Glass panel, method of manufacturing the glass panel, and spacer for use in the glass panel

Abstract

A glass panel including a pair of first and second glass sheets ( 1 A, 1 B) disposed with sheet faces thereof opposed to each other, a plurality of spacers ( 5 ) being interposed between the pair of glass sheets ( 1 A, 1 B) for forming a space ( 4 ) therebetween; and a sealing material (S) for bonding peripheral edges ( 3 ) of the glass sheets ( 1 A, 1 B) together for sealing the space ( 4 ), the sealing material having a lower fusing temperature than the softening point of the glass sheets ( 1 A, 1 B). Each spacer ( 5 ) is formed by disposing spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) in a predetermined shape on the sheet face of the glass sheet ( 1 A, 1 B). Or, the spacer ( 5 ) comprises a plurality of spacer bodies ( 51 ) two-dimensionally interconnected to each other via a connecting member ( 52 ).

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A glass panel comprises: 
 a pair of first and second glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) disposed with sheet faces thereof opposed to each other, a plurality of spacers ( 5 ) being interposed between the pair of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) for forming a space ( 4 ) therebetween; and    a sealing material (S) for bonding peripheral edges ( 3 ) of the glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) together for sealing the space ( 4 ), the sealing material having a lower fusing temperature than the softening point of the glass sheets;    wherein each spacer ( 5 ) is formed by disposing spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) in a predetermined shape on the sheet face of the glass sheet ( 1 A,  1 B) and then baking the paste ( 11 ), said spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) containing glass component which has a fusing temperature lower than the softening point of the glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) and a softening point higher than a fusing temperature of the sealing material (S).    
     
     
         2 . A glass panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the spacers ( 5 ) are formed by baking the paste ( 11 ) which is disposed on the sheet face of the first glass sheet ( 1 A) alone.  
     
     
         3 . A glass panel according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the glass component contained in the paste ( 11 ) has a lower lead content and a higher silicon content than the sealing material (S).  
     
     
         4 . A method of manufacturing a glass panel, comprising the steps of: 
 disposing a plurality of spacers ( 5 ) between a plurality of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) for forming a space ( 4 ) between the plurality of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B);    assembling the glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) together by sealing outer peripheral edges ( 3 ) thereof together;    wherein the method comprises the steps of:    preparing spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) capable of forming the spacers ( 5 );    forming and disposing the spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) in a predetermined shape on the space ( 4 )-side face of the first glass sheet ( 1 A);    subsequently effecting a predetermined solidifying operation on each spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) so as to form a plurality of pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 );    effecting a height-adjusting shaping operation on respective contacting ends ( 6 ) capable of contacting the second glass sheet ( 1 B) of the plurality of solidified pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 ) into a predetermined height relative to the spacer ( 5 ) disposing face so as to form the spacers ( 5 ); and    assembling the second glass sheet ( 1 B) with the first glass sheet ( 1 A) with a space ( 4 )-side face of the second glass sheet ( 1 B) being opposed to the height-adjusted shaped contacting ends ( 6 ).    
     
     
         5 . A glass panel manufacturing method according to  claim 4 , wherein the height-adjusted, shaped contacting end ( 6 ) of the spacer ( 5 ) is then subjected to a grinding operation to form convex and concave portions ( 7 ), ( 8 ) at this contacting end ( 6 ).  
     
     
         6 . A method of manufacturing a glass panel, comprising the steps of: 
 disposing a plurality of spacers ( 5 ) between a plurality of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) for forming a space ( 4 ) between the plurality of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B);    assembling the glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) together by sealing outer peripheral edges ( 3 ) thereof together;    wherein the method comprises the steps of: 
 preparing spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) capable of forming the spacers ( 5 );  
 forming and disposing the spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) in a predetermined shape on the space ( 4 )-side face of the first glass sheet ( 1 A);  
 subsequently effecting a predetermined semi-solidifying operation on each spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) so as to form a plurality of semi-solidified pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 );  
 effecting a height-adjusting shaping operation on respective contacting ends ( 6 ) capable of contacting the second glass sheet ( 1 B) of the plurality of semi-solidified pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 ) into a predetermined height relative to the spacer ( 5 ) disposing face;  
 subjecting said respective height-adjusted pre-spacer forming element ( 9 ) to a predetermined solidifying operation to form them into the plurality of spacers ( 5 ); and  
 assembling the second glass sheet ( 1 B) with the first glass sheet ( 1 A) with a space ( 4 )-side face of the second glass sheet ( 1 B) being opposed to the contacting ends ( 6 ) of the spacers ( 5 ).  
   
     
     
         7 . A glass panel manufacturing method according to any one of claims  4  through  6 , wherein the paste ( 11 ) is mixed by adding a binder to the low-melting glass having a lower fusing temperature than the softening temperature of the glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) and the spacer-forming paste is baked under a predetermined baking temperature together with the first glass sheet ( 1 A) to be formed into the plurality of pre-space forming elements ( 9 ); and the contacting ends ( 6 ) are height-adjusted by pressing while these pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 ) are maintained at the softening temperature of the pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 ) which is lower than the baking temperature.  
     
     
         8 . A glass panel manufacturing method according to  claim 7 , wherein the spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) is prepared by adding to the low-melting glass particles of convex ( 7 ) forming elements having a heat-resistant temperature higher than the softening temperature of the pre-spacer forming elements ( 9 ) and mixing them together.  
     
     
         9 . A glass panel manufacturing method according to any one of claims  4  through  7 , wherein in the height-adjusting shaping step of the contacting end ( 6 ), the contacting end ( 6 ) is shaped into a flat smooth face.  
     
     
         10 . A glass panel manufacturing method comprising the steps of: 
 disposing a plurality of spacers ( 5 ) between a plurality of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) for forming a space ( 4 ) between the plurality of glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B);    assembling the glass sheets ( 1 A,  1 B) together by sealing outer peripheral edges ( 3 ) thereof together;    wherein the method comprises the steps of: 
 preparing spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) capable of forming the spacers ( 5 );  
 forming and disposing the spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) in a predetermined shape at a plurality of predetermined positions on the space ( 4 )-side face of the first glass sheet ( 1 A) so as to form the spacers ( 5 );  
 subsequently effecting a height-adjusting shaping operation on respective contacting ends ( 6 ) capable of contacting the second glass sheet ( 1 B) into a predetermined height relative to the spacer-disposing face ( 2 A);  
 effecting a predetermined solidifying operation on each spacer-forming paste ( 11 ) so as to form the plurality of spacers ( 5 ); and  
 assembling the second glass sheet ( 1 B) with the first glass sheet ( 1 B) with the space ( 4 )-side face of the second glass sheet ( 1 B) being opposed to the contacting ends ( 6 ) of the spacers ( 5 ).  
   
     
     
         11 . A glass panel manufacturing method according to any one of  claim 4 , claims  6  through  8  and  claim 10 , wherein in the height-adjusting shaping step of the contacting ends ( 6 ), convex and concave portions ( 7 ), ( 8 ) are formed in the contacting end ( 6 ) and the convex portions ( 7 ) are shaped into the predetermined height.  
     
     
         12 . A spacer for use in a glass panel, the spacer being interposed between a first glass sheet ( 1 A) and a second glass sheet ( 1 B) having sheet faces thereof opposed to each other so as to form a space ( 4 ) therebetween, the space ( 4 ) being sealed along outer peripheral edges ( 3 ) of the first glass sheet ( 1 A) and the second glass sheet ( 1 B) so that the inside of the space ( 4 ) is maintained under a pressure-reduced condition, 
 wherein said spacer ( 5 ) comprises a plurality of spacer bodies ( 51 ) two-dimensionally interconnected to each other via a connecting member ( 52 ).    
     
     
         13 . A glass panel spacer according to  claim 12 , wherein the connecting member ( 52 ) is capable of being shrunk or eliminated by means of heating.  
     
     
         14 . A glass panel spacer according to  claim 12 , wherein the connecting member ( 52 ) is dissolvable by means of a solvent.