Composite Spacer for Insulating Glass Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spacers for insulating glass units face challenges with high heat conductivity, gas diffusion, and manufacturing complexity, particularly with metal and plastic materials, leading to instability and misalignment issues during bending and assembly.
Innovation Solution
A spacer design combining a plastic top part with a metal foil outer wall, where the metal foil's side walls cover the plastic legs, providing stability and a defined contact surface, and a snap-together assembly mechanism for easy installation, along with optional adhesive for added security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metal foil is used for spacers, then gas diffusion resistance is improved, but heat conductivity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer combines a plastic body with a metal foil layer to create a composite structure that leverages the gas diffusion resistance of metal while addressing its high heat conductivity through the plastic material's thermal insulating properties
Solution Approach 2:
The metal foil is applied selectively to specific areas of the spacer where gas diffusion resistance is most critical, while other areas maintain the plastic material's thermal insulating characteristics
2Loss of energy
If plastic material is used for spacers, then heat conductivity is reduced, but gas diffusion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The plastic body is combined with a metal foil layer to create a composite spacer that provides both thermal insulation from the plastic and gas diffusion resistance from the metal foil
3Ease of manufacture
If plastic material is used for spacers, then ease of manufacture is improved, but stability during manufacturing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The combination of plastic body and metal foil creates a composite structure where the metal layer provides dimensional stability and prevents deformation during bending and assembly, while the plastic body maintains ease of manufacturing
4Stability of the object's composition
If glass fibre reinforced plastic material is used, then stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A metal foil layer is applied to the plastic body to provide stability during assembly, avoiding the need for glass fibre reinforcement and keeping the manufacturing process simple
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution offers reduced heat conductivity, improved stability, and ease of manufacturing with enhanced gas and moisture resistance, ensuring a well-defined shape and effective sealing contact between the spacer and glass panes.
Implementation Method 1
spacers made of metal foils have a high resistance against diffusion of gases and moisture penetration
Implementation Method 2
Plastic material has, however, relatively high gas diffusion as compared to metal. In order to further reduce the heat conductivity, it has been suggested to use plastic material for forming such spacers
Data Source
Figure 1~2b
Figure 3a~3b
Figure 4
AI summary
A spacer (1) for forming a spacing between glass panes (41, 42) is basically formed by a plastic part (10) and a metal foil (30). The plastic part (10) has an inner wall part (11) and two lateral legs (12a, 12b) extending away from said wall part (11). The metal foil has an outer wall part (31) and two lateral (32a, 32b) which extends away from said wall part (31). An outer surface (19a, 19b) of said legs (12a, 12b) is at least partially covered by the side walls (32a, 32b) of the metal foil (30).