Title: Fixing element for double pane insulating window
Abstract: The invention relates to a fixing element (10) for double pane insulating glass (42, 44), which is anchored by expansion of an expansible ring (16) in a drilled hole having a conical undercut in an outer glass pane (42) of the insulating glass (42, 44). The invention provides for the fixing element (10) to be sealed with two sealing rings (30, 40) on both sides of an inner glass pane (44) of the insulating glass (42, 44) and additionally for an injection opening (41) to be provided, through which a sealing compound, for example, silicone, can be introduced into a gap at the point at which the fixing element (10) passes through the inner glass pane (44) in order to provide an extra seal at the passage point. The fixing element (10) ensures a permanent seal of the passage point.
Patent Number: 6,941,721 Issued on 09/13/2005 to Lind
| Inventors:
|
Lind; Stefan (Birkenhoerdt, DE)
|
| Assignee:
|
fischerwerke Artur Fischer GmbH & Co. KG (Waldachtal, DE)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
481552 |
| Filed:
|
May 14, 2002 |
| PCT Filed:
|
May 14, 2002
|
| PCT NO:
|
PCT/EP02/05267
|
| 371 Date:
|
December 19, 2003
|
| 102(e) Date:
|
December 19, 2003
|
| PCT PUB.NO.:
|
WO03/00677 |
| PCT PUB. Date:
|
January 23, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Jun 20, 2001[DE] | 201 10 192 U |
| Current U.S. Class: |
52/786.13; 52/235; 411/82.1; 411/107; 411/542 |
| Intern'l Class: |
E06B 003/54; F16B 039/00; E04F 013/14; E04B 002/88 |
| Field of Search: |
52/235,786.13
411/821
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3446508 | May., 1969 | Mayer.
| |
| 5106250 | Apr., 1992 | Fischer et al.
| |
| 6430894 | Aug., 2002 | Chae et al.
| |
| 6632056 | Oct., 2003 | Lind.
| |
| 2003/0138307 | Jul., 2003 | Lind.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 296 21 302 | Feb., 1997 | DE.
| |
| 299 21 128 | Jan., 2000 | DE.
| |
| 299 13 278 | Dec., 2000 | DE.
| |
| 0 440 896 | Nov., 1990 | EP.
| |
| 0 647 760 | Aug., 1994 | EP.
| |
| 0 965 721 | Dec., 1999 | EP.
| |
| 97 08416 | Mar., 1997 | WO.
| |
| 01/88305 | Nov., 2001 | WO.
| |
| 03/006774 | Jan., 2003 | WO.
| |
Primary Examiner: Canfield; Robert
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Striker; Michael J.
Claims
1. Fixing element for double pane insulating glass having an outer glass pane
and an inner glass pane arranged spaced from the outer glass pane, having a shank
with an expander body at one end, the expander body widening in the direction away
from the shank, having an expansion element, which is expandable by pushing it
onto the expander body in order to anchor the fixing element in a drilled hole
having an undercut in the outer glass pane, and having an annular sealing element,
surrounding the shank, for sealing the shank on the side of the inner glass pane
remote from the outer glass pane at a point at which the shank passes through the
inner glass pane, characterised in that the fixing element (
10) comprises
a second, annular, sealing element (
30), surrounding the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34), for sealing the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34) on the side of the inner glass pane (
44) facing the
outer glass pane (
42) at the point at which the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34) passes through the inner glass pane (
44), which sealing
element is arranged axially in the direction of the expander body (
12),
offset with respect to a sealing element (
40), and in that the fixing element
(
10) has an injection opening (
41), which is accessible from the
side of the inner glass pane (
44) remote from the outer glass pane (
42)
and which opens out into a gap between the two sealing elements (
30,
40)
at the point at which the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34) passes
through the inner glass pane (
44).
2. Fixing element according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixing element
(
10) has a pierced disc-form element (
38) mounted on the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34) and having the one sealing element (
40)
and the injection opening (
41).
3. Fixing element according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixing element
(
10) has a spacer sleeve (
26) mounted on the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34) and having the other sealing element (
30).
4. Fixing element according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixing element
(
10) has a sealing ring (
30,
40) as sealing element.
5. Fixing element according to claim 1, characterised in that the expansion element
is an expansible ring (
16).
6. Fixing element according to claim 1, characterised in that the shank (
14,
22,
32,
34) has a thread.
Description
The invention relates to a fixing element for double pane insulating glass. Double
pane insulating glass consists of two glass panes, one outer and one inner glass
pane, which are arranged spaced apart. The terms inner and outer glass pane have
been chosen for the purposes of clear identification of the particular glass pane
and their differentiation. The two glass panes are normally set in a frame, which
holds the two glass panes spaced apart from one another. A space between the two
glass panes is hermetically sealed.
Such a fixing element for double pane insulating glass is known from DE 299
13 278 U1. The known fixing element comprises a threaded shank, at the end of which
is arranged an expander body in the form of an expander cone. The expander cone
is integral with the threaded shank. Other expander body forms are also known,
for example, a pyramid-shaped expander body. An expansible element, which is expandable
by being pushed onto the expander body, is mounted on the threaded shank or the
expander body. In the case of the known fixing element, the expansible element
is in the form of a ring, which has an undulation when viewed from the side. Other
forms of expansible elements are also possible. Furthermore, the known fixing element
has, mounted on the threaded shank, a spacer sleeve, which has a radially protruding
flange at its end remote from the expander body. The flange is provided with a
circumferential, i.e. annular, sealing enlargement at its end facing the expander
body. Adjoining the spacer sleeve, a nut is screwed onto the threaded bolt.
For anchoring in a drilled hole having an undercut in the outer glass pane, the
known fixing element is pushed, with its expander body leading, through a coincident
hole in the inner glass pane and the expander body is introduced with the expansible
element into the drilled hole having the undercut in the outer glass pane. The
spacer sleeve mounted on the threaded shank passes through the hole in the inner
glass pane and rests on the expansible element. By screwing on and tightening the
nut, the expansible element with the spacer sleeve is pushed onto the expander
body and expanded, the expansible element engages behind the undercut of the drilled
hole in the outer glass pane, and the fixing element is anchored by interlocking
engagement in the drilled hole having the undercut in the outer glass pane. The
annular sealing enlargement is located, forming a seal, on the side of the inner
glass pane remote from the outer glass pane. The double pane insulating glass can
be fixed at the fixing element anchored in the outer glass pane, several fixing
elements normally being used to fix a double pane insulating glass unit.
A long-term reliable hermetic seal of the space between the two glass panes at
the point at which the fixing element passes through the inner glass pane is problematical.
If a leak occurs at this point, air is able to penetrate into the space between
the two glass panes. Moisture contained in the air reduces the insulating effect
of the insulating glass and may furthermore condense and collect on one of the
two glass panes. Since the space between the glass panes is not accessible, such
a deposit is impossible to remove and the double pane insulating glass acquires
a milky, misted appearance and has to be replaced.
The invention is therefore based on the problem of proposing a fixing element
having enhanced reliability against leakage at the point at which the fixing element
passes through the inner glass pane.
That feature is solved according to the invention. The fixing element according
to the invention has, surrounding the shank, a second, annular, sealing element,
which, forming a seal, abuts the side of the inner glass pane facing the outer
glass pane. The fixing element according to the invention therefore has on each
side of the inner glass pane an annular sealing element surrounding the shank and
sealing the shank with respect to the inner glass pane at the point at which it
passes through the inner glass pane. Reliability against leakage is therefore increased,
since, on failure of one sealing element, the other sealing element still forms
a seal.
Furthermore, the fixing element according to the invention has an injection
opening, which is accessible from the side of the inner glass pane remote from
the outer glass pane. A sealing compound can be introduced through the injection
opening into the bore in the inner glass pane, through which the shank of the fixing
element passes. The sealing compound additionally seals the sealing element at
the point at which it passes through the inner glass pane. This ensures a long-term
reliable seal of the passage point. No seal is required on the outer glass pane,
since the drilled hole having the undercut is not a through-bore but a blind bore.
One construction of the invention provides an element in the form of a pierced
disc, which is arranged on the side of the inner glass pane remote from the outer
glass pane. The pierced disc-form element has the one sealing element and the injection opening.
One construction of the invention provides a spacer sleeve, which is mounted
on the shank of the fixing element and is located between the two glass panes and
maintains the spacing between them. The spacer sleeve comprises the other sealing
element abutting and forming a seal at the side of the inner glass pane facing
the outer glass pane.
The sealing elements can be in the form, for example, of circumferential sealing
enlargements, sealing lips or similar structures integral with the pierced disc-form
element and spacer sleeve. One construction of the invention provides sealing rings
as sealing elements, which are placed, for example, in annular grooves of the pierced
disc-form element and the spacer sleeve.
The pierced disc-form element and/or the spacer sleeve are preferably mounted
with a clamped and sealed fit on the shank of the fixing element.
In a preferred construction of the invention, the shank of the fixing element
according to the invention has an internal or external thread for fixing.
The invention is explained in detail hereinafter with reference to an exemplary
embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which
FIG. 1 shows, in axial section, a fixing element according to the invention
anchored in double pane insulating glass;
FIG. 2 shows, in a side view, the fixing element from FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a step in the mounting of the fixing element from FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 shows a further step in the mounting of the fixing element from FIG. 1.
The fixing element
10 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 comprises
an expander cone
12 as expander body, which at its end of smaller diameter
is in one piece with a threaded stem
14. An expansion ring
16, as
expansible element, is mounted on the expander cone
12 and is expanded by
being pushed onto the expander cone
12. The expansion ring
16 is
of undulating form in side view. A protective cap
18 of plastics material
is slipped over the expansion ring
16 and the expander cone
12.
Adjoining the expander cone
12, a plastics material washer
20
is placed on the threaded stem
14 and an internally threaded sleeve
22
is screwed on. The sleeve
22 has an annular shoulder
24 at its outer
circumference. A truncated cone-shaped spacer sleeve
26 of plastics material
is mounted on the sleeve
22, and, with an inwardly protruding collar
28,
abuts the annular shoulder
24 of the sleeve
22 in clamped and sealed
engagement against the circumference thereof. An end face of the spacer sleeve
26 remote from the expander cone
12 is provided with a circular groove,
into which an O-ring is located as sealing ring
30.
The sleeve
22 is longer than the threaded stem
14, so that the
internal thread of the sleeve
22 extends beyond it. A threaded bolt
32
is screwed into the overhanging part of the internal thread of the sleeve
22
to lie adjacent to the threaded stem
14, and projects out of the sleeve
22. An internally threaded tube
34, which has an integral, laterally
protruding hexagonal collar
36 (cf. FIG.
2), is screwed onto the
threaded bolt
32. The sleeve
22, the threaded stem
14, the
threaded bolt
32 and the tube
34 form the shank
14,
22,
32,
34 of the fixing element
10.
A pierced disc-form element
38 is mounted on the tube
34 on the
side
of the hexagon collar
36 facing the spacer sleeve
26, the pierced
disc-form element
38 engaging with a clamped, and hence sealed, fit on the
tube
34. In the end face of the pierced disc-form element
38 facing
the spacer sleeve
26 there is a circular groove, in which an O-ring is located
as sealing ring
40. The pierced disc-form element
38 is provided
with an injection opening
41, which passes through the pierced disc-form
element
38 from one end face to the other end face within the sealing ring
40 and is accessible laterally of the hexagonal collar
36.
The fixing element
10 serves for fixing double pane insulating glass
42,
44, which comprises two glass panes
42,
44 arranged spaced
from one another. The two glass panes
42,
44 are set in a frame,
not visible in the drawings, which holds the two glass panes
42,
44
spaced apart from one another. The frame hermetically seals a space between the
glass panes
42,
44. To distinguish between them, in the following
description one of the two glass panes will be referred to as the outer glass pane
42 and the other as the inner glass pane
44. The outer glass pane
42 is provided with a drilled hole, which has a conically flared undercut.
The inner glass pane
44 is provided with a continuous drilled hole
46,
which has, at least approximately, the same axis as the drilled hole in the outer
glass pane
42.
For fixing, as illustrated in FIG. 3, first of all the threaded stem
14,
with the expander cone
12, the expansion ring
16, which is in position
but has not yet been expanded, and the protective cap
18 which has been
slipped on, is inserted into the undercut drilled hole in the outer glass pane
42. The washer
20 is then put in position and the sleeve
22
is screwed onto the threaded stem
14. By tightening the sleeve
22,
the expansion ring
16 is pushed onto the expander cone
12 and consequently
expanded. The expanded expansion ring
16 engages behind the undercut of
the drilled hole in the outer glass pane
42, so that the said parts of the
fixing element
10 are anchored with an interlocking fit in the drilled hole
in the outer glass pane
42. The protective cap
18 that has been slipped
on prevents the glass pane
42 from being damaged.
The sleeve
22, the threaded stem
14, the threaded bolt
32
and the tube
34 form a shank
14,
22,
32,
34
of the fixing element
10.
Next, the spacer sleeve
26 is placed on the sleeve
22 and then
the inner glass pane
44 is arranged spaced from the outer glass pane
42,
as illustrated in FIG.
4. In a manner known per se, the two glass panes
42,
44 are joined to one another and hermetically sealed by means
of the frame, not visible in the drawing. The inner glass pane
44 abuts
the end face of the spacer sleeve
26 facing it, the sealing ring
30
arranged there abuts the inner glass pane
44, forming a seal, and seals
the space between the two glass panes
42,
44 with respect to the
drilled hole
46 in the inner glass pane
44.
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the threaded bolt
32
is screwed into the internal thread of the sleeve
22, and the internally
threaded tube
34, with the pierced disc-form element
38 mounted on
the tube
34, is screwed onto the threaded bolt
32 and tightened.
The pierced disc-form element
38 abuts the side of the inner glass pane
44 remote from the outer glass pane
42, and the sealing ring
40
placed in the pierced disc-form element
38 seals the drilled hole
46
in the inner glass pane
44 towards the outside, thus providing a second seal.
Subsequently, a sealing compound, for example silicone, is introduced
through the injection opening
41, between the pierced disc-form element
38 and the spacer sleeve
26, into the drilled hole
46 in the
inner glass pane
44. The injected sealing compound fills the gap completely
and, in addition to the seal effected by the two sealing rings
30,
40,
hermetically seals the fixing element
10 at the point at which it passes
through the inner glass pane
44. A permanent seal at the point at which
the fixing element
10 passes through the inner glass pane
44 of the
double pane insulating glass
42,
44 is accordingly ensured.
The double pane insulating glass
42,
44 can now be fixed at the
tube
34 of the fixing element
10, which is part of the shank
14,
22,
32,
34 of the fixing element
10, to, for example,
a substructure. If an internal thread is required for fixing instead of an external
thread, an axially shorter tube is used instead of the tube
34 and a longer
threaded bolt is used instead of the threaded bolt
32, so that the threaded
bolt
32 protrudes from the tube
34 and its external thread can be
used for fixing.
*
