EP2870313B1 - Spacer for insulating glass units - Google Patents

Description

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.

From the German utility model DE 93 03 795 U1 and the European patent application EP 0 601 488 A2 In each case, plastic spacers for insulating glass panes are known, in which metallic reinforcing elements are embedded in the plastic material, metal foils being embedded in the side walls and the outer wall and metal foils and / or wire-shaped reinforcing elements being embedded in the inner wall. Under wire-shaped reinforcement 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.

The DE 93 03 795 U1 discloses the features of the introductory part of claim 1.

In contrast, is from the WO 1999/041481 A1 a spacer for insulating glass panes, in which in particular in the side walls and corner regions of the substantially rectangular profile reinforcing elements, be it in the form of wires or flat or angle profiles, are arranged, with which a deformability of the spacer profile is sought, similar to that of the metallic spacers forth is known, so that the conventional bending equipment for cold bending of the plastic spacer profiles can be used.
In the WO 2011/091986 A2 be metallic surface materials, as they are already from the EP 0 601 488 A2 are known, used to reinforce the plastic hollow profiles, wherein the reinforcing elements are arranged on the side walls and on the outer wall outside, while they are embedded in the inner wall in the plastic material or applied to the surface of the inner wall by means of a bonding agent.
From the DE 102 26 269 A1 spacers for insulating glass panes are known which can be processed on conventional processing machines of the insulating glass manufacturer, wherein the side walls of the spacers made of metal and the inner and outer walls are made of a poor thermal conductivity material, in particular plastic.

In the DE 199 61 902 A1 Plastic spacers are proposed for insulating glass, which are processed on conventional bending equipment. It is proposed that a hollow plastic profile is provided at a abzuwinkelnden area with a stiffening element in the form of a metal part and then the plastic profile is bent together with the metal part or alternatively, that a plastic hollow profile is bent in a provided for bending area and then provided with a stiffening element ,

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 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 the appearance, ie the surface quality of the spacer in the corner, 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.

According to the invention, the first and second primary reinforcing elements are arranged exclusively in the region of the inner wall and, with their outer contours, maintain a predetermined distance to the side walls.
The wire-shaped primary reinforcing elements used according to the invention can be made of wire, as a hollow body (tube) or also in the form of a rope formed from strands, wherein the cross section can be polygonal, eg 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 profile or one on the hollow profile applied or one optionally 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 (SAN), polyamide (PA) polyester (eg PET) and / or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (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 or the plastic materials of the profile body / hollow profiles of the spacer according to the invention contain reinforcing fibers embedded, in particular glass fibers, carbon fibers and aramid fibers, the proportion, however, preferably to about 20 wt .-% or less, in particular 10 wt .-% or less 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 interior 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 arranged with their cross section completely in the region of the inner wall and further preferably with their outer contours of the side walls a distance of about 0.5 mm or more, in particular 0.7 mm or more, a. 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 the non-inventive cases in which 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 primer 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.

Figur 1:

eine erste Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters;

Figuren 2A bis 2C:

zwei Varianten einer weiteren Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandshalters (Figuren 2A und 2C), wobei die Figur 2B einen nicht erfindungsgemäßen Abstandshalter darstellt;

Figur 3:

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters;

Figur 4:

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters;

Figuren 5A und 5B:

weitere Ausführungsformen eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters;

Figuren 6A bis 6C:

verschiedene Darstellungen eines zu einem Eckbereich gebogenen Abschnitts eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters gemäß Figur 2A;

Figur 7:

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters; und

Figuren 8A bis 8C:

weitere Ausführungsformen eines erfindungsgemäßen Abstandhalters.

According to the invention, the first and second primary reinforcing elements are each adjacent to a portion of the hollow volume of the hollow profile, in which after 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 ) keep the primary reinforcing elements a clear distance from the outer surface of the side walls and are 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 toward the center of the inner wall, such as from EP 0 601 488 A2 As is known, 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:

FIG. 1:

a first embodiment of a spacer according to the invention;

FIGS. 2A to 2C:

two variants of a further embodiment of a spacer according to the invention ( FIGS. 2A and 2C ), where the FIG. 2B a spacer not according to the invention;

FIG. 3:

a further embodiment of a spacer according to the invention;

FIG. 4:

a further embodiment of a spacer according to the invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B:

further embodiments of a spacer according to the invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6C:

different representations of a bent portion to a corner portion of a spacer according to the invention according to FIG. 2A ;

FIG. 7:

a further embodiment of a spacer according to the invention; and

FIGS. 8A to 8C:

further embodiments of a spacer according to the invention.

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

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 FIG. 1 has a relatively large width compared to its height, which can be for example 24 mm in reality, the height of the spacer is typically about 6 mm to about 7.5 mm. The distance A2 of the centroids of the cross-sectional areas of the primary reinforcing elements 24 and 26 is approximately 90% of the distance A1 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 barrier layer 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.

In the FIGS. 2A to 2C three variants of a spacer 40 according to the invention are shown, which are used to distinguish in the FIGS. 2B and 2C as 40 'and 40 ", respectively. Like reference numerals are used for like profile features.

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

The spacer 40 in FIG. 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 here 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 the FIG. 1 as well as the FIG. 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.

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 area where the primary reinforcing elements 24, 26 and 54, 56 are received, the thickness of the inner wall 18 and 48, respectively, is about 1.8 mm, i. about 2.2 times the diameter of the reinforcing elements.

In the FIG. 2B a non-inventive spacer 40 'is shown having a hollow profile 42' extending from the hollow profile 42 of FIG. 2A only differs in that reinforcing elements 54 ', 56' in the cross section of the hollow profile 42 'are accommodated in a different position, so that its cross-sectional area approximately 50% in the first and second side wall 44' and 46 'is arranged.

The further variant, which in Figure 2C is concerned, a spacer 40 "of the present invention, in turn, the basic structure of the spacer of the FIG. 2A however, the primary reinforcing elements 54 "and 56" are closer in their center of gravity cross-sectional areas, but still maintain a distance of 40% of the distance between the side walls 44 "and 46" and at least 4 mm. The inner wall 48 "is designed here over the entire width with a uniform thickness of 1.8 mm.

FIG. 3 shows a spacer 70 according to the invention, which is built 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.

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

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.

The FIG. 5A shows a spacer 140, which in its geometry from the spacer 40 of FIG. 2A derives and includes a closed 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.

Opposite the FIG. 2A the spacer 140 has two further reinforcing elements 164, 166, which are formed 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 of the invention FIG. 5B goes to the embodiment of FIG. 4 back, here a closed hollow profile 182 with side walls 184, 186, an inner wall 188 and an outer wall 190 with bent portions 191, 192, with which the outer wall 190 adjoins the side walls 184, 186, 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 the FIGS. 5A and 5B are each extruded in one piece.

The FIGS. 6A to 6C show a bent to a corner portion 65 portion of the spacer 40 from FIG. 2A ,

The Figures 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 there or from the side of the inner wall 48. For the production of the corner region 65, a bending punch (not shown), the width of which may be smaller than the extent of Inner wall 48 between the side walls 44, 46, pressed against the inner wall 48 and the spacer then bent to the punch by slightly more than 90 °, so that the corner portion 65 is obtained with extending at an angle of 90 ° legs 65a, 65b.

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 view along line VIa-VIa, 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.

FIG. 7 Finally, FIG. 3 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 hollow volume 242 surrounded by the hollow profile 234 communicates via through openings 244 of the inner wall 228 with the intermediate disk space of an insulating glass unit formed using the spacer 220.

Figure 8A shows a spacer 250 with a hollow profile body 252, which is formed of 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 in a formation of corners as in the FIGS. 6A to 6C is substantially preserved, so that the system of the glass panes of the insulating glass pane is also optimized in the corner area.

In the in Figure 8A In the embodiment shown, 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 the modification of the connection of the inner wall to the side walls of the spacer according to the invention are in the Figures 8B and 8C shown, 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 the Figures 8B and 8C , ie, the spacers 340 and 340 'are based essentially on the embodiment already in the context of FIG. 2A was shown.

The spacers of Figures 8B and 8C also have a closed hollow profile 342, 342 'with side walls 344, 346 which are arranged parallel to each other and between which an inner wall 348 and an 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 the FIG. 8B In addition to the design features of profile 40, FIGS FIG. 2A in the spacer 340 on the side of the inner wall 348 at regular intervals along the length of the spacer profile 340 through holes 364, 366 arranged on the one hand in addition to the perforation 360 a gas exchange between the hollow chamber 358 and the outside of the inner wall 348 and the interior of the later allow 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 'apply to the basic structure of Abstanhalterprofils 342' the same features as before in the context of FIG. 8B described. The reference numerals are therefore also used with the same number.

In contrast to the embodiment of the FIG. 8B the spacer 340 'has the FIG. 8C but no additional through holes 364, 366, but groove-like recesses 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 'and 346', so that in turn, as already described in connection with the embodiments of the spacer FIGS. 8A and 8B described, the deformation of the inner wall 348 'relative to the side walls 344' and 346 'in the formation of corners to form a spacer frame in a defined manner is facilitated.

Claims (16)

1. Spacer (10) for insulating glass panes, comprising a profile body made of a plastics material which is of substantially rectangular cross-section having first and second side walls (14, 16) arranged in parallel relation to each other, and an inner wall (18) which extends between the first and the second side wall, and an outer wall (20) which extends between the first and the second side wall (14, 16) in substantially parallel relation to the inner wall and together with the profile body forms a closed hollow profile (12), wherein a first and a second wire form primary reinforcing element (24, 26) are arranged in the inner wall (18) parallel to an axial direction of the spacer profile (10), characterized in that
   the first and second primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) are arranged exclusively in the region of the inner wall (18) and with their outer contours maintain a predetermined distance from the side walls,
   the distance between the centroids of the cross-sectional areas of the first and second primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) is 40 % of the distance between the side walls (14, 16) or more, but at least approximately 4 mm, and in that
   the first and second primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) are each arranged adjacent to a part of the hollow volume of the hollow profile (12) in which, after the hollow profile (12) has been bent by 90° about a bending axis extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the inner wall (18), the inner wall (18) and the outer wall (20) are spaced from one another.
2. Spacer in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the outer wall (20) is made of plastics material, preferably wherein the plastics material of the outer wall (20) is compatible with or identical to the plastics material of the profile body and further preferably wherein the outer wall (20) is formed, in particular extruded, in one piece with the profile body.
3. Spacer in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the distance between the centroids of the cross-sectional areas of the primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) is approximately 50% of the distance between the side walls (14, 16) or more, but at least approximately 5 mm.
4. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cross-section of the wire form primary reinforcing elements (14, 16) is of polygonal, round or oval configuration, preferably wherein the surface of the primary reinforcing elements is textured, in particular knurled, fluted or provided with an externally threaded texture, and/or is provided with an adhesion promoter layer.
5. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least the outer wall (20) is provided with or forms a diffusion barrier, in particular wherein the diffusion barrier is selected from a water vapour impermeable metal foil or plastic sheet, or a metal layer applied to the hollow profile (12), or a plastic layer applied to, or optionally coextruded with, the hollow profile (12).
6. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the plastics material of the hollow profile (12) is based on PP, PC, PVC, SAN, polyester, PA and/or ABS.
7. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the weight ratio between the weight of the primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) and the weight of the plastics material is approximately 1:6 to approximately 2:1.
8. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the plastics material contains reinforcing fibres in an amount of approximately 20 wt% or less, in particular approximately 10 wt% or less, optionally wherein the plastics material is substantially free of reinforcing fibres.
9. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the plastics material comprises additives, in particular selected from fillers, pigments, light stabilisers, impact modifiers, antistatic agents and/or flame retardants.
10. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the inner wall (18) has, at least in regions thereof in which the first and second primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) are arranged, a thickness which is approximately 1 to approximately 2.5 times, in particular approximately 1.5 to approximately 2.5 times, the extension of the cross-section of the primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) in this direction.
11. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the thickness of the inner wall (18) is smaller in a middle region arranged between the primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) than in the regions in which the primary reinforcing elements (24, 26) are arranged.
12. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the thickness of the inner wall (258) directly adjacent to the side walls (254, 256) is reduced in relation to the adjoining region of the inner wall (258) in a direction towards the profile centre, preferably wherein the first and second primary reinforcing elements (262, 264) are arranged with their cross-section completely in the region of the inner wall (258).
13. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that in addition to the first and second wire form primary reinforcing elements (198, 200), the hollow profile has further, in particular also wire form, reinforcing elements (214, 216, 218) arranged therein,
    optionally wherein at least one of the further reinforcing elements is arranged on and/or in the outer wall (190),
    preferably wherein the ratio of the sum total of the cross-sectional areas of all the reinforcing elements of the inner wall to the sum total of the cross-sectional areas of the reinforcing elements of the outer wall is approximately 2:1 to approximately 1:2, and
    optionally wherein the reinforcing element(s) (214, 216, 218) arranged in the region of the outer wall have a higher elongation at break than the reinforcing elements (198, 200) arranged in the region of the inner wall.
14. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the hollow profile, when bent, has a neutral axis which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the inner wall and lies in a region approximately 40 % to approximately 60 % of the way up the overall height of the hollow profile.
15. Spacer in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the profile has an overbend angle of approximately 20° or less for producing a section bent at 90°.
16. Spacer in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the outer wall (236) is itself formed as a reinforcing element (236) and, optionally, as a diffusion barrier, preferably wherein the outer wall is formed from a metal foil (236).

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