WO1992016785A1

WO1992016785A1 - Heat insulating element and method for heat insulation

Info

Publication number: WO1992016785A1
Application number: PCT/SE1992/000144
Authority: WO
Inventors: Reidar Berglund
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-03-22
Filing date: 1992-03-09
Publication date: 1992-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 1993-09-22
Also published as: SE9100866L; AU1360592A; SE9100866D0; SE468327B

Abstract

A heat insulating element comprises a loose and blowable insulating material (7) and a bag-like envelope (2) of a formable material adapted to receive and be filled with the heat insulating material. The periphery of the envelope is provided with openings (3).

Description

Heat insulating element and method for heat insulation

FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

The present invention relates to a heat insulating element comprising a heat insulating material as well as a method for heat insulation by filling a delimited space of a fixed volume with heat insulating material, said heat insulating material being loose and blowable.

Heat insulating elements for all possible imaginable appli¬ cations are included here, such as application in spaces in floor constructions, wall constructions and so on.

Heat insulating elements hitherto known for such purposes are constituted by pre-manufactured sheets or sheetings of heat insulating material, which is held together by a suitable binder. These heat insulating elements have a predetermined volume and are comparatively difficult to handle, since they in some applications have to have considerable dimensions. This may be avoided by cutting them into smaller pieces, but the risk of occurrence of thermal bridges in the junctions between different elements will then increase. Such heat insulating elements do not manage to completely fill said spaces either, and they may not adapt themselves to possibly irregularities of these spaces.

As an alternative to the application of such heat insulating elements for the heat insulating purpose mentioned above application of insulating material in loose state into said space has therefor been carried out. This has led to the advantage that the heat insulating material could easily be supplied to the space in question by throwing or blowing it through hoses or tubes therein, and the heat insulating mate¬ rial could at the same time completely fill out the space in question.

Different types of blowable material may be used, such as for example loose mineral wool, glass wool and fibrous cellulose material, the latters comprising all types of cellulose masses or pulps, such as chemical pulp, ground pulp and other mechani¬ cal pulp, thermal mechanical pulp etc and are preferred, since they do not detrimentally influence the health of human beings in the exposed state and they also efficiently avoid occurrence of mould problems. It is then preferred that the pulp is fluffy, i.e. the fibres of the pulp are more or less free.

However, a disadvantage of the use of loose heat insulating material resides in the bad volume stability thereof, which causes the material to sink together over the time, which is particularly serious in substantially vertical spaces, such as in wall constructions, since an upper part of the space may be completely empty of insulating material and lead to a strongly concentrated flow of heat outwardly at that place. In some cases there is a possibility to later on blow additional insulating material thereinto, but this is often not practi¬ cally realizable, so that it in spite of all is rather chosen to arrange heat insulating elements in the form of sheet or sheetings already from the beginning, although these have the disadvantages discussed further above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to find a remedy to the disadvantages mentioned above of the previous heat insulating elements and obtain a new heat insulating element having all the advantages of heat insulation by means of insulating material in loose state while maintaining the preferences that a heat insulating element in the form of sheets or sheetings has with respect to volume stability and resistance to sinking together. The invention also aims at the provision of a method for heat insulation by filling the space with loose and blow¬ able heat insulating material, without having a bad volume stability and the tendency to sink together resulted in the prior art methods of this kind.

The first object is in accordance with the invention obtained by the provision of a heat insulating element with loose and blowable heat insulating material, that this element is pro¬ vided with a bag-like envelope of formable or shapable material arranged to receive and be filled with the heat insulating material, and that the periphery of the envelope is provided with openings.

The heat insulating element according to the invention may thanks to the formable envelope and filling of loose and blowable heat insulating material thereof be inserted into spaces of the kind mentioned above, such as in wall construc¬ tions, and be brought to completely fill out these spaces, since a suitable number of heat insulating elements may be inserted into these spaces, so that they fill out the spaces just as efficiently as insulating material being thrown or blown absolutely loose into the space. Owing to the fact that the periphery of the envelope is provided with openings the loose and blowable material located in the envelope of a heat insulating element may also form mechanical connections with the material of a heat insulating element bearing against this heat insulating element, and such mechanical connections will prevent sinking of the material located in each heat insulating element downwardly in the respective envelope and mutual displacement of the heat insulating elements from occurring. Such mechanical connections will also be created by the heat insulating elements bearing against the delimitation of the space, such as wall boards and the like, also with these delimitation members, so that a displacement with respect thereto will be counteracted. By arranging several heat insu¬ lating elements according to the invention beside each other so as to fill out a space, so that they fill out this, a heat insulation filling out the space just as well as heat insula¬ ting material thrown loose thereinto is accordingly obtained, but it maintains substantially its shape over the time, since said mechanical connections are created between adjacent heat insulating elements and between the heat insulating elements and the delimiting members of the space, so that the heat insulating elements together seem to be a continuous unit with a fixed shape filling the space.

When the size of the bag-like envelope is suitably chosen it would of course be possible to use only one single heat insu¬ lating element for filling a space or room, but this would probably only be suitable in very small spaces.

The second object declared above is according to the invention obtained in a method of the kind mentioned in the introduction by filling bag-like envelopes of a formable material and having openings along their periphery with the heat insulating mate¬ rial, and that these envelopes are placed in said space so that they tightly bear against each other.

The advantages of such a method have already been mentioned in the description of the heat insulating element according to the invention. However, it may be added that the filling of the bag-like envelopes either may take place outside the space in question and the heat insulating elements may then be inserted thereinto and pressed to abutment against each other or the envelopes may be placed unfilled in the space but connected to hoses or tubes and then be filled by blowing the material thereinto and at the same time filling the envelopes and the space. Further advantages and advantageous characteristics of the invention will appear from the following description and the dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a description of preferred embodiments of the invention cited as examples. In the drawings:

Fig 1 is a side-elevation of a heat insulating element accor¬ ding to the invention, which is just being filled with heat insulating material , some parts being broken away for the sake of clearness.

Fig 2 is a view corresponding to Fig 1 of a heat insulating element slightly modified with respect to the heat insulating element in Fig 1,

Fig 3 is a simplified perspective view of a section broken away of a wall construction, which illustrates a preferred embodi¬ ment of the heat insulation method according to the invention, and

Fig 4 is a schematic view from above of a section of a wall construction filled with the heat insulating element according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVEN¬ TION

It is schematically shown in Fig 1 how a heat insulating element 1 according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention is formed. The heat insulating element 1 has a bag-like envelope 2 of a net material, so that the envelope is provided with openings 3 all around. The envelope 2 is here of an elastic material and has in the unfilled condition preferably a sausage-like shape with a substantially constant cross section. When filling the heat insulating element with heat insulating material one end 4 of the envelope 2 is drawn over the end of a hose or a tube 5, which preferably has an annular rib or bead 6 for preventing the envelope 2 from sliding off the hose on blowing heat insulating material 7 into the envelope. A shaping funnel 8 is preferably arranged exter¬ nally to the envelope 2 before said blowing so as to determine the approximate cross section of the heat insulating element as finished. When this has taken place the heat insulating mate¬ rial is thrown or blown into the envelope 2 on expansion thereof to the shape shown in Fig 1, so that the heat insula¬ ting material will completely fill out the envelope 2. The envelope end 4 is then drawn over the annular rib 6 and removed from the hose 5, whereupon this envelope end is closed in a suitable manner. The heat insulating element is now ready to be inserted into any space for insulation purposes.

The blowable heat insulating material 7 is preferably fibrous and wool-like, and fibre parts or portions will project some¬ what out through the openings 3 of the envelope or at least participate in the formation of the outer surface of the heat insulating element at the level thereof. The heat insulating material may be any blowable and/or throwable material, such as for example loose mineral wool, glass wool, fibrous cellulose material, i.e. different types of cellulose pulps, such as chemical pulp, ground pulp or other mechanical pulp, thermal mechanical pulp etc, small loose foam-rubber pieces or balls and so on. The important thing is that the envelope 2 has openings, so that the heat insulating material is able to participate in the formation of the outer outline of the envelope. It is also necessary to use a material which is able to form a mechanical connection with another such material in an adjacent heat insulating element on location of several heat insulating elements bearing against each other. However, the mechanical connection may then even be constituted solely by considerable friction forces, which are created between the heat insulating material from openings belonging to different heat insulating elements.

A heat insulating element according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig 2, which differs from the one in Fig 1 by the provision of the bottom of the envelope with a preferably square rigid plate 9 so as to give the heat insulating element a shape for better filling out rectangular corners of a space to be filled with heat insula¬ ting elements.

It is shown in the Figures that the bag-like envelope 2 is made of a net-like material, which means that the openings will constitute the main part of the total circumferential surface of the envelope of the finished heat insulating element. However, it would be possible to manufacture the envelope of a material with a greater distance between the openings, but it will be preferred that the openings constitute at least 20% of the total circumferential surface of the envelope filled with heat insulating material. Even better results are obtained if the openings constitute at least 50% of said surface. The envelope has not at all to be of an elastic material, but it is important that the material is formable or shapable, so that a finished heat insulating element may be compressed and deformed for adaption to the shape of the space it shall be placed in. The envelope could for example be made of a perforated plastic bag. Another conceivable solution may be obtained by providing the envelope in the form of a perforated hose.

The finished heat insulating elements according to the inven¬ tion are placed beside each other in a space to be filled with heat insulating material, and they may by means of their formability be brought to fill substantially this whole space or room. Heat insulating material located outermost of a heat insulating element will create mechanical connections with heat insulating material located outermost of adjacent heat insula¬ ting elements and also with members delimiting the space, such as wall boards, should it bear thereagainst, thanks to the presence of the openings 3 in the envelope. These mechanical connections will counteract that the heat insulating material located in the heat insulating element sinks together as a consequence of the influence of the gravitation thereupon. Thus, all heat insulating elements located in a space will form one single continuous heat insulating unit with a seemingly fixed shape, which completely fills the space in question.

A preferred field of use of the heat insulating element accor¬ ding to the invention is insulation on caulking, i.e. filling the space created between door and window frames and the wall they are arranged in with insulating material. A use of mate¬ rial in loose condition is here almost out of the question, since it will be very troublesome to apply this and it has to take place after the application of the architrave around the doors and the windows. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain a well filling of the spaces in question with heat insulating elements in the form of sheetings, carpets or sheets. However, heat insulating elements according to the invention may be handled in an easy way and inserted into said space while completely filling it before said architrave is applied. The spaces here in question have usually small cross section dimensions and one single heat insulating element will probably be sufficient to fill the space in the transversal direction, and this heat insulating element will then create mechanical connections with the door or window frame, the architrave and the surrounding wall through the heat insulating material. Several such "sausages" may be arranged in succession for filling the entire frame-like space.

It has been described above how the heat insulating element has first been manufactured and then placed in different spaces, but it is also possible to create the heat insulating element in the space itself. A method for heat insulation in the latter way is schematically illustrated in Fig 3. It is shown how a space between wall boards 10, for instance gypsum wall boards, of a wall construction is filled with heat insulating material. A number of bag-like envelopes are drawn onto a hose each of a set 11 of hoses and then placed in the space 12 to be filled. The heat insulating material is then blown or thrown into the envelopes and fills them while they together are adapted to the shape of the space and fill it. It is preferred that the envelopes are made of an elastic material, since they may then grow and fill the space without the production of any folds thereupon, which easily may be the case when they are made of an unextensible material and their dimensions in advance have to be determined a little too great. The elasticity of the envelope material should here mean that it is expandable, but it in the once expanded condition has no potential energy stored, which tends to contract the envelope again should it be possible to overcome the resistance thereto, since this may result in that the heat insulating elements over the time will tend to contract and the mechanical connections therebetween could then be broken and an undesirable sinking of the heat insulating material together would take place. When the enve¬ lopes 2 have been filled to a sufficient extent with heat insulating material, the set 11 of hoses is removed and the envelopes are preferably closed at the top by applying any kind of clamp ring 13 or the like. In the cases where the mechanical connections are created by fibres projecting out through the openings 3 and engage and are cross linked with fibres projec¬ ting out of openings of adjacent heat insulating elements 1, it will be advantageous that the filling of the envelopes takes place in the space, in which they are to be located, since an increased "cross linking" or engagement may be obtained.

The invention is of course primarily applicable to the filling of vertical spaces with insulating material, since the influ¬ ence of the gravitation upon the loose and blowable material is then greatest, but this does of course not constitute any obstacle against use of the heat insulating element and the method for heat insulation according to the invention when filling other spaces, such as floor constructions. It may in some situations be advantageous to be able to apply the heat insulating element filling a space just as well as loose heat insulating material, but which may be brought into this space without any need of any apparatus for throwing the insulating material, and the pre-manufactured "sausages" of heat insulating material according to the invention may then substantially facilitate the work. However, "sausages" have no design defi¬ ning function here whatsoever.

It is shown from above in Fig 4 how a vertical space has been filled with two rows of heat insulating elements according to the invention, but this view is very simplified, since the different heat insulating elements in the practice will of course not have exactly square and identical cross section shapes.

The invention is of course not restricted to the preferred embodiments described above, but several possibilities to modifications thereof would be apparent to a man skilled in the art without departing from the basic idea of the invention.

The definition "hose" in the claims comprises all types of conducting elements with an inner channel and a surrounding wall, accordingly also rigid tubes or ducts. Furthermore, the definition "bag-like envelopes" comprises all types of receptacle-like elements, i.e. which may contain anything, and accordingly also for instance hoses, as long as they are formable or shapable.

It should be remarked that it lies within the scope of the invention that the loose and blowable heat insulating material is mixed up with any suitable binder and that the mixture thus obtained is blown into the bag-like envelope 2. Thus, after curing of the binder the latter will contribute to the dimen¬ sional stability of the insulating material. Accordingly, the binder and the envelope 2 will co-operate so as to avoid that the insulating material sinks together. The envelope 2 serves to counteract a sinking together before the binder has cured to an appreciable extension.

Claims

1. Heat insulating element comprising a heat insulating mate¬ rial (7), said element comprising a bag-like envelope (2) of a formable material adapted to receive and be filled with a loose and blowable heat insulating material, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the periphery of the enve¬ lope is provided with openings (3) , and that the heat insula¬ ting material is arranged to participate in the formation of the outer surface of the heat insulating element at the level of these openings.

2. Heat insulating element according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the bag-like envelope (2) is made of an elastic material.

3. Heat insulating element according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the openings (3) of the envelope (2) and the heat insulating material (7) are arranged to co-operate so that parts of the latter projects out of the envelope through the openings.

4. Heat insulating element according to any of the claims 1-3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the openings (3) constitute at least 20% of the total circumferential surface of the envelope (2) filled with the heat insulating material (7).

5. Heat insulating element according to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the openings constitute more than 50% of the total circumferential surface of the envelope (2) filled with the heat insulating material (7).

6. Heat insulating element according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the bag-like envelope (2) is formed by a net-like material.

7. Heat insulating element according to any of claims 1-6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the heat insulating material (7) is a fibrous and wool-like material.

8. Heat insulating element according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the heat insulating material comprises cellulose fibres.

9. Heat insulating element according to any of claims 1-7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that it is adapted to be arranged together with several other such elements (1) in substantially vertical delimited spaces (12) so as to together with these fill out the space in question with respect to the substan¬ tially horizontal dimensions thereof.

10. Heat insulating element according to claims 3 and 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the heat insulating material is able to spontaneously form mechanical connections with such material of a similar element arranged adjacent to the element.

11. Method for heat insulation by filling a delimited space (12) with a fixed volume with heat insulating material (7), said heat insulating material being loose and blowable, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that bag-like envelopes (2) of a formable material and with openings (3) along the periphery thereof are filled with the heat insulating material so that the heat insulating material participates in the formation of the outer surface of the heat insulating element at the level of these openings, and that these envelopes are placed in said space so that they tightly bear against each other.

12. Method according to claim ll, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the envelopes are filled by inserting a hose (5) thereinto while substantially sealing the respective envelope to the hose, the heat insulating material is blown into the envelope (2) and the hose is drawn out of the envelope when the envelope has been filled.

13. Method according to claim 11 or 12, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the envelopes (2) to fill a space (12) are drawn on a hose (5) each, placed beside each other in the space (12) and than all filled with the heat insulating material, so that they together substantially fill out the space.

14. Method according to claim 11 or 12, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the bag-like envelopes (2) are filled with the heat insulating material (7) and the envelopes filled are then inserted into the space (12) while pressing them against each other, so that their cross section dimensions become smaller in the space than before.

15. Method according to any of claims 11-14, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the heat insulating material (7) is blown into the respective envelope (2) to such an extent that it stretches the envelope material and through parts projects out through the openings of the latter.

16. Method according to any of claims 11-15, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the envelopes are placed in a space (12) with a substantially vertical extension and so that mechanical connections are spontaneously formed between the envelopes at the bearing surfaces between adjacent enve¬ lopes by parts of the heat insulating material located in the openings (3) thereof.

17. Method according to any of claims 11-16, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the envelopes (2) are filled with a fibrous wool-like heat insulating material (7) .

18. Method according to claim 17, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the heat insulating material comprises cellulose fibres.

19. Method according to any of claims 11-18, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the envelopes (2) are made of a net material.

20. Method according to any of claims 11-19, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that envelopes (2) of elastic material are used, and that the filling of heat insulating material (1) thereinto is carried out while stretching out the envelope material, so that the envelopes (2) filled are expan¬ ded with respect to their original shape.