;m or from about 0.002 to about 0.10 &mgr;m. It is preferable that these particles have a narrow particle diameter distribution, for example, within a range about 0.01 to about 0.03 &mgr;m.
In the invention, it is preferable that the functional ultra-fine particles amount to up to 10.0 wt % based on the total weight of the interlayer film. With this, these particles have various functions such as heat insulation
Central Glass Company Limited
Crowell & Moring LLP
Jones Deborah
McNeil Jennifer
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