The present invention relates to a metal wall insulation system and a method of insulating metal walls. The invention is particularly although not exclusively applicable to insulating marine structures such as bulkheads .

In bulkheads on ships it is important to delay the passage of heat or fire across bulkheads for as long as possible.

At present mineral rock wool fibres are bonded together with a binder that holds the fibres relative to each other in the form of a board. The board is then attached to the metal bulkheads, both at the side walls and the ceilings, by first attaching pins to the walls . Then the board is pushed over the pins to cause the free end of the pins to project through the board. An end cap is then pushed over the free end of the pins to hold the fibres against the walls. Alternatively the insulation may comprise binder and fibres that are not self-supporting secured to a rigid wire mesh.

To hold the board to the walls it is necessary to have the pins at a maximum of 250 mm from each other. Consequently it is time consuming to attach the numerous pins. Furthermore, it is a difficult operation to push the bo.ard over the pins. Further, it is time consuming to fit the end caps. Alternatively, the insulation may comprise binder and fibres that are not self-supporting secured to a rigid wire mesh.

Whilst the metal walls, including the decks are able, by themselves, to resist heat for a significant time, the

steel becomes extremely hot and after a period will act as a large radiant plate. After a still further period the plate will twist and buckle under the heat. In fact so much does the metal twist and buckle that deflections of 40 cm can occur over a 1.5 m length. This causes the integrity of the board to decrease and may break the board. The deformation also pulls the caps off the pins and may detach the board from the wall.

A further problem arises from the use of the binder material. The mix must be thorough and the proportions exact. Too much binder at a location renders the binder liable to ignite and too little binder decreases the integrity of the barrier.

In addition, the layer is 75 mm thick thus using up valuable space. This makes the mineral wool product particularly difficult to install in confined spaces. Furthermore the layer is heavy and is 7.9 Kg/m ² , not counting the weight of a wire mesh that holds the fibres in place.

It is an object of the present invention to attempt to overcome at least one of the above or other disadvantages.

According to a first aspect of the present invention a metal wall insulating system comprises a metal wall and flexible insulation extending co-extensive with the wall.

The present invention also includes a method of insulating a metal wall comprising locating flexible insulation coextensive with the wall.

The wall may be steel. The wall may be more than 5 mm in width or more than 8 mm in width or in the region of 10 mm in width.

Further features of the invention are defined in the claims appended hereto.

The present invention can be carried into practice in various ways but one embodiment will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-

Figure 1 is a side view of a wall 10 having insulating materials 12 and 14;

Figure 2 is a side view of the layers making up the insulating material;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the jointing system that may be used with the insulating material;

Figure 4 is a side view of a wall 110 having insulating material 112; and

Figure 5 is a side view of a wall 210 having insulating material 214.

As shown in Figure 1, the steel wall 10 includes strengthening flanges 16 comprising L-shaped beams that are welded to the walls.

The insulating material 12 and 14 which will be described in more detail later, is flexible and is also self-

supporting such that a part of the material can be bent with that part maintaining the bend, or with a slight tendency to straighten the bend over a period of time. The material is self-supporting to the extent that a length of the material held at one side with the material projecting horizontally from that projection will not sag over a distance of up to 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 cm.

Thus the material 12 between the flanges 16 is cut to size from a flat sheet and pushed between two adjacent flanges such that there is a bend 18 adjacent to the top and bottom ends with an outwardly extending lip 20 at the top and bottom. Looking at the middle material 12 in Figure 1, the barrier is pushed, possibly with the assistance of a tool, between the flanges which may in itself cause the bends 18 to form. The vertical extent 22 between the bends 18 is self-supporting and thus will not collapse on itself. The lower lip 20 will support the material and, in combination with the upper lip 20 will urge the lips 20 gently away from each other to assist in holding the material in place. In addition, the upper lip 20 is retained in the beam by abutting the facing surface 24 of the L-shaped beam 16.

Any buckling or twisting of the wall 10 is taken up by the flexibility of the material 12 and thus the integrity of the insulation is maintained.

If necessary there may be an occasional pin and end cap, as in the prior art, to assist in holding the material in place. These may be located 0.4 or over 0.5 m or over 1 m apart from each other. However, should the wall buckle or twist, the pins and end caps will continue to hold the

material in place as the material is able to move with the wall .

It will be appreciated that there will be additional material above and below the material 12 shown that is pushed against the wall 10 between the stiffener 16 and the ceiling 30 and floor 22 respectively such that the insulating material is co-extensive with the wall over the complete length and depth of the wall.

The exposed ends of the stiffeners may be covered with insulation (not shown) .

With regards to the material 14, this is held in place at the top and bottom by clamping flanges 26 and 28 respectively. The flanges can be moved relative to each other and fastened in any convenient way. For instance, one flange may be fixed, by welding, to the metal wall and the other may be connected to a threaded member welded to the wall and extending through a slot in that flange such that the flange can be moved towards the other flange to clamp the material with a nut then being tightened on the threaded member to hold the movable flange in position.

Thus the material 14 is in the form of a curtain. Any deformation of the upper wall 30 relative to the lower wall 32 such as to move the walls laterally relative to each other or vertically is taken up by the flexibility of the material. If desired the material may be cut to be slightly longer than the distance between the clamps to accommodate movement of the clamps away from each other. It may be though that the natural flexibility will mean

that the curtain effect provided by the material 14 will be able to accommodate such movement .

It will be appreciated that, in practice, the material 14 will be as close as possible to the strengtheners 16 to minimise the space taken up by the insulation.

Whilst the wall 10 has been shown with the provision of both the material 12 and 14 it is possible that only the material 12 or only the material 14 may be used.

Figure 4 shows a wall 110 in which the insulating material 112 is held at the top and bottom by bolts that pass through a right angled bracket 150, the material 112 and a U-shaped bracket 152. The brackets 152 are welded to the ceiling 130 and floor 132. The material 112 is pushed inwards towards or against the wall 130 in order to save space and may remain in that orientation under the natural flexure of the material or with the assistance of fasteners as described before or with a combination of the natural flexure and the stiffeners.

Figure 5 is a side view of another type of wall 210 having stiffeners with the insulation being bent around these stiffeners as it goes down the wall.

Any of the features or fastening means or insulation composition or joints may be as described in relation to any of the other figures.

The deck may also be lined in the same ways as the side walls. If necessary occasional pins and end caps may be

used with either the horizontal curtain material 14 or the material 12 between two deck strengthening flanges 16.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is of use not only in insulating or protecting walls in ships but also in other areas where there may be metal walls such as marine structures such as an oil rig.

Figure 2 shows three layers 3βa, 36b and 36c. Where two extents of each layer have to be joined together such as with staples 38 the joints effected by such staples are staggered along the length of the material to enhance the integrity of the barrier still further.

One layer 36a is shown in Figure 3. Each layer though may have the same composition. The layer comprises an outer layer 40 of woven glass fibres and then, sequentially, an aluminium foil layer 42, a non-woven fibreglass filler layer 44, a further aluminium layer 46 and finally an inner woven glass fibre layer 48. The non-woven fibreglass layer comprises the bulk of the material and is approximately 5 mm thick. The outer layers may be heat treated with a high temperature finish. The glass fibres may be of 9 micron or above.

The three layers, when connected together, are 15 mm thick nominal and have a weight of 4.5 Kg/m ² .

The layers 36a, 36b and 36c may be fitted separately or at the same time. The layers may be connected prior to fitting.

The thermal conductivity of the connected layers may be 0.0336 W/mk.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment (s) . The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.