PARALLEL HERMETIC SEALS AND ASSEMBLY INCLUDING THE SAME
An evacuated glazing assembly having first and second spaced-apart substrates connected to each other by a seal element to form an evaluable interior space therebetween. The seal element is formed by bonding a metallic bridge element to at least one of the substrates with a cold weld. The cold weld includes at least two spaced-apart, highly-hermetic seal elements fabricated simultaneously during bonding on the at least one of the substrates.
1 . An evacuated glazing assembly having first and second spaced-apart substrates connected to each other by a seal element to form an evaluable interior space therebetween, wherein the seal element is formed by:
bonding a metallic bridge element to at least one of the substrates with a cold weld, the cold weld including at least two spaced-apart, highly-hermetic seal elements fabricated simultaneously during bonding along an edge of the at least one of the substrates.
2 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 1 , wherein each seal element is formed by ultrasonic welding.
3 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the forming of each of the two seal elements is accomplished by rotary ultrasonic welding.
4 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cold weld includes contacting the metallic bridge element with a vibrating sonotrode.
5 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 4 , wherein the forming of the seal element is accomplished by using a rotary sonotrode having parallel ribs on a rim of the rotary sonotrode.
6 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the substrates has been coated with a thin metallic layer prior to bonding of the metallic bridge element.
7 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the seal element is formed by bonding a metallic bridge element to each of the substrates with respective cold welds forming parallel seal elements on each of the substrates.
8 . An evacuated glazing assembly comprising:
a first substrate;
a second substrate spaced from the first substrate to define an interior space therebetween;
a metallic bridge element disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate to hermetically isolate the interior space from a surrounding environment, wherein the bridge element includes:
a first seal element formed by a cold-welded bond between the metallic bridge element and the first substrate; and
a second seal element spaced apart from the first seal element and formed by a cold-welded bond between the metallic bridge element and the first substrate,
wherein the first and second seal elements are formed simultaneously along an edge of the first substrate.
9 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of the first seal element and the second seal element defines a structural connection between the metallic bridge element and the first substrate having a shear strength greater than a yield strength of the metallic bridge element.
10 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 9 , wherein both the first seal element and the second seal element partially define a hermeticity of the evacuated assembly.
11 - 18 . (canceled)
19 . A method of manufacturing a structural element including first and second substrates of substantially congruent shapes, the method comprising:
forming a seal element between the substrates to define an evaluable gap, the seal element formed by the process of:
subjecting at least one surface of each substrate to an oven-free, vacuum chamber-free metal deposition process to form a metallic layer on each of the substrates, the metallic layers defining a coating that are continuous along the perimeter of the evaluable gap; and
connecting a bridge element to the metallic layers to define a hermetic seal of the evaluable gap,
wherein the connection of the bridge element to each of the metallic layers includes at least two spaced-apart, highly-hermetic seal elements fabricated simultaneously.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the metal deposition process includes friction surfacing.
21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the bridge element is connected to the metallic layers via ultrasonic welding.
22 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the bridge element includes a metal foil.
23 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the substrates include glass.
24 - 29 . (canceled)
30 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of the first substrate and the second substrate is non-metallic and one or both of the first substrate and the second substrate includes
a metallic layer disposed on at least a portion of the corresponding substrate and formed using a friction surfacing process, wherein the metallic bridge element includes a metal foil, and
wherein the friction surfacing process includes subjecting at least one surface of the corresponding substrate to an oven-free, vacuum chamber-free metal deposition process.
31 . (canceled)
32 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 8 , wherein the first substrate and the second substrate define a vehicle window and the metallic layer is formed in a line that extends along a length or width of the vehicle window.
33 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of the first seal element and the second seal element includes an ultrasonic weld.
34 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of the first seal element and the second seal element is defined by contacting a rotary sonotrode to the metallic bridge element, and wherein the rotary sonotrode has parallel ribs on a rim of the rotary sonotrode.
35 . The evacuated glazing assembly of claim 8 , wherein the first substrate includes a coating of a thin metallic layer prior to bonding the metallic bridge element to the first substrate.