Glass building material and method for separating glass building material

Abstract

Provided is a glass building material that enables easy separation between a sheet glass and a core material. This glass building material has a sheet glass and a core material, and is obtained by bonding the sheet glass and the core material together by using an adhesive material. The adhesive material contains a heat expandable material.

Description

Glass building material and method for separating glass building material

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to glass building materials and methods for separating glass building materials.

[0002] Double-glazed glass is constructed by placing a spacer member as a core material along the periphery between a plurality of opposing glass panes, and then bonding and sealing the glass panes and the spacer member with a sealing material (see, for example, Patent Document 1).Double-glazed glass has high thermal insulation performance because the hollow space formed between the glass panes makes it difficult for heat to be transmitted, and is therefore widely used in sashes for buildings such as houses and buildings, as well as doors for freezer and refrigerated showcases.

[0003] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-162333

[0004] In recent years, there has been a demand for the creation of a recycling-oriented society. Accordingly, the recycling of glass building materials, such as double-glazed glass used in sashes and the like that are discarded when buildings are rebuilt, has been proposed. In glass building materials, the plate glass and the core material, such as a spacer member, are closely attached to each other, making separation difficult. Therefore, when recycling glass building materials, the plate glass is generally crushed into cullets using large-scale equipment.

[0005] However, even if the plate glass is crushed, some of the crushed material remains in a state where the glass fragments and the core material are adhered to each other. In order to improve the recovery efficiency, the glass fragments and the core material must be separated manually, so there is room for improvement in terms of achieving efficient recycling. Moreover, this method does not allow the plate glass of the glass building material to be reused in its original form.

[0006] The present disclosure aims to provide a glass building material that allows easy separation of a glass sheet and a core material, and a method for separating the glass building material.

[0007] The present disclosure relates to a glass building material having a glass sheet and a core material, the glass sheet and the core material being bonded together with an adhesive, the adhesive containing a heat-foaming material.

[0008] The present disclosure relates to a method for separating a glass building material, which comprises heating at least a portion of the glass building material where the adhesive is provided, and causing the heated foaming material in the adhesive to expand in volume, thereby separating the plurality of glass sheets from the core material.

[0009] 4 is a cross-sectional view of a double-glazing unit according to one embodiment of a glass building material. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a sealed portion between a glass sheet and a spacer member in the double-glazing unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a method for separating double-glazing units. FIG. 6 is a front view of a door body of an entrance door according to another embodiment of the glass building material, viewed from the outdoor side. FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 4. FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 4. FIG. 9 is a front view showing the outdoor side surface of the door body main body of the door body shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing how a glass sheet is attached to the surface of the door body main body of the door body shown in FIG. 4.

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 and 2 show a double-glazing unit 1, which is one embodiment of a glass building material. The double-glazing unit 1 is composed of a plurality of glass sheets 2 and 3 and a spacer member 4 as a core material. While the double-glazing unit 1 has two glass sheets 2 and 3, the glass building material of the present disclosure may also have three or more glass sheets.

[0011] The double-glazing glass 1 shown in this embodiment is a double-glazing glass that is used by being fitted into the frame of a sash of a building. Two glass sheets 2 and 3 are arranged facing each other with a fixed gap between them via a spacer member 4. In this embodiment, the glass sheet 2 is arranged on the exterior side of the room, and the glass sheet 3 is arranged on the interior side. A metal thin film 2a is laminated on the inner surface of the glass sheet 2 to enhance thermal insulation and heat blocking properties. Such a metal thin film may also be laminated on the inner surface of the glass sheet 3.

[0012] The spacer member 4 is a cylindrical member made of a metal such as aluminum or a resin. The spacer member 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a simplified schematic view. A moisture absorbent (not shown) is housed inside the spacer member 4. The spacer member 4 is arranged along the four peripheries (top, bottom, left, and right) between the two glass sheets 2 and 3, maintaining a constant distance between the glass sheets 2 and 3. This forms a hollow layer 5 between the glass sheets 2 and 3. The hollow layer 5 is kept dry by the moisture absorbent inside the spacer member 4.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 2, the glass plates 2 and 3 and the spacer member 4 are bonded together with an adhesive. Specifically, the glass plates 2 and 3 and the spacer member 4 are bonded and sealed together with a sealing material serving as an adhesive. This firmly bonds the glass plates 2 and 3 to the spacer member 4. The sealing material includes a primary sealing material 6 and a secondary sealing material 7 serving as adhesives.

[0014] The primary sealing materials 6 are disposed between the glass sheets 2 and 3 and the spacer member 4, respectively. The primary sealing materials 6 are adhesive sealants. The primary sealing materials 6 are made of, for example, butyl rubber. The primary sealing materials 6 adhere to the inner surfaces of the glass sheets 2 and 3 that face the hollow layer 5 and to both side surfaces of the spacer member 4, thereby preventing moisture from penetrating into the hollow layer 5.

[0015] The secondary sealing material 7 is disposed between the portions of the glass sheets 2 and 3 that extend outward beyond the spacer member 4 and the outer periphery of the spacer member 4. The secondary sealing material 7 is a sealing material that has adhesive properties and shape-retaining properties. The secondary sealing material 7 is made of, for example, polysulfide or silicone. The secondary sealing material 7 adheres closely to the glass sheets 2 and 3 and the outer periphery of the spacer member 4, respectively, thereby maintaining the shapes of the glass sheets 2 and 3 and the spacer member 4 and suppressing deformation of the primary sealing material 6.

[0016] The primary sealing material 6 contains a heat-foaming material. The heat-foaming material is functional fine particles that expand in volume upon heating, and is contained in advance in the material of the primary sealing material 6. Specific examples of the heat-foaming material include thermally expandable microcapsules and expandable graphite. The heating temperature at which the heat-foaming material expands in volume generally exceeds 100°C, so there is no risk of the heat-foaming material in the primary sealing material 6 expanding in volume under the environment in which the double-glazing glass 1 is normally used.

[0017] If the content of the heat-foaming material is too small, it is difficult to achieve the effect of peeling the glass sheets 2, 3 from the spacer member 4 when the heat-foaming material expands in volume due to heating, whereas if the content is too large, the adhesive strength of the primary sealing material 6 decreases, and the adhesion between the glass sheets 2, 3 and the spacer member 4 decreases. Therefore, taking these conditions into consideration, the content of the heat-foaming material in the primary sealing material 6 is appropriately adjusted. The specific content varies depending on the particle size of the heat-foaming material, but can be 5 vol % or more and 15 vol % or less with respect to the primary sealing material 6.

[0018] When separating the double-glazing glass 1 for recycling, as shown in Fig. 3, the discarded double-glazing glass 1 is placed in a heating device 100 such as a heating oven and heated to a temperature at which the thermally foamable material in the primary sealing material 6 expands in volume, as shown in Fig. 3. When the thermally foamable material in the primary sealing material 6 expands in volume due to this heating, the primary sealing material 6 moves the glass sheets 2 and 3 in a direction that peels them off from the spacer member 4. This separates the glass sheets 2 and 3 from the spacer member 4.

[0019] In the double glazing glass 1 described above, only the primary sealing material 6 contains the heat-foamable material, but the heat-foamable material may be contained in both the primary sealing material 6 and the secondary sealing material 7 .

[0020] 4 to 8 show a door body 10 for an entrance door, which is another embodiment of the glass building material. The door body 10 is attached to the inner periphery of an entrance frame (not shown) provided at an opening in the building frame, so that it can be opened and closed by means of hinges (not shown).

[0021] The door body 10 comprises a door body main body 11 and a glass pane 12. As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the door body main body 11 is constructed by assembling an upper door frame 111, a lower door frame 112, and left and right vertical door frames 113, 114 into a rectangular shape. The door frame 110 is provided with an exterior surface material 11a and an interior surface material 11b on its exterior and interior surfaces, respectively. In this embodiment, the upper door frame 111, the lower door frame 112, and the left and right vertical door frames 113, 114 are each made of extruded metal such as aluminum. However, the frame members of the door body 10 are not limited to extruded metals and may be made of any suitable material. The exterior surface material 11a and the interior surface material 11b are made of, for example, steel plate. The interior of the door body 11 is filled with insulating material 11c.

[0022] The glass sheet 12 is provided on the exterior surface material 11a of the door body 11. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the glass sheet 12 extends vertically across the entire door body 11. As shown in Figures 4 and 6, the width of the glass sheet 12 in the left-right direction is smaller than the width of the door body 11 in the left-right direction.

[0023] On the left and right sides of the glass sheet 12, decorative members 13, 14 are arranged, each made of a metal material such as aluminum or a resin material, and extend vertically. The decorative member 13 is arranged along the side edge 12a of the glass sheet 12 on the door-end side. The decorative member 14 is arranged along the side edge 12b of the glass sheet 12 on the hanging side. As shown in FIG. 6 , the decorative member 13 is composed of a base member 131 and a cover member 132. The base member 131 is attached to the exterior surface member 11a with a mounting pin 133 that penetrates the exterior surface member 11a. The cover member 132 is attached by fitting into the base member 131 so as to cover the mounting pin 133. The decorative member 14 has a mounting pin 141 attached in advance. The decorative member 14 is attached to the exterior surface member 11a by the mounting pin 141 penetrating the exterior surface member 11a. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the decorative profile 13 arranged along the side edge 12a on the door tip side of the glass plate 12 is divided into multiple parts above and below to avoid the mounting portion 10a of the handle (not shown).

[0024] As shown in Figure 7, the glass sheet 12 is attached to the exterior surface material 11a of the door body 11 with double-sided adhesive tape 15 and adhesive 16. This forms the door body 10 in which the glass sheet 12 and the door body 11 are bonded together with the adhesive 16. In this embodiment, the door body 11 is a core material that supports the glass sheet 12.

[0025] In this embodiment, three narrow strips of double-sided adhesive tape 15 are provided at intervals on the left and right sides, arranged parallel to the up-down direction of the door body 11 between the left and right decorative members 13, 14. The double-sided adhesive tape 15 is attached to the outdoor surface material 11a so as to cover the openings 11d, which are formed in a row on the outdoor surface material 11a, as markers.

[0026] The adhesive 16 is applied between adjacent double-sided adhesive tapes 15, 15. The adhesive 16 is applied between adjacent double-sided adhesive tapes 15, 15 in a shape that includes a pair of vertically extending adhesive portions 16a, 16a extending along the double-sided adhesive tape 15 along the entire vertical length of the outdoor surface material 11a, and a horizontally extending adhesive portion 16b connecting the upper ends of the pair of vertically extending adhesive portions 16a, 16a in the horizontal direction. The lower ends of the pair of vertically extending adhesive portions 16a, 16a are not connected to each other, forming a non-adhesive portion 16c where the adhesive 16 is not applied. This leaves the inner non-adhesive region of the outdoor surface material 11a surrounded by the adhesive 16 open downward. Therefore, even if condensation occurs between the outdoor surface material 11a and the glass sheet 12, the condensed water falls under its own weight and is discharged from between the outdoor surface material 11a and the glass sheet 12 through the non-adhesive portion 16c. The adhesive material 16 is made of, for example, butyl rubber, modified silicone resin elastic adhesive (for example, SG-1 manufactured by Cemedine Co., Ltd.), etc. The adhesive material 16 contains the same heat-foaming material as above.

[0027] As shown in Figure 8, the glass sheet 12 is attached to the exterior surface material 11a of the door body 11, which has double-sided adhesive tape 15 and adhesive material 16 attached to the exterior surface material 11a. The upper and lower edges of the glass sheet 12 are locked and supported by L-shaped metal fittings 111a, 112a attached to the upper door frame 111 and the lower door frame 112, respectively. Then, decorative shapes 13, 14 are attached to the left and right side edges 12a, 12b of the glass sheet 12, respectively.

[0028] The entrance door body 10 configured in this manner is placed in a heating device 100 such as a heating oven, in the same manner as in the case of the double-glazed glass 1 described above, and heated to a temperature at which the thermally foamable material in the adhesive 16 expands in volume. When the thermally foamable material in the adhesive 16 expands in volume due to this heating, the adhesive 16 moves the glass sheet 12 in a direction that peels it away from the door body 11. This separates the glass sheet 12 from the door body 11.

[0029] Heating the double-glazing glass 1 and the door body 10 to expand the volume of the thermally foamable material is not limited to heating the entire double-glazing glass 1 and the door body 10 housed in the heating device 100. When expanding the volume of the thermally foamable material, at least the bonded portions of the double-glazing glass 1 and the door body 10 with the adhesive containing the thermally foamable material may be partially heated by a heating device such as an infrared heater.

[0030] The present embodiment provides the following advantages: The glass building material of the present embodiment is a glass building material (a double-glazed glass panel 1 and a door body 10) that includes glass sheets 2, 3, and 12 and a core material (a spacer member 4 and a door body 11), and the glass sheets 2, 3, and 12 are bonded to the core material with adhesive materials (a primary sealing material 6, a secondary sealing material 7, and an adhesive material 16), and the adhesive materials contain a heat-foaming material.

[0031] According to this, when discarding the glass building material, the glass sheets 2, 3, 12 can be separated from the core material (spacer member 4, door body 11) simply by heating. Since the glass sheets 2, 3, 12 are separated from the core material in their plate form without being crushed, the separated glass sheets 2, 3, 12 can be effectively reused as glass sheets or the like to form new glass building materials.

[0032] In this embodiment, the glass building material is a double-glazed glass 1 in which a plurality of glass sheets 2, 3 are arranged opposite each other with a spacer member 4 as a core material therebetween, and the spacer member 4 is arranged along the peripheral edges of the plurality of glass sheets 2, 3.

[0033] According to this, when the double glazing 1 is to be disposed of, the glass sheets 2, 3 and the spacer member 4 can be easily separated simply by heating.

[0034] In this embodiment, the adhesive includes a primary sealing material that bonds and seals between the multiple glass plates 2, 3 and the spacer member 4, and a secondary adhesive that bonds and seals between the multiple glass plates 2, 3 and the outer periphery of the spacer member 4.

[0035] This allows the glass sheets 2, 3 to be firmly adhered to the spacer member 4, thereby maintaining the shape of the double-glazing glass 1. Although the primary sealing material 6 and the secondary sealing material 7 also soften and lose their adhesiveness when heated, it is still difficult to peel the glass sheets 2, 3 from the spacer member 4 with this alone. However, because the primary sealing material 6 and the secondary sealing material 7 contain a heat-foaming material, when the heat-foaming material expands in volume, the glass sheets 2, 3 naturally move in a direction that causes them to be peeled away from the spacer member 4, making them easily separable.

[0036] In this embodiment, the heat-foaming material is contained in at least the primary sealing material 6 out of the primary sealing material 6 and the secondary sealing material 7 .

[0037] This allows the glass sheets 2 and 3 to be effectively peeled off from the spacer member 4 by the volume expansion of the heated foaming material.

[0038] In this embodiment, the glass building material is a door body 10 in which a glass plate 12 is provided on the surface of a door body main body 11, which is a core material, and the glass plate 12 and the surface of the door body main body 11 are bonded together with an adhesive 16.

[0039] This allows the glass sheet 12 to be effectively peeled off from the door body 11 due to the volume expansion of the heated foaming material.

[0040] In the above embodiments, the double-glazed glass 1 used in windows of buildings and the door body 10 used in entrance doors are exemplified as glass building materials, but the glass building materials of the present disclosure are not limited to these double-glazed glass 1 and door body 10, and may be double-glazed glass or door bodies used in interior doors, etc. Double-glazed glass is not limited to use in buildings, and can be applied to things other than buildings, such as freezer and refrigerated showcases.

[0041] The present disclosure includes glass building materials and methods for separating glass building materials according to the following aspects.

[0042] <Aspect 1> A glass building material having a glass sheet and a core material, the glass sheet and the core material being bonded together with an adhesive, wherein the adhesive contains a heat-foaming material.

[0043] <Aspect 2> The glass building material according to Aspect 1, wherein the glass sheets are arranged facing each other with a spacer member as the core member therebetween, and the spacer member is arranged along the periphery of the glass sheets, forming a double-glazed glass.

[0044] Aspect 3: The glass building material according to Aspect 2, wherein the adhesive material includes a primary sealing material that bonds and seals between each of the plurality of glass sheets and the spacer member, and a secondary sealing material that bonds and seals between the plurality of glass sheets and an outer periphery of the spacer member.

[0045] Aspect 4 The glass building material according to Aspect 3, wherein the heat-foamable material is contained in at least the primary sealing material out of the primary sealing material and the secondary sealing material.

[0046] Aspect 5: The glass building material according to any one of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein the core material is a door body, the glass sheet is provided on a surface of the door body, and the glass sheet and the surface of the door body are bonded together with the adhesive.

[0047] Aspect 6 A method for separating a glass building material, comprising heating at least a portion of the glass building material according to any one of Aspects 1 to 5 where the adhesive is provided, and causing the heat-foaming material in the adhesive to expand in volume, thereby separating the glass sheets from the core material.

[0048] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Double glazing (glass building material), 2, 3, 12 Glass plate, 4 Spacer member (core material), 6 Primary sealing material (adhesive), 7 Secondary sealing material (adhesive), 10 Door body (glass building material), 11 Door body (core material), 16 Adhesive

Claims

1. A glass building material having a glass sheet and a core material, the glass sheet and the core material being bonded together with an adhesive, wherein the adhesive contains a heat-foaming material.

2. The glass building material according to claim 1, which is a double-glazed glass in which a plurality of said glass sheets are arranged facing each other with a spacer member serving as the core member therebetween, and the spacer member is arranged along the periphery of said plurality of glass sheets.

3. The glass building material according to claim 2, wherein the adhesive comprises a primary sealing material that bonds and seals between each of the plurality of glass plates and the spacer member, and a secondary sealing material that bonds and seals between the plurality of glass plates and the outer periphery of the spacer member.

4. The glass building material according to claim 3, wherein the heat-foamable material is contained in at least the primary sealing material out of the primary sealing material and the secondary sealing material.

5. The glass building material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the core material is a door body, the glass plate is provided on the surface of the door body, and the door body is bonded between the glass plate and the surface of the door body with the adhesive.

6. A method for separating a glass building material, comprising heating at least the portion of the glass building material described in any one of claims 1 to 5 where the adhesive is provided, and causing the heated foaming agent in the adhesive to expand in volume, thereby separating the multiple glass sheets from the core material.

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