SPACER OUTLET DISTANCE CONTROL DURING VIG UNIT MANUFACTURING BY MEANS OF A DISTANCE CONTROLLER

The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a vacuum insulating glass unit (VIG). The method comprises providing a first glass sheet (3) comprising a major surface (3a), and dispensing a plurality of spacers (2) on the major surface (3a) by means of one or more spacer dispensing systems (200). The spacer dispensing system (200) comprises a spacer storage (11) comprising a plurality of spacers (2),
a dispenser (10) comprising a spacer outlet (16) for dispensing spacers (2) collected from the spacer storage (11), and a distance adjustment motor (30) configured to move the spacer outlet (16) towards and/or away from the glass sheet surface (3a). The dispensing of a plurality of spacers (2) comprises providing a spacer placement sequence to place a plurality of spacers at the major glass sheet surface (3a) by means of the dispenser (10), wherein the spacer placement sequence comprises providing a relative first movement (MOV1) between the glass sheet surface (3a) and the spacer outlet (16) in a direction along the glass sheet surface by means of a displacement motor (80), and distributing a plurality of spacers (2) from the spacer storage (11) with a mutual spacer distance (DIS4) on the glass sheet surface (3a) by means of the dispenser (10) through the spacer outlet (16). A distance controller (31) controls the distance adjustment motor (30) to move the spacer outlet (16) towards and/or away from the glass sheet surface (3a) during the spacer placement sequence based on output (32a) from a distance sensor (32).