Vacuum heated glass

Abstract

This utility model discloses a vacuum-heated glass, belonging to the field of energy-saving building materials technology. The vacuum-heated glass includes a vacuum glass unit comprising a first glass substrate, a second glass substrate, and a vacuum cavity between them; a transparent conductive layer serving as a heating element; and a low-emissivity film layer serving as a heat-reflecting layer. The key feature is that the low-emissivity film layer is disposed on the surface of the first glass substrate facing the vacuum cavity, while the transparent conductive layer is disposed on the side of the second glass substrate opposite to the vacuum cavity. This specific "heat source-vacuum layer-reflecting layer" structure allows the vacuum cavity and the heat-reflecting layer to jointly form a highly efficient thermal barrier, enabling the efficient and directional transfer of heat generated by electrical energy to the side other than the first glass substrate. This solves the problem of low heat utilization in existing heated glass and combines the dual functions of active heating and passive insulation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the fields of energy-saving building materials and special glass technology, and in particular to a vacuum-heated glass that combines active heating and high-efficiency heat insulation functions. Background Technology

[0002] With increasingly stringent requirements for building energy conservation, window glass with excellent thermal insulation properties has been widely used. Among them, vacuum glass, by forming a vacuum layer between two panes of glass, effectively eliminates gas heat conduction and convection, and its thermal insulation performance is far superior to traditional insulated glass, making it an ideal passive energy-saving window material.

[0003] However, both insulated and vacuum-sealed glass are limited to passive thermal insulation, unable to actively provide heat to the interior during cold winters. To achieve active heating, electrically heated glass has emerged as a technology, typically consisting of a transparent conductive film on the glass, which heats up when electricity is applied. However, this conventional heated glass has a significant drawback: the heat generated is simultaneously conducted and radiated to both sides of the glass. When used as exterior windows, a considerable portion of the heat is directly lost to the outside, resulting in energy waste and low heating efficiency. Even existing solutions combining heating films with vacuum-sealed glass have not fundamentally solved the problem of directional heat conduction efficiency, as heat still radiates to the non-heated side.

[0004] Therefore, how to provide a structure that can efficiently and directionally transfer the heat generated by electrical energy to the desired side while maintaining excellent thermal insulation performance has become a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a vacuum-heated glass with an ingenious structural design that integrates active heating and efficient heat insulation.

[0006] This utility model provides a vacuum-heated glass, comprising:

[0007] First glass substrate;

[0008] The second glass substrate is spaced apart from the first glass substrate, forming a vacuum cavity between them; the heat-reflective layer is a low-emissivity film layer disposed on the surface of the first glass substrate facing the vacuum cavity.

[0009] A transparent conductive layer serves as a heating element;

[0010] The transparent conductive layer is disposed on one side of the second glass substrate opposite to the vacuum cavity, such that the vacuum cavity and the heat reflective layer together constitute a thermal barrier to prevent heat from being transferred from the transparent conductive layer toward the first glass substrate.

[0011] Optionally, the transparent conductive layer is disposed on the surface of the second glass substrate facing the vacuum cavity.

[0012] Optionally, it further includes a third glass substrate, on which the transparent conductive layer is disposed, and the third glass substrate is disposed on the side of the second glass substrate away from the vacuum cavity.

[0013] Optionally, the third glass substrate and the second glass substrate are separated by a spacer to form a hollow layer.

[0014] Optionally, the hollow layer is filled with an inert gas.

[0015] Optionally, the vacuum chamber is provided with multiple support members to resist atmospheric pressure.

[0016] Optionally, the support member is a ceramic support ball or a metal support ball.

[0017] Optionally, the first glass substrate, the second glass substrate, and / or the third glass substrate are tempered glass.

[0018] Optionally, the transparent conductive layer is made of at least one of indium tin oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, tin fluoride oxide, tin antimony oxide, and indium gallium oxide.

[0019] Optionally, the heat-reflective layer is a single-silver, double-silver, or triple-silver low-emissivity film.

[0020] Based on the technical content disclosed in this utility model, the following beneficial effects are achieved:

[0021] This invention, through a specific structural design, systematically integrates the functions of a heating element, a vacuum insulation layer, and a heat-reflecting layer to construct a highly efficient directional heat transfer system. Its core lies in the opposing structure of "heat source layer → vacuum layer ← reflective layer," achieving a synergistic effect of multiple physical effects. When the transparent conductive layer is energized and generates heat, the heat is mainly transferred through radiation and conduction / convection. This invention's structure provides a double barrier against these two heat transfer methods: on the one hand, the vacuum cavity effectively prevents heat from being transferred to the first glass substrate through conduction and convection; on the other hand, the low-emissivity film layer (heat-reflecting layer) facing the heat source reflects most of the thermal radiation (infrared rays) back to the heat source side.

[0022] These two mechanisms together form an extremely effective thermal barrier, "trapping" heat and forcibly and efficiently directing it to the side where the second glass substrate is located. This fundamentally solves the technical problems of low heat utilization and severe heat loss to the non-heated side in existing heated glass, achieving efficient and energy-saving directional heating. Simultaneously, the structure itself is a high-performance vacuum glass, possessing excellent passive thermal insulation performance even without electricity, achieving a perfect combination of active heating and passive insulation.

[0023] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with their description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the integrated vacuum heating glass according to Embodiment 1 of this utility model.

[0026] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the composite hollow vacuum heating glass according to Embodiment 2 of this utility model.

[0027] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: 101, first glass substrate; 102, second glass substrate; 103, vacuum cavity; 104, support member; 105, hollow layer; 106, third glass substrate; 201, transparent conductive layer; 202, electrode. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions, and values ​​of the components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention.

[0029] The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative and is in no way intended to limit the invention or its application or use.

[0030] Techniques, methods, and equipment known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, they should be considered part of the specification.

[0031] In all the examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limitations. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0032] It should be noted that similar labels and letters in the following figures indicate similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be discussed further in subsequent figures.

[0033] Example 1

[0034] Please see Figure 1 This embodiment provides a vacuum heating glass with an integrated structure. The overall structure of the vacuum heating glass is composed of a first glass substrate 101 serving as the heat insulation side glass and a second glass substrate 102 serving as the heating side glass.

[0035] Specifically, both the first glass substrate 101 and the second glass substrate 102 are tempered glass, with a thickness selectable according to actual needs, such as 2-20mm. Their visible light transmittance can be designed to be between 10% and 90%, and their safety meets relevant impact resistance standards such as GB15763.2-2005. The two are hermetically sealed by a surrounding sealing structure, forming a vacuum cavity 103 with a preset thickness of 0.3mm to 0.5mm between them.

[0036] The first glass substrate 101 typically faces outwards. It is a low-emissivity (Low-E) glass with a low-emissivity coating facing the vacuum cavity 103. The low-emissivity glass can be online or offline Low-E glass, such as single-silver, double-silver, or triple-silver Low-E glass, with an emissivity typically between 0.02 and 0.3. The function of the low-emissivity coating is to reflect thermal radiation (infrared rays) back to the heat source side like a mirror, thereby preventing heat loss to the outside through radiation.

[0037] The second glass substrate 102 typically faces the indoor space requiring heating. A transparent conductive layer 201 is coated on its inner surface facing the vacuum cavity 103. The transparent conductive layer 201 can be made of a conventional conductive film, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc aluminum oxide (AZO), fluorine tin oxide (FTO), antimony tin oxide (ATO), or gallium indium oxide (GMO), exhibiting good light transmittance and conductivity. Two or more strip-shaped electrodes 202 are disposed at both ends of the transparent conductive layer 201 for connecting an external power source. The electrodes 202 are preferably formed using high-temperature sintered conductive silver paste.

[0038] The transparent conductive layer 201 achieves a balance between conductivity and light transmittance due to the inherent physical properties of its material and the microstructure of the film. On one hand, the material of the transparent conductive layer, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), is essentially a wide-bandgap semiconductor. For wide-bandgap semiconductors, the band gap between the valence band and conduction band is relatively wide (typically greater than 3 electron volts). The photon energy in the visible light band is insufficient to excite valence band electrons to undergo cross-band transitions. Therefore, most visible light is not absorbed by the material but can directly penetrate the film, resulting in a macroscopically transparent film. On the other hand, through precise coating processes (such as magnetron sputtering), the thickness of this conductive layer is controlled at the extremely thin nanometer level (e.g., 50-300 nm). This extremely thin thickness minimizes light absorption and scattering during propagation, ensuring high visible light transmittance for the entire glass assembly and meeting the transparency requirements for applications such as architectural windows.

[0039] Inside the vacuum chamber 103, to resist the enormous pressure exerted on the glass by the external atmospheric pressure and to prevent the two glass substrates from denting or even breaking, multiple tiny support members 104 are arranged uniformly and regularly (e.g., in a 40mm × 40mm matrix). The diameter of the support member 104 is equal to the thickness of the vacuum chamber 103, and its material can be a material with high strength and low thermal conductivity, such as zirconia ceramic spheres, alloy spheres, or special glass spheres.

[0040] The heating function of this invention is based on Joule's law. The transparent conductive layer 201 itself has a certain resistance value and can be regarded as a planar resistor. The electrodes 202 serve as positive and negative terminals, respectively, and are connected to an external heating control system via wires. The system includes at least a power supply and a controller. In a preferred embodiment, the controller is an intelligent temperature controller, which is connected to one or more temperature sensors disposed on the indoor surface of the second glass substrate 102. During operation, the user sets a target temperature through the controller. The controller monitors the glass surface temperature fed back by the temperature sensors in real time. When the surface temperature is lower than the set value, the controller turns on the power supply, and current flows through the electrodes 202 and the transparent conductive layer 201, generating heat to heat the second glass substrate 102. When the temperature reaches the set value, the controller turns off the power supply and stops heating. This cycle is repeated to achieve constant control of the indoor glass surface temperature, and through optimized electrode design and conductive layer material, it can be ensured that the temperature difference of the glass surface during heating does not exceed ±5℃, achieving uniform heating.

[0041] The preparation process of the vacuum-heated glass in this embodiment is as follows:

[0042] Preparation of heated glass substrate: A tempered glass with a thickness of 4 mm is selected as the second glass substrate 102. An ITO layer with a thickness of approximately 150 nm is prepared on its surface as a transparent conductive layer 201 by magnetron sputtering. Subsequently, high-temperature sintering conductive silver paste is printed on both sides of the transparent conductive layer and sintered at a temperature of 600-700℃ for 1-10 minutes to form electrodes 202.

[0043] Component assembly: A piece of low-emissivity tempered glass is selected as the first glass substrate 101, ensuring that its low-emissivity film faces the vacuum cavity during subsequent assembly. On the inner surface of one of the glass substrates, multiple zirconium dioxide support spheres are evenly arranged as support members 104 in a 40mm×40mm spacing matrix.

[0044] Sealing and encapsulation: A ring of low-melting-point glass powder is coated around the perimeter of the first glass substrate 101 and the second glass substrate 102 as a sealing material. Subsequently, the two glass substrates are carefully joined together to form a glass assembly, which is then placed in a large vacuum furnace.

[0045] Vacuum and heat treatment: Start the vacuum system and evacuate the furnace to a vacuum level not exceeding 10. -3 Pa. Then, the heating system is activated, heating the glass assembly to approximately 250°C, melting the low-melting-point glass powder. The molten glass powder firmly welds the edges of the two glass substrates together, forming an airtight seal.

[0046] Cooling the finished product: Stop heating and allow the glass assembly to cool naturally under a vacuum environment. Once completely cooled, remove it from the vacuum furnace to obtain the finished product.

[0047] Example 2

[0048] Please see Figure 2 This embodiment provides a composite hollow vacuum heated glass, which further enhances the heat insulation performance based on Embodiment 1.

[0049] The outermost layer (outdoor side) of the composite structure is a standard unheated vacuum glass, whose structure is basically the same as that of Embodiment 1, consisting of a first glass substrate 101, a second glass substrate 102, a vacuum cavity 103 between the two, and a support member 104.

[0050] Inside the vacuum glass (indoor side), a separate third glass substrate 106 is placed at a certain distance (e.g., 6-30 mm) from it by a spacer strip (not shown in the figure). This third glass substrate 106 is a monolithic piece of heated glass, with a transparent conductive layer 201 and electrodes 202 on its indoor-facing surface. Similarly, this heated glass substrate is also made of tempered glass that meets safety standards and can achieve uniform heating.

[0051] The space formed between the vacuum glass and the third glass substrate 106 constitutes a hollow layer 105. The hollow layer 105 can be filled with an inert gas (such as argon) or kept dry air, and is sealed by spacers and an outer sealant (such as butyl rubber, polysulfide rubber, etc.).

[0052] This composite structure provides a triple thermal insulation mechanism: the vacuum cavity 103 eliminates heat conduction and convection, the low-emissivity film layer (located on the inner surface of the first glass substrate 101) suppresses heat radiation, and the hollow layer 105 further reduces heat exchange, allowing the overall heat transfer coefficient (U-value) to reach a lower level, for example, ≤0.8 W / (m²). 2 ·K).

[0053] The preparation of the composite hollow vacuum heating glass in this embodiment includes the following main steps:

[0054] Preparation of unheated vacuum glass: First, unheated vacuum glass is prepared as the outer layer. The preparation method is basically the same as that in Example 1, including component assembly, sealing and encapsulation, and vacuum and heat treatment. The main difference is that neither of the two substrates used to form the unheated vacuum glass has a transparent conductive layer, but one of them is still a low-emissivity glass (i.e., the first glass substrate 101), and its low-emissivity film layer faces the inside of the vacuum cavity.

[0055] Preparation of a single piece of heated glass: A third glass substrate 106, serving as the inner layer, is prepared independently. Its preparation method is exactly the same as the steps in "Preparation of Heated Glass Substrate" in Example 1, namely, a transparent conductive layer and electrodes are sequentially formed on a tempered glass substrate.

[0056] Insulating glass composite: The unheated vacuum glass and single-pane heated glass prepared above are composited using conventional insulating glass manufacturing processes. Specifically, a spacer strip with built-in desiccant is used to separate the two to form an insulating layer 105. Then, an inert gas (such as argon) is filled into the insulating layer 105, and finally, double sealing is performed using sealants such as butyl rubber and polysulfide rubber to obtain the finished product.

[0057] In summary, this invention integrates a transparent conductive layer for heating, a vacuum cavity for heat insulation, and a low-emissivity film for heat reflection into a specific structure, thus constructing a highly efficient directional heat management system. This structure not only solves the problem of low heat utilization in existing heated glass, achieving energy-saving and efficient heating, but also, as a high-performance vacuum glass, possesses excellent passive thermal insulation properties. Its simple structure and strong practicality represent a significant advancement.

[0058] Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail by way of examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A vacuum-heated glass, characterized in that, include: First glass substrate; The second glass substrate is positioned opposite the first glass substrate at a distance, and a vacuum cavity is formed between the two. The heat-reflective layer is a low-emissivity film layer disposed on the surface of the first glass substrate facing the vacuum cavity; A transparent conductive layer serves as a heating element; The transparent conductive layer is disposed on one side of the second glass substrate opposite to the vacuum cavity, such that the vacuum cavity and the heat reflective layer together constitute a thermal barrier to prevent heat from being transferred from the transparent conductive layer toward the first glass substrate.

2. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transparent conductive layer is disposed on the surface of the second glass substrate facing the vacuum cavity.

3. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a third glass substrate, on which the transparent conductive layer is disposed, and the third glass substrate is disposed on the side of the second glass substrate away from the vacuum cavity.

4. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 3, characterized in that: The third glass substrate and the second glass substrate are separated by a spacer to form a hollow layer.

5. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 4, characterized in that: The hollow layer is filled with inert gas.

6. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vacuum chamber is equipped with multiple support components to resist atmospheric pressure.

7. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 6, characterized in that: The support component is a ceramic support ball or a metal support ball.

8. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first glass substrate, the second glass substrate, and / or the third glass substrate are tempered glass.

9. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transparent conductive layer is made of at least one of indium tin oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, tin fluoride oxide, tin antimony oxide, and indium gallium oxide.

10. The vacuum-heated glass according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heat-reflective layer is a single-silver, double-silver, or triple-silver low-emissivity film.

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