Patent EP0113209A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0113209A2
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EP
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A spacer strip for a sealed window unit and a method for manufacture of the strip
Assignee: Omniglass Ltd
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Filing: 1983-12-08
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-12-08
Abstract
Abstract A spacer strip for use in a sealed window unit is manufactured from a pultruded fibreglass reinforced body providing a substantially closed hollow body (10) with a slot (14) along one side. The strip is manufactured by pultrusion using a die (41) which is slightly more open than the finished product including a mandrel (48) supported by a web (47) wider than the eventual slot. Closing of the body into the eventual shape is obtained either by differential shrinkage using matting (51) on the outer surface of the body or by squeezing the body between rollers (53). A sealed window unit incorporates the spacer strips (10) between two panes of glass (16, 17) adjacent the edges thereof with the coefficient of thermal expansion of the spacer strip tailored to that of the glass. A corner member (30) has a leg for engaging into the end of the strip 10 with projections (34, 35) at the outer surface to avoid opening the slot (14).
Inventors
- 👤 Lawrence William Davies
- 👤 Joseph E. Sumerak
- 👤 Jeff Martin
- 👤 Kenneth Church
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 18:18
CPC Classifications
E; E06; E06B; E06B3/00; E06B3/66; E06B3/663; E06B3/66309; E06B3/66314; E06B3/66319; B; B29; B29C; B29C61/00; B29C61/02; B29C61/025; B29C70/00; B29C70/04; B29C70/06; B29C70/08; B29C70/083; B29C70/085; B29C70/28; B29C70/40; B29C70/50; B29C70/52; B29C70/521; E06B3/667; E06B3/673; E06B3/67304; E06B3/66366
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
89 words
(1) A spacer for a sealed window unit comprising an elongate hollow body of substantially rectangular cross- section dimensioned such that the transverse faces have a width sufficient to space two panes of glass in the sealed window unit, one of the transverse faces being apertured along the length thereof so as to allow the ingress of moisture into the hollow body while preventing the escape of a granular dessicant from the hollow body, characterized in that the hollow body is formed from a pultruded glass fibre reinforced material.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
23 words
(2) A spacer according to Claim 1 wherein the hollow body is reinforced with twenty-five to eighty percent by weight of glass fibres.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
(3) A spacer according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the fibre content comprises 60% to 95% uni-directional reinforcing fibrous material and 5% to 40% bi-directional reinforcing fibrous material.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
(4) A spacer according to any preceding Claim including a proportion of uni-directional reinforcing fibrous material and a proportion of bi-directional fibrous material wherein the bi-directional fibrous material comprises a non-woven matting.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
(5) A spacer according to any preceding Claim including a proportion of uni-directional reinforcing fibrous material and a proportion of bi-directional fibrous material wherein there are more bi-directional fibres provided adjacent the outer surface of the hollow body than adjacent the inner surface thereof.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
(6) A spacer according to any preceding Claim of sufficient flexibility to allow the hollow body to be curved to a radius of curvature less than five feet.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
121 words
(7) A spacer strip according to any preceding Claim including a corner member for joining one end of the spacer strip to an adjacent spacer strip at right angles thereto, the corner member comprising a pair of legs arranged at right angles, each of the legs having an outer surface, an inner surface and two sides all dimensioned so as to be received within the hollow body, and a pair of projections each provided on one of the corner members and the spacer strip along a respective side at a position adjacent the outer surface whereby the forces between the leg and the spacer strip are effectively confined to the outer surface to avoid opening the slot in the spacer strip.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
41 words
(8) A spacer strip according to Claim 7, wherein each projection is V-shaped in a cross-sectional plane transverse to the leg and wherein the spacer strip includes a pair of V-shaped grooves arranged to receive the projections in a compression fit.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
60 words
(9) A sealed window unit comprising four spacers each according to any preceding Claim and two coextensive panes of glass arranged in spaced parallel relationship each spacer being arranged between the panes along two adjacent edges of the panes, wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the spacers is arranged to be the same as that of the glass panes.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
34 words
(10) A sealed window unit according to Claim 9 wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the spacers has been arranged by selecting specific proportions of fibre content to resin content of the spacers.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
119 words
(11) A method of manufacturing a spacer for a sealed window unit comprising an elongate hollow body of substantially rectangular cross-section, one of the transverse faces having a slot along the length thereof dimensioned so as to allow the ingress of moisture into the hollow body while preventing the escape of a granular dessicant from the hollow body, the method characterized in the steps of pultruding the spacer from a bath including glass reinforcing fibres and a thermo setting resin through a die, forming a slot in the pultruded part which slot is wider than the slot in the spacer, curing and cooling the thermo setting resin and causing the slot to close during the cooling and curing process.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
43 words
(12) A method according to Claim 11 including contacting the edges of the spacer with a plurality of pairs of rollers spaced along the length of the spacer downstream of the die, the spacing between the pairs gradually decreasing in a direction downstream.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
155 words
(13) A method of manufacturing a pultruded part which in its final shape extends generally around a hollow interior but is open at one part of the cross-section and has an outer surface exteriorly of the part and an inner surface adjacent the hollow interior, the method comprising introducing substantially uni-directional glass reinforcing fibres and bi-directional glass reinforcing fibres into a bath of a thermo-setting resin, and pulling the fibres and resin through a die including a mandrel to shape the hollow interior, characterized in the steps of arranging the fibres such that the bi-directional fibres lie adjacent the outer surface of the part and the uni-directional fibres lie inwardly thereof, providing the die of such a shape that the part as it is shaped by and emerges from the die it is opened relative to the final shape and cooling the emerging part such that it shrinks differentially to close into the final shape.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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