| US20040018335A1 | 2004-01-29 | |||
| GB469098A | 1937-07-19 | |||
| US2662043A | 1953-12-08 | |||
| US20090100780A1 | 2009-04-23 | |||
| EP0026605A2 | 1981-04-08 |
| PATENT CLAIMS 1 . A thermal insulation arrangement, which includes a composite body having a first planar member being joined along two opposite ends to a second planar member so that a chamber is formed between the first planar member and the second planar member. 2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , in which the first planar member is joined along the two opposite ends to the second planar member by means of strip members. 3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the thermal insulation arrangement is a panel. 4. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the chamber is an enclosed channel. 5. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first planar member is joined along its periphery to the second planar member so that a closed chamber is formed between the first planar member and the second planar member. 6. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first planar member and second planar member are flat sheets. 7. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first planar member and second planar member and the strip members are made of insulation material. 8. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first planar member and second planar member and the strip members are integrally formed. 9. An arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 8, in which the strip members include an integrated joining protrusion or ridge and/or joining groove adapted to connected respectively to an associated integrated joining protrusion or ridge and/or joining groove of the first planar member and/or the second planar member. 10. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first planar member is joined to the second planar member by means of a strip member extending peripherally between the first planar member and second planar member. 1 1 . An arrangement as claimed in claim 10, in which the strip member is joined to the first and second sheets by means of concealed dovetail joints or nails or any other suitable means. 12. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first planar member and/or the second planar member is/are partially covered with a layer of low emissivity material to further reduce radiation heat transfer within the enclosed chamber. 13. An arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12, in which the strip member is glued to the first and second sheets. 14. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the composite body has opposite first and second sides with a groove extending along the first side and a ridge extending along its second side, being adapted to permit a number of different thermal insulation arrangements to be joined together in a tongue-and-groove manner. 15. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the chamber has a cross-sectional width and/or height which is relatively small, thereby being adapted to reduce convection heat transfer across the chamber. 16. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which baffles are located within the chamber to reduce convection for larger chambers. 17. An arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the chamber is dimensioned to be less than 90% of the thickness of the thermal insulation arrangement. 18. A thermal insulation arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. |
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a thermal insulation arrangement.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal insulation arrangement for use, amongst others, in the construction industry.
BACKGROUND TO INVENTION
Building insulation material is used to line a building structure to provide heat insulation. The effect of the insulation is normally determined by the thickness of the insulation material, with thicker insulation material providing better insulation. Unfortunately the cost of the insulation material increases with its increasing thickness. The type of insulation material used also affects the thermal performance of the insulation layer and also the costs.
A problem with most insulation materials is that these tend to decay over time and accordingly lose their insulation properties. Such decay can result from water ingress or air diffusion, amongst others. This leads to increased electricity consumption by heating or air conditioning within a building or structure.
It is an object of the invention to suggest a thermal insulation arrangement, which will assist in overcoming these problems including the decay of insulation properties, increasing the effectiveness of insulation materials and further reducing the capital outlay through using less insulation material while achieving the same insulation effect. SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to the invention, a thermal insulation arrangement includes a composite body having a first planar member being joined along two opposite ends to a second planar member so that a chamber is formed between the first planar member and the second planar member.
The first planar member may be joined along the two opposite ends to the second planar member by means of strip members.
The thermal insulation arrangement may be a panel.
The chamber may be an enclosed channel.
The first planar member may be joined along its periphery to the second planar member so that a closed chamber is formed between the first planar member and the second planar member.
The first planar member and second planar member may be flat sheets.
The first planar member and second planar member and the strip members may be made of insulation material.
The first planar member and second planar member and the strip members may be integrally formed.
The strip members may include an integrated joining protrusion or ridge and/or joining groove adapted to connected respectively to an associated integrated joining protrusion or ridge and/or joining groove of the first planar member and/or the second planar member.
The first planar member may be joined to the second planar member by means of a strip member extending peripherally between the first planar member and second planar member.
The strip member may be joined to the first and second sheets by means of concealed dovetail joints or nails or any other suitable means.
The first planar member and/or the second planar member may be partially covered with a layer of low emissivity material to further reduce radiation heat transfer within the enclosed chamber.
The strip member may be glued to the first and second sheets.
The body may have opposite first and second sides with a groove extending along the first side and a ridge extending along its second side, being adapted to permit a number of different thermal insulation arrangements to be joined together in a tongue-and- groove manner.
The cross-sectional width and/or height of the cavity or channel or chamber may be relatively small thereby being adapted to reduce convection heat transfer across the chamber.
Baffles may also be located within the chamber to reduce convection for larger chambers. The thickness of the chamber may be less than 90% of the thickness of the thermal insulation arrangement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings.
In the drawings there is shown in:
Figure 1 : a side view of a thermal insulation arrangement according to a first
embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2: a perspective view of a thermal insulation arrangement according to a second embodiment of the invention;
Figure 3: an exploded perspective view of the thermal insulation arrangement as shown in Figure 2;
Figure 4: a schematic diagram of the test arrangement for the full load tests; Figure 5: a graph indicating the full load test results;
Figure 6: an image of the thermal insulation arrangement for experimental test 1
(Note the three layers and the grey duct tape obscuring the composition of the central unidentified layer); and Figure 7: an image of the thermal insulation arrangement for experimental test 2 (Note the three layers and the red duct tape obscuring the composition of the central unidentified layer).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown a thermal insulation arrangement in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, being generally indicated by reference numeral 10.
The thermal insulation arrangement 10 includes a composite body 12 including a chamber 14, which is preferably filled with air so that the air is substantially trapped within the chamber 14.
The body 12 is constituted by a first sheet 16 being peripherally joined to a second spaced apart sheet 18 by means of strips 20. Preferably the first and second sheets 16, 18 are made from an insulation material.
The strips 20 can be joined to the first and second sheets 16, 18 by concealed dovetail joints or nails 22 or any other possible means. The strips 20 can further be glued to the first and second sheets 16, 18 to provide additional rigidity to the composite body 12.
The strip 20.1 along one side of the composite body 12 is indented relative to the first and second sheets 16, 18 to form a groove 24 The strip 20.2 along an opposite side of the composite body 12 extends outwardly of the first and second sheets 16, 18 to form a ridge 26. A number of different composite bodies 12 can be joined together in a tongue-and-groove manner by inserting the ridge 26 of one composite body 12 into the groove 24 of a neighbouring composite body 12.
The cross-sectional width of the chamber 14 between the first and second sheets 16, 18 can be relatively narrow thereby to reduce convection heat transfer between the first and second sheets 16, 18.
The composite body 12 can be used in the construction industry as a replacement for or lining against roofs, cavity walls and flooring. Preferably the composite body 12 is rectangular in shape.
Hence air is trapped between the first sheet 16 and the second sheet 18 which increases the overall performance of the combined first sheet 16 and the second sheet 18, compared to the sheets without any air trapped between them.
The thermal insulation composite body 12 according to the invention uses -22% less material for the same thermal insulation as the first sheet 16 and the second sheet 18 without the air trapped between them. Other benefits include more affordability, using air to combat ageing of the insulation material, and offering a (3-5%) better performance throughout the life span of the insulation material.
For effective thermal insulation, the thickness of the channel or chamber 14 may be less than 90% of the thickness of the thermal insulation arrangement 10.
Referring to Figures 2 and 3, there is shown a thermal insulation arrangement in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention, being generally indicated by reference numeral 30. The thermal insulation arrangement 30 includes a composite body 32 in the form of a panel defining a chamber 34, which is preferably filled with air so that the air is substantially trapped within the chamber 34.
The composite body 32 is formed by a first sheet 36 being joined to a second sheet 38 by strips 40 and 42. Preferably the first and second sheets 36, 38 are made from an insulation material.
The strips 40 and 42 are joined to the first and second sheets 36, 38 by concealed integrated dovetail joints 44. This reduces the assembly time and costs. The strips 40 and 42 can further be glued to the first and second sheets 36, 38 to provide additional rigidity to the composite body 32.
The strips 40 and 42 furthermore have along their sides joining protrusions or ridges 46 and joining grooves 48. A number of different insulation composite bodies 32 can thus be joined together in a tongue-and-groove manner by inserting the joining protrusion or ridge 46 of one insulation composite body 32 into the joining groove 48 of a neighbouring insulation composite body 32.
The cross-sectional width of the chamber 34 between the first and second sheets 36, 38 can be relatively narrow thereby to reduce convection heat transfer between the first and second sheets 36, 38.
The insulation composite body 32 can be used in the construction industry as a replacement for or lining against roofs, ceilings and cavity walls. Preferably the insulation composite body 32 is rectangular in shape. Hence air is trapped between the first sheet 36 and the second sheet 38 which increases the overall performance of the combined first sheet 36 and the second sheet 18, compared to the sheets without any air trapped between them.
The thermal insulation arrangement 30 according to the invention uses -22% less material for the same thermal insulation as the first sheet 36 and the second sheet 38 without the air trapped between them. Other benefits include more affordability, using air to combat ageing of the insulation material, and offering a (3-5%) better performance throughout the life span of the insulation material.
For effective thermal insulation, the thickness of the channel or chamber 34 may be less than 90% of the thickness of the thermal insulation arrangement 30.
Referring to Figures 4 to 7, full load experimental tests were conducted.
Description: two samples under the same load profile in two different well insulated compartments normal board sample vs. Modified board sample according to the invention temperature monitoring of external roof sheets in blue colour normal board compartment in red colour modified board compartment in green colour 10 minutes intervals' readings
Figure 5 shows the full load test result for seven days. The test shows that the difference between the performance of the two samples is negligble compared to the savings of 47% in the cost brought by the thermal insulation arrangement according to the invention (in this case the test thermal insulation arrangement was using panels consisting of expanded polystyrene EPS).
Steady-state thermal transmission properties experimental tests
Experimental Test 1
Sample description:
Specimen Instrument measured Dimensions ( mm ) : Mass as tested Density as tested : no : thickness ( mm ) : ( kg ) :
( kg ( kg/m 2 )
Modified 77.1 300 mm wide by 0.0704 (excluding 1 0.2 0.8 EPS 300 mm long. stated duct tape
mass of 40g ) Method of testing:
Heat flow direction: Downwards Orientation of specimen: Horizontal Instrument description and accuracy
The experiment used a Laser Comp Fox 314 heat flow meter instrument for measuring thermal conductivity. The Fox 314 has been designed to comply with ASTM C518, ISO8301 , EN12667, EN1946-1 and EN1946-3 and is provided with a built-in calibration according to the NIST 1450b standard. It has 0.6μν resolution on the integral high output heat flux transducers and 0.01 Q C temperature control and resolution, based on its 24 bit ADC. The thickness of the sample is measured on all four corners of the specimen providing an accuracy of ±0.025mm thickness measurement. The instrument therefore has a repeatability of 99.8% and an accuracy of 99%.
Test criteria
Temperature difference across
Test temperature set point : Mean temperature ( ) :
specimen ( ) :
1 23 26
The machine is verified annually by means of a comparative test
Date of last calibration of instrument :
using a calibration transfer standard specimen. Test results
Conclusion
The measured thermal conductivity for the tested specimen was 0.034 W/(m- K) .
The laboratory test result shows the although the sample of the product sample according to the invention uses 20% less material it achieved similar or better results than the normal insulation material (in this case EPS Expanded
Polystyrene).
Experimental Test 2
Sample description
Product name : Void Panel (Modified XPS by Mohamed Fouad).
Type/s of product : Modified XPS thermal Insulation Panel.
Manufacturer: N/A
Sample consisted of three Modified XPS composite panels. Each of
Physical description of the panels consisted of three layers. The top and bottom layers samples/specimens : appeared to be XPS with an unidentified central layer in between. The edges of the three layer composite panels were sealed off with red duct tape.
Description of specimen/s One test specimen was randomly selected from the sample for testing. and relationship to sample/s Conditioning details of the tested specimen prior to arrival at laboratory if known: is unknown.
Sample/specimen
conditioning: The sample was not conditioned prior to testing. Specimen Instrument measured Dimensions ( mm ) : Mass as tested Density as tested : no : thickness ( mm ) : ( kg ) :
( kg ( kg/m 2 )
Modified 76.3 301 mm wide by 0.17825 (excluding 26.1 2.0 XPS 299 mm long. stated duct tape
mass of 40g )
Method of testing
Heat flow direction: Downwards Orientation of specimen: Horizontal Instrument description and accuracy
The experiment used a Laser Comp Fox 314 heat flow meter instrument for measuring thermal conductivity. The Fox 314 has been designed to comply with ASTM C518, ISO8301 , EN12667, EN1946-1 and EN1946-3 and is provided with a built-in calibration according to the NIST 1450b standard. It has 0.6μν resolution on the integral high output heat flux transducers and 0.01 Q C temperature control and resolution, based on its 24 bit ADC. The thickness of the sample is measured on all four corners of the specimen providing an accuracy of ±0.025mm thickness measurement. The instrument therefore has a repeatability of 99.8% and an accuracy of 99%. Test criteria
Temperature difference across
Test temperature set point : Mean temperature ( ) :
specimen ( ) :
1 23 26
The machine is verified annually by means of a comparative test
Date of last calibration of instrument :
using a calibration transfer standard specimen.
Test results
Conclusion
The measured thermal conductivity for the tested specimen was 0.027 W/(m- K) .
The laboratory test result shows that although the sample of the product sample according to the invention uses 20% less material it achieved similar or better results than the normal insulation material (in this case XPS Extruded
Polystyrene).
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