Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Light transmissive sheets – with gas space therebetween and...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-10
2002-03-05
Loney, Donald J. (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Light transmissive sheets, with gas space therebetween and...
C052S786130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06352749
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Vacuum IG units are known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,664,395, 5,657,607, 5,891,536 and 5,902,652, the disclosures of which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Prior art
FIGS. 1-2
illustrate a conventional vacuum IG unit. IG unit
1
includes two spaced apart sheets of glass
2
and
3
which enclose an evacuated or low pressure space
16
therebetween. Glass sheets
2
and
3
are interconnected by peripheral or edge seal of fused solder
4
and an array of support pillars
5
.
Pump out tube
8
is sealed by solder glass
9
to an aperture or hole which passes from an interior surface of glass sheet
2
to the bottom of recess
11
. A vacuum is attached to tube
8
(prior to the tube being sealed) so that the interior space
16
between sheets
2
and
3
can be evacuated to create a low pressure area. After evacuation, an end of tube
8
is melted to seal the vacuum in space
16
.
As illustrated in
FIGS. 1-2
, spacers or pillars
5
are typically provided between the glass sheets
2
and
3
in the viewing area of the unit. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,395, these spacers or pillars may be made of nickel, iron, molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, titanium, aluminum, steel or stainless alloys. Unfortunately, such metal spacers or pillars are substantially opaque to visible light, and thus may be considered an eyesore (i.e., aesthetically nonpleasing) to those viewing the window because they are scattered throughout the viewing zone.
It is also known to make such spacers or pillars of spherical glass beads, as discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,154. Unfortunately, glass bead spacers may be susceptible to breaking or cracking in certain instances and are undesirable for this reason alone.
FIG. 3
is a side cross sectional view of another conventional vacuum IG window unit. This unit differs from that of
FIGS. 1-2
in that the glass sheets of
FIG. 3
are of different sizes, and edge seal
4
contacts an outer vertically extending periphery of one of the glass sheets. However, this unit suffers from the same problems as the unit of
FIGS. 1-2
as the spacers are the same.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a vacuum IG unit including spacers or pillars that are visible unobtrusive, substantially transparent to certain visible wavelengths of light, aesthetically pleasing, and/or of high strength.
This invention will now be described with respect to certain embodiments thereof, accompanied by certain illustrations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide spacers or pillars that are substantially transparent to certain visible wavelengths of light, for use in a vacuum IG window unit.
Another object of this invention is to provide aesthetically pleasing and high strength spacers or pillars in a vacuum IG window unit.
Another object of this invention is to provide sapphire inclusive spacers or pillars for a vacuum IG window unit.
Another object of this invention is to provide Al
2
O
3
inclusive spacers or pillars for a vacuum IG window unit.
Another object of this invention is to fulfill any and/or all of the above-listed objects and/or needs.
Generally speaking, this invention fulfills any or all of the above described objects or needs in the art by providing a thermally insulating glass panel comprising:
first and second spaced apart glass substrates defining a low pressure space therebetween having a pressure less than atmospheric pressure;
a plurality of spacers disposed between said first and second glass substrates for spacing said substrates from one another in order to maintain said low pressure space therebetween;
a hermetic edge or peripheral seal including at least one sealing material; and
wherein at least some of said spacers include sapphire so as to be substantially transparent to at least certain wavelengths of visible light.
In certain embodiments, at least some of said spacers are transparent to at least about 90% of visible light wavelengths.
REFERENCES:
patent: 49167 (1865-01-01), Stetson
patent: 1370974 (1921-03-01), Kirlin
patent: 1448351 (1923-03-01), Kirlin
patent: 1774860 (1930-09-01), Wendler et al.
patent: 2011557 (1935-08-01), Anderegg
patent: 2962409 (1960-11-01), Ludlow et al.
patent: 3441924 (1969-04-01), Peek et al.
patent: 3742600 (1973-07-01), Lowell
patent: 3902883 (1975-09-01), Bayer
patent: 3912365 (1975-10-01), Lowell
patent: 3936553 (1976-02-01), Rowe
patent: 4064300 (1977-12-01), Bhangu
patent: 4130408 (1978-12-01), Crossland et al.
patent: 4130452 (1978-12-01), Indri
patent: 4305982 (1981-12-01), Hirsch
patent: 4514450 (1985-04-01), Nowobilski et al.
patent: 4683154 (1987-07-01), Benson et al.
patent: 4786344 (1988-11-01), Beuther
patent: 4824215 (1989-04-01), Joseph et al.
patent: 4874461 (1989-10-01), Sato et al.
patent: 4924243 (1990-05-01), Sato et al.
patent: 4983429 (1991-01-01), Takayanagi et al.
patent: 5124185 (1992-06-01), Kerr et al.
patent: 5157893 (1992-10-01), Benson et al.
patent: 5234738 (1993-08-01), Wolf
patent: 5247764 (1993-09-01), Jeshurun et al.
patent: 5315797 (1994-05-01), Glover et al.
patent: 5399406 (1995-03-01), Matsuo et al.
patent: 5489321 (1996-02-01), Tracy et al.
patent: 5499128 (1996-03-01), Hasegawa et al.
patent: 5596981 (1997-01-01), Soucy
patent: 5643644 (1997-07-01), Demars
patent: 5657607 (1997-08-01), Collins et al.
patent: 5664395 (1997-09-01), Collins et al.
patent: 5739882 (1998-04-01), Shimizu et al.
patent: 5855638 (1999-01-01), Demars
patent: 5891536 (1999-04-01), Collins et al.
patent: 5902652 (1999-05-01), Collins et al.
patent: 5989659 (1999-11-01), Kato et al.
patent: 6049370 (2000-04-01), Smith, Jr. et al.
patent: 2 482 161 (1981-11-01), None
Grant and Hack's Chemical Dictionary, 5th edition 1987.
Guardian Industries Corp.
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
LandOfFree
Vacuum IG unit with transparent spacers does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Vacuum IG unit with transparent spacers, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vacuum IG unit with transparent spacers will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2820708