초록 ▼

An optical transparency assembly suitable for use in applications where substantial pressure, temperature and humidity differentials between the air spaces on its opposite sides must be withstood, with one of its external surfaces maintaining a precise contour. One embodiment of the transparency ass

An optical transparency assembly suitable for use in applications where substantial pressure, temperature and humidity differentials between the air spaces on its opposite sides must be withstood, with one of its external surfaces maintaining a precise contour. One embodiment of the transparency assembly meets these requirements by including two separate transparent panels joined together at their peripheries with a narrow air space defined between them, with a unit being provided for conditioning the air in this narrow space such that it has a pressure, temperature and humidity substantially the same as that in the space adjacent the surface whose contour is to be maintained. Pressure, temperature and humidity gradients across one panel of the transparency assembly are minimized and that panel\s contour is thereby precisely maintained. In another embodiment, the air conditioning unit is replaced by a simple bladder located in the adjacent space and having an interior that communicates with the narrow space between the two panels. In this second embodiment, the panel whose contour is to be maintained is formed of a material having a high thermal conductivity and having low expansion due to moisture absorption.

대표청구항 ▼

A transparency assembly adapted for use in separating a first air space from a second air space, wherein pressure, temperature and humidity differentials between the first and second air spaces are subject to substantial variations, the transparency assembly comprising: a first transparent panel hav

A transparency assembly adapted for use in separating a first air space from a second air space, wherein pressure, temperature and humidity differentials between the first and second air spaces are subject to substantial variations, the transparency assembly comprising: a first transparent panel having a prescribed contour when unstressed; a second transparent panel having a prescribed contour when unstressed; means for joining together the first and second transparent panels at their peripheries and for orienting the joined panels such that first panel faces a first air space and the second panel faces a second air space, wherein the contours of the first and second panels are selected such that a narrow space is defined between the panels, except at their peripheries; and means for conditioning the narrow space defined between the first and second transparent panels such that the space has a pressure, temperature, and humidity substantially the same that of the first air space, whereby the pressure, temperature and humidity gradients across the first panel are minimized and the first panel maintains its prescribed contour despite substantial variations in the pressure, temperature and humidity of the respective first and second air spaces.