EP2870313A1

EP2870313A1 - Spacer for insulating glass units

Info

Publication number: EP2870313A1
Application number: EP13732187.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Thomas Baumann; Marc REHLING
Original assignee: Ensinger GmbH
Current assignee: Ensinger GmbH
Priority date: 2012-07-04
Filing date: 2013-06-28
Publication date: 2015-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 2033-06-28
Also published as: PL2870313T3; EP2870313B1; CN104428479A; CN104428479B; US20150107167A1; DE202012104026U1; DK2870313T3; DE102012105960A1; US9683404B2; WO2014005950A1

Abstract

In order to provide a spacer for insulating‑glass units which, on the one hand, can be deformed by cold bending using conventional systems, but at the same time provides for the greatest possible level of thermal resistance, it is proposed that the spacer comprises a profile body which is made of a plastics material and has a substantially rectangular cross section with first and second side walls, which are arranged parallel to one another, and with an inner wall, which extends between the first and the second side walls, and an outer wall, which extends between the first and the second side walls, substantially parallel to the inner wall, and forms, with the profile body, a closed hollow profile, wherein a first wire‑form primary reinforcing element and a second wire‑form primary reinforcing element are arranged in the inner wall, parallel to the axial direction of the spacer profile, wherein the first primary reinforcing element is arranged in a first portion of the cross section of the profile body, in which the inner wall is adjacent to the first side wall, and wherein the second primary reinforcing element is arranged in a second portion of the cross section of the profile body, in which the inner wall is adjacent to the second side wall, such that the first and second primary reinforcing elements have not more than approximately 50% of their cross‑sectional surface area arranged in the first and the second side walls, respectively, and that the distance between the centres of gravity of the cross‑sectional surface areas of said reinforcing elements is approximately 40% of the distance between the side walls or more, but at least approximately 4 mm.

Description

Spacers for insulating glass panes

The invention relates to a spacer for insulating glass panes, comprising a profile body made of a plastic material, which has a substantially rectangular cross-section with first and second side walls arranged parallel to each other and an inner wall extending between the first and the second side wall, and between the first and second the second side wall, substantially parallel to the inner wall, extending outer wall, which forms a closed hollow profile with the profile body.

Such spacers are widely known in the art and are used in the context of improving the insulation of insulating glass panes of windows and doors, facade elements and the like. Instead of the previously common metal spacers to keep two glass sheets at a distance from each other. For this purpose, endless or rod material is bent to a size of the window, the door, etc. corresponding frame, usually by cold deformation.

At the same time the spacers with their hollow profile have the task of absorbing desiccant, so that the space between the panes formed in the insulating glass pane remains substantially free of water vapor and thus condensation effects can be avoided with large differences in the indoor and outdoor temperature.

German Utility Model DE 93 03 795 U1 and European Patent Application EP 0 601 488 A2 each disclose plastic spacers for insulating glass panes, in which metallic reinforcing elements are embedded in the plastic material, in the side walls and the outer wall metal foils and in the inner wall Metal foils and / or wire-shaped reinforcing elements are embedded. Under wire-shaped amplifiers Kung elements are wire or tube-shaped reinforcing elements to understand, which may in particular also be in the form of a rope formed from strands or a spiral wire, for example made of steel or aluminum. The dimensioning of the reinforcing elements, which are arranged in the inner wall, is such that this wall is stabilized and strengthened, so that they should not deform due to thermal expansion or solar radiation.

In contrast, from WO 1999/041481 AI a spacer for insulating glass is known in which in particular in the side walls and corners of the substantially rectangular profile reinforcing elements, be it in the form of wires or flat or angle profiles, arranged with which a deformability of Spacer profile is sought, similar to what is known from the metallic spacers ago, so that the conventional bending equipment for cold bending of the plastic spacer profiles can be used.

In WO 2011/091986 A2, metallic surface materials, as already known from EP 0 601 488 A2, are used to reinforce the hollow plastic profiles, wherein the reinforcing elements are arranged on the side walls and on the outer wall on the outside, while in the inner wall embedded in the plastic material or applied to the surface of the inner wall by means of an adhesion promoter.

Object of the present invention is to propose a spacer which can be deformed on the one hand in the cold bending process with conventional systems, but which at the same time offers the greatest possible thermal resistance.

This object is achieved by a spacer for insulating glass with the features of claim 1. Unlike in the prior art, according to the invention, the primary reinforcing elements in the form of first and second wire-shaped reinforcing elements are arranged in first and second sections of the cross-section of the profile body in which the inner wall adjoins the respective side wall, the first and second primary reinforcing elements their cross-sectional area are arranged at most about 50% in the first and in the second side wall.

Moreover, it is important for the present invention that the distance of the centers of gravity of the cross-sectional areas of the reinforcing elements is about 40% of the distance between the side walls or more, but at least about 4 mm.

By virtue of these provisos, it is possible, on the one hand, to cold-form the spacer according to the invention using conventional bending devices, which are also used for bending the metal spacers. On the other hand, it is avoided by the special selection of the reinforcing elements that the heat transfer resistance of the profile body made of plastic material is markedly reduced by the introduction of the reinforcing elements. Furthermore, the reinforcing elements in the cross section of the profile body according to the invention are arranged so that they do not hinder the cold bending process and on the other hand the appearance, ie. the surface quality of the spacer in the corner area, is not affected.

The invention is based, in contrast to the teaching of EP 0 601 488 A2 on the deformability of the plastic profile, which is provided with the reinforcing elements, so that corner regions can be formed with the conventional bending devices in a cold bending process. Due to the special selection and arrangement of the primary reinforcing elements, the inner wall is stabilized in its geometry at the same time and nevertheless allows the formation of corner areas in a bending process. The outer wall is preferably also made of plastic material, wherein the plastic material of the outer wall is preferably compatible or identical to the plastic material of the profile body and further preferably, the outer wall is formed integrally with the profile body, in particular extruded.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the distance of the centroids of the cross-sectional areas of the primary reinforcing elements is about 50% of the distance between the side walls or more, but at least about 5 mm.

More preferably, the first and second primary reinforcing elements are arranged exclusively in the region of the inner wall and, with their outer contours, most preferably occupy a predetermined distance from the side walls.

The wire-shaped primary reinforcing elements used according to the invention can be made of wire, as hollow bodies (tubes) or also in the form of a strand formed from strands, the cross-section being polygonal, e.g. may be rectangular, in particular square, round or oval.

Preferably, the surface of the primary reinforcing elements has a structure which in particular is knurled, corrugated or an external thread structure. Alternatively or additionally, the surface of the primary reinforcing elements may be equipped with a primer layer.

In order to impede or even prevent the diffusion of water vapor from the environment of the insulating glass panes into the interior, according to a variant of the invention at least the outer wall is provided with a diffusion barrier against water vapor, wherein the diffusion barrier is preferably selected from water vapor impermeable metal or plastic films , a metal layer applied to the hollow section or a metal layer applied to the hollow section profile applied or a possibly coextruded with the hollow profile plastic layer.

In another variant of the present invention, the outer wall may itself constitute the diffusion barrier and consist for example of a metal foil. It then typically also acts as a further reinforcing element at the same time.

Due to the primary reinforcing elements provided according to the invention, the diffusion barrier, which was deliberately used in the prior art as a reinforcing element, can be designed independently of the aspect of the reinforcement of the spacer. The diffusion barrier can thus also be made very thin-walled, so that, especially when using metallic diffusion barriers, their contribution to the heat conduction can be significantly reduced.

According to the invention, therefore, the diffusion barrier does not necessarily have to assume the function of a reinforcing element. Thus, metal layers with layer thicknesses well below 0.1 mm (for example, about 0.01 to about 0.03 mm) and also those applied by vapor deposition or non-metallic layers having diffusion barrier properties are also suitable.

When metal diffusion barriers are used, typically in the form of metal foils which act as reinforcing elements at the same time, they may be designed with less overlap of the sidewalls, in part than suggested in the prior art. The longitudinal edges of the metal foils then maintain a greater distance from the surface of the inner wall, with the result that smaller surface portions of the metal foil are arranged in a region of the side walls which are subject to compression during bending of the spacer to form a corner.

Metal foils which act as a diffusion barrier and as reinforcing elements are preferably made of steel or stainless steel. Metal foils, in particular made of steel or stainless steel, which act as diffusion barrier and as reinforcing elements, preferably have a high elongation at break of about 40% or more and are in particular annealed or solution-annealed.

On the other hand, metal foils with a high elongation at break on the one hand and plastic materials without a glass fiber fraction on the other hand reduce the compressed zone when the spacer profile is deformed when forming a corner. A wrinkling of the metal foil in the area of the corners obtained by bending is thus minimized, as well as a color change of the plastic material, which is occasionally observed in a compression.

As plastic materials for the hollow profile, polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), styrene acrylonitrile plastic (SAN), polyamide (PA) polyester (eg PET) and / or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic (ABS) can be used.

Typically, a weight ratio of the weight of the primary reinforcing elements on the one hand to the weight of the plastic material of the profile body (or the hollow profile, if the outer wall is also made of plastic) on the other hand in the range of about 1: 6 to about 2: 1 selected.

On the other hand, when using diffusion barriers which do not act as a reinforcing element, the weight ratio of the weight of the primary reinforcing elements to the weight of the plastics material is preferably in the range of about 1: 2 to about 2: 1.

This allows on the one hand a sufficient reinforcement of the plastic materials of the profile body / hollow profile, so that a processing is simple and, as usual from the metallic hollow profiles forth, in the cold bending process possible; On the other hand, the content of metallic materials is sufficiently low and placed in suitable cross-sectional areas of the profile body, so that the overall thermal resistance of the hollow profile is maintained at a sufficiently high level.

Optionally, the plastic material (s) of the profile bodies / hollow profiles of the spacers according to the invention may contain embedded reinforcing fibers, in particular glass fibers, carbon fibers and aramid fibers, but their proportion is preferably approximately 20% by weight or less, in particular 10% by weight or less. is limited. Most preferred are spacers in which the plastic material is substantially free of reinforcing fiber.

The low content of reinforcing fibers, in particular glass fibers, or the substantially complete avoidance of the use of reinforcing fibers has its meaning in that an improvement in the thermal resistance is obtained, which is typically reduced by the arrangement of reinforcing fibers in the plastic material. Reinforcing fibers, in particular glass fibers, typically have a significantly higher thermal conductivity than the surrounding plastic material.

Unlike the reinforcing elements of the spacers according to the invention, which are each arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of the spacer and thus transversely to the heat transfer direction, the reinforcing fibers can be partially embedded in the longitudinal direction embedded in the plastic material, but it can be a diverging arrangement with a component transverse to Longitudinal direction of the spacer and thus in heat transfer direction unavoidable, which is why the presence of reinforcing fibers typically results in a reduction of the heat transfer resistance.

The spacers according to the invention comprise in their plastics material typical additives, in particular selected from fillers, pigments, light stabilizers, impact modifiers, antistatic agents and / or flame retardants. Typical representatives of fillers are talc, glass beads and chalk. For the pigments, typical representatives would be titanium dioxide and carbon black. UV stabilizers and antioxidants are used in particular as light stabilizers. As flame retardants, the halogen-free flame retardants based on phosphorus-nitrogen compounds may be mentioned by way of example.

In preferred spacers according to the present invention, in the regions in which the primary reinforcing elements are arranged, the inner wall has a thickness which ranges from about 1 to about 2.5 times, in particular 1.5 times to Approximately 2.5 times, the extension of the cross section of the primary reinforcing elements in the direction of the thickness of the inner wall is.

If the thickness is limited to about 1 times the extent of the primary reinforcing elements, the reinforcing elements are only partially embedded in the inner wall and are on the side of the cavity of the hollow profile on the inner wall, for example, to a third of its extension in the direction of the thickness of Inner wall.

If the inner wall has a thickness of about 1.5 times the dimension of the cross section or more, it is possible to completely embed the primary reinforcing elements in the inner wall.

Preferably, the thickness of the inner wall is reduced directly adjacent to the side walls opposite in the direction of the profile center adjoining areas. The primary first and second reinforcing elements are preferably arranged with their cross section completely in the region of the inner wall and further preferably keep with their outer contours of the side walls a distance of about 0.5 mm or more, in particular 0.7 mm or more. This allows a simpler deformation of the profile in the formation of corners of a spacer frame, since the areas of reduced thickness form a kind of hinge point, so that the deformation of the profile in the region of the inner wall defines defined. This measure is particular then important if the inner wall to fully embedding the first and second primary reinforcing elements is dimensioned thicker than in the central region of the profile cross-section. The side walls of the profile remain unchanged in the formation of the corner areas essentially in their geometry.

The reduction of the thickness of the inner wall can be realized from the side of the hollow chamber and / or on the side of the outer surface of the inner wall, which faces in the insulating glass pane to the interior thereof.

Likewise, in addition or as an alternative to these measures, the inner wall can be provided in its adjoining the side walls with regularly spaced in the longitudinal direction of the spacer through holes, on the one hand facilitate the deformation of the inner wall relative to the side wall in a defined manner and on the other hand, the gas exchange facilitate between the interior of the insulating glass pane and the hollow chamber of the spacer.

Typical diameters of primary reinforcing elements with round cross section are about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm, in particular about 0.7 to about 1.1 mm.

In cases where the reinforcing elements are not completely absorbed by the inner wall, it is advisable to provide the outer surface of the primary reinforcing elements with a bonding agent layer, so that the connection between the plastic material of the profile body on the one hand and the reinforcing elements on the other hand is sufficiently large, and the adhesion to the profile body is substantially maintained even when deformed in a corner region.

The thickness of the inner wall of the profile body of the spacers according to the invention may be in a region between the primary reinforcing elements be less than in the areas in which the primary reinforcing elements are arranged.

This allows a further increase in the heat transfer resistance while minimizing material costs.

The spacers according to the invention can be provided in addition to the primary reinforcing elements with other, in particular also wire-shaped reinforcing elements.

In addition to the wire-shaped further reinforcing elements, film materials are also suitable, the latter preferably being arranged limited to the outer wall and / or parts of the side walls.

The further reinforcing elements can be arranged in particular on and / or in the outer wall. In particular, the outer wall as a whole can be designed as a further reinforcing element.

When using further reinforcing elements, the ratio of the summed-up cross-sectional areas of all reinforcing elements in the inner wall to the summed cross-sectional areas of the reinforcing elements in the outer wall will preferably be approximately 2: 1 to approximately 1: 2.

Thus, a favorable behavior is achieved in the cold forming of the elements for forming the corner regions of spacers to be formed from the spacers.

In the case of the arrangement of further reinforcing elements in the outer wall, it is preferably ensured that these further reinforcing elements have a greater breaking elongation than the primary reinforcing elements arranged in the region of the inner wall. This also applies to the case that the outer wall is designed as a whole as a further reinforcing element. Due to this measure, optimal bending properties of the spacer according to the invention are ensured.

More preferably, the selection and arrangement of the reinforcing elements is made as a whole so that the hollow profile at a bend to form a corner region has a neutral axis, which corresponds to about 40% to about 60% of the total height in a region of the cross section of the hollow profile , is arranged. The neutral axis is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the spacer and parallel to the inner wall.

Further preferred are spacers according to the invention, in which due to the material selection, a so-called overbending angle for the production of a 90 ° bent portion is given, which is about 20 ° or less.

Preference is also paid in spacers according to the invention that the first and second primary reinforcing elements are each adjacent to a portion of the hollow volume of the hollow profile, in which after a bending of the hollow profile about a perpendicular to the longitudinal direction parallel to the inner wall extending bending axis by 90 °, the inner wall and the outer wall are still spaced from each other. As a result, the constraints on bending are minimized, so that the force required to bend and deform the hollow section due to cold deformation are minimized. The appearance of the created by the cold deformation corner regions is thereby further improved.

Unlike in the prior art (eg WO 99/41481 A1), the primary reinforcing elements preferably maintain a clear distance from the outer surface of the side walls and are preferably arranged exclusively in the inner wall. When bending the spacer according to the invention for the formation of corners is thus avoided that the wire-shaped reinforcing elements are displaced to the outside and possibly even through the plastic material shine through or optionally on the side wall their internal surface damage. Rather, the wires can dodge into a portion of the hollow volume of the hollow profile and thus facilitate the bending process.

Compared to an arrangement of the primary reinforcing elements towards the center of the inner wall, as known for example from EP 0 601 488 A2, the special arrangement according to the present invention allows a smaller bending radius. The deformed under formation of a corner portion of the spacer (seen in the longitudinal direction) is reduced. The plastic deformation of the primary reinforcing elements begins earlier, so that lower restoring forces act and a lower overbend angle is necessary.

These and other advantages of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. They show in detail:

Figure 1: a first embodiment of an inventive

Spacer;

FIGS. 2A to 2C show three variants of a further embodiment of a spacer according to the invention;

Figure 3: another embodiment of an inventive

Spacer;

Figure 4: a further embodiment of an inventive

Spacer;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show further embodiments of a spacer according to the invention; FIGS. 6A to 6C show different representations of a section bent to a corner region of a spacer according to the invention according to FIG. 2A;

Figure 7: another embodiment of an inventive

Spacer; and

FIGS. 8A to 8C show further embodiments of a spacer according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a spacer 10 according to the invention with a profiled body made of plastic, which forms in one piece with an outer wall a closed hollow profile 12 which has a substantially rectangular cross-section. The hollow profile 12 is typically produced by the extrusion process.

The hollow profile 12 comprises two parallel side walls 14, 16 and an inner wall 18 extending between the side walls 14, 16 and an outer wall 20 adjoining the side walls 14, 16 and oriented essentially parallel to the inner wall 18. The outer wall 20 ends with two cranked ends Areas 21, 22 on the side walls 14 and 16 at.

On the parallel side walls 14, 16 are in the assembled state of an insulating glass pane glass panes 27, 28, which are connected to the spacer 10 via an adhesive (not shown).

Due to the bent regions 21, 22, a substantially triangular volume is created in each case towards the glass panes 27, 28, which can receive adhesive.

In the hollow profile, in the region of the inner wall 18, a first and a second primary reinforcement element 24, 26 are embedded in the form of a wire with a circular cross-section. The inner wall 18 has in the areas in which the reinforcing elements 24, 26 are embedded, a greater thickness than in the intermediate region.

On the outer wall 20 and the cranked areas 21, 22 and large areas of the side walls 14, 16, a circumferential diffusion barrier layer 26 is provided, which is substantially impermeable to water vapor and, for example, made of metal, in particular stainless steel. Instead of a metal foil, the diffusion barrier layer 26 may also be formed by a plastic film with corresponding properties or a coating, in particular a metallized coating, a coated plastic layer or an extruded plastic layer.

The hollow profile 12 encloses a cavity 30, which communicates via passage openings 32 in the inner wall 18 with the volume enclosed in the insulating glass pane. The passage openings are regularly distributed in the longitudinal direction of the spacer 10.

The hollow chamber 30 takes in the installed state of the spacer in an insulating glass on a desiccant, which serves to absorb moisture from the interior of the insulating glass pane.

The spacer 10 of Figure 1 has a relatively large width compared to its height, which may be in reality, for example 24 mm, wherein the height of the spacer is typically about 6 mm to about 7.5 mm. The distance A2 of the centers of gravity of the cross-sectional areas of the primary reinforcing elements 24 and 26 is about 90% of the distance AI between the side walls 14 and 16.

The plastic material from which the hollow section 12 is made, in the present case polypropylene (PP) and is free of reinforcing fibers.

The strength of the profile is determined essentially by the primary reinforcing elements 24, 26 and optionally by the diffusion bar. riereschicht 26, if it consists of a metal layer in the form of a film, such as a steel foil. The thickness of the metal layer may be small and, for example, about 0.1 mm or less, for example about 0.05 to about 0.08 mm.

The spacer 10 can be deformed by cold forming to corner areas, which are needed to form a rectangular frame, for example, which is inserted and glued between the two glass sheets 27, 28.

2A to 2C show three variants of a spacer 40 according to the invention, which is designated as 40 'or 40 "for the purpose of distinguishing in FIGS. 2B and 2 C. Identical reference symbols are used for identical profile features.

The basic structure of the spacer in Figures 2A to 2C is the same, with the exceptions to be discussed below.

The spacer 40 in Figure 2A comprises a closed plastic hollow profile 42 with side walls 44, 46 which are arranged parallel to each other and between which an inner wall 48 and an outer wall 50, again with bent portions 51, 52 extends. Again, the profile body of the side walls 44, 46 and the inner wall 48 is integrally extruded with the outer wall 50 and the cranked portions 51, 52.

In the hollow profile 42, primary reinforcing elements 54, 56 are received on the inner wall 48 side, and the inner wall 48 is made in the region of the reinforcing elements 54, 56 with a greater thickness than in the area between them.

The hollow profile 42 encloses a cavity 58, which can communicate via continuous perforation openings 60 with the outside of the inner wall 48. On the outside of the outer wall 50 and the bent portions 51, 52 and large parts of the adjoining side walls 44, 46, a metal foil 62 made of stainless steel is applied, in particular adhesively bonded, which acts as a diffusion barrier layer.

Common to the embodiments of Figure 1 and Figure 2A, the positioning of the reinforcing elements 24, 26 and 54, 56, both of which are arranged offset from the areas of the side walls 14, 16 and 44, 46. Note also here the rule that the distance between the centers of gravity of the cross-sectional areas of the primary reinforcing elements 24, 26 and 54, 56 is at least 40% of the distance between the side walls or more, but at least 4 mm.

Likewise, the full cross-sectional area of the reinforcing elements 24, 26 is located in the inner wall 18, so that the proviso that a maximum of 50% of the cross-sectional area of the reinforcing elements 24, 26 and 54, 56 in the areas of the side walls 14, 16 and 44, 46 can be included, is met.

The diameter of the primary reinforcing elements 24, 26 and 54, 56 is about 0.8 mm, the thickness of the walls 14, 16 and 44, 46 about 0.9 mm.

In the region in which the primary reinforcement elements 24, 26 and 54, 56 are accommodated, the thickness of the inner wall 18 or 48 is approximately

1.8 mm, ie. about 2.2 times the diameter of the reinforcing elements.

FIG. 2B shows a spacer 40 'according to the invention which has a hollow profile 42' which differs from the hollow profile 42 of FIG. 2A only in that reinforcing elements 54 ', 56' are received in a different position in the cross section of the hollow profile 42 ' are so that their cross-sectional area is about 50% in the first and second side wall 44 'and 46' is arranged. The further variant, shown in Figure 2C, relates to a spacer 40 "of the present invention, again using the basic construction of the spacer of Figure 2A, but with the primary reinforcing elements 54" and 56 "centered on the cross-sectional areas but still maintain a distance of 40% of the distance between the sidewalls 44 "and 46" and at least 4 mm, the inner wall 48 "being designed with a uniform thickness of 1.8 mm over its entire width.

Figure 3 shows a spacer 70 according to the invention, which is relatively narrow with a width of about 8 mm and with a height of about 7 mm has a nearly square cross-section. The spacer 70 comprises a closed hollow profile 72 with parallel side walls 74, 76 and between the side walls 74, 76 extending inner and outer walls 78, 80. The hollow profile of a profile body (side walls 74, 76 and inner wall 78) and the outer wall 80 is extruded as a one-piece body.

The outer wall 80 is again connected via bent regions 81, 82 to the side walls 74 and 76, respectively.

In the inner wall 78, two primary reinforcing elements 84, 86 are arranged in the form of a wire with a circular cross-section, wherein the minimum distance of 4 mm of the centers of gravity of the cross-sectional areas of the reinforcing elements is maintained. Furthermore, the distance is approximately 65% of the distance between the side walls 74, 76.

The hollow profile 72 includes a hollow volume 88, which is the filling with desiccants available. The desiccant in the hollow volume 88 communicates with the outer surface of the inner wall 78 via perforation through holes 90. On the outer wall 80, the bent portions 81, 82 and large parts of the side walls 74, 76, a barrier layer 92 is arranged from a stainless steel foil.

FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment of the present invention based on a variation of the geometry as shown in FIG. 2C.

The spacer 100 has a closed hollow profile 102 made of plastic material, in which side walls 104, 106 are arranged parallel to one another and wherein an inner wall 108 extends between these side walls 104, 106. The outer wall 110 connects via bent portions 111, 112 to the side walls 104 and 106, respectively.

In the inner wall 108, in addition to the primary reinforcing elements 114, 116, two further reinforcing elements 118, 120 are arranged, which are all made of a wire with a circular cross-section.

In addition to the reinforcing elements in the inner wall 108, three reinforcing elements 121, 122, 123 are arranged in the outer wall 110, which are also wire-shaped but have an oval cross-section.

The ratio of the cross-sectional areas of the reinforcing elements 114, 116, 118, 120 of the inner wall to the cross-sectional areas of the reinforcing elements 121, 122, 123 is about 1.2. Due to the further slight reinforcing effect of the barrier layer 124, the neutral axis N lies at approximately half the height H (50%) of the total cross section of the hollow profile 102.

The solid profile 102 encloses a hollow volume 126 which can receive a desiccant. The hollow volume 126 is accessible via perforation through holes 128.

FIG. 5A shows a spacer 140, which derives in its geometry from the spacer 40 of FIG. 2A, and comprises a closed one Plastic hollow section 142 with side walls 144, 146 which are arranged parallel to each other and between which an inner wall 148 and an outer wall 150, again here with cranked areas 151, 152, extends.

In the hollow profile 142, primary reinforcing elements 154, 156 are received on the side of the inner wall 148, and the inner wall 148 is made in the area of the reinforcing elements 154, 156 with a greater thickness than in the area between them.

The hollow profile 140 encloses a cavity 158, which can communicate via through openings 160 with the outside of the inner wall 148.

On the outside of the outer wall 150 and the cranked areas 151, 152 and large parts of the adjoining side walls 144, 146, a metal foil 162 made of stainless steel is applied, in particular adhesively bonded, which acts as a diffusion barrier layer.

The diameter of the primary reinforcing elements 154, 156 is about 0.8 mm, the thickness of the walls 144, 146 about 0.9 mm.

In the area in which the primary reinforcing elements 154, 156 are received, the thickness of the inner wall 148 is about 1.8 mm, i. approximately 2.2 times the diameter of the reinforcing elements 154, 156.

Compared with FIG. 2A, the spacer 140 has two further reinforcing elements 164, 166, which are designed as sheet-metal strips.

Due to the cross-section of the reinforcing elements 164, 166, they can be completely received in the wall of the side walls 144, 146, whose thickness can remain at the original dimension of about 0.9 mm. Again, the neutral axis N is about 50% of the total height H of the hollow section 142, due to a suitable choice of the material of the barrier layer 162 and the layer thickness.

The variant of a spacer 180 according to the invention of FIG. 5B is based on the embodiment of FIG. 4, here a closed hollow profile 182 with side walls 184, 186, an inner wall 188 and an outer wall 190 with bent regions 191, 192, with which the outer wall 190 abuts the side walls 184, 186 connects, is formed.

In the inner wall 188 primary reinforcing elements 194, 196 are added. Supplementary reinforcement members 198, 200 are disposed in the inner wall 188 adjacent the side walls 184, 186.

Furthermore, the side walls 184, 186 comprise reinforcing elements 204, 206, which are formed as sheet metal strips, so that they simply fit into the predetermined cross section of the side walls 184, 186.

Oval formed reinforcing elements are received in the outer wall 190 and designated by the reference numerals 214, 216, 218.

The hollow profile 182 encloses a hollow volume 210, which is accessible via passage openings 212 in the inner wall 188.

On the outer wall 190, the cranked areas 191, 192 and large parts of the side walls 184, 186, in turn, a vapor barrier layer 202 is arranged.

The reinforcing elements 204, 206 arranged in the side walls 184, 186 lie approximately in the region of the neutral axis of the spacer 180.

The hollow profiles of the spacers 140 and 180 of Figures 5A and 5B are each extruded in one piece. FIGS. 6A to 6C show a section of the spacer 40 from FIG. 2A bent to a corner region 65.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the corner region 65 in a perspective view from the side of the outer wall 50 and the diffusion barrier 62 glued thereto or from the side of the inner wall 48. For producing the corner region 65, a bending punch (not shown) whose width is smaller can be pressed as the extent of the inner wall 48 between the side walls 44, 46, against the inner wall 48 and then bent the spacer to the bending punch by slightly more than 90 °, so that the corner portion 65 with 90 ° extending legs 65a, 65b is obtained.

Due to the tensile and compressive forces occurring in this cold deformation permanent deformation of the plastic hollow profile and the primary reinforcing elements 54, 56 and the barrier layer 62 received therein is obtained. On the inside of the corner region, a recess 66 receding from the inner wall surfaces 48 of the legs 65a, 65b is formed. On the outer side, a recess 68 of the outer wall 50 of the legs 65a, 65b is obtained.

FIG. 6C shows the corner region 65 in a sectional illustration along the line Vla-Vla, partially supplemented around the outer contour of the spacer 40 before the cold deformation. In cross-section it is clear that the inner surfaces of the outer wall 50 and the inner wall 48 approach, depending on the geometry of the plastic hollow profile until it abuts each other.

The originally present uniform cavity 58 is reduced and there remain two subspaces 58a, 58b.

In the course of the deformation of the inner wall 48, the primary reinforcing elements accommodated therein, together with parts of the inner wall 48, are displaced against the approaching outer wall 50, resulting in the positions 54a and 56a for the primary reinforcing elements. Due to the inventive design of the spacer, in particular the arrangement of the primary reinforcing elements 54, 56 in the region of the inner wall 48, the deformation can be carried out without causing undesirable deformation of the side walls 44, 46 and without the primary reinforcing elements 54, 56, the cold deformation hinder.

Finally, FIG. 7 shows a spacer 220 with a profile body 222, which is formed from a plastic material with side walls 224, 226 and an inner wall 228. The side walls 224, 226 carry at their free, the inner wall 228 facing away from the bent end wall portions 230, 232nd

To a closed hollow profile 234 of the profile body 222 is supplemented by a metallic foil 236, which forms the outer wall of the hollow profile 234 together with the bent wall portions 230, 232. At the same time, the metallic foil 236 serves as a diffusion barrier. It therefore also extends beyond the bent wall portions 230, 232 and covers large portions of the side walls 224, 226.

In the inner wall 228, first and second primary wire-shaped reinforcing members 238, 240 are embedded.

The metallic foil 236 also acts as a further reinforcing element in this embodiment.

The enclosed by the hollow section 234 hollow volume 242 communicates through through holes 244 of the inner wall 228 with the intermediate disc space of an insulating glass unit, which is formed using the spacer holder 220, in conjunction.

FIG. 8A shows a spacer 250 with a hollow profile body 252, which is formed from a plastic material with side walls 254, 256, an inner wall 258 and an outer wall 260. In the inner wall 258, primary first and second reinforcement members 262, 264 are fully embedded. The portions of the inner wall that receive the primary reinforcement members 262, 264 have a greater thickness than the portion therebetween to completely embed the reinforcement members 262, 264 in the plastic material.

The inner wall 258 has a reduced thickness in the areas 266, 268 directly adjacent to the side walls 254, 256, so that the inner wall 258 adjoins the side walls 254, 256 via a type of hinge. This ensures that the geometry of the side walls is essentially retained when corners are formed, as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, so that the installation of the glass panes of the insulating glass pane is also optimized in the corner area.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8A, the outer contours of the primary first and second reinforcing elements keep a distance from the side walls which corresponds approximately to the diameter of the reinforcing elements, in the present case about 0.8 mm.

Further examples for modifying the connection of the inner wall to the side walls of the spacer according to the invention are shown in Figures 8B and 8C, in which also a modification of the inner wall is made so that a kind of joint is formed and a deformation of the spacer to form corners for the spacer frame is facilitated.

The embodiments of FIGS. 8B and 8C, i. E. The spacers 340 and 340 'are essentially based on the embodiment already shown in FIG. 2A.

The spacers of FIGS. 8B and 8C likewise have a closed hollow profile 342, 342 'with side walls 344, 346 which are arranged parallel to one another and between which an inner wall 348 and an outer wall 348 are arranged. outer wall 350 extends. The outer wall 350 is again connected via bent regions 351, 352 to the side walls 344 and 346, respectively. The profile body of the plastic hollow profile 342 is extruded in one piece as a whole. In the hollow profile 342, primary reinforcing elements 354, 356 are received on the side of the inner wall 348, and the inner wall 348 is made in the region of the reinforcing elements 354, 356 with a greater thickness than in the intermediate region of the profile center.

The hollow profile 342 encloses a cavity 358, which can communicate via continuous perforation 360 with the outside of the inner wall 348, which is followed in the assembled state of an insulating glass pane of the insulating glass pane interior.

On the outside of the outer wall 350 and the adjoining bent portions 351, 352 and large parts of the side parts of the side walls 344, 346, a metal foil 362, preferably made of precious steel, applied, in particular glued, which acts as a diffusion barrier layer.

In FIG. 8B, in addition to the design features of the profile 40 of FIG. 2A, in the spacer 340 on the inner wall 348 side, at regular intervals along the length of the spacer profile 340, there are passage openings 364, 366 which, in addition to the perforation openings 360, interchange gas allow the hollow chamber 358 and the outside of the inner wall 348 and the interior of the later produced insulating glass pane.

On the other hand, through the through openings 364, 366, which repeat at regular intervals along the profile, a kind of joint function is created, via which a deformation of the inner wall 348 in forming the corners to form a spacer frame is supported in a defined manner. In the embodiment 340 ', the basic structure of the Abstanhalterprofils 342' apply the same features as previously described in the context of Figure 8B. The reference numerals are therefore also used with the same number.

However, in contrast to the embodiment of FIG. 8B, the spacer 340 'of FIG. 8C has no additional passage openings 364, 366, but groove-like depressions 368', 370 ', which extend on the outside of the inner wall 348' in the longitudinal direction of the spacer 340 ' ,

Once again, a kind of joint is formed in this way via the reduced thickness of the inner wall in its region, with which it adjoins the side walls 344 'or 346', so that in turn, as already described in connection with the embodiments of the spacer of FIGS and Figure 8B, the deformation of the inner wall 348 'relative to the side walls 344' and 346 'is facilitated in the formation of corners to form a spacer frame in a defined manner.

Claims

claims

A spacer for insulating glass panes, comprising a profile body of a plastic material, which has a substantially rechteckförmi- gene cross-section with first and second side walls arranged parallel to each other and an inner wall extending between the first and second side wall, and between the first and second the second side wall, substantially parallel to the inner wall, extending outer wall, which forms a closed hollow profile with the profile body, wherein in the inner wall, a first and a second wire-shaped primary reinforcing element are arranged parallel to the axial direction of the spacer profile, wherein the first primary reinforcing element in a first Section of the cross section of the profile body is arranged, in which the inner wall adjacent to the first side wall, and wherein the second primary reinforcing element is arranged in a second portion of the cross section of the profile body, in that the inner wall adjoins the second side wall, such that the first and second primary reinforcing elements are arranged with respect to their cross-sectional area at most about 50% in the first and the second side wall and in that the distance of the centers of gravity of the cross-sectional surfaces of these reinforcing elements approximately 40% of the distance between the side walls or more, but at least about 4 mm.

2. Spacer according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer wall is made of plastic material, wherein the plastic material of the outer wall is preferably compatible with or compatible with the plastic material of the profile body and further preferably wherein the outer wall is formed integrally with the profile body, in particular extruded.

3. Spacer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the distance between the centers of gravity of the cross-sectional surfaces of the primary Reinforcing elements about 50% of the distance between the side walls or more, but at least about 5 mm, wherein preferably the reinforcing elements are arranged exclusively in the region of the inner wall.

4. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cross-section of the wire-shaped primary reinforcing elements is polygonal, round or oval, wherein preferably the surface of the primary reinforcing elements is structured, in particular knurled, corrugated or provided with an external thread structure, and / or is equipped with a primer layer.

5. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least the outer wall is provided with a diffusion barrier or forms, the diffusion barrier is in particular selected from a water vapor impermeable metal or plastic film, a metal layer applied to the hollow profile or a applied on the hollow profile or with this optionally co-extruded plastic layer.

6. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the plastic material of the hollow profile based on PP, PC, PVC, SAN, polyester, PA and / or ABS.

7. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the weight ratio of the weight of the primary reinforcing elements to the weight of the plastic material is about 1: 6 to about 2: 1.

8. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the plastic material has a content of reinforcing fibers, the about 20 wt .-% or less, in particular about 10 wt .-% or less, wherein the plastic material is optionally substantially free of reinforcing fibers.

9. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the plastic material comprises additives, in particular selected from fillers, pigments, light stabilizers, Schlagzähmodifi- ern, antistatic agents and / or flame retardants.

10. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the inner wall, at least in their areas in which the first and second primary reinforcing elements are arranged, has a thickness which is about 1 to about 2.5 times, in particular about 1.5 to about 2.5 times, the extension of the cross section of the primary reinforcing elements in this direction is.

11. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the thickness of the inner wall is smaller in a arranged between the primary reinforcing elements central region than in the areas in which the primary reinforcing elements are arranged.

12. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the thickness of the inner wall is reduced directly adjacent to the side walls opposite to the direction of the profile center adjoining region of the inner wall, wherein preferably the first and second primary reinforcing elements with its cross section are completely arranged in the region of the inner wall.

13. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that in the hollow profile in addition to the first and second wire-shaped primary reinforcing elements further, in particular also wire-shaped, reinforcing elements are arranged.

14. Spacer according to claim 13, characterized in that at least one of the further reinforcing elements is arranged on and / or in the outer wall.

15. A spacer according to claim 14, characterized in that the ratio of the summed cross-sectional areas of all reinforcing elements of the inner wall to the summed cross-sectional area of the reinforcing elements of the outer wall is about 2: 1 to about 1: 2.

16. Spacer according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the one or more reinforcing elements, which are arranged in the region of the outer wall, have a greater elongation at break than the arranged in the region of the inner wall reinforcing elements.

17. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the hollow profile at a bend has a neutral axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the inner wall, which is in the range of about 40% to about 60% of the total height of the hollow profile ,

18. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the profile has an overbending angle for the production of a bent portion through 90 °, which is about 20 ° or less.

19. Spacer according to one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the first and second primary reinforcing elements are each disposed adjacent to a portion of the hollow volume of the hollow profile, in which after a bending of the hollow profile about a perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the inner wall extending Bend axis by 90 °, the inner wall and the outer wall are spaced apart. Spacer according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer wall itself is designed as a reinforcing element and optionally as a diffusion barrier, wherein the outer wall is preferably formed from a metal foil.