FR2690946A1 - Valve for fire-resistant insulating glass. - Google Patents

Abstract

In a multiple glazing unit with a rigid interposed frame, a special assembly wedge has been provided. This possesses a hole for communication between the inside and the outside, this hole being stopped up on the inside with a meltable material which frees the communication in the event of a fire. This permits a balancing of the pressures and prevents the shattering of the glazing unit, and it can be used in particular for flame-proof multiple glazing units.

Description

VALVE FOR FIRE INSULATION GLAZING

  The invention relates to insulating glass and more

  in particular, fire-resistant insulating glazing.

  When it is desired to equip the exterior facade of a building with glazing which remains in place during a fire and thus prevents the propagation of flames from one floor to another or when it is desired to glazing a partition of glazed parts which slow down the spread of a fire from one room to another, so-called flame-resistant glazing or fire-resistant glazing G according to DIN 4102 is used, they are made up of suitable glasses, borosilicates or glasses having undergone a special toughening and mounted in a particular way To avoid excessive heat loss or for reasons of sound insulation, these special glasses are often mounted in multiple glazing, two or more elements being placed - parallel to each other with space

air or dry gases between them.

  This type of mounting of fire-resistant glazing into insulating glazing may also relate to fire-resistant glazing (glazing F according to DIN 4102), in this case, in general, only one of the elements is fire-resistant, the other

  being either flame retardant glass or ordinary glass.

  In the two preceding cases, flame-retardant insulating glazing or fire-resistant insulating glazing, it is necessary to prevent, during a fire, the heating of the gas contained in the space between the two glazing elements, of the overpressure it causes, the

  violent breaking of the glasses which would then release the

  verture and would let the fire propagate Such a phenomenon, explosion of insulating glazing during a fire, is even to be feared with insulating glazing c - usual Indeed, if such insulating glazing is exposed to flames during a fire, the overpressure at the time of the thermal break of the glasses (or even before it) can cause the projection of large cutting fragments very dangerous. But in the three previous cases (flame arresters,

  fire-resistant or traditional insulating glazing), if the balance

  breakage of the internal and external pressures of the insulating glazing could occur from the start of the fire, the flame-resistant glazing and the fire-resistant glazing would remain in place and operate as if they were mounted in monolithic glazing, as for the elements of the glazing

  conventional insulation, they would break less dangerously.

  Systems that balance

  pressures from the start of a fire have already been developed

  This is how French patent FR 2 538 025 proposes to drill a hole in one of the glasses constituting the insulating glazing and to equip it with an airtight stopper made of a fusible material. This device, although adapted to its function presents two types of drawbacks, aesthetic and technical.

  first point is obvious, as for the technical disadvantage

  nique, it is linked to the manufacturing process of fire-resistant glazing These products are often made in several different places: monolithic element in special glass on one side and insulating glazing in a second step, on the other The drilling operation flame retardant glazing must be programmed when manufacturing

  the monolithic element and before it suffered an event

  such toughening treatment This constraint involves a cumbersome administrative procedure In the case of laminated-toughened glasses like those described in European patent EP-0 219 801 B, it is practically impossible

  to obtain holes which after quenching then foil-

  tage are aligned Furthermore, the fact of having carried out a drilling in a tempered glass weakens it, which could disturb its proper functioning and hinder

  keeping it in place at the start of a fire.

  The other technique involves the installation of a balancing system in the metal profile which serves

  maintain the spacing of the insulating glass panes.

  Such a system, described in European patent EP-0 266 607 B does not have the drawbacks of drilling glass and in particular, can be implemented at the time of the manufacture of insulating glazing. However, it is a complicated system that requires drilling

  of the intermediate profile and the installation of a provision

  sitif composed of two elements associated by two different adhesives and whose installation is delicate We also note that this system requires the exercise of a

  very specific task on the part of the personnel who manufacture

than insulating glass.

  The invention aims to provide a pressure balancing valve in insulating glass

  during a fire that does not require any particular care

  bind, neither during the manufacture of the fire panels themselves, nor during the manufacture of the insulating glazing Its operation must also be safe and

its limited cost.

  The invention provides a device intended to balance

  break the pressures between the internal atmosphere of an insulating glass and the outside during a fire and using a cover made of fusible material which is located in the assembly corner of the insulating glass Preferably, the cover made of material fuse constitutes the bottom of a blind hole on the side of the assembly corner directed towards the inside of the insulating glazing, it is for example a Wood alloy Possibly, the whole assembly of the assembly corner is made of fusible material and then the walls of the blind hole are lined with a less fusible material such as aluminum. Preferably, the cover of fusible material is placed on a projecting part with respect to the rest of the surface of the assembly corner directed towards the inside of the insulating glazing and, on the other side, the blind hole opens out to the exterior of the glazing in an area also projecting from the surrounding surfaces. The invention also relates to insulating glazing, of which

  the intermediate frame has at least one corner for assembly

  wiring with a connection hole between the atmosphere

  internal glazing and the exterior closed on the internal side

  laughing by a cover made of a fusible material Preferably, the assembly corner (s) with connection hole and fusible cover are symmetrical with respect to the bisector plane of the corner angle and advantageously, the other corners without hole or cover connect with

  the profiles in the same way as the first.

  The essential advantage of the device of the invention is that it can be installed by non-specialized personnel when the insulating glass is produced.

  itself, that is to say without disturbing the previous phases

  teeth of the development of the anti-fire product.

  The following description and figures

  will understand the invention in all its details

and appreciate the benefits.

Among the figures:

  * Figure 1 shows a corner according to 1 'in-

  vention, * Figure 2 shows the same variant in section and, * Figure 3, another variant also in section. The principle of the device of the invention consists in equipping a communication hole and a cover

  fuse the assembly corner including mounting and asso-

  ciation with the intermediate profiles to form the frame that holds the two glass plates together,

is done in the usual way.

  In FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment has been shown. The wedge which is made entirely of a non-flammable material which melts at low temperature such as for example a Wood alloy is asymmetrical. The weight composition of the alloy is advantageously as follows : Bismuth 50% Lead 25% Tin 12.5% and Cadmium 12.5% Such a composition melts at 70 C The left branch 1 in the figure has exactly the shape

  usual corners for assembling insulating glass.

  As we know, the forms that such corners can take are varied, they are mainly determined

  depending on the conditions to be met so that the watertight

  glazing is perfect, here the only additional requirement is that the shape is adapted to the shape of the profile and the material of the corner The shape of the left wing of the corner retained here is identical to that of a

usual corner in zamack.

  The second corner wing in Figure 1 consists of two parts, part 2, the furthest from angle 3 has exactly the same shape as wing 1 and part 4 has two projections, one towards the interior of the glazing 5 and the other towards the exterior 6 This part is furthermore equipped with a blind hole 7 which does not open into the interior space of the insulating glazing. In fact, a wall 8 has been left which constitutes the fusible cover of hole 7 The representation of the figure shows at 9 a circle which does not exist when the corner is made of a single material such as Wood's alloy In the figure, the case is shown where corner 1 is made of a traditional metallic material, by

  example in treated brass to guarantee good adhesion

  Reference to sealants while the cover 8 is made of a fusible material such as Wood's alloy. The function of the inner projection 5 is to allow rapid exposure of the cover 8 to the flames to guarantee its immediate fusion. This point is essential. if you want to avoid too strong a pressure rise in the

insulating glass.

  In Figure 2, there is shown a section of a corner identical to that of Figure 1, in its variant made entirely of fusible material In this case, the walls of the blind hole 7 are lined with a material whose melting point is higher than that of Wood's alloy and which has good properties

  adhesion compared to sealants sealing insulating glass so as to stay in place no matter what.

  It is for example aluminum in the form of a tube 10 forced into the hole 7 As can be seen in FIG. 2, the wall of the cover 8 is as thin as possible -6- to melt quickly and not to

  risk closing the passage in the lumen of the tube 10.

  But its thickness must be sufficient to remain impervious to the passage of gases and in particular to water vapor during the lifetime of the glazing and also,

  to have sufficient mechanical strength; with al-

  Wood binding, a thickness of 2 to 3 mm is satisfied

  Health The tube 10, for its part, preferably projects beyond the outer wall of the corner at the time of manufacture.

  prevents it from filling up with putty (polys-

  ulfure or, preferably silicone) which ensures the connection between the glasses and the intermediate frame In general, the length of the tube 10 is such that its outer edge is flush with the edge of the glasses so as to prevent it hindering the installation of the glazing in its rebate, it is also possible to provide it overflowing and to cut it after -the setting of the putty It is obvious that in the case illustrated in Figure 2, that is to say when the entire corner is made of fusible material the projection 6 is optional because its role is the same as that of the overflowing tube 10: avoid obstruction of the blind hole by putty. The system which has just been described is very easy to apply, the only precaution to be taken is to provide a slightly shorter intermediate profile of the

  side of wing 2 than on side of wing 1.

  The system shown in Figure 3 allows, thanks to the symmetry of the corner with respect to its bisector plane, to treat the two intermediate profiles associated with the corner of the invention in the same way (They are however shorter than with the usual corners because , then in general, the profiles meet inside the corner, which is not the case here) We see in 11 the blind hole whose axis is in the plane of symmetry of the corner This corner is here made of a non-meltable material on which the Wood alloy of the cover 12 adheres by welding, as is the case for example of brass The material of the corner must also allow good adhesion of the sealants for sealing the insulating glazing , 7 possibly following a priming Figure 3 also shows in section, the connection of the corner with the intermediate section 13 This is filled in the usual way, with a desiccant 14 We also see at 15, the sealant for example silicone, which with the configuration of the figure, does not risk blocking the hole 11 It is obvious that here too, the entire corner could be made of a fusible material but there

  would also take place, to line the hole 11.

  According to the invention, it is possible to equip an insulating glazing with a variable number of corners with fusible cover Preferably, it is the upper corners which will be fitted. The other angles of the glazing will either have the usual corners of insulating glazing or corners of identical shape to those of the invention but of a lower cost such as for example zamack corners When equipping the glazing with for example one or two corners similar to those of FIG. 3, it is interesting that the other corners (without hole or fusible cover) have the same external shape as in Figure 3 because, then, the organization of the cutting of

  spacer profiles and mounting are simplified.

  Instead of taking precautions when coating with the putty for assembling the insulating glazing, or instead of allowing the lining tube 10 to protrude as in FIG. 2, it is possible to simply provide a plug, possibly coated of a non-stick substance like paraffin, which plugs hole 7 or 11 or tube 10 Obviously, this

  cap must be removed as soon as the putty has hardened.

  A corner similar to that of FIG. 2, assembled to the intermediate profiles using a polysulphide putty, was tested with two 6 mm moderately toughened glasses.

  (93 megapascals of superficial compression stress

  cielle) in a standardized fire test The conforming corner

  to the invention being in a lower corner of the glazing.

  The venting was carried out one minute after the start of the test, for an oven temperature of 340 C, while neither of the two glasses was yet broken. The device of the invention which has just been described allows when a double glazing, in particular, a flame-resistant double glazing (glazing G) or fire-resistant glazing (glazing F according to standard DIN 4102) is exposed to a

  fire, avoid internal overpressure and prevent

  so expensive any untimely or dangerous breakage.

  Such a device which fulfills its function during the fire or the fire test, is perfectly sealed during the entire lifetime of the insulating glazing. In fact, no new passage for humidity is created in relation to what exists in insulating glass

that have proven themselves.

  On the other hand, the corners of the invention are particularly easy to use and their reliability during a fire does not depend in any way on the quality of the work provided during their installation (which was not

  not the case of previous systems).

Claims (7)

  1 Device intended to balance the pressures between the internal atmosphere of an insulating glazing unit and the outside during a fire and using a cover made of fusible material, characterized in that it is   located in the assembly corner of the insulating glass.   2 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover of fusible material constitutes the bottom of a blind hole on the side of the directed assembly corner   towards the inside of the insulating glass.   3 Device according to claim 1 or 2, charac-   terized in that the fusible material is based on alloy from Wood.   4 Device according to claim 2 or 3, charac-   terized in that the entire assembly corner is in fusible material.   Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the walls of the blind hole are lined with   a less meltable material such as aluminum.   6 Device according to one of claims 1 to 5,   characterized in that the fusible material cover is placed on a projecting part with respect to the rest of the surface of the assembly corner facing inwards insulating glass.   7 Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the blind hole opens to the outside of the glazing in an area also projecting relative to surrounding surfaces.   8 Insulating glass, characterized in that its intermediate frame has at least one assembly corner comprising a connection hole between the internal atmosphere of the glass and the outside closed on the inside by a cover made of a fusible material . 9 Glazing according to claim 8, characterized in that the assembly corner (s) with connection hole and fusible cover are symmetrical with respect to the plane angle angle bisector.   Glazing according to claim 9, characterized in that the other corners without hole or cover are connected with the intermediate profiles so identical to the first.