Vacuum Insulated Panel Edge Seal for Low-Stress Hermeticity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vacuum insulated glass panels face issues such as significant de-tempering of glass substrates, high manufacturing costs, lack of durability, and hermeticity problems due to thermal stress and cracks, which hinder their commercial viability and compliance with safety codes.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum insulating panel with a multi-layer edge seal comprising boron oxide and bismuth oxide, and a laser-based sintering process to form the seal, which reduces transient thermal stress and maintains compressive and tensile stress gradients within the glass substrates, ensuring hermeticity and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional sealing methods are used to create hermetic seals in vacuum insulated panels, then sealing is achieved, but significant de-tempering of glass substrates and thermal stress cracks occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the seal layer by incorporating specific metal oxides (Bi2O3, B2O3, SiO2, Al2O3) in controlled ratios. This compositional modification allows the seal material to have appropriate softening characteristics that enable hermetic sealing without exposing the glass substrates to excessive temperatures that would cause de-tempering and strength loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite seal layer material composed of multiple metal oxides (bismuth oxide, boron oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide) combined in specific proportions. This composite formulation provides optimized thermal and mechanical properties, allowing the seal to achieve hermeticity while maintaining compatibility with glass substrates and minimizing thermal stress and de-tempering effects.
2Reliability
If high-temperature processing is used to form seals, then hermeticity is improved, but manufacturing costs increase and glass de-tempering occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical composition of the seal layer to include metal oxides with appropriate softening points and reactivity. This parameter change allows the sealing process to occur at reduced temperatures compared to conventional methods, thereby lowering energy consumption and manufacturing costs while still achieving hermetic seals without glass de-tempering.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the seal layer specifically at the peripheral edges of the vacuum insulated panel where sealing is required. The localized application of this specially formulated seal material enables hermetic sealing without subjecting the entire glass substrate to high-temperature processing, thus reducing overall manufacturing costs and preventing widespread de-tempering.
3Reliability
If conventional seal materials are used, then sealing is achieved, but durability and resistance to thermal stress cracks are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite seal layer made from multiple metal oxides (Bi2O3, B2O3, SiO2, Al2O3) in specific ratios. This composite structure provides enhanced durability and flexibility, allowing the seal to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction of the glass substrates without developing cracks, thereby improving resistance to thermal stress while maintaining hermeticity.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal layer acts as an intermediary material between the glass substrates and the vacuum environment. The specially formulated composite seal material mediates the thermal stress by providing a flexible barrier that can accommodate differential thermal expansion, preventing stress concentration and crack formation that would otherwise compromise durability and hermeticity.
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 maintains high compressive and tensile stress in glass substrates, improves hermeticity, and reduces manufacturing costs while ensuring compliance with safety codes and thermal stability, enhancing the panel's structural integrity and longevity.
Implementation Method 1
the second seal layer comprises boron oxide and bismuth oxide... reduces transient thermal stress
Implementation Method 2
a laser-based sintering process to form the seal
Implementation Method 3
The gap between the substrates may be at a pressure less than atmospheric pressure to provide insulating properties. Providing a vacuum in the space between the substrates reduces conduction and convection heat transport
Data Source
AI summary
A vacuum insulating panel includes first and second substrates (e.g., glass substrates), a hermetic edge seal, a pump-out port, and spacers sandwiched between at least the two substrates. The gap between the substrates may be at a pressure less than atmospheric pressure to provide insulating properties. The vacuum insulating panel may include a multi-layer edge seal structure, including at least one layer including boron oxide (e.g., B2O3 or any other stoichiometry).