EP0539407A1

EP0539407A1 - Process and device for assembling insulating glass panes filled with a gas other than air.

Info

Publication number: EP0539407A1
Application number: EP91912375A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Uwe Bogner; Karl Lenhardt
Original assignee: Bystronic Lenhardt GmbH
Current assignee: Bystronic Lenhardt GmbH
Priority date: 1990-07-13
Filing date: 1991-07-12
Publication date: 1993-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2011-07-12
Also published as: EP0539407B1; JP3138963B2; DE59102519D1; JPH05508609A; ATE109863T1; CA2087187A1; DE4022185A1; US5350469A; WO1992001137A1; CA2087187C

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP91/01307 Sec. 371 Date Jan. 20, 1993 Sec. 102(e) Date Jan. 20, 1993 PCT Filed Jul. 12, 1991 PCT Pub. No. WO92/01137 PCT Pub. Date Jan. 23, 1992.To fill insulating glass panes with a heavy gas, one of the glass plates (40) of which the insulating glass pane is formed is initially only partly joined to the other glass plate (42) during assembly and to that end is flexed along one edge so that a gap is temporarily left between the glass plate (40) and the spacer (41) and a heavy gas can be introduced through that gap to fill the interior space of the insulating gas pane.

Description

Method and device for assembling insulating glass panes which are filled with a gas other than air

Technical field:

The invention relates to a method for assembling insulating glass panes, the interior of which between pairs of glass plates, which are kept at a distance from one another along their edges by a frame-shaped spacer and bonded to one another and bear against positioning surfaces with their outer surface during assembly, with one of Air is filled with various gas

elastic bending of at least one of the glass plates along an edge of the glass plate,

Attaching the spacer to one of the glass plates (hereinafter referred to as the "first" glass plate) before, during or after bending one of the glass plates,

- Attach the spacer to the other glass plate

(hereinafter referred to as the "second" glass plate), whereby the bend is maintained so that access to the interior between the glass plates remains open,

- Introducing the gas into the interior through the access thus created, and - 2 -

- moving the access by lifting the elastic bend,

and a device for assembling insulating glass panes, the interior of which is filled with a gas different from air between pairs of glass plates which are spaced apart from one another along their edges by a frame-shaped spacer and are bonded to one another,

with a support device for supporting and positioning the glass plates and

with a holder which is parallel to the support device and variable in distance, for holding and positioning one of the glass plates at a distance from the other glass plate, either the support device or the holder or both defining a positioning surface intended for contact with the outside of a glass plate in which an elongated suction device directed against the glass plate is arranged with its front side,

and with a device for supplying the gas.

State of the art:

Such a method and such a device are described in WO 89/11021. In the known method, in the case of two glass plates joined together to form an insulating glass pane, access to the interior space between the glass plates is temporarily created in that one of the glass plates is elastically bent before or after the glass plates are joined together. For this purpose, the known device has suction cups which are arranged in a vertical, strip-shaped recess in a wall and up to The front of the wall can be pushed forward and can be withdrawn parallel to itself by a few millimeters behind the front of the wall. The wall itself has holes regularly distributed over its surface, through which air can also be sucked in in order to hold and position the glass plate on the wall. The glass plate sucked through the holes in the wall and thereby clamped on both sides is dented by the action of the suction cups in the strip-shaped recess of the wall in a strip-shaped area, with high bending stresses occurring in the glass because the glass plate in the

Bending area has several sign changes of curvature. The high bending stress means that thick glass plates can only be bent with difficulty and that microcracks present in the glass plate, which would not appear without bending the glass plate, break due to the bending of the glass plate

Glass plate can lead. According to WO 89/11021, a local alleviation of the stresses can be achieved in that the wall has a curved surface in a region adjacent to the recess on both sides, which creates a continuous transition from the flat region of the wall into its recess. This allows the amount of curvature at the edge of the recess to be reduced, but it remains that the glass sheet has a multiple change in the sign of the curvature.

In WO 89/11021 it has already been proposed to bend the glass plate along one of its edges; however, it is not specified with what device this is to be done. PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention is based on the object of specifying a method and a device with which glass plates can be bent in the assembly of insulating glass panes with less effort and with the formation of lower bending stresses in the glass in order to provide access to the interior of the insulating glass pane to create through which a gas other than air can be filled. The reduced bending stresses are primarily intended to reduce the risk of breakage and to facilitate the bending of thick glass plates.

This object is achieved by a method with the features specified in claim 1 or with the features specified in claim 2. A device which is particularly suitable for carrying out the method according to the invention is the subject of claim 10. Advantageous developments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

The method according to claim 2 differs from the method according to claim 1 only in the order of the steps: while in the method according to claim 1 the glass plate bending takes place before the glass plates are joined, in the method according to claim 2 the glass plate bending takes place after the Glass plates have been joined together, that is, the glass plates are only joined together by inserting a spacer and a glass sheet is subsequently bent again, causing them to separate from the spacer in sections. holder releases again.

It is new and particularly important that in the method according to the invention the glass plate to be bent is bent together with the positioning surface touching it. In combination with the fact that the glass plate is not bent in a central area but along one of its edges parallel to this edge, the result is that the glass plate on its outer surface in the bending area is only concave, a change of sign of the curvature therefore no longer occurs. This means a sharp reduction in the bending stress; in comparison with-- the state of the art, forming comparable widths with openings with bending stresses that are only a quarter of the otherwise required bending stresses. A major contributor to this success is that there is no kink in the positioning surface against which the glass plate lies during bending, because the positioning surface is bent together with the glass sheet, as a result of which the positioning surface and the glass plate continuously nestle against one another in the bending area .

As will be shown on the basis of an exemplary embodiment, the method according to the invention can be carried out in a conventional insulating glass production line, which can only be adapted with relatively little effort in the area of the assembly station. Insulating glass panes with heavy gas filling and also such can be produced in any order in the same production line be made with air filling.

There are spacers that are flexible enough to be bent together with a glass plate; however, the glass plate is preferably bent before it is connected to the spacer, so that it is not important for creating access to the interior of the insulating glass pane whether and to what extent the respective spacer can be bent. This procedure is particularly recommended for the production of insulating glass glued to the edge, which is produced with the help of spacers which consist of metallic hollow profile rods and are provided on both sides with an adhesive, with the aid of which they glue the two glass plates together. In principle, it is also possible to bend both glass plates in order to create a larger access to the interior of the insulating glass pane. However, it has been shown that the increased effort involved is not necessary. Rather, it is sufficient to bend only one of the glass plates. In this case, it is best to place the spacer on the glass plate that is not to be bent. This has the advantage that the spacer is not subjected to bending and is held and supported over its entire circumference. Then you place the curved glass plate on the spacer, whereby the bend inevitably creates an opening between the

-r- curved glass plate and the spacer remains free. Alternatively, one can proceed in such a way that both glass plates are first placed completely against the spacer and then one of the two glass plates is partially detached from the spacer by bending if the adhesive used permits this. With butyl rubber-based adhesives, it is possible if they have not been pressed too hard.

Basically, you can fill the insulating glass pane horizontally, with one of the glass plates lying on a table and the second one arranged above it, e.g. is held by a suction device, but the insulating glass pane is preferably filled upright and one of the glass plates is bent along one of its edges running from bottom to top; the heavy gas is expediently filled in close to the lower corner of the insulating glass pane and is allowed to rise in the space between the two glass plates, displacing the air upwards. The opening gap is expediently covered on the lower, horizontal edge and on the edge of the insulating glass pane which extends from the bottom upwards and the air is allowed to flow out of the opening remaining on the upper, horizontal edge.

In the device proposed for carrying out the method according to the invention, the two glass plates to be assembled to form the insulating glass pane are positioned and joined parallel to one another in a congruent manner, one or both glass plates, preferably only one of the glass plates, being bent at the edge according to the invention, so that a heavy gas can be filled. After completion of the heavy gas filling, the bend is eliminated and the glass plates are glued to the entire circumference with the spacer. For this purpose, the device has a support device for one of the glass plates and a holder for the other glass plate that is pa allele and variable in distance. Insulating glass panes are either lying or assembled, usually a little inclined in the latter case. In both cases there is therefore a lower glass plate - it is supported by the support device - and an upper glass plate - it is held by the holder. The support device can be a roller field known per se in this field of technology; it is preferably an air cushion wall on which a glass plate can be moved in a floating manner on an air cushion and can be fixed by switching from bubbles to suction. The holder could be a frame with brackets that grip the glass plate at the edge and with positioning elements that define a positioning surface. Preferably, the holder, like the support device, is also a wall, in particular one with bores through which air can be sucked in, in order to be able to suck in a glass plate and to hold and position it on the wall.

One of these two walls, which both form a positioning surface for a glass sheet, is combined with an elongated suction device, which lies with its front side in an area of the positioning surface that can be deflected elastically. Whether this area for the support device or for mounting heard is a question of expediency. The elastically deflectable area preferably lies at the edge of the holder or the support device, so that the holder or support device ends with this deflectable area. The deflectable area could also lie in the middle of a larger support device or holder; In this case, however, the glass plate to be bent is positioned so that it only rests against the elastically deflectable area and that area of the positioning surface adjoining it on which the deflectable area is clamped on one side.

The elongated suction device preferably contains a number of several suction devices, which are arranged directly adjacent to one another and can be activated individually in order to be able to optimally generate the suction force for bending and to adapt it to the size of the respective glass plate. In a device in which the glass sheets are assembled upright and on which they are conveyed in and out standing on a horizontal conveyor and leaning against the support device, the row of suction cups preferably extends at a right angle to the conveying direction, so that the one to be bent Glass plate is bent along one of its edges running from bottom to top, preferably along the edge lying in front in the conveying direction.

In view of the fact that, according to the invention, an elongated one is used to fill in the gas and to force the gas-air mixture between the spacer and a glass plate When opening is found, it is advantageous to use a nozzle with an elongated mouth for filling the gas, which is brought to the edge of the glass plates or on the edge of a glass plate and on the spacer and sealed in a suitable manner, so that maximum efficiency is achieved. The displaced gas-air mixture can be sucked off through a suction nozzle, which can also be placed on the edge of the glass plate or on the edge of a glass plate and on the spacer. In addition, you can see between the area of the filling nozzle and the area in which the displaced

Gas-air mixture flows out, a cover element in order to avoid gas losses. The filler nozzle and the suction nozzle are preferably integrated in a common cover element which covers the edge of the insulating glass pane along the entire edge along which the bending takes place. This cover element preferably contains - starting in the vicinity of the filling nozzle - a series of suction openings which can be activated individually or in groups. This makes it possible, even with insulating glass panes of different sizes, to extract only through a suction opening or through one

To have a group of ventilation openings made which is outside the edge of the insulating glass pane, but nevertheless near its corner.

For handling standing insulating glass panes, it is advisable to pivotally pivot a short cover strip at the lower end of the cover element, which, after the cover element has been placed on the bent glass edge, on the lower one Edge of the insulating glass pane can be pivoted to cover the wedge-shaped gap there.

The suction device preferably comprises a sheet which is clamped on one side at the outlet-side end of the holder and provided with suction openings and which carries a layer of an elastomeric material on its front side. Such a sheet has the desired bendability, and the elastomeric layer provided for sealing the nipple and gentle application to the glass surface can be easily bent. The

Bending can be carried out by means of a pushing and / or pressing device which acts on the back of the sheet, preferably in the immediate vicinity of the edge of the sheet on the outlet side. The attack of the thrust and / or pressure device should preferably be articulated to avoid distortion of the

Avoid bending lines through a rigid attack. The material and the thickness of the sheet are expediently chosen so that their bending behavior is matched to that of the glass plate and both can be bent with the same possible curvature. Experience has shown that you can achieve very good results with a 4 to 5 mm thick steel sheet.

WAYS OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION:

An embodiment of the device according to the invention is shown schematically in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the device in a side view,

FIG. 2 schematically shows the section through part of the device along the line II-II,

FIG. 3 shows a detail of the cross section III-III through a section of the device with an insulating grass pane, the glass plate of which is bent,

Figure 4 shows the same section through the device as

FIG. 3, but in the position with the insulating glass pane closed,

FIG. 5 shows a detail of the section according to FIG. 3 in an enlarged representation of the area of the filling nozzle,

FIG. 6 shows in detail a vertical section through the egg filling nozzle along the section line VI-VI according to FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 shows in detail the lower end of a sealing element for the insulating glass pane with a short cover strip which is pivotally attached to it, and Figure 8 shows a detail of a cross section through the cover element at the level of a suction channel.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show that the device has a lower part 1 and a base 2 thereon, which carries a horizontally conveying conveyor which is formed by a sequence of synchronously driven rollers 3. A support 4 is arranged between two adjacent rollers 3; the sequence of the supports 4 is arranged on a walking beam 5, which is adjustable up and down, so that the supports 4 between a

Position in which they protrude above the rollers 3, and a position in which they are sunk under the top of the rollers 3, can be moved back and forth.

Above the rollers 3 there is a support wall 6, which is supported on the one hand on the base 2 and on the other hand is supported by struts 7 and 8, which are based on the base frame 1, in a position inclined to the rear by approximately 6 ° with respect to the vertical. The support wall 6 is designed as an air cushion wall, i.e. it consists of a plate 9, in which a number of holes is distributed, which is supplied by a blower 10 via a line 11 compressed air. The front of the support wall 6 forms a first positioning surface 28 for a glass plate 40 and 42.

On the frame of the support wall 6 near the four corners of the support wall four at right angles to the support wall 6 extending rods 12 are arranged, which are perpendicular to the support wall 6 by a pressure-actuated cylinder 13 back and forth. Instead of the cylinder 13, a spindle could also be used the. The rods 12 carry at their front end a holder 14 to which a frame is fastened with a wall 15 which runs parallel to the support wall 6 and whose distance from the support wall 6 can be changed by actuating the pressure medium cylinders 13. The wall 15 is also designed as an air cushion wall and is therefore supplied with compressed air by the fan 10 through a further line 17. Like the support wall 6, it has a number of bores 35 distributed over its surface through which the blower air can escape or be sucked in. Its front side forms a second positioning surface for a glass plate 40. A further walking beam 18 with a number of supports 19 is arranged below the wall 15.

At the outlet-side end of the wall 15 with respect to the conveying direction there is a strip-shaped suction device 20, which extends from the lower edge to the upper edge of the wall 15 and which consists of a series of suction devices 21 arranged one above the other, which is connected via pipes 22 and 23 a suction unit, not shown, are connected and can be activated individually or in groups.

In the conveying direction 25 to the suction device 20, a cover element 26 is provided, which can be moved into the conveying path of an insulating glass pane and out of the conveying path.

As FIGS. 3 and 4 show, the suction device 20 comprises a sheet 50, in particular a 4 to 5 mm thick steel Sheet metal, which adjoins the outlet-side edge of the wall 15 provided with bores, which holds the glass plate 40 to be bent by suction. The sheet 50 extends from the lower corner to the upper corner of the wall 15, which is rigidly connected at its outlet-side edge to a metal plate 51, the front of which is set back relative to the front of the wall 14. The sheet 50 is firmly connected to the front of the metal plate 51 and protrudes beyond the metal plate 51 in the conveying direction 25; in this way, the sheet 50 is attached to the outlet-side edge of the wall 14 by one-sided clamping. As a result of the one-sided clamping, the sheet 50 can be deflected transversely to its surface by elastic bending. In order to accomplish this, a plate 53 is articulated on the outlet-side edge of the sheet 50 by means of a hinge 52, which is connected on the back to another plate 56 by struts 54 and 55, which run at right angles to the surface of the plate 53, so that the plates 53 and 56 form with the struts 54 and 55 a frame which is movable back and forth parallel to itself and to the front surface of the wall 15. The parallel guidance of the frame is ensured by a four-bar linkage, which is established by the clamping point of the sheet 50 on the metal plate 51, by the hinge 52 and by two joints 57 and 58 arranged at a suitable distance behind the plate 56 guaranteed, of which the joint 57 is firmly connected to the plate 56 and the joint 58 is firmly connected to the base frame of the wall 15, the two joints 57 and 58 being connected to one another by a link 60.

The mechanism for displacing the frame 53 to 56 comprises two inflatable tubes 61 and 62. The tube 61 is arranged between the plate 53 and the front of a column 63 running between the plates 53 and 56, which belongs to the base frame 59 and thus is fixed to the frame. The hose 62 is arranged between the plate 56 and the rear of the column 63.

If the rear tube 62 is inflated and the front tube 61 is vented (FIG. 3), the plate 53 is pulled back until it abuts the base frame 59 with an adjustable stop 64. With the plate 53, the edge of the sheet 50 on the outlet side moves back, which is thereby bent (FIG. 3). If both hoses 61 and 62 are vented, the sheet metal 50 returns to its starting position by elastic resilience, in which it lies with the coated front side in alignment with the positioning surface 29. If the front tube 61 is additionally inflated, the sheet 50 is stabilized in its position, whereby adjustable stops 65 provided on the rear plate 56, which abut the base frame 59, ensure that the suction device 20 does not extend beyond the positioning surface 29 with its front side is advanced. The front of the sheet 50 is provided with a layer 66 made of an elastomeric material, in particular rubber (see FIG. 5), with strip-shaped, compressible seals, for example made of foam rubber, into which the individual suction cups 21 are subdivided and delimited Layer 66 are embedded. These strip-shaped seals 67 give each suction cup a rectangular outline shape, in the middle of which there is a suction opening 68 (FIG. 2). The strip-shaped seals 67 protrude from the front of the layer 66 and are compressed when a glass plate 40 is sucked in.

When the plate 50 is bent, a glass plate 40 sucked thereon is also bent, as a result of which a gap-shaped opening 43 is located in an insulating glass pane 44, which is located between the air cushion wall 6 and the wall 15, and lies on the outlet-side edge of the insulating glass pane 44 (see Figures 3 and 5). Through this gap-shaped opening 43, a gas other than air, in particular a heavy gas, is to be blown into the interior of the insulating glass pane and the air is to be displaced from the interior. As a device for supplying the gas, a nozzle 31 is provided, which is brought into contact in the vicinity of the lower corner of the insulating glass pane 44 on its outlet-side edge. The nozzle 31 is located on an elongated angle rail 32, which is used to cover the entire outlet-side edge of the insulating glass pane 44 and is arranged regularly above the nozzle 31 Spacing contains a number of suction nozzles 33 (see Figures 1 and 8).

The front of the angle rail 32 is covered with a seal 34, which is brought into contact on the one hand on the outlet-side edge of the sheet 50 and on the other hand on the outlet-side edge of the air cushion wall 6.

At the level of the roller conveyor 3, a short cover strip 27 is pivotally provided on the angle rail 32, which carries on its upper side a strip-shaped seal 36 which is intended to rest against the lower edge of the insulating glass pane 44 (see FIGS. 2 and 7). This is intended to seal the wedge-shaped gap that forms at the lower edge when the glass plate 40 is bent. So that the filled gas does not flow along the spacer 41 through the edge joint 45 of the insulating glass pane at this point, a brush 38 is also provided at the end of the cover strip 27, the bristles of which plunge into the edge joint when the cover strip 27 contacts the lower edge of the insulating glass pane 44 is created. A pressure medium cylinder 39 is provided for pivoting the cover strip 27.

In order to be able to convey the insulating glass pane out of the device in the conveying direction 25, the cover element 26 must be able to be moved out of the conveying path. For this purpose, pressure medium cylinders 46 are provided which act on the angle rail 32 in order to move it back and forth (see FIGS. 3 and 4), whereby links 47 and 48, which are articulated on the pressure medium cylinder 46 or on the angle rail 32, ensure that the angle rail is synchronized during the forward and backward movement. The pressure medium cylinders 46 are in turn displaceable in the conveying direction and counter to the conveying direction 25 by one or two pressure medium cylinders 49 which are attached to the base frame 59.

As FIG. 6 shows, the nozzle 31 for supplying the gas is provided with a flat, elongated mouth through which a correspondingly flat jet can be directed into the interior of the pane. Figure 6 shows the nozzle in the system on a very small insulating glass pane. The height of the nozzle opening should be less than the height of the smallest insulating glass pane to be processed.

The device works as follows:

With the walking beams 5 and 18 lowered, a glass plate 40 standing on the rollers 3 and leaning against the supporting wall 6 is transported into the device. The position, length and height of the glass plate 40 are detected by sensors in a manner known per se.

The glass plate 40 is conveyed to the outlet-side edge of the support wall 6 and stopped flush with the edge thereof. - 20 -

Now the walking beam 3 is moved upwards, thereby lifting the glass plate 40 from the rollers 3. Now the wall 15 of the glass plate 40 is approximated. The angle rail 32, which is attached to the end of the piston rod 46a of the pressure medium cylinder 46 and has previously been advanced, is taken along until it meets a fixed stop (not shown) attached to the base 1. With further forward movement of the wall 15, the piston rod 46a is pushed into the pressure medium cylinder 46 until the wall 15 meets the glass plate 40. In this situation, which is a measure of the

The thickness of the glass plate 40 is the piston rod 46a locked in the pressure medium cylinder 46. Now the glass plate 40 is sucked in by sucking air through the holes 35 in the wall 15 and is moved back together with the wall 15, on which it hangs and is supported at the lower edge by the supports 19 which have meanwhile been raised. Simultaneously with the suction through the bores 35, but now at the latest, e.g. controlled by a sensor, which determines the height of the glass plate 40, activates those suction devices 21 which are completely covered by the glass plate 40: they additionally suck the glass plate 40. If the suction cups 21 have sucked onto the outer surface of the glass plate 40, the sheet 50 on which they are formed is bent away from the support wall 6 and causes the glass plate 40 to bend in the same way.

In the meantime, the supports 4 are lowered and on the rollers 3 a further glass plate 42 of the same size but covered with a spacer 41 is conveyed, positioned congruently with the glass plate 40 and through which Support 4 lifted off the rollers 3. The spacer 41 is coated on both sides with an adhesive.

Now the wall 15 is brought closer to the wall 6 until the glass plate 40 (in the language of the claims it is the "second" glass plate) comes to rest on the spacer 41. As a result, the space between the two glass plates 40 and 42 is closed except for a gap-shaped opening 43 along the outlet-side edge of the glass plate 40. By actuating the pressure medium cylinder 49, the cover element 26 now becomes contact with the insulation on the outlet-side edge brought glass pane (Figure 3) and then brought the cover strip 27 to engage the lower edge of the insulating glass pane 44 by actuating the pressure medium cylinder 39. The locking of the piston rod 46a ensures that the one edge bead of the seal 34 always hits the edge of the sheet 50 in the same position, regardless of the thickness of the glass plate 40.

Then the gas is introduced through the nozzle 31 into the insulating glass pane 44, which displaces the air therein upwards. Controlled by a sensor, which responds to the height of the insulating glass pane, the first suction nozzle 33, which lies above the insulating glass pane, is activated; it sucks off at least a part of the displaced air or the displaced air-gas mixture and directs it to a sensor, not shown, which determines the residual oxygen content in the extracted air-gas mixture. If the residual oxygen content has dropped below a specified value, the gas filling The process is ended and the insulating glass pane is closed by depressurizing the suction device 20 (then the glass plate 40 springs against the spacer 41 and closes the insulating glass pane very quickly) or by depressurizing the rear tube 62 (then the glass plate 40 springs somewhat more gently) against paragraph holder 41). The insulating glass pane 44 can then be pressed in the device, as a result of which the adhesive connection between the spacer 41 and the two glass plates 40 and 42 becomes gas-tight and the insulating glass pane assumes its desired thickness. For this purpose, the wall 15 and with it the suction device attached to it are pulled through the pressure medium cylinders 13 against the supporting wall 6. So that the flexible suction device 20 cannot avoid the pressing pressure, the hose 61 is simultaneously inflated to support the suction device 20 from the rear.

The cover element 26 is no longer required in this phase; it is moved out of the conveying path by swiveling the cover strip 27 down and by a combined movement in the conveying direction and transversely to the conveying direction, as shown in FIG. 4.

After the pressing, the wall 15 is removed from the supporting wall 6 again, the supports 4 and 19 are lowered and the insulating glass pane 44 is conveyed standing on the rollers 3 and leaning against the air cushion wall 6.

Industrial applicability:

The method according to the invention and the devices according to the invention are intended and suitable for the production of insulating glass panes.

Claims

Claims:

1. A process for assembling insulating glass panes, the interior of which is between pairs of glass plates (40, 42) which are kept at a distance from one another along their edges by a frame-shaped spacer (41) and are glued to one another and during assembly with their outer surface Positioning surfaces (28, 29) abut with a gas other than air, through

- elastic bending of at least one of the glass plates (40) along an edge of the glass plate (40),

- Attach the spacer (41) to one of the glass plates

(hereinafter referred to as the "first" glass plate 42) before, during or after bending one of the glass plates (40),

- Attach the spacer (41) to the other glass plate

(hereinafter referred to as the "second" glass plate 40), the bending being maintained so that access to the interior between the glass plates (40, 42) remains open,

- Introducing the gas into the interior through the access thus created, and

- Move the access by lifting the elastic bend characterized in that the glass plate (40) is bent together with the positioning surface (29) touching it in such a way that its outer surface is concave there.

2. Method for assembling insulating glass panes, the interior of which is between pairs of glass plates (40, 42), which are kept at a distance from one another along their edges by a frame-shaped spacer (41) and are glued to one another and during assembly with their outer surface Positioning surfaces (28, 29) abut with a gas other than air, through

- Attaching the spacer (41) to the one glass plate

(hereinafter referred to as the "first" glass plate 42) and then on the other glass plate (hereinafter referred to as the "second" glass plate 40),

- creating access to the interior between the glass plate (40, 42) by elastic bending of at least one of the glass plates (40) along an edge of the glass plate (40),

- Introducing the gas into the interior through the access thus created, and

- closing the access by lifting the elastic bend, characterized in that the glass plate (40) is bent together with the positioning surface (29) touching it in such a way that its outer surface is concave there.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the glass plate (40) to be bent is sucked through the positioning surface (29) through to the positioning surface (29).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that only one of the two glass plates (40, 42) is bent.

5. The method according to claim 1 and 4, characterized in that only the second glass plate (40) is bent.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the second glass plate (40) is bent before it with the

Spacer (41) is connected.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the access to the interior between the two glass plates (40, 42) is at least partially sealed at the edges of the glass plates (40, 42) during the introduction of the gas.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the respective glass plate (40) in a strip-shaped Te area of their outer surface is sucked, which extends on the edge portion of the glass plate (40) iw from one to the other corner of the glass plate (40).

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gas is introduced into the interior between the two glass plates (40, 42), while the are arranged upright or inclined and that the Ga is introduced from below and the air displaced upwards.

10. Device for assembling insulating glass panes, the interior of which is filled with a gas different from air between pairs of glass plates (40, 42) which are kept at a distance from one another along their edges by a frame-shaped spacer (41) "'and are glued to one another is

with a support device (6) for supporting and positioning the glass plates (40, 42) and

with a support (15) which is parallel to the support device (6) and variable in distance, for holding and positioning one of the glass plates (40) at a distance from the other glass plate (42), either the support device (6) or the holder (15) or both intended for contact with the outside of a glass plate (40) Define the positioning surface (29) in which an elongated suction device (20) directed towards the glass plate (40) is arranged with its front side,

and with a device (31) for supplying the gas,

characterized in that the suction device (20) is arranged in a region of the positioning surface (29), which is attached to the holder (15) or support device (6) in an elastically deflectable manner and in that a traction and / or Push device (52 to 56) attacks to bend the area.

11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that the elastic deflectable region is an edge region of the holder (15) or the support device (6).

12. The device according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the holder (15) is a wall with holding means (35) for holding the one glass plate (40).

13. Device according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that for working with upright glass plates (40, 42), the support device (6) extends above a horizontal conveyor (3) and for supporting the on the conveyor (3) standing glass plates (40, 42) is slightly inclined backwards, and that the device (31) for supplying the gas is arranged at the level of the conveyor (3) or above the conveyor (3) at a variable distance from the conveyor (3).

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the holding means of the wall (15) are suction devices (35).

15. The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that in the elongated suction device (20) a row v a plurality of suction cups (21) is arranged.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 and 15, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the row of suction cups (21) extends at right angles to the conveying direction (25).

17. The apparatus of claim 15 or 16, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the suction cups (21) are arranged directly adjacent to each other.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, 16 or 17, characterized in that the suction cups (21) can be activated individually or in groups.

19. Device according to one of claims 10 to 18, characterized in that the support device (6) is an air cushion wall, through the openings of which the air can optionally be blown or sucked in.

20. Device according to one of claims 10 to 19, characterized in that the device (31) for

Feeding the gas has an elongated mouth (37) which is intended to be placed on the edge of the glass plates (40, 42) or on the edge of a glass plate (40) and on the spacer (41).

21. Device according to one of claims 10 to 20, characterized in that a suction device (33) is provided, which for placing on the edge of the glass plates (40, 42) or on the edge of a glass plate (40) and on the spacer (41) is determined.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 and 21, characterized in that to prevent the outflow of

Gas from the interior between the glass plates (40, 42) is provided a covering element (26) which covers the full length of the access formed along the edge along which the glass plate (40) is bent, and that the entry Direction (31) for supplying the gas and the suction device (33) are both integrated in this cover element (26).

23. The device according to claim 22, characterized in that a number of suction openings (33) which can be activated individually or in groups is provided in the cover element (26).

24. The device according to claim 22 or 23, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that at one end of the cover element (26) a short cover strip (27) is pivoted, which in its effective position is perpendicular to the cover element (26).

25. Device according to one of claims 10 to 24, characterized in that the suction device (20) on one side at the outlet-side end of the holder (15) comprises clamped sheet metal (50) provided with sucking openings (68) which bears a layer (66) made of an elastomeric material on its front side and on the rear side of which a gripping and / or pressure device (52 to 56) engages close to its outlet-side edge.

26. The device according to claim 25, characterized in that the pushing and / or pressing device (52 to 56) articulates on the sheet metal (50).

27. The apparatus of claim 25 or 26, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that its bending behavior is adapted to that of the glass plate (42).

28. The device according to claim 27, characterized in that the sheet is a 4 to 5 mm thick steel sheet.