Fire Retardant Glazing Joint with Intumescent Seals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fire-resistant glazing systems with profile-free glass doors face complexities in assembly and impaired fire protection due to the need for complex adjustments and one-sided lip seals, which compromise the sealing integrity.
Innovation Solution
The design features interlocking shiplaps only at the lateral abutting edges of the glass door, with all other joints sealed by overlapping double seals, eliminating the need for load-bearing profiles and ensuring a tight, smoke-proof seal by using tubular hollow chamber seals anchored in intumescent material that compress and foam to fill gaps during a fire.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If stepped rebates are provided at all joints surrounding the glass door, then fire protection properties are improved, but installation complexity and adjustment requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies stepped rebates only at specific critical locations (lateral butt edges of adjacent fire-resistant glass panes forming the stop side) rather than uniformly at all joints. This localized application maintains fire protection where most needed while simplifying installation at other joints, directly resolving the contradiction between fire protection reliability and installation complexity.
2Device complexity
If a single lip seal is used in the sealing groove, then device complexity is reduced, but fire-resistant sealing integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is segmented into multiple independent sealing elements: the lip seal in the sealing groove, additional seals at the butt edges, and intumescent material strips. This segmentation provides redundant sealing paths, ensuring that if one seal fails, others maintain fire-resistant integrity, thus improving reliability without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates intumescent material strips and multiple seals as preventive measures before fire occurs. These elements are positioned in advance to expand and seal gaps when exposed to heat, providing a safety buffer that maintains sealing integrity under fire conditions without adding complex active control systems.
3Reliability
If stepped rebates are provided at all joints, then fire protection is improved, but door operation smoothness and adjustment requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Stepped rebates are applied only at lateral butt edges where fire protection is critical, while other joints (top, bottom, hinge side) use flush or simplified configurations. This selective approach maintains fire protection at key locations while ensuring smooth door operation by reducing friction and binding points, directly addressing the contradiction between fire protection and operational ease.
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
This configuration simplifies installation, maintains trouble-free door operation, and enhances fire and smoke protection by ensuring all joints are sealed, even in the absence of shiplaps, thereby improving overall fire protection properties.
Implementation Method 1
A profile strip made of intumescent material is inserted into the groove formed between the butt joints of the glass panes and the edge seal. This strip expands in the event of a fire and seals the joint.
Implementation Method 2
each seal consists of a tubular hollow chamber seal anchored in the strip of intumescent material with spring hooks. When the glass door is closed, this seal, through compression deformation, forms a seal with the opposite hollow chamber seal.
Implementation Method 3
the fire-resistant panes have parallel spaced-apart glass panes by means of an edge seal, and the space enclosed by the edge seal between the glass panes is filled with a fire-resistant gel
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
AI summary
The invention relates to fire-resistant glazing 1 for preventing the passage of fire and smoke from one room to another in the event of a fire, comprising at least three glass surfaces A, B, C consisting of fire-resistant panes 2 and arranged side by side, one of which B is at least partially designed as a frameless glass door 3 in the form of a hinged door, wherein the fire-resistant panes 2 have parallel spaced-apart glass panes 2a, 2b by means of an edge seal 17, and the space enclosed by the edge seal 17 between the glass panes 2a, 2b is filled with a fire-resistant gel 18, and wherein the edge seal 17 of the glass door 3 and the edge seal 17 of the fire-resistant panes 2 are set inwards in the area of the butt edges immediately adjacent to the glass door 3, forming a groove, into which a strip 20 of an intumescent material in the event of a fire is inserted, which carries a seal 21, 22, which is characterized in thatthat only in the area of the lateral butt edges AA of the adjacent fire-resistant glass panes 2 forming the stop side AA of the glass door 3, one of the glass panes 2a or 2b is arranged recessed relative to the other glass pane 2b or 2a, forming interlocking, stop-forming stepped rebates 25, 26, while all remaining butt edges BB of the fire-resistant glass panes 2 are formed without a stepped rebate, and that the joints between adjacent fire-resistant glass panes 2 are tightly sealed by a sealing arrangement in the closed state of the glass door 3, which consists of overlapping and cooperating seals 21, 22 projecting into the respective joint of the adjacent fire-resistant glass panes 2.