CA2005930A1

CA2005930A1 - Liquid curtain apparatus

Info

Publication number: CA2005930A1
Application number: CA002005930A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Albert N. Mouallem
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-12-26
Filing date: 1989-12-19
Publication date: 1990-06-26
Also published as: JPH02266085A; FR2641821A1; DE3942677A1; ES2019001A6; GB8928856D0; IT8968160A0; GB2227043A; AU4711889A; BR8806883A; IT8968160A1; AR246581A1; IT1237991B

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The present invention refers to a liquid curtain apparatus comprising two windowpane blades made from glass or another transparent material paralel to each other and joined along as peripherical edges in order to define an closed inner space therebetween, a container for storing a liquid able of reducing or eliminating the transmission of light and the radiation of heat through said blades, said container communicating with said inner space between the blades through an opening at the lower portion of said inner space and, means for transportating said curtain forming liquid from said container to said inner space and backwards, characterized by comprising an opening (12) for the passage of air at the upper portion of said inner space (4), means (14) communicating said opening (12) with said container (7) in order to define a closed circuit, and a valve means (15) connected to said com-municating means (14), said valve means (15) being respon sive to the activation of said transportating means (9) in order to maintain said curtain forming liquid at a desired high within said inner space (4) and to avoid said liquid for returning to said container 7.

Description

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IZZIQUID CURTAIN APPA~ATUS
Background of the Invention Field of the Invention The present invention relates to curtain or shade means and/or apparatus for doors, windows and the like and, more specifically, to a liquid curtain appara tus particularly designed to provide a control of the transmission of light and radiation of heat therethrough.
Description of the Prior Art 10It is widely known by those skilled in the art o construction engineering that a serious problem with buildings and other constructions having large window areas is the internal temperature increase gradient which results not only from the transmission of sunlight `~
through the windowpanes but also from the high heat--absorving propZeZrty of the glass panes,which heat is Z . Z
transmitted by radiation from the windowpanes to the interior of the buildings.

Due to this temperature gradient, the use of over-dimensioned air refrigerating and conditioning Z
apparatus becomes a requirement, in order to compensate for this raise in the temperature, which becomes parti cularly unbearable during sunny days. This requirement raises unnecessarily both the cost of the building and of its posterior maintenance.
A first solution presented to this problem was coating the windowpanes with a suitable paint in order to substancially reduce the transmission of light (transpa-rency) and, accordingly, the radiation of heat through the windows. This coating of the windowpanes, however, has its greatest drawback in that it provides a definitive and constant, i. e., not controlled, reduction in the transparency and in the radiation of heat through the glass. This definitive reduction, however, is not desi-rable because it means an increase in the cost of lighting the interior of the buildings as well as it makes them unbearably cold during winter's cold days. - ;
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This solution, therefore, inverts the problem without aatually presenting a solution thereto. ~`
Another problem which derives from this coating of the windowpanes with a paint is the terrible way they look after being painted, whereby this solution usually 20 is used only in greenhouses. ~-~
A second solution previously presented to this problem of light transmission and heat radiation was ;
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coating the windowpanes with a film made from a material having the property of reducing the transmission of light ;
and the radiation of heat through the windowpane. This film, comprised by a thin layer of aluminium deposited~-;
over a fi~lm made from a transparent plastic material is disclosed in US patent 3,290,203.

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'~lplcnlly, ~ r~ a~ cllo~l ~o l:ll(!
windowpanes through a layer of an suitable adhevise ma-terial, which is also environment resistant.
Inasmuch as this coating of the windowpanes with a film eliminates the aesthetic problem related with paint ing the windowpanes, this solution is considerably moxe expensive, often presents problems related to the formation of bubbles when the film is being applied and, mainly, do not provide a control of the transmission of light through the glass, which is definitively reduced.
US patents 3,470,049 and 4,260,255 disclose ano ther previously proposed solution to this problem of con-trolling the txansmission of light and the radiation of heat through the windowpanes of a building. Both these US
patents are here incorporated as references.
According to the teachings of these US patents it is proposed the use of a multiple layer structure wherein two paralel blades made from a transparent material define a space therebetween which is filled with a liquid having the property of changing its transparency according to the temperature to which it is submited. ~-So, during cold days this liquid is completely transparent and allows the transmission of sunlight through the window, while as the external temperature raises its transparency :Ls reduced, substancially reducing the passage of sunbeams -through this structure during sunny days.
None of these solutions of the above discussed ~ .

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, prior art, however, solves the problem o~ the transmis-sion of light and of radiation of heat through the window pane in a suitable manner. In ~act, all of the above discussed solutions to this problem have as its greatest inconvenient the fact that they are definitive solutions, that is, they do not allow an control according to the user's need of the condition o~ the transparency of the glass.
In addition, none of the solutions presented in the above referenced patents provide an effective closing of the windowpanes when the temperature is too low.
For extremely low temperatures it is necessary the use of ;~
an inner shade.
US patent 2,501,418 discloses a liquid curtain ap paratus o~ the tipe comprising teo paralel blades made from glass or other transparent material defining a space there between which can be completely or partially filled with ;
a thermically expensible liquid, which liquid is normally stored in a suitable container comunicating with said inner space between the blades. A heating system, such as an electrical resistor or the like, is used to heat the i liquid stored in the container and cause its expansion, -~
due to the heat, to the space between the blades.
A similar curtain apparatus is disclosed in French patent 1,682,054 and in German patent applications ~-~
3,401,226 and 3,048,606, which patent and applications here incorporated as references. ;~
The liquid curtain apparatus disclosed in these patent and patent applications, however, have a common problem with reference to the inner space defined between the transparent material blades In fact, French patent 1,602,054 makes a distinct reference to the use oE a highly compressible gas in the inner space defined between the blades, which gas is compressed to the interior ofa container specially designed for this gas and comunicating with an opening formed on the upper part of said inner space when the liquid is pumped to the interior of said space.
The use of such a highly compressible gas, however, raises too much and unnecessarily the cost of manufacturing said liquid curtain apparatus. In addition, the use of a highly compressible gas increases the pressuxe applied on the windowpanes by the liquid. This pressure makes the use of this window unfeasible because extremely thick and heavy windowpanes would be necessary.
US patent 2,501,418and German patent application 3,048,606 disclose the use of vacuum in the interior of the inner space defined between the windowpanes in order to make it easier for the curtain forming liquid to raise ;
therein. In a liquid curtain apparatus having this construction, however, the atmosferic pressure causes a bending of the windowpanes toward each other, which `
bending can break the windowpanes.
This bending makes it impractible to use this liquid curtain apparatus in surfaces having large areas, such as doors and windowpanes.

' ``` Z(~930 German patent application 3,048,606 discloses, additional~, a liquid curtain apparatus having multiple layers wherein said windowpane blades made from glass or another transparent material define an inner space there between in which a shade device is placed. l'his estructu re, however, has nothing in common with the present I invention.
¦ German patent application 3,401,226 discloses ~`
a liquid curtain apparatus of the tipe described above I 10 wherein two windowpane blades made from glass or another I transparent material define an inner space therebetween which can be completely or partially filled with a colored liquid in order to reduce the transmission of light through `~
the windowpanes. `
In this apparatus, the liquid stored in a container i9 submited to a pressure whereby it flows to the space between the blades. In order to solve the problem of bending and breaking of the windowpane blades, an opening is provided in ~said inner space in order to allow the free passage of air from and to said inner space.
A similar solution is disclosed in Brazilian ;
patent application PI 8605657, which shows a liquid curtain apparatus in which the bendind and breaking of the window-pane blades is solved through the use of an opening in the upper portion of said inner space between the blades. ~ ~
The use of such an opening communicating sa~d ~-inner space defined between said windowpane blades with S93~1 the atmosfere, however, causes a loss, due to evaporation, uf gr~at amounts o~ the curtain forming liquid, particu-larly during sunny days, which liquid ends up by not being able to accupy all the space defined between said windowpane blades.
This lost due to evaporation of great ammounts of the curtain forming liquid, however, besides being harmful to the operation of said liquid curtain apparatus, ~ ;
means a high maintenance cost to this apparatus because it is necessary to frequently substitute the volwne of liquid lost due to evaporation. In addition/ the pressure that the liquid applyes on the windowpane blades is high, whereby they need to be to thick in order to avoid bending and breaking.
Summary o~ the Invention An object of the present invention is to solve these inconvenients of the prior art, providing a liquid curtain apparatus specially desi~ned for use in large window areas such as windows, doors,displays and external windowpanes which does not present the above discussed problems oE the devices of the prior art.
According to the present invention, this object is acchieved by providing a liquid curtain apparatus of the tipe comprising two windowpane blades made from glass or another transparent material paralel to each other and joined along their peripherical edges in order to define a closed inner space therebetween, a containerfor storing a liquid having the property of reducing or X~Sg3~ , eliminating the transmission of light and the radia-tion of heat therethrough, said container communicating with said inner space between the windowpane blades through ~::
an opening at the lower portion of said inner space, .;~
5 and means for transportating said curtain forming ~.~
liquid from said container to said inner space and ~-.
-backwards.This~apparatusischaracterized by comprising an opening for the entrance and exit of air in the upper portion of said inner space, communicating means con-10 necting said opening to said container in order to aefine ~ :
a closed circuit, and valve means connected to said communicating means, said vaLve means being responsive ~;~
to the activation of said means for transportating said liquid in order to maintain said curtain forming liquid at a desired high within said inner space and to avoid said liquid from returning to said container.
Brief Description of the Drawinqs .
The present invention will now be described in ~ :
further details as a non limitative exemple thereof with ;~
reference to its preferred embodiment shown in the at~
tached drawings, wherein~
figure 1 is a front elevational view, parcially ~ ;
cut away, of a window incorporating the liquid curtai~
apparatus; and .. ~.~
figure 2 is a seccion taken along line X-X on ~ .
figure 1. ~
Description of tne Preferred Embodiment . :
With reference now more particularly to the 5~
, .................................................................. .

drawings, a liquid curtain apparatus according to the present invention is shown as comprising two windowpane blades 1, 2 joined along its peripherical edges 3 ~y means of a sealing el~ment in order to define a closed, inner space 4 therebetween.
A frame or similar 5 is shown assurrounding the peripherical edges 3 of the windowpane blades 1, 2, and also it provides a housing for the mechanism of said liquid curtain apparatus.
A liquid 6 for forming said curtain is stored in a container 7 posikioned close to the lower edge of said windowpane blades 1, 2, said container 7 communicating with said inner space 4 between the blades through a duct 8 which connects said container to a hydraulic motor-pump lS 9 which, by its turn, communicates with said inner space 4 through a duct 10 and opening 11.
Said hydraulic motor-pump 9 is activated by a switch (not shown), and it transportates said curtain forming liquid 6 from said container 7 to the interior of said inner space 4 and backwards.
Said curtain forming liquid 6 can be an opaque liquid, which color does not allow the passage of light thexethrough, or it can be a liquid having the property of changing its transparency according to the temperature.
In addition, and if so desired, said curtain forming liquid 6 can be passed through a heating element (not shown), or a heating elements can be positioned around ~ `
or within said container 7 in order to provide said liquid r. ,., . ~ . . . . . ~ : ' ' . ': . .

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6 with the desired temperature so that the curtain can also operate as a therlnal curtain.
An opening 12 is formed on the upper portion of said inner space 4 between said windowp~nes blade6 1, 2, 5 in order to allow the free passage of air from and to ~ :~
said inner 4. Said opening 12 communicates with said con tainer 7 through a duct 14.
A solenoid valve 15 is positioned in said duct 14, next to the said opening 12. Valve 15 is responsive to the `;
activation of said hydraulic motor-pump 9 in order to allow the passage of air from and to said inner space 4. There-fore, with said valve 15 closed and in spite of the fact that said lower opening 11 remains open, said liquid 6 remains suspended within said space 4 without applying any ;
15 excessive pressure against sa~d windowpane blades 1, 2. :~
Figure 2 shows in greater detail the connection :
between said upper opening 12 for the passage of air and :
said third duct 14. The configuration of the connection ~;
between the lower opening 11 and duct 10 is similar to ::-this one, whereby the following description applies to both.
A connecting member 16 having a front flange 17 and a tubular body 18 is fixed in position through a - .
nut 19. Said front flange 17 works to compress a sealing 25 washer 20 against the surface of said windowpane blade 1, ;~ .
,,:, in order to provide a sealed connection, while the outer :: ;.
surface of said tubular body 18 is provided with a series of annular projections 21 to receive said third duct 14.
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The opera-tion of the liquid curtain apparatus according to the present invention is extremely simple and will be descripted hereina~ter.
With said curtain Eorming liquid 6 stored within said container 7, when the hydraulic motor-pump 9 and the solenoid valve 15 are activated by the switch, the liquid is drawn from the interior of said container 7 and pumped to the interior of said inner space formed between said windowpane blades 1, 2 through said ducts 8 and 10. ` :
The volume of liquid 6 being pumped to the interior of said inner space 4 does not find any resis-tance from the air in said space because valve 15 opens with the activation of said motor-pump 9 in order to allow the passage air from said inner space 4 to said container 7 through the third duct 14. This free exit of air helps the raising of the li~uid being pumped to said inner space 4.
Valve 15 remains open while the hydraulic mo-tor-pump 9 is working and closes when the said motor--pump 9 is turned off. This assures that said curtain forming liquid 6 does not return to said container 7 due to the supression of any entrance of air.
When the hydraulic motor-pump 9 is actived in the ~5 opposite direction, in order to pump said liquid 6 from the interior of said inner space 4 to said container 7, valve 15 reopens in order to allow the passage of air from said container 7 to the interior Oe said inner space 4, ~, !. , ' ~
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,'i: ." ,', . , " ,. , ' . . . ' , . -2~C)S~3~11 through said third duct 14.
Naturally, liquid 6 could be transpa~ent, opaque or able of changing its color accoxding to the temperature in order to block the transmission of light therethrough.
Therefore, according to the present invention there is provided a liquid curtain apparatus which can be used to control, according to user's wish, the transmition of light and the radiation of the heat through windows which does not present the inconvenients of the devices of ~-;
this tipe of the prior art.
Having described the invention it is to be un~
derstood that can suf~er several modifications and va-riations in its embodiment, as long as these modifications do not the depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims.

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Claims

1. Liquid curtain apparatus comprising two win dowpane blades made from glass or another transparent material paralel to each other and joined along its pe-ripherical edges in order to define a closed inner space therebetween, a container for storing a curtain forming liquid able of reducing or eliminating the transmission of light and the radiation of heat through said blades, said container communicating with said inner space between the blades through an opening at the lower portion of said inner space and, transportating means for transportating said curtain forming liquid from said container to said inner space and vice-versa, characterized by comprising an opening (12) for the passage of air in the upper portion of said inner space (4), communicating means (14) com-municating said opening (12) with said container (7) in order to define a closed circuit, and valve means (15) connected to said communicating means (14), said valve means (15) being responsive to the activation of said transportating means (9) in order to maintain said curtain forming liquid at a desired high within said inner space (4) and to avoid said liquid from returning to said con-tainer 7.

2. Liquid curtain apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said communicating means comprising a duct (14).

3. Liquid curtains apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said valve means comprises a solenoid valve (15) in said duct (14) between said container (7) and said inner space (4).

4. Liquid curtain apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said means for transportating said curtain forming liquid (6) comprises an hydraulic motor-pump (9) communicating with said container (7) and said inner space (4).