The invention relates to a self-adhesive sealing tape according to the preamble of claim 1 , and to a blank (or cutting) from such a sealing tape according to the preamble of additional independent claim 10.

Such adhesive or sealing tapes are used to seal penetrations, such as pipelines, flues, beams or line sections, through synthetic sheets, in particular vapor barrier sheets or even underlay webs. A problematic issue with vapor barriers are regions which, owing to local conditions, have to be provided with larger openings in order to provide a passage for pipelines, chimneys or other bodies which must penetrate the sheet. The difficulty which arises is that of completely sealing the vapor barrier again so that the transition regions between the penetrating body and the vapor barrier are once again air-tight. In particular, when there is a non-perpendicular angle between the penetrating body and particularly when same has a circular contour, this problem becomes relevant in practice.

A routine procedure in the field of construction is, in such a case, to adhere the vapor barrier to the penetrating body using adhesive tapes. For instance, sealing of penetration regions with flexible adhesive tapes is known for example from DE 101 51 731 A1 . This describes a self-adhesive, flexible sealing tape for sealing purposes, in particular for the sealing of component penetrations through synthetic sheets in roofs and the like. Simple adhesive tapes have the disadvantage that they become detached over time, in particular when the tapes are expandable sealing tapes, the return forces of which result in shrinkage of the sealing tape to its original nominal size after a certain period of adhesion and are thus associated with detachment from the sealing point. A disadvantage of this solution is that the adhesive tape becomes detached from the sheet over time owing to return forces, and so one or more unsealed points can occur in the seal. Furthermore, the period of adhesion of the adhesive tape at the penetration point depends, in addition to the material of the adhesive, on the thoroughness of the adhesion. Owing to regular time constraints at the place of installation, the adhesive tape is generally applied without thorough application of pressure, in particular without continuous application of pressure on all adhesion points. Fixed adhesion of the adhesive tape, in particular continuous fixed adhesion of all adhesion points to the penetration and to the sheet, is thus not ensured. Pockets of air are left which are disadvantageous for a long-lasting adhesive effect. As a result, a high level of sealing tightness cannot be achieved. Particularly when a plurality of such penetrations with adhesive are present, the leakage flows add up, and so considerable heat losses and/or failure of a blower door test as a criterion for the air-sealing tightness of the overall structure can occur. An alternative possibility for sealing such penetration regions are conventional sleeve devices, as described for example in DE 10 2004 038 687 B4, DE 10 2009 060 673 A1 or DE 10 2018 113 284 A1 .

A sealing tape and a method for producing such a sealing tape are known from European patent application EP 2 873 700 A1 which relates to a different type. This sealing tape is provided for use in road construction and thus relates to a different technical field. The sealing tape includes a tape body in which a bitumen-containing binder is incorporated. This sets in a reactive manner and is thus not suitable for the air-tight sealing of penetrations in buildings, in particular of component penetrations through synthetic sheets in roofs, buildings and the like, such as vapor barrier sheets or dampproof membranes which are used in the heat insulation of buildings. Finally, the conventional sealing tape requires for this purpose a reaction-triggering or reaction-accelerating activator in order to provide energy for the production of the reactive bitumen. The sealing tape is additionally used to seal a joint between a cold element and an adjoining asphalt layer which will subsequently be laid whilst hot and is used exclusively in road construction.

Proceeding from the above-mentioned prior art, the object of the invention is to provide a self-adhesive sealing tape which, using simple measures, is configured such that it can be sufficiently fixedly adhered at all attachment points and has improved pressing capacity so that the sealing tape can be easily and very quickly fixedly adhered in a long-lasting manner. In addition, it is an object to achieve airtight sealing of building penetrations without the presence of pockets of air after attaching the sealing tape.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the features contained in the characterizing part of claim 1 and by the features contained in additional independent claim 10, wherein expedient developments of the invention are characterized by the features contained in the dependent claims.

In accordance with the invention, the self-adhesive sealing tape for the air-tight sealing of component penetrations through synthetic sheets in roofs, buildings and the like, includes a tubing which is formed from at least one film and in which a filler is received which is preferably soft and can be modulated. At its outer peripheral surface, the tubing is at least partially provided with an adhesive layer in an expedient manner. The adhesive layer is used for effective adhesion both to the penetration and also the synthetic sheet in the region of the sealing point. The adhesive layer preferably extends over half of the width of the film tubing or over half of the width of the outer peripheral surface thereof. The opposite tubing ends are closed in an expedient manner. In terms of appearance, the film tubing is similar to a cold pack or a sausage.

The tubing is laid on the penetration and on the synthetic sheet, in particular vapor barrier sheet. Like a sausage, the tubing encompasses the penetration at the sealing point. Facilitated by the softness of the filler, the tubing nestles up against the penetration and the vapor barrier sheet or plate. Then, the tubing can be firmly pressed on, wherein the filler considerably improves the pressing capacity of the tubing and thus the adhesion between the adhesive layer and contact surface of the tubing at the penetration and synthetic sheet. Therefore, the transition from the penetration to the synthetic sheet is sealed in an extremely effective and air-tight manner. In an expedient manner, the film of the tubing is thin and flexible, in particular pliable, and so the filler can be simply pressed and easily pushed in all directions. In an advantageous manner, the filler is formed in the manner of modeling clay for this purpose. An advantage of the sealing tape in accordance with the invention is that, owing to the modulating capacity and softness of the filler, pockets of air can be very effectively pushed from the adhesive region at the interface between the penetration and synthetic sheet via the adhesive surfaces at the penetration and at the sheet outwards to the two long sides and ends of the installed sealing tape, in particular said pockets of air can be moved outwards in a kneading manner and can thus be eliminated.

After laying and adhering the tubing at the penetration point, the ends of the tubing are connected together in an air-tight manner via overlapping adhesion. In an advantageous manner, no preliminary work is required, as is the case for a conventional sleeve made on site. The sealing tape in accordance with the invention can also be used for already installed penetrations, in contrast to prefabricated sleeves, in particular pipe sleeves which have to placed over the pipe. Since, in an expedient manner, only a very small amount of tensile stress is applied to the tubing, it does not contract to its original format over time in contrast to expandable adhesive tapes.

In an expedient manner, the tubing is formed from a soft, vapor diffusion-resistant and water-tight material. In particular, the material of the at least one tubing-forming film is formed from polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, polypropylene or a combination thereof, preferably as a film laminate. A very high level of stability for the film is advantageously achieved with the materials polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate. Since these materials are also cost- effective to procure, a very favorable sealing tape can thus be provided.

In an expedient manner, the film tubing has a material thickness of 50 to 120 pm, preferably 50 to 100 pm and in a particularly preferred manner 60 to 80 pm. Therefore, the film tubing has on the one hand the required solidity, even when applied in a kneading manner, and on the other hand sufficient flexibility.

It is essential that the tubing is filled with a preferably permanently soft material which can be modulated. A filler consisting of gel, hydrogel, gelatin, acrylate, polyethylene glycol, polysaccharide, gum, silica gel, talc, chalk, polyurethane, latex, polyvinyl alcohol and/or mixtures thereof is particularly suitable for this purpose. Biobased superabsorbers can also preferably be used. The materials listed here are best suited to push pockets of air out of the adhesion region, and eliminate same, after applying the tubing and during adhesion of the sealing tape in the region to be sealed.

Alternatively, although less preferred, a hardening material such as epoxide resin, gypsum, dental cement or cement can also be used as the filler. In this case, the filler can harden at a subsequent point in time. However, in principle this is associated with the disadvantage that the deformability is limited and the actual adhesion between the film tubing and penetration and between the film tubing and synthetic sheet is encumbered by stiffening caused by hardening of the filling compound. A further disadvantage is the storage capacity limited by the hardening at a subsequent point in time because the filler must still be able to be processed in a kneading manner in order to utilize the advantages. Therefore, in contrast the selection of the non-hardening materials mentioned further above is preferred.

In conventional applications in building insulation, the interior of the tubing is filled with the filler up to at least 50%. Preferably, the interior of the tubing is filled with at least between 60% and 100% filler, in a particularly preferred manner between at least 70% and 90%, in a further preferred manner between at least 70% and 80%. In so doing, the filler is preferably distributed uniformly in the longitudinal direction of the tubing. For this purpose, the filler can be received, in an expedient manner, in a sheath, separate from the film tubing, preferably of a film having the above- mentioned properties, which sheath is expediently attached partially to the inner tubing wall and in the longitudinal direction of the tubing.

The adhesive layer arranged on or applied to the outer peripheral surface of the tubing extends over at least between 20% and 60%, preferably at least between 30% and 60%, in a particularly preferred manner between 40% and 50% of the periphery of the tubing, wherein the adhesive layer extends uniformly in this peripheral region along the length of the tubing. In an advantageous manner, the adhesive layer is provided on the outer peripheral surface over half of the periphery. The adhesive layer can be a double-sided adhesive tape which is applied separately to the film tubing, or an adhesive coating. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the adhesive layer includes acrylate, in particular in a further preferred manner water- resistant, UV-crossl inked and/or modified acrylate. Since the adhesive force is very high in this case, a reliably long-lasting seal can be achieved. It is essential that the adhesive layer adheres in a permanent manner. The adhesive layer is advantageously covered with a slotted or non-slotted liner, in a particularly preferred manner a liner of silicon paper or polyethylene. This prevents inactivation of the adhesive layer owing to contamination. Prior to attaching the sealing tape, the liner is pulled off so that the adhesive layer is exposed and the tape can be fixedly adhered.

In an expedient manner, the adhesive application amount is between 80 and 250 g/m ² , preferably 120 to 200 g/m ² .

In a further embodiment of the invention, the film tubing can be closed in an air-tight manner at standardized, regular or even irregular distances so that it can be cut at these points (in the manner of an ice cube pack made from film). In so doing, the tubing is welded at regular and/or irregular distances along its length at at least one point, preferably a multiplicity of points, orthogonal to the longitudinal direction or comprises a separating wall. The points at which the film tubing is to be closed in an air-tight manner can thus be produced by welding at least one of these points along a tubing peripheral line or by a type of separating wall between at least two film tubing sections, specifically for portioning or cutting the length of the tubing and the filler thereof. Therefore, in a simple manner sealing tape blanks having specified tubing lengths and/or filling amounts can be produced. Owing to the flexibility and softness of the filler in the respectively adjoining film tubing section, the adhesive layer surfaces of these separating walls or narrow welded sections, which are without filler, can be compensated for during adhesion and nevertheless can be effectively pressed on. In this context, pre-fabricated sealing tapes having the abovedescribed features and properties are also claimed. In an advantageous manner, predetermined tear lines are provided in the separating walls or at the welded points so that sealing tape sections can be separated off.

Separate protection is claimed for a sealing tape blank or section, preferably prefabricated sealing tape section. This sealing tape blank or section is formed as a tubing from at least one film comprising a filler. The tubing is closed at its opposite ends and so a tubular, in itself closed blank is provided, the filler of which is preferably soft and can be modeled. The outer peripheral surface of the sealing tape blank is at least partially provided with an adhesive layer.

The sealing tape blank which is formed from the tubing with the filler comprises at least one of the above-mentioned features or one of the above-mentioned feature combinations described in relation to the sealing tape.

In an expedient manner and in contrast to a roll of tape, the sealing tape blank is pre-fabricated to length. Different lengths are hereby possible, wherein these lengths are dependent on the outer circumference of the respective penetration.

It is important that a certain overhang remains after wrapping the penetration so that the film tubing ends can be connected together in an air-tight manner by overlapping adhesion. For instance, the outer periphery is 31.4 cm for a pipe diameter of 100 mm. In such a case, it is expedient to provide an overhang of at least 30 mm, preferably at least 50 mm in order to create air-tight overlapping adhesion. In the case where a pipe penetration is installed in a slanted roof, the overhang is larger in an expedient manner because the periphery of the ellipse formed at the penetration point on the slanted roof is greater than the outer circumference of the pipe. Therefore, the pre-fabricated blank is measured preferably by adding the circumference of the penetration plus an overhang of at least 30, preferably at least 50, mm.

The invention will be described hereinafter with the aid of exemplified embodiments which will be explained in more detail with the aid of the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a sealing tape wound in a roll in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2A shows a cross-section through a first exemplified embodiment of a sealing tape of the present invention, wherein the tubing includes only approximately 80% filler in the interior;

Figure 2B shows a cross-section through a tubing of a second exemplified embodiment of the invention, wherein the interior of the tubing is completely filled with filler;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a sealing tape in accordance with the invention adhered at the sealing point after cutting in accordance with a third embodiment;

Figure 4 shows a cross-section through a sealing tape section attached at a penetration point. Figure 1 shows a sealing tape 1 in accordance with the invention which is wound in form of a roll and which is formed as a tubing 4 from at least one film. A filler 5 is received in the tubing 4 which is soft and can be modeled. On the inner side of the outer peripheral surface 6 of the tape, i.e. the side facing the wound roll, the tubing is provided at least partially with an adhesive layer 7 (not shown in figure 1). The tubular shape of the sealing tape 1 is flexible and so, owing to the modeling clay-like filling 5, unevenness on the outer peripheral surfaces 6 of the tubing can be seen. In this exemplified embodiment, the tubing 4 is completely filled with filler 5. Since the film is flexible, the sealing tape 1 can be kneaded very effectively.

Figure 2A shows a cross-section through the sealing tape 1 in accordance with the invention in a second embodiment. It can be clearly seen that the interior 10 of the tubing is not completely filled with filler 5. Approximately 80% of the hollow inner space of the tubing 4 is filled with filler 5, wherein the remaining 20% of the inner space 10 of the tubing is not filled with filler 5 but preferably comprises approximately up to 20% air.

In this second embodiment, the filler 5 itself is additionally encased by a second film 11 , wherein this is not absolutely necessary. However, the filler 5 completely fills this second film casing 11. The second film 11 is attached, preferably adhered, partially to the inner wall of the tubing.

In a third particularly preferred embodiment as per figure 2B, a further cross-section through a sealing tape 1 in accordance with the present invention is shown. In this exemplified embodiment, the tubing 4 is completely filled with filler 5, preferably up to 100%. An adhesive layer 7 extends over half of the outer peripheral surface 6. In an expedient manner, the adhesive layer 7 can be a coating which is applied directly to the outer peripheral surface 6 of the tubing 4, e.g. by spraying. In the two illustrated exemplified embodiments of figures 2A and 2B, the tubing 4 can be formed from more than one film, and so the tubing 4 is formed as a film laminate (not shown in the figures).

For improved illustration, the sealing tape 1 is shown in figures 2A and 2B with a circular cross-section. It will be self-evident that the actual contour can deviate from the idealized circular illustration owing to the kneading process when applying the sealing tape 1 , cf. also figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a penetration 2 which leads through an opening in a synthetic sheet 3, in particular a vapor barrier sheet, wherein the sheet 3 is attached to a building roof (not shown in figure 3). At the penetration point, i.e. where the - in this case tubular - penetration 2 penetrates the region of the synthetic sheet 3, a sealing tape blank 8 in accordance with the invention as per a further embodiment of the invention is attached. This blank 8 is wrapped around the entire circumference of the penetration 2 and has an excess. Once installation is complete, the tubing section of the blank, protruding in this case in figure 3 to the right of the penetration, is adhered with its adhesive layer 7 to the tubing section already wrapped around the penetration in this case (not shown in figure 3). The sealing tape cutting 8 formed in this case from a polyethylene film indicates in a partial cross-section the filling of the tubing 4 which is made of a soft material which can be modeled. In this embodiment, the filler 5 is a hydrogel which is permanently soft and can be kneaded very easily. It is also readily apparent that the filler 5 is predominantly located in the region of the interface between the penetration 2 and synthetic sheet 3. By modeling the filler 5 is it is possible that this can be attached to the interface region in a precise manner. In a very simple manner, the modeled filler 5 can be pressed-on in this interface region by hand, wherein improved pressure distribution occurs on the adhesive layer 7 by means of the filler 5. The adhesive layer 7 is arranged on the side of the sealing tape 1 which faces the penetration 2 and the synthetic sheet 3. By means of the modeling clay-like filler 5, the adhesive layer 7 can now be fixedly adhered to the penetration 2 and the synthetic sheet 3 very practically by hand and above all over the entire surface, wherein pockets of air are pushed outwards by applying pressure by hand to the tubing starting from the interface - indicated by a dashed line - between the penetration 2 and the synthetic sheet 3. By means of the soft filler 5 which can be modeled, the number of pockets of air can be drastically reduced or completely eliminated.

Figure 4 shows a cross-section through a partial region of the sealing tape 1 shown in figure 3. It is clearly apparent from the illustration that the filler 5 is not 100% received in the tubing-forming film of the sealing tape 1 , but makes up approximately 80% of the inner space of the tubing. The modeled filling compound is pushed towards the interface 12 between the penetration 2 and sheet 3 and so the filler 5 is pushed upwards along the penetration 2 and is pushed to the left along the synthetic sheet 3 (in a plan view of the image).