Field of the Invention

It is well known to use various materials for insulating purposes, especially for insulating buildings. Among these materials natural materials such as for example linen and cellulose based fibres are often selected.

The advantages with these natural fibres should allegedly be that they tend to provide a better interior climate and give rise to less allergies and the like. Furthermore, these materials are considered sustainable and have low C0 ₂ emission during production.

Background of the Invention

Traditionally, when you consider cellulose based fibrous insulation materials, these materials are produced on the basis of paper, particularly reused newspaper and other paper materials, delivered in bales to the insulation manufacturer's plant.

The paper company has in the case of recycled paper, usually sorted and cleaned the paper from contaminants before it is introduced into a baler unit. In the baler unit, the paper is pressed into large bales having a density around 500-800 kg/m3. These very dense and compact bales are then stored until they are to be used, at which time they are shipped to the cellulose insulation manufacturer's plant.

When the cellulose insulation manufacturer are using the bales they are introduced into a shredder and perhaps in addition a crusher, which will tear and chop the bales whereby the paper is made into pieces of typically 10 to 50 mm in size.

From the shredder or the additional mill the cellulose manufacturers introduce the paper pieces into a fiberizer, typically in the form of a mill. In the fiberizer the paper pieces are torn apart, such that the resulting material is a very low density fibrous mass, where the fibres are entangled in a three-dimensional very light mass - typically 25 kg/m3. During the fiberizing process chemicals may be added in order to improve fire resistance, fungus etc.

As the low density fibrous insulation materials are difficult to transport for the cellu- lose insulation manufacturer, the fibrous mass that leaves the fiberizer is typically again shaped into more dense bales - having a density around 150kg/m2.

When the insulation materials are sold the bales are transported to the site where the paper based insulation is to be built in. Here the bales having a density of 150 kg/m2 are introduced into a de-compactor wherein the fibrous mass is to be returned to almost the same state as just after the fiberizer. Once the material is back in the almost fiberized state, the material is blown into position in the structure where it is to be placed. The known manner as described above comprises a number of serious drawbacks. Firstly the paper material is baled twice - first to very compact bales (500-800 kg/m3) and the second time to bales having a density around 150 kg/m3. The energy needed is substantial and as will be explained below deteriorates the finished product, but has hitherto been necessary in order to be able to handle the logistics of the materials in a sensible and economic manner. The lower density bales (150 kg/m3) are typically transported to the building site by the insulation entrepreneur who will operate the decompactor and blow the re-fiberized material into place in the construction/building. During the baling operation, after the first fiberization, the fibres are squeezed and in the process each fibre is "straightened", meaning that due to the pressure in the baler, the very "fluffy" three-dimensional fiberized material loose some of its inherent structure and three-dimensional properties. The consequence being that when the fiberized material is decompacted on-site, it is not possible to obtain the same fibre- and 3D- structure as immediately after the fiberization process. Thereby the resulting material being built in has not the same good properties as the intermediate state material, and the very low density achieved after the fiberizer cannot be reached when blowing the insulation materials in. Consequently the blown in insulation materials will typically have a density of 30-50 kg as opposed to the 25 kg after the fiberizer. Secondly, although the material is baled after the fiberizer, having a density of approx. 150 kg/m3, it is still more voluminous than the same amount of finished material baled as a raw material where the higher density of 500-800 kg/m3 is typical . This of course has influence on the transportation cost.

Object of the Invention

Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide an insulating method as well as a mobile insulating vehicle which improve the known insulating method particularly by cutting down on the expenses relating to the logistics of transporting the insulating material, and which provide an improved insulating material.

Description of the Invention

The present invention addresses this by providing a method for insulating with a fibrous material, which is blown into place in-situ, comprising the following method steps: a) compacting paper raw material into stacks of compacted paper having a density of between 200 kg/m3 and 600 kg/m3

b) transporting the stacks of compacted paper to the site where the insulation is to be placed;

c) loading the stacks of compacted paper into a mobile unit, said mobile unit comprising:

i) a hopper for receiving the stacks of compacted paper, where said hopper has a decompactor for loosening the stacks of compacted paper into relatively large agglomerates, said hopper being in communication with; ii) conveying means for conveying the agglomerates to a

iii) fiberizer where the agglomerates are shredded into fibres typically having lengths from 1 to 10 mm and diameters in the range 0,01 to 3 mm, where said fibres are transferred to a

iv) blow unit connected to a flexible feed tube or feed hose transporting the fibres to the position where the insulation is to be placed.

By making the insulation production and delivery unit mobile, that is by providing a hopper with a decompactor and fiberizer, the decompaction and fiberization process takes place immediately adjacent to the place where the insulating material is to be used. In this manner the transport costs for the delivery of the insulation material is severely minimized in that the compacted raw material paper may be transported at the high density of between 200-600 kg/m3 (and therefore low volume) as opposed to the 150 kg density of the bales of fiberized paper when the insulation production is made in a static plant where the fiberized paper is compacted into bales after fiberiza- tion.

Furthermore, as the mobile unit comprises a fiberizer which will create the cellulose based fibrous material, the fiberization will be provided immediately adjacent to the blowing unit which causes the fibres to be transported from the mobile unit to the place where the insulation is to be placed. Hence, once the paper has been fiberized when using the mobile unit it is not subject to any subsequent compaction or compression following the fiberization. Thus, the original fibrous structure (3D structure) of the paper is fully maintained.

The cellulose based material suitable for use with the present invention may be any source of new or used paper, paper like materials, cardboard etc. as long as it is possible to decompose the material into a fibrous mass.

Within this invention the device designated as fiberizer shall be understood as a device which will tear and shred the cellulose based material into a fibrous mass where the individual fibres are loose but due to the surface characteristics of the fibres and the size of the fibres in the fibrous material will be entangled to such a degree that the fibrous insulating material will be easy to take apart but once being placed in situ will act as a very lightweight insulating almost coherent material.

The decompactor arranged in the bottom part of the hopper will loosen the compacted (raw material) paper. This is done, typically by providing a number of knives or teeth which will tear into the stacks of compacted paper and detach fractions, agglomerates or small chunks of the compacted paper (raw) material which then by means of the conveying means will be lead to the fiberizer. The blow unit will be able to transport the very light fibrous material as explained above to the place where it is desired to install the insulating material for example through a suitable hose. (Due to the very lightweight and low density of the material, the pressure needed to transport the fibres from the mobile unit to the in situ place is very low and furthermore by providing a hose with very low friction on the inner walls, a placement in an industrious manner is achieved.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the method between step iii) and iv) adds chemicals either as dry powder or in liquid form or as a combination of both powder and liquid is added to the shredded material. It may be advantageous to provide special or additional properties to the insulating material, and this is typically done in the present invention by adding chemicals, for example as a dry powder or in liquid form, to the fiberized material immediately before it is blown into the feed tube and thereby placed in situ. The chemicals may provide properties such as fire retarding and anti-fungi cidal.

The invention is also directed at a mobile insulating vehicle , where said vehicle comprises a receiving hopper designed to receive the stacks of compacted paper, where said hopper in a lower portion of said hopper is provided with a decompactor, said decompactor in use loosens the stacks of compacted paper into relatively small piec- es, where said hopper from a lower section by first conveying means is in communication with a fiberizer unit, said fiberizer unit tearing the paper bale pieces into individual fibres or agglomerates of fibres, whereafter second conveying means transports the fibres to a blow unit, said blow unit further having a feed hose, for placing the fiberized paper material in situ.

With this mobile insulating vehicle it is possible to carry out the method as just described above.

The mobile insulating vehicle being substantially self-contained comprises all the nec- essary features in order to receive and handle the relatively dense stacks of compacted paper having a density of 200-600 kg per m3 and being able to loosen this before entering it into the fiberizer where the fractured parts of the paper are fiberized such that they may be blown in situ. The mobile insulating vehicle furthermore provides the possibility to move the entire process to the location where the insulation is to take place such that the cost in connection with arranging the insulation material may be drastically reduced due to the fact that the insulating material is transported to the building site in dense form and as such a relatively large volume of unfinished un-fiberized insulating material may be transported in the mobile insulating vehicle due to the fact that the vehicle is able to transport it in its compact form and convert it in situ into low density fibrous insulation by means of the decompactor and fiberizer. Compared to transporting compacted fiberized paper, transporting compacted unfinished unfiberized paper allows that the same truck may transport an additional weight of 50% to 300%, whereby transport costs are severely lowered.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the vehicle is provided with a crane, suitable to lift stacks of compacted paper into the hopper. The provision of a crane is especially suitable for embodiments of the invention where more stacks of compacted paper than may originally be placed in the hopper are desired or necessary in order to carry out the insulating job, or if an on-board stock of supplies is desired.

The vehicle may in some embodiments be provided with a storage trailer suitable to hold stacks of compacted paper such that the crane will be able to lift bales from the trailer and into the hopper. In this manner relatively large volumes of insulating material may be handled by a single vehicle. Naturally, the trailer may be replenished or replaced by a trailer having fresh stacks of compacted paper such that the vehicle need not move if the job in situ has not been finished.

In a still further advantageous embodiment of the invention dust collection means or dust filter(s) are provided adjacent or connected to the decompactor, fiberizer unit and blow unit or alternatively the decompactor, fiberizer unit and blow unit are arranged in a housing, where dust collection means or dust filter(s) are connected to said housing.

Typically, the decompactor, fiberizer, blow unit etc. are mounted on a vehicle and are protected by a housing covering all these aggregates. The dust collection means may be mounted and advantageously be connected or working in said housing such that each and every aggregate, i.e. fiberizer, decompactor, blow unit etc., need not be pro- vided with dust collection means, but one single dust collection means may be arranged inside the housing which will take care of all the dust developed by all the aggregates. Naturally, the dust collection means may also be connected to each and every unit whereby it is ensured that the interior environment of the housing is kept dust-free and therefore if personnel needs to work inside that area the area is sufficiently clean not to require the use of dust masks and the like. In a still further advantageous embodiment of the invention a generator is provided providing the necessary power.

This embodiment is particularly relevant in that for the previous embodiments the aggregates on the mobile insulating vehicle may have drawn its power from the en- gine provided on the vehicle, but by providing a generator the aggregate becomes self- sufficient with power and may therefore be arranged on a detachable trailer.

As the vehicle itself will typically be rather expensive, it is possible to have any vehicle tow the trailer being designed to be completely self-sufficient i.e. having a genera- tor, such that the trailer may be provided on the building site where it is desirable to place the fiberized insulation. The tow vehicle may therefore be able to carry out other tasks while the process of insulating is taking place. Also as trailers are usually relatively inexpensive, it will be possible to provide more trailers having aggregates as described above in order to carry out various insulation jobs at the same time.

In a still further advantageous embodiment of the invention the blower is controlled by a control unit, said control unit being in communication with and may be controlled by control means arranged either adjacent the outlet of the feed hose or wireless independent control means.

By having the controls directly where the insulation is being positioned the personnel's actually placing the insulating material will be able to control the flow of insulating material such that in places where it is relatively easy to place the insulating material, for example on large, relatively flat and unhindered areas, the insulation may be brought forward to the insulation site much faster as compared to more complicated and hard to get to building positions, such as for example behind rafters, chimneys, beams, columns etc. In a still further advantageous embodiment of the invention the stacks of compacted paper introduced into the hopper are stacks of compacted paper having a density between 200-600 kg/m3 and where the decompactor fractures the paper into paper pieces up to 50mm by 50mm by 50mm. The fiberizer unit in a further advantageous embodiment of the invention tears the paper pieces into individual fibres or agglomerates of fibres, having a density between 20-50 kg/m3, preferably 20-25 kg/m3.

These densities are typical for common place insulation materials, and as such experi- ence shows that it will be possible to provide an insulating material with lower densities having a λ-value comparable to or even better than commonly used insulating materials,.

In a still further advantageous embodiment of the invention the blow unit is connected to one or more chemical reservoirs containing one or more agents, where said agents selectively may be added/applied to the fibres inside the blow unit before the fibres are fed to the feed hose.

For various reasons it may be desirable to add chemicals to the fiberized paper mass in order to avoid the development of fungus in which case fungicides are added or in order to render the paper more resistant against fire in which case fire retardants etc. may be used.

In some instances 4-12% weight per cent dry chemicals will be added to the fiberized insulating material in order to obtain the desired characteristics.

Description of the Drawing

The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 illustrates various features of a mobile insulating vehicle

Figure 2 illustrates a further embodiment of the mobile insulating vehicle

Figure 3 illustrates schematic flow chart of prior art method

Figure 4 illustrates schematic flow chart of the method according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In figure 1 is illustrated a mobile vehicle 1 where the various aggregates of the inven- tion are arranged inside a housing 2 provided on the rear of the truck's cap 3. For illustrative purposes only part of the housing 2 is illustrated in order to be able to see the various aggregates of the device.

In a hopper 4 is positioned a number of stacks of compacted paper 5, in this instance five paper stacks. In a bottom part of the hopper 4 is arranged a decompactor (not illustrated) which decompactor comprises a number of knives or teeth which teeth tear into the stacks of compacted paper 5 in order to loosen the relatively dense stacks of compacted paper. Typically the bales will have a density of between 200-600 kg per m3, and the knives will cut out or tear out fractions of the bales, where each fraction has a maximum size of 50 by 50 by 50 mm.

These fractions are by means of a conveyor 6 transported to a fiberizer unit 7. Inside the fiberizer unit 7 the fragments are further fragmented/shredded such that the paper material leaving the fiberizer unit 7 by means of a further conveyor 8 are in the shape of cellulose fibres having a certain length which causes the fibres to entangle with other fibres thereby creating the lightweight well-insulating fibre as insulating material created by this process.

The fiberized entangled material will at this stage have a density of around 25 kg per m3 whereas the stacks of compacted paper as already explained above when they arrive in the hopper have a density of 200-600 kg per m3. In the blower 10 the fiberized cellulose mass is accelerated such that it will be possible to transport it through a tube (not illustrated). The blower 10 has an outlet 11 where it is possible to connect the tube. Furthermore, the mobile insulating vehicle 1 is provided with a generator 12 such that the vehicle does not rely on the propulsion means provided in the truck as such, but has its own means of powering. A chemical dispensing unit 14 is also provided where suitable chemicals such as fire retardants and fungicides may be added to the fiberized mass typically inside the blower 10 where the fiberized mass is circulated and thereby it is easy to expose the majority of the fibres to the chemicals from the chemical storage 14.

Dust collection and air treatment means 16 are also provided inside the housing 2 of the mobile insulating vehicle 1. The air treatment device 16 in this example is specifi- cally combined to the fiberizer and the decompactor 4, 7 in that this is where the majority of dust is generated.

Furthermore, there is also a general air-intake 18 where the air from inside the vehicle is treated in the filters provided in the air- treatment unit 16. The unit 16 is provided with an outlet such that the air treated in the apparatus is returned to the ambient air surrounding the vehicle 1.

Turning to figure 2 a vehicle as described above with reference to figure 1 is illustrated in a further example. The vehicle 1 is loaded with stacks of compacted paper 5 in- side the housing 2, and furthermore a trailer 20 is provided with further paper 5' stacked in a manner such that the crane 22 will be able to feed new stacks of compacted paper 5, 5' into the hopper 4.

A tube 24 connecting the blower 10 to an outlet of the tube (not illustrated) where the operator is placing the insulating material, for example in the attic of a building, is illustrated.

It is clear that the size of the trailer and the amount of stacks of compacted paper 5' may vary greatly, but due to the high density of the stacks of compacted paper 5, 5' a relatively large volume of finished insulating material may be made and on site with the vehicle as illustrated in figure 2. Naturally, the skilled person will realize that using a larger trailer will facilitate carrying more paper on site. In fig. 3 is schematically illustrated the known manner of preparing material to be blown into position in a structure and in fig. 4 a schematic flow diagram of the method according to the present invention.

In fig. 3 bales (100) are compacted from for example recycled paper. During the bale formation the material, i.e. recycled paper is compressed such that the bales will typically have a density between 500-800 kg/m3. A normal density is approx. 650 kg/m3. At this very compact state the material does not take up much storage space, but requires handling means such as for example a crane to handle the bales (100). Once the bales (100) are required by the paper insulation manufacturer the bales are transported to the plant of the paper insulation manufacturer. When beginning the production process of making the paper insulation, the bales (100) are introduced into a shredder (110). The shredder (110) will tear and fracture the hard pressed bale material into fragments typically being between 10 and 50 mm (cubed or any odd shape). The fragments are thereafter introduced into a fiberizer (120), in which the fragments are further torn apart and reduced to substantial individual fibre sizes, i.e. 0,01 mm to 2 mm diameter and 1 to 10-15 mm long. This fiberized material mass (fibrous mass) will have a three dimensional structure as a very fluffy, light and entangled material. The density will be very low i.e. 20-40 kg/m3. The low density in turn indicates that the material is very voluminous and as such expensive to store and transport.

Consequently, the fiberized material is introduced into another baling device (130). In this baling device (130) the fibrous mass is compacted to a density of approx. 150 kg/m3. During this compacting procedure the fibres are straightened and the three dimensional structure of the fluffy entangled mass is partly lost (due to the baling process). These bales with relatively low density for bales are then stored for further direct use in an insulating process or immediately transported to the insulating site and introduced into a decompactor (140) where the fibrous structure partly is reestablished. After having (again) transformed the material to a fibrous mass, the mate- rial has obtained a density of 30-50 kg and is introduced into a blower (150) and thereafter blown into the position where it is desirable to place the insulation.

The method according to the present invention is schematically illustrated in fig. 4. Stacks of compacted paper with a density of 200-600 kg/m3 - are made in a first compactor (200).

When the stacks of compacted paper are to be used they are loaded onto the mobile unit (see fig. 1 and 2). On site the stacks of compacted paper are introduced into a decompactor (210), which loosens the paper. The fragments are thereafter introduced into a fiberizer (220) which also as discussed above creates a fibrous mass comprising individual fibres, typically having sizes, i.e. 0.01 mm to 2 mm diameter and 1 to 10-15 mm long. This fiberized material mass (fibrous mass) will have a three dimensional structure as a very fluffy, light and entangled material. The density will be very low i.e. 20-30 kg/m3.

This fluffy low density entangled fibrous mass is thereafter introduced into the blower (250) which deposits the low density insulation material on site. In this manner the originally entangled, fluffy and three-dimensional material is not subjected to compression and thereby retains its original characteristics. Laboratory tests indicate that the same base material, for example recycled paper, treated with the inventive method according to the present invention can obtain the same insulation properties at 30-40% lower densities compared to material treated according to the method illustrated with respect to fig. 3. The entanglement and 3-D structure with the present invention appears more "fluffy", whereas the corresponding structure of a material treated according to the method of fig. 3 appears more stratified, i.e. the fibres have been straightened by the compression in the baling device. Overall better insulation properties are achieved and at the same time saving expensive processing steps cf fig 3 vs fig 4 and transportation cost.