The present invention refers to a spacer element, which creates distance and takes up loads between sheet units, preferable glass sheets in a package device, said spacer element is manufactured as an extruded profile, which has bow shaped formations across it ^' s longitudinal direction without elongating, surrounding cavities, which can collect moisture and dirt. The bow shaped formations save material, are easy to clean and constitute a resilient framework, which takes up loads for this unloading between said glass sheets.

Existing structures on the market of this type are today spacer elements, which create distance between glass sheets, so that you shall have the possibility to reach and unload several glass sheets at the same time in form of glass packages. The spacer elements take also up loads, pressures, movements between the glass sheets or, when they are packed in or on a package device, preferably in the form of a rack. These spacer elements are today manufactured of cardboard, which mainly cannot withstand influence of liquid, light, dirt, and foreign particles, chemicals and so on especially well, whereby they are used as a consumption material, and the most are thrown away after use. During the unloading of the glass sheets from the racks, these are taken away during the time and land on the working floor of a glass consumer, for example an insulating manufacturer or the like. This creates disorder, why these during the time are thrown away. This means an expensive and time-wasting handling and a big material cost. Almost no spacer elements are sent back to the manufacturer of glass sheets, why new spacer elements must be bought continuously, which is expensive and time required. Previously known spacer elements are described in the Swedish patent specification SE 526 705, C2. These spacer elements have a bigger number of surrounding cavities in an extruded plastic profile, which requires much plastic material and a big space during storage. The cavities collect moisture and dirt, which is difficult to take away and thereafter clean, which is expensive and time consuming. The object of the present invention is to solve the problem mentioned above by extruding said spacer elements having a bow- formation without elongating surrounding cavities, so that they can be manufactures quicker and less expensive having smaller material waste and do not collect much moisture and dirt and is easy to clean, whereupon they are easy to be used several times. The bow-formations make that the spacer element can be stored in a lying space into each elongated sides having a minimal amount of air in-between, which requires less storage space.

Thanks to the present invention a spacer element has now been provided, which eliminates the drawbacks mentioned above and which is easy to handle, can withstand mechanical influences and which can be reused several times. The spacer element has to it ^' s purpose to create a distance and take up loads, pressures, movements between said glass sheets and glass packages, which contain several glass sheets, when they are packed on a package device, preferably in the form of a rack. According to the invention the spacer element is manufactured as an elongated extruded profile, which has one or several bow-formations viewed in a cross section across the longitudinal direction of the spacer element, where at least one or several bow-formations are put together one after the other like waves, to form a spacer element, constituting an elongated portion distanced from said glass sheet, which follows by one of the other side of the spacer element in that place present portion intended to contact against a glass sheet on the other side of the spacer element, which creates an elongated adjacent portion in forming of said spacer element. The lowest and highest portion of the waves forms the distance between said glass sheets. Several bow-formations like several waves creates a broader spacer element. A number of spacer elements take together up loads in the form of pressures, movements and so on between said glass sheets or between the glass packages. The spacer element is manufactured of plastic, rubber, metal or combinations of these materials and materials which stand influence of preferably liquid, light and dirt and foreign particles and chemicals and so on, which also stand more mechanical influence. The extruded profile is cut in lengths, which are meant to correspond to the height of the glass sheet. The spacer profile has a number of elongated portions distanced from the glass sheet and a number of elongated adjacent portions constituting said bow- formations, which together have a corrugated profile constituting the spacer element in itself.

The invention is described closer below by aid of some preferable embodiment examples, in which

Fig. 1 illustrates a view in perspective of a spacer element viewed oblique from the side,

Fig. 2 illustrates a package device having glass packs standing on a rack having spacer elements lying there between viewed in a side view from a short side,

Fig. 3 illustrates a vertical cross-section of part views a) - h) of different formations of a bow formation, and

Fig. 4 illustrates a vertical cross-section of a portion of the upper end of the spacer element with belonging support.

As can be seen from fig. 1 and 2 here is illustrated a spacer element 4, placed standing between glass sheets 3 or glass packages 5 containing several glass sheets 3 and which create a distance 18 between the same, when they are packed with their lower ends standing on a package device 1 in the form of a rack 8. The spacer element 4, viewed across its longitudinal direction 13, creates a distance between the highest and lowest portions of said bow formations 12, which constitutes said distance 18. A number of bow formations 12 create a number of longitudinal, from a glass sheet 3 distanced portions 2, viewed across its longitudinal direction 13, which thereafter follows of a bow formation 12, which partly lay against a glass sheet 3 on the opposite side of the spacer element 18 constituting an elongated adjacent portion 7 . The longitudinal adjacent portion 7 has soft portions 16 on the outside 24 of the spacer element 4, which create supporting surfaces 14 against said glass sheets 3. The material thickness 22 of a profile 10 of a spacer element 4 is across the longitudinal direction 13 about 0,3 mm - 4 mm besides that at the supporting surface 14, where the same is 10 - 100 % thicker in order to take up existing tensile stresses at the inside 19 of the profile 10, when the load in the profile 10 arises especially behind the soft portions 16.

As can be seen from fig. 3 here is illustrated the longitudinal adjacent portion 7 and the elongated portion 2 distanced from the glass sheet 3 and viewed across the longitudinal direction 13 of the profile 10. These exist in different formations. According to part view a, an U-formation, part view b, a C-formation, part view c, a V-formation, part view d, a portion of a three edges formation, part view e, a portion of a circle formation, part view f, a portion of an ellipse and part view g, a portion of a rectangular formation.

As can be seen from fig. 4 it is illustrated that the spacer element 4 has an upper end 9, which has a support 11, which in it's one end 6 is fixed to the upper end 9 of the spacer element 4 in an anchoring element 17. The support 11 lies against the upper portion 20 of the glass ' package 5, from which the spacer element 4 is hanging downwards, creating said distance 18. The support 11 has a resilient portion 21 and the anchoring element 17 has two resilient portions 21, which are exposed t.o a load directed downwards, when a glass sheet ^' 3 or a glass package 5 is loaded on said rack 8 against already a loaded glass sheet 3 or glass package 5 on said rack 8 having standing, fixed profiles 10, which in this case are drawn downwards a bit. The resilient portions 21 are in this case resilient at least this bit, which means that the anchoring element 17 or the support 11 are intact without being destroyed.