Filled Insulated Glass Unit with Joiner Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing insulating glass units (IGUs) lack the capability to create stable, three-dimensional ornamental patterns using free-floating components like glass beads, lenses, and disks without being supported by a spacer frame, posing safety and durability concerns due to potential hazards from misinstallation and structural stress.
Innovation Solution
A method for fabricating a filled insulated glass unit (FGU) involving the use of joiner elements and infill elements that are sized and selected to maintain their position within the gap between glass lites, with a spacer frame and adhesive sealants ensuring secure placement and structural integrity, allowing for the creation of three-dimensional patterns without dependence on the spacer frame.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If free-floating ornamental components are placed in the air space without spacer frame support, then three-dimensional ornamental patterns can be created, but the components become unstable and may cause safety hazards under environmental and structural stresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the air space into multiple sealed cavities using spacer elements, with each cavity containing specific ornamental components. This segmentation prevents components from moving freely while maintaining the three-dimensional pattern effect, resolving the contradiction between pattern creation and component stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces spacer elements as intermediary structures that indirectly support ornamental components without direct contact. These spacers create defined spaces and maintain component positions through geometric constraints rather than mechanical attachment, preserving both the aesthetic freedom and structural reliability.
2Reliability
If ornamental elements are supported by the spacer frame, then component stability is maintained, but the design freedom and aesthetic quality are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the support function from the main spacer frame, creating separate, independent spacer elements distributed throughout the air space. This allows the primary spacer frame to focus on structural duties while the extracted spacer elements provide localized, minimal support that preserves design freedom and aesthetic quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different spacer element configurations to different regions of the air space based on local design requirements. This localized approach provides stability only where needed while leaving other areas free for creative ornamentation, maintaining both reliability and design versatility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the air space gap is increased to accommodate larger ornamental elements, then design flexibility is improved, but the thermal insulation performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses vertically oriented spacer elements that extend through the air space gap, creating a three-dimensional structural framework. This vertical dimension provides design flexibility for arranging ornamental elements without requiring increased gap width, thereby maintaining thermal insulation performance while achieving design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent nests ornamental components within the three-dimensional framework created by the spacer elements, placing smaller elements within the spaces defined by the spacer structure. This nesting approach allows diverse design configurations within the existing gap dimensions without compromising thermal performance.
Data Source
AI summary
An ornamental filled glass unit (“FGU”) is manufactured by placing a first glass lite in a horizontally supported position and affixing a spacer frame around a periphery of the first surface, providing a space for filling. A first joiner element centered on the first surface, the joiner element having an upward height that slightly exceeds an intended gap between the first lite and a second lite to be placed on the spacer frame. Additional joiner elements may be used, depending upon the area of the first surface. A filler design is built by arranging a plurality of infill elements in the filling space. The second lite is affixed to an adhesive sealant around a top surface of the spacer frame, and to an adhesive on an upwardly-extending surface of each joiner element. The filler design is spatially maintained when the filler space is sealed by the second lite.