VACUUM INSULATING UNIT

摘要

A vacuum insulating unit (10) has a pair of glass sheets (12,14) spaced from one another by a plurality of plastic supports (20). The supports (20) have one end secured to one of the sheets (12,14) and a low friction material on the other end. A flexible metal edge retainer is secured to sheets (12,14) to provide a sealed compartment between the sheets (12,14). Air in the compartment is removed to put the compartment under negative pressure. A getter is provided in the compartment to adsorb any gas therein during sealing or using the unit (10). One of the sheets (12,14) may have an environmental coating. Methods are disclosed for fabricating the unit (10) and the supports (20).