Architectural glass panels with embedded objects and methods for making the same

Abstract

A decorative architectural glass panel comprises a two or more glass sheets separated by a resin in which one or more decorative objects are suspended. A method of making the glass panel comprises positioning one or more spacers and one or more decorative objects on a first glass sheet, placing a second glass sheet about the first glass sheet, sealing the edges of the first glass sheet and second glass sheet, and filling the space between the first and second glass sheets with a curable liquid resin. The resin can be poured using a substantially horizontal pour in order to keep the decorative objects from substantially shifting when pouring the liquid resin. The resin can also be poured in combination with a vacuum force. In some implementations, the glass panel may also be substituted with a resin panel using polymeric resin sheets.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present invention claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 606,364, filed on Sep. 1, 2004, entitled “Architectural Glass Panels with Embedded Objects and Methods for Making the Same”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. The Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to decorative glass and resin products and processes, for use in architectural design and construction. [0004] 2. Background and Relevant Art [0005] Recent architectural designs have focused on decorative panels, such as glass or polymeric resin panels, which can be used in a wide variety of environments in a wide variety of embodiments, such as decorative windows, and as partitions in offices and homes, and so forth. In general, suitable architectural polymeric resin materials (or, “resins”) for use in decorative panels comprise polyvinyl ch...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] When the first and second glass sheets are blocked and sealed appropriately, the manufacturer can create one or more pores in the sealant, and then pour the curable resin through the one or more pores in a substantially horizontal fashion. This pouring method can ensure that the decorative objects to not move substantially out of an initial position, and can ensure that air bubbles are not trapped between the glass plates. After removing any lingering air bubbles, the glass sheet assembly is then left to cure into a final product.

Problems solved by technology

By contrast with resin materials, however, glass cannot ordinarily be heated and pressed using conventional thermosetting processes to include decorative objects or patterns.

In particular, decorative glass tends to crack or blemish at many of the conventional temperatures and pressures that are otherwise used to set multiple resin sheets together into a single panel.

Unfortunately, this method of pouring liquid resin in a vertical direction is fairly limited to thinly-spaced, opposing glass sheets (e.g., the thickness of the two-sided tape) that can be pressed against relatively flat decorative objects (e.g., the thickness of the two-sided tape, or less).

This may prohibit a manufacturer from attempting to suspend unevenly-sized decorative objects between opposing glass sheets.

By contrast, horizontally pouring the resin into the cavity between the opposing glass sheets, rather than pouring vertically, can create other difficulties that make conventional glass difficult to use.

Unfortunately, this horizontal position makes it difficult to adequately distribute the liquid resin throughout the space between the two opposing glass sheets evenly.

Furthermore, air bubbles are likely to be trapped between the opposing glass sheets during a horizontal pour, rather than float away to one side or another.

Combined with the relatively high cost of glass, imperfections resulting from imperfect pours, or trapped air bubbles, make horizontal pours relatively impractical for large-scale manufacturing purposes.

Thus, conventional glass panels are limited to being relatively thin, or having relatively thin, evenly-sized decorations included inside.

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