# US 2020/0399949 A1 · Flanged tube for vacuum insulated glass (vig) unit evacuation and hermetic sealing, vig unit including flanged tube, and associated methods > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0399949 A1 - Document ID: US20200399949A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/444,728 - Filed: 2019-06-18 - Published: 2020-12-24 - Earliest claimed: 2019-06-18 - Assignees: Guardian Glass, LLC - Applicants: Guardian Glass, LLC - Inventors: BRADLEY J. PASIONEK; JOHN P. HOGAN; TIMOTHY HODAPP - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200399949A1 ## CPC - E06B 3/6612: {Evacuated glazing units} - E06B 3/673: Assembling the units (E06B3/677 takes precedence {; making hollow glass sheets or bricks C03B23/24}) - E06B 3/677: Evacuating or filling the gap between the panes {; Equilibration of inside and outside pressure}; Preventing condensation in the gap between the panes (by means of spacing elements E06B3/663); Cleaning the gap between the panes - E06B 3/6775: {Evacuating or filling the gap during assembly} - Y02A 30/249: Glazing, e.g. vacuum glazing - Y02B 80/22: Glazing, e.g. vaccum glazing - E06B: FIXED OR MOVABLE CLOSURES FOR OPENINGS IN BUILDINGS, VEHICLES, FENCES OR LIKE ENCLOSURES IN GENERAL, e.g. DOORS, WINDOWS, BLINDS, GATES (shades or blinds for greenhouses A01G9/22; curtains A47H; lids for car boots or bonnets B62D25/10; skylights E04B7/18; sunshades, awnings E04F10/00) - Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to vacuum insulated glass (VIG) units, and/or methods of making the same. The sealing tube or sealing material is provided within the VIG unit, thereby potentially eliminating the need for a protective cap and allowing for more freedom in handling, frame design, hybrid VIG construction, lamination, and the like. The sealing tube may be relocated to an internal area within a recessed pocket of a substrate at least in certain example embodiments. The VIG unit lacks a protruding pump-out tube or the like. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of making a vacuum insulating glass (VIG) unit, the method comprising: providing first and second glass substrates, the first substrate including a hole formed therein, the hole being formed to have first and second portions, the first portion being closer to an outer surface of the first substrate than the second portion, the first portion having a first width across the first substrate and the second portion having a second width across the first substrate, the first width being wider than the second width, the first and second portions together forming a through-hole through the first substrate; placing in the hole a flanged pump-out tube including a skirt intermediate upper and lower portions such that the lower portion of the tube extends into the second portion and the upper portion of the tube is located in the first portion; sealing together the first and second substrates in connection with an edge seal provided around peripheral edges of the first and/or second substrates, a cavity being defined by the first and second substrates, and a plurality of spacers being provided between the first and second substrates in the cavity and helping to maintain the first and second substrates in substantially parallel, spaced-apart relation to one another; evacuating the cavity to a pressure less than atmospheric; and heating the pump-out tube so as to cause at least a part of the upper portion of the tube to collapse inwardly upon itself, covering the second width and hermetically sealing the VIG unit and forming a sealed tube, the sealed tube being flush with, or partially recessed with respect to, an outermost surface of the first substrate. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second portions of the hole are formed by drilling. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising sealing the pump-out tube to the first substrate using frit material provided to the pump-out tube and/or the first substrate. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the frit material seals the skirt to the first substrate. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the frit material seals outer peripheral edges of the skirt to the first substrate. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein frit material is not provided to an underside of the skirt. ### Claim 7 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein frit material is provided to the pump-out tube prior to the tube being placed in the hole. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the heating is laser heating. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the laser heating is practiced so as to preferentially heat the pump-out tube relative to the first substrate and/or the skirt. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the laser heating includes tracing collapsing portions of the tube as the tube collapses inwardly upon itself in forming the sealed tube. ### Claim 11 A method of making a vacuum insulating glass (VIG) unit subassembly, the method comprising: providing a first glass substrate, the first substrate including a hole formed therein, the hole being formed to have first and second portions, the first portion being closer to an outer surface of the first substrate than the second portion, the first portion having a first width across the first substrate and the second portion having a second width across the first substrate, the first width being wider than the second width, the first and second portions together forming a through-hole through the first substrate; and forwarding the first substrate to another party to: place in the hole a flanged pump-out tube including a skirt intermediate upper and lower portions such that the lower portion of the tube extends into the second portion and the upper portion of the tube is located in the first portion; seal together the first glass substrate with a second substrates in connection with an edge seal provided around peripheral edges of the first and/or second substrates, a cavity being defined by the first and second substrates, and a plurality of spacers being provided between the first and second substrates in the cavity and helping to maintain the first and second substrates in substantially parallel, spaced-apart relation to one another; evacuate the cavity to a pressure less than atmospheric; and laser heat the pump-out tube so as to cause at least a part of the upper portion of the tube to collapse inwardly upon itself, covering the second width and hermetically sealing the VIG unit and forming a sealed tube, the sealed tube being flush with, or partially recessed with respect to, an outermost surface of the first substrate. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second portions of the hole are formed by drilling. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the pump-out tube is sealed to the first substrate using frit material provided to the pump-out tube and/or the first substrate. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the frit material seals the skirt to the first substrate. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the frit material seals outer peripheral edges of the skirt to the first substrate. ### Claim 16 A vacuum insulating glass (VIG) unit, comprising: first and second glass substrates maintained in substantially parallel, spaced apart relation to one another via a hermetic edge seal and a plurality of spacers disposed in a cavity defined between the first and second glass substrates, the cavity being evacuated to a pressure less than atmospheric using a pump-out port formed in the first substrate that has been hermetically sealed with a laser-sealed flanged tube, the laser-sealed tube including a sealing portion made therefrom proximate to the cavity, the laser-sealed tube being located internal to the VIG unit without protruding therefrom. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The VIG unit of claim 16, wherein the tube is connected to the first substrate of the VIG unit via frit material. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The VIG unit of claim 17, wherein the frit material connecting the tube to the first substrate is provided around a skirt of the tube. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The VIG unit of claim 16, wherein the tube includes a skirt and a lower portion, the skirt being intermediate the sealing portion and the lower portion of the tube, the lower portion of the tube extending towards the cavity. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) A vacuum insulating glass (VIG) unit made by the method of claim 1.