Process of bonding glass articles

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF BONDING THE GLASS FIBERS IN A GLASS FIBER INSULATION BAT WHICH COMPRISES APPLYING A FILM OF A SILICA AQUASOL HAVING A PH OF ABOUT8.5 TO 10.5 AND AN SIO2 TO M2O RATIO OF 50:1 TO 200:1, WHEREIN M IS A MONOVALENT ALKALI CATION, SAID AQUASOL BEING FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT IT CONTAINS AVERAGE COLLOIDAL SILICA PARTICLES OF A SIZE WITHIN THE RANGE OF 5 TO 175 MILLIMICRONS AND FROM ABOUT 5 TO 100% BY WEIGHT, BASED ON THE SIO2 IN SAID AQUASOL, OF A WATER-SOLUBLE, NON-IONIC, FILM-FORMING ORGANIC POLYMER HAVING A MOLECULAR WEIGHT BETWEEN 5000 AND 100,000 AND CONSISTING OF CARBON, HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN ATOMS WITH THE FURTHER PROVISO THAT IT IS SOLUBLE IN WATER AT A TEMPERATURE OF 15 TO 30*C. TO THE EXTENT OF AT LEAST 5% BY WEIGHT AND CONTAINS AN ALIPHATIC CARBON CHAIN OF AT LEAST THREE CARBON ATOMS LINKED BY CARBON TO CARBON BONDS, BETWEEN ADJACENT FIBERS OF SAID BAT, SUBSEQUENTLY DRYING SAID FILM WHILE MAINTAINING SAID FIBERS IN CONTACT WITH FILM BETWEEN THEN AND ADJACENT FIBERS AND SUBSEQUENTLY HEATING SAID FILM AT A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO REMOVE SAID ORGANIC PLYMER AND ITS HEAT DECOMPOSITION PRODUCTS BUT BELOW THE SOFTENING POINT OF SAID FIBERS, WHEREBY SAID GLASS FIBERS ARE BONDED TOGETHER BY A BINDER COMPOSED OF SUBSTANTIALLY PURE SILICA.