# US 2020/0399950 A1 · Vacuum insulating glass units based on topographic representations

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- Number: US 2020/0399950 A1
- Document ID: US20200399950A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/970,145
- Filed: 2019-02-20
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2018-02-22
- Assignees: VKR Holding A/S
- Applicants: Vkr Holding A/S
- Inventors: Ingemar TÄRNSKÄR; Utku Ahmet ÖZDEN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200399950A1

## CPC

- E06B 3/6612: {Evacuated glazing units}
- E06B 3/66304: {Discrete spacing elements, e.g. for evacuated glazing units}
- E06B 3/673: Assembling the units (E06B3/677 takes precedence {; making hollow glass sheets or bricks C03B23/24})
- E06B 3/67326: {Assembling spacer elements with the panes}
- E06B 3/67365: {Transporting or handling panes, spacer frames or units during assembly (E06B3/67304 - E06B3/67339 take precedence)}
- E06B 3/67369: {Layout of the assembly streets}
- E06B 3/6775: {Evacuating or filling the gap during assembly}
- E06B 2003/66338: {of glass}
- 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

The present disclosure relates to a method of providing vacuum insulating glass (VIG) units each comprising at least a first and a second glass pane and a plurality of support pillars distributed between opposing surfaces of said glass panes to provide a gap (8) between the glass panes. A plurality of pane elements are provided, and individual topographic representations (TOPREP_2a TOPREP_2n) of each of said plurality of pane elements (2a-2n) are obtained based on input (4) from a measuring arrangement (3), and the topographic representations are stored in a data storage (DS). The stored topographic representations are processed and resulting surface distance characteristic between pairs of panes are estimated. Vacuum insulating glass (VIG) assemblies are thus provided based on estimated resulting surface distance characteristics. The present disclosure additionally relates to a system.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of manufacturing vacuum insulating glass (VIG) units, comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of glass panes;
obtaining individual topographic representations of different support areas of each glass pane of the plurality of glass panes based on input from a measuring arrangement;
estimating surface distance characteristics between different combinations of the plurality of glass panes based on the topographic representations;
storing one or more of the surface distance characteristics;
selecting a first glass pane and a second glass pane of the plurality of glass panes based on the surface distance characteristics; and
identifying a first pillar type to be placed at predefined support areas within a gap between the first glass pane and the second glass pane.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
associating pane identification information with the stored surface characteristics for different support areas of at least a portion of the plurality of glass panes.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising: selecting one or more manufacturing layouts based on the stored surface distance characteristic.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein the first pillar type is based on the one or more manufacturing layouts.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said one or more manufacturing layouts comprises information relating to the first pillar type and/or wherein the first pillar type is based on pillar representation data and the stored surface distance characteristic.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the first pillar type is selected based on at least one of pillar height, pillar material, pillar hardness, pillar density, and pillar shape.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising: distributing support pillars of the first pillar type at the predefined support areas.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising: identifying a second pillar type to be placed at different predefined support areas of at least one of the first glass pane and the second glass pane.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein the second pillar type is based on at least one of the one or more manufacturing layouts, pillar representation data, and the stored surface distance characteristic.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, further comprising: distributing support pillars of the second pillar type at the different predefined support areas.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the support pillars of at least one of the first type and the second type have different heights.

### Claim 12 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, comprising orienting the first glass pane and the second glass pane relative to each other towards a preferred orientation based on the surface distance characteristics and the one or more manufacturing layouts.

### Claim at position 13

-15. (canceled)

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of storing one or more of the surface distance characteristics comprises storing surface distance characteristics-that are within a predetermined tolerance band in a data storage.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said first and second glass panes are arranged and aligned opposite to each other with said support pillars of the first type placed between the first and second glass panes.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein an edge sealing is provided for sealing said gap between said first and/or second glass pane.

### Claim 19

(canceled)

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said gap between said first and second glass panes is evacuated and subsequently sealed.

### Claim 21

A system for providing manufacturing layouts for vacuum insulating glass units, comprising:
a measuring arrangement provided as part of a measuring station, the measuring arrangement comprising one or more surface variation determination sensors arranged to measure surface variations of a surface of pane elements at predefined support areas;
a data processing arrangement arranged to receive input from one or more surface variation determination sensors, and process said input to establish individual topographic representations of the respective pane element and estimate surface distance characteristics between different combinations of the pane elements based on the topographic representations; and
a data storage arranged to store the surface distance characteristics, the data processing arrangement being arranged to determine one or more manufacturing layouts based on the surface distance characteristics.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The system according to claim 21, wherein the one or more surface variation determination sensors are distributed across a measuring area.

### Claim 23 (depends on 21)

The system according to claim 21, wherein the one or more manufacturing layouts includes support pillar type information for predefined support areas and/or pane orientation information for respective panes to be assembled to provide a vacuum insulating glass assembly for a vacuum insulated glass unit.

### Claim 24

(canceled)

### Claim 25 (depends on 21)

The system according to claim 21, further comprising:
a pane pairing station for arranging and aligning first and second pane elements to be paired for a Vacuum insulated glass unit;
a support pillar distribution station having a support pillar placement arrangement arranged to distribute support pillars at the predefined support areas of pane elements based on the one or more manufacturing layouts;
an edge sealing distribution station configured to provide an edge sealing to one or more a pane elements of a; and
a VIG heating and gap evacuation station.

### Claim 26

(canceled)