GB2428254A

GB2428254A - Vacuum packed insulation product

Info

Publication number: GB2428254A
Application number: GB0513975A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony Watson
Original assignee: Acoustic and Insulation Manufacturing Ltd
Current assignee: Acoustic and Insulation Manufacturing Ltd
Priority date: 2005-07-08
Filing date: 2005-07-08
Publication date: 2007-01-24
Also published as: GB0513975D0

Abstract

An insulation product comprises insulation material 1 vacuum packed and sealed within a vacuum film 5, preferably in two sheets. The film sheets may be different materials, it may comprise a damp-proof membrane. The film preferably comprises a vacuum bag, being sealed away from its periphery to form a flange 2 around its edge. The insulation material may be mineral wool, preferably crimped. In use, the product may be used to insulate a cavity wall, by inserting the packed product and subsequently piercing the film to allow the insulation material to expand. A method of making the product may use a commercial vacuum packaging machine. In use, the product may be attached to an inner surface of the cavity. Advantageously, the cavity can be filled after the mortar has gone off to prevent damage to a green wall. The product is also economical since it requires less storage and transportation space.

Description

Improvements in Insulation The present invention relates to an insulation

product and a method of insulating, for example for use within cavity walls of buildings.

A type of insulation known as mineral wool, for example glass or rock fibre, is commonly used to create both acoustic closers, which reduce sound transmission, and fire barriers, which prevent the spread of fire and smoke, through wall cavities in buildings. In addition to the acoustic and fire barrier properties of mineral wool, such insulation material is also used to provide thermal insulation.

Insulation such as mineral wool is usually produced in blocks or sheets of fibrous material and is commonly enclosed in a thin polythene or similar film to prevent fibre migration, to assist with the identification of the product by way of colour coding or text printing and, in some cases, to assist with the fixing of the mineral wool in its desired location in a structure such as a house or office block.

Acoustic closers and fire barriers are installed in the cavity provided between two walls or "skins" of a building to form a sandwich of wallmineral wool-wall. Such acoustic closers and fire barriers are installed as the building is being built with the result that substantial care has to be taken to ensure that, firstly, the barrier completely fills the cavity with no air gaps through which sound or fire may pass and, secondly, the inherent "springiness" or resilience of the mineral wool does not push the brickwork or blockwork out of position whilst the mortar is still "green" (i.e. is not yet hardened).

Newly laid mortar can take several hours to harden and, whilst it is still wet, it takes very little pressure to displace the brickwork or blockwork which would result in an uneven wall of reduced strength and of poor aesthetic quality.

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* I I I I I I I * . * S * I I *t * a a * ii. * I I S 2 * : * Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided in a first aspect an insulation product comprising insulation material vacuum packed and hermetically sealed within a vacuum film.

The present invention provides an insulation product that may be installed at a later stage in the construction process after the mortar has set so as to overcome the disadvantages described above. A secondary, important benefit of the above invention is that it substantially reduces the size of the insulation product and therefore reduces the costs associated with storage and transportation to site of the insulation product.

By "vacuum packed", it is meant that a substantial percentage by volume of the air has been removed from the product, say more than 50%, preferably more than 80%.

The vacuum may be activated by use of a vacuum packaging machine or by mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic compression, or any other suitable method.

Preferably, the insulation material is mineral wool or crimped mineral wool.

Further preferably, the vacuum film comprises a vacuum bag. A vacuum film is a film which is substantially impermeable to air.

Optionally, the vacuum film comprises a damp proof membrane.

In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of insulating a cavity wall including the steps of inserting a vacuum packed insulation product in a cavity in a wall and releasing the vacuum to cause the insulation product to expand to fill the cavity.

The method of the present invention enables the skins of the cavity wall to be built and the mortar is preferably allowed to dry before insertion of the insulation product, without such insertion causing distortion of the skins of the wall. Once the vacuum has been released, the springiness or resilience of the insulation ensures that the cavity is entirely filled with insulation product without any air gaps remaining.

I S III S Sit * I I S S I S $ * I I S I S S SI * . I S Iii S S S S 3 * * : . In a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing an insulation product comprising the steps of placing insulation material within a vacuum film, which film is open on at least one side, evacuating the space within the vacuum film to reduce the size of the insulation material and sealing the open side or sides of the vacuum film.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examples only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a insulation product according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a view from above of the insulation product of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a top view of another embodiment of the insulation product of the present invention; Figure 4 shows an embodiment of the insulation product of the present invention in situ in a cavity between two walls; Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of the insulation product of the present invention in situ in a cavity between two walls, one of the walls being shown only partially built for ease of reference; Figure 6 shows two types of mineral wool which may be used in the insulation product and method of the present invention; and Figure 7 shows a further embodiment of the insulation product of the present invention in perspective view.

Referring to Figure 1, the insulation product comprises insulation material 1, for example in the form of a pad, which is preferably formed from mineral wool, for *I. S 555 * * I I I S S I * S * I * I I II * I * I III I * S 4 5 I. * : . example glass or rock fibre insulation. The insulation material 1 is encapsulated in a vacuum bag 5. The size of the insulation material 1, when not compressed by the vacuum packing procedure, is chosen to be appropriate for the size of the acoustic closer or fire barrier or other such insulation product which is required in any particular application of the product.

The insulation material 1 is initially placed within the vacuum bag 5, which bag is sealed on three sides only. The vacuum bag 5 containing the insulation material 1 is then placed within a vacuum packaging machine (not shown) which evacuates the air from the vacuum bag 5 and then seals the vacuum bag along its open end. This process results in the insulation material 1 being compressed, packed and hermetically sealed into the vacuum bag 5 such that the thickness of the insulation material 1 is substantially reduced due to atmospheric pressure on the outside of the evacuated vacuum bag packaging.

The surface area of the vacuum bag is preferably substantially greater than the surface area of the compressed insulation material, such that a flap 2 is formed on either side of said material.

The vacuum bag 5 may be made from any suitable material, for example polythene, PVC, polyester, plastics film and the like.

The insulation product will remain at substantially reduced thickness until such time as the vacuum bag 5 is punctured. At this stage, air will enter the evacuated vacuum bag 5 and the insulation material 1 will recover to (or close to) its original thickness due to its inherent resilience.

Referring now to Figure 2, once the vacuum bag 5 has been evacuated and sealed, a seal is provided along each edge of the vacuum bag 5 to form a hermetically sealed unit.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as can be seen in Figure 3, the seal 10 may be located somewhat away from a periphery 7 of the vacuum bag 5. The portion of the vacuum bag 5 between the seal 10 and the periphery 7 of the vacuum bag a I lii I III a a a * a a * I * I I a I a a I. * a I * Ia. * I * sal * I.1 forms a flange 15. The flange 15 may subsequently be used for attaching the insulation product to a wall or such like without breaking the vacuum within the vacuum bag 5.

Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the invention which comprises a flange 15 for attaching the insulation product to the first skin 20 of a wall. The insulation product is attached to the first skin 20 by way of attachment means 30, which may be in the form of screws, nails, tacks or adhesive or the like.

Once the insulation product is attached to the first skin, within the cavity between two skins of a wall, the vacuum may be released by puncturing the vacuum bag 5 within the sealed portion of the vacuum bag 5.

As can be seen in Figure 4, once the vacuum has been released, the insulation material 1 in the insulation product forms a complete barrier between a first skin 20 and a second skin 22 of a wall of, for example, a house. The insulation product entirely fills the cavity between the first and second skin 20, 22 such that no air gaps are present. An absence of air gaps substantially improves the fire and sound resistance of the barrier product.

Figures 6 (a) and 6 (b) schematically show two types of mineral wool which may be used to form the insulation material 1 using the product of the present invention. Figure 6 (a) shows a standard mineral wool in which the fibres are laid down parallel with the surface of the mineral wool which provides resilience across the thickness of the mineral wool, as indicated by the arrow R in Figure 6 (a).

In an alternative embodiment, crimped mineral wool may be used which crimped mineral wool comprises fibres which are laid down so that they "curl" or "wave" to give resilience in two dimensions to the mineral wool, i.e. in the thickness and the length, as shown by the arrows R in Figure 6 (b). Crimping is also known as length and height compression of the fibres. * I a

I I I I a I I I * I I * I I I l* I I I * III I I I 6 1il 1 * : If crimped mineral wool is used in the insulation product of the present invention, when the strip of mineral wool insulation is vacuum packed into the vacuum bag 5 both the thickness and, to a lesser extent, length of the mineral wool is reduced. When the encapsulation is punctured, the mineral wool will, due to its resilience, increase back to, or near to, its original dimensions. The advantage of the increase in length is that the butt joint between adjacent lengths of acoustic closers or fire barriers will be much tighter than in a traditional insulation system, thereby providing a much better seal and better fire and sound resistance.

There is also the additional advantage that the insulation products may be packed into a smaller volume thereby reducing the cost of storage and distribution.

Referring now to Figure 7, a further embodiment of the invention comprises insulation material 1 which, rather than being sealed in a vacuum bag 5, is sealed between a plastics film 35 and a damp proof course 25, which damp proof course may be made from any suitable damp proof course material which is also suitable for use in a vacuum packaging machine. Such materials include polyethylene, polybutylene and the like.

Sealing of the insulation material 1 between the plastics film 35 and the damp proof course 25 occurs in the same way as described above in relation to the embodiment in which the insulation material 1 is sealed in a vacuum bag 5.

In use, the insulation product comprising a damp proof course is attached to a first skin of a cavity wall with the damp proof course 25 being attached by way of adhesive or the like to the wall. Adjacent insulation products are butted up to each other prior to the vacuum being released. Once the vacuum has been released, the insulation material 1 will return to its original dimensions and fill the gap between the two skins of the cavity walls. This embodiment of the invention is of particular use at the junction of an external cavity wall and a party cavity wall and use of the invention at such a junction minimises flanking sound and fire spread at this point.

As will be understood from the above description of the invention, the mineral wool acoustic closers or fire barriers making use of the present invention may be easily S * , . I I I * I I I I I II * I I *I I I I I. I * **I inserted into a wall cavity after the mortar has dried sufficiently, due to the fact that the thickness of the insulation product is substantially reduced. Once inserted into the correct position within the cavity, the vacuum bag or thin film packaging may be punctured to release the vacuum such that air enters the product and allows the mineral The vacuum packed insulation product of the present invention has the added advantage that the mineral wool or other type of insulation (which is inherently resilient) will, once the vacuum is released, fill the void completely by moulding to any variations in the void thickness (created by mortar "snots" etc.). Such complete filling of the cavity cannot occur to the same extent with traditional mineral wool closers due to the pushing effect of the insulation against the green mortar, which problem does not occur with the present invention.

According to the method of insulating of the present invention, two skins of a wall with a cavity therebetween are built and the mortar is allowed to dry and harden. The insulation product is then inserted into the cavity such that the cavity is completely filled. The vacuum bag 5 of each insulation product inserted in the cavity is then punctured in order to release the vacuum such that air enters the vacuum bags and causes the insulation material 1 to return to its original size. In this way, the cavity is entirely packed with insulation product, without air gaps therebetween.

According to the method of manufacture of the present invention, insulation is inserted into a vacuum bag which is sealed on only three sides. The vacuum bag 5 is evacuated to form a vacuum and the fourth side of the vacuum bag is sealed. Alternatively, insulation material 1 is sandwiched between a damp proof course and film and then inserted into a vacuum packaging machine which evacuates the space between the film and the damp proof course and seals the product on all four sides. Both methods result in an insulation product which is vacuum packed into a sealed unit.

There are many other insulation products to which the present invention could apply as set out below: t, . I,, * I 4 I I I I 4 I I II I $ I ii* I I 8. I Timber frame cavity barriers (TCBs). These are similar to cavity stop socks but include a flange or flanges on the thin film wrapping (similar to the embodiment described above in relation to Figure 5) which allows attachment to the wall structure by stapling or the like or to act as a drip detail on the lower side of a barrier when fixed horizontally in a cavity.

2. Party wall closers. These consist of mineral wool insulation attached to a damp proof course as described above (generally, but not exclusively, polyethylene damp proof courses are used). Party wall closers are used for the purposes of closing cavities in external cavity walls of buildings to prevent the passage of fire and/or to reduce the passage of sound through the wall cavities. In this case, there are two alternative methods of vacuum packing the product, (a) by enclosing both the damp proof course and the mineral wool insulation in a thin film membrane and vacuum packing all layers together, or (b) by using a twin film vacuum packing machine in which case the damp proof course forms one of the film layers and a second thinner film is used to cover the mineral wool.

The two layers are then heat fused together once the space therebetween has been evacuated.

3. Profile trough infils. These consist of strips of mineral wool insulation which are inserted into the troughs of perforated metal cladding/roof decking to provide acoustic absorption (from the area contained by the cladding/decking). There is frequently a requirement to encapsulate the strips of mineral wool in a thin film to prevent fibre migration.

4. Acoustic ceiling pads. These consist of mineral wool insulation encapsulated in a thin film to prevent fibre migration. They are installed immediately above suspended ceiling systems and are typically 600 x 600 mm or 600 x 1200 mm in size. The thickness of the insulation typically lies within the range of 25 to 200mm. Other sizes are also manufactured to suit perforated tray systems or the like.

* . *** S * : 81 * * * * ** * * * * ** : : . : * * * S S * * * * S 5. Cold water tank jackets. These consist of mineral wool encapsulated in thin film to prevent fibre migration. They are installed to the sides and top of cold water storage tanks generally in domestic house attics.

6. Hot water tank jackets. These consist of mineral wool encapsulated in a thin film such as PVC. They are installed around domestic hot water storage tanks to prevent heat loss.

Typically, insulation of the present invention is typically provided in sheets of 1200 (length) x 380 (width) x 130 (thickness) mm. Alternative widths of 150 mm, 120 mm and 90 mm and corresponding thicknesses of 130 mm, 100 mm or 75 mm are also typical size options, although other sizes would also be possible for these and different applications.

Typically, the mineral wool is either stone wool, glass fibre or ceramic fibre, typically having a density in the range of 5 to 200 kg/rn3, more preferably in the range of 10 to kg/rn3 in a non-vacuum packed state.

The present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications can be made within the spirit of the invention, which extends to equivalents of the features described. The invention also consists in any individual features described or implicit herein or shown or implicit in the drawings or any combination of any such features or any generalisation of any such features or combination.

Claims

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: * * * * * * I I I III I * * S * I I I I I * I * I * S S CLAIMS: 1. An insulation product comprising insulation material vacuum packed and hermetically sealed within a vacuum film.
2. An insulation product as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the vacuum film is formed from two sheets of film.
3. An insulation product as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the two sheets of film are of different materials.
4. An insulation product as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the vacuum film comprises a vacuum bag.
5. An insulation product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a flange is provided around the periphery of the vacuum film.
6. An insulation product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the insulation material is mineral wool or crimped mineral wool.
7. An insulation product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the vacuum film comprises a damp proof membrane.
8. An insulation product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.
9. A method of insulating a cavity wall including the steps of: inserting the vacuum packed insulation product of any of claims 1 to 8 in a cavity in a wall; and - releasing the vacuum to cause the insulation product to expand to fill the cavity.

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10. A method as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the method further comprises attaching the insulation product of any of Claims 1 to 8 to a skin of the cavity wall prior to releasing the vacuum.
11. A method as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10, wherein the step of releasing the vacuum is caused by puncturing the vacuum film of the insulation product.
12. A method of insulating a cavity wall substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.
13. A method of manufacturing an insulation product comprising the steps of: - placing insulation material within a vacuum film, which film is open on at least one side; - evacuating the space within the vacuum film to reduce the size of the insulation material; and - sealing the open side or sides of the vacuum film.
14. A method of manufacturing an insulation product as claimed in Claim 13, wherein a commercial vacuum packaging machine is used.
15. A method of manufacturing an insulation product as claimed in Claim 13 or Claim 14, wherein the sealing of the vacuum film takes place away from the periphery of the vacuum film such that a flange is formed around the periphery of the vacuum film.
16. A method of manufacturing an insulation product as claimed in any of Claims 13 to 15, wherein the vacuum film comprises a damp proof membrane.
17. A method of manufacturing an insulation product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.