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US 12,631,280 B2Granted
Vacuum insulated panel with glass evacuation tube tip seal and method
AssigneeLuxWall, Inc.
InventorsScott V. Thomsen, Christian Bischoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vacuum insulating panel may include: a first substrate; a second substrate; a plurality of spacers provided in a gap between at least the first and second substrates, wherein the gap is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure; an evacuation tube for evacuating the gap and which may extend at least partly into one of the substrates or be otherwise mounted/supported; and an evacuation tube seal at least partially surrounding the tube. A glass composition of the evacuation tube may contain a high amount of total iron (including oxides thereof) to improve the tube's tip seal. A tip seal, at an end and/or tip portion of the tube, may include a first side including a convex surface and/or a second side including a concave surface.
Claims65
A vacuum insulating panel comprising:
- a first glass substrate;
- a second glass substrate;
- a plurality of spacers provided in a gap between at least the first and second glass substrates, wherein the gap is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure;
- an evacuation tube comprising glass;
- wherein an end portion and/or tip portion of the evacuation tube is sealed to form a tip seal, wherein the tip seal includes a first side comprising a convex surface and a second side comprising a concave surface, the second side located closer to the gap than is the first side, so that the convex surface arcs away from the gap and the concave surface arcs toward the gap;
- and
- wherein, for at least one location viewed cross-sectionally no more than about 0.2 mm from a wall of the tube, a surface of the second side of the tip seal extending inwardly away from the wall of the tube forms an angle Δ of from 35-85 degrees with the wall of the tube.
4 more elements
A vacuum insulating panel comprising:
- a first glass substrate;
- a second glass substrate;
- a plurality of spacers provided in a gap between at least the first and second glass substrates, wherein the gap is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure;
- an evacuation tube comprising glass;
- wherein an end portion and/or tip portion of the evacuation tube is sealed to form a tip seal, wherein the tip seal includes a first side comprising a convex surface and a second side, the second side located closer to the gap than is the first side, so that the convex surface arcs away from the gap;
- and
- wherein a ratio DT/DW is at least about 2.0, wherein DT is a glass thickness of the tip seal, at at least one location, in a direction parallel to a lengthwise axis of the tube, and DW is a wall thickness of the tube at at least one location in a direction transverse to the lengthwise axis of the tube;
- wherein, at at least one location viewed cross-sectionally no more than about 0.2 mm from a wall of the tube, a surface of the second side of the tip seal extending inwardly away from the wall of the tube forms an angle Δ of from 35-85 degrees with the wall of the tube.
5 more elements
A vacuum insulating panel comprising:
- a first glass substrate;
- a second glass substrate;
- a plurality of spacers provided in a gap between at least the first and second glass substrates, wherein the gap is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure;
- an evacuation tube comprising glass;
- wherein an end portion and/or tip portion of the evacuation tube is sealed to form a tip seal, wherein the tip seal includes a first side comprising a convex surface and a second side comprising a concave surface, the second side located closer to the gap than is the first side,
- wherein, at at least one location viewed cross-sectionally no more than about 0.2 mm from a wall of the tube, a surface of the second side of the tip seal extending inwardly away from the wall of the tube forms an angle Δ of from 35-85 degrees with the wall of the tube.
3 more elements
A method of making a vacuum insulating panel comprising a first glass substrate;
- a second glass substrate;
- a plurality of spacers provided in a gap between at least the first and second glass substrates;
- and an evacuation tube comprising glass;
- the method comprising:
- providing the evacuation tube, comprising glass, for evacuating the gap;
- evacuating the gap between at least the first and second glass substrates via the evacuation tube;
- and
- directing a laser beam at an end of the evacuation tube to seal an end portion of the evacuation tube to form a tip seal in a manner so that the tip seal includes a first side comprising a convex surface and a second side comprising a concave surface, the second side located closer to the gap than is the first side, so that the convex surface arcs away from the gap and the concave surface arcs toward the gap, and so that for at least one location viewed cross-sectionally no more than about 0.2 mm from a wall of the tube, a surface of the second side of the tip seal extending inwardly away from the wall of the tube forms an angle Δ of from 35-85 degrees with the wall of the tube.
5 more elements
A vacuum insulating panel comprising:
- at least one spacer provided in a gap at pressure less than atmospheric pressure;
- an evacuation structure comprising glass;
- wherein an end portion and/or tip portion of the evacuation structure is sealed to form a tip seal of the evacuation structure for the vacuum insulating panel, wherein the tip seal includes a first side comprising a convex surface and a second side comprising a concave surface, the second side located closer to the gap than is the first side, so that the convex surface arcs away from the gap and the concave surface arcs toward the gap;
- and
- wherein, for at least one location viewed cross-sectionally no more than about 0.2 mm from a wall of the evacuation structure, a surface of the second side of the tip seal extending inwardly away from the wall of the evacuation structure forms an angle Δ of from 35-85 degrees with the wall of the evacuation structure.
2 more elements
A vacuum insulating panel comprising:
- a first glass substrate;
- a second glass substrate;
- a plurality of spacers provided in a gap between at least the first and second glass substrates, wherein the gap is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure;
- an evacuation tube comprising glass;
- wherein an end portion and/or tip portion of the evacuation tube is sealed to form a tip seal, wherein the tip seal includes a first side comprising a convex surface and a second side comprising a concave surface, the second side located closer to the gap than is the first side, so that the convex surface arcs away from the gap and the concave surface arcs toward the gap;
- wherein a first bore, a second bore, and a third bore are defined in the first glass substrate, the first bore being located further from the second substrate than is the third bore, and wherein the second bore is located between at least the first and third bores, wherein the evacuation tube extends through at least portion of the first and second bores, wherein at least one diameter and/or width DB1 of the first bore is greater than at least one diameter and/or width DB2 of the second bore, and the diameter and/or width DB2 of the second bore is greater than at least one diameter and/or width DB3 of the third bore, so that as viewed cross sectionally at at least one location DB1>DB2>DB3;
- a tube seal supported on at least a first support surface at a base of the first bore and surrounding at least a periphery of the evacuation tube as viewed from above;
- and
- wherein a second support surface, at a base of the second bore, is configured to support at least the evacuation tube.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.