Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Discontinuous or differential coating – impregnation or bond
Patent
1991-08-16
1993-04-20
Lesmes, George F.
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond
428253, 428285, 428286, 428920, B32B 1702, B32B 522, B27N 950
Patent
active
052041727
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to flexible laminated fabrics which are suitable for use as fire barriers and thermal insulation materials.
British Standard BS 476 part 20 lays down certain standards which fire barriers have to meet to be acceptable. In certain cases there is a requirement that the barrier should retain its insulation performance for at least 30 minutes. Whilst in some cases products can be designed to meet this specification by making them thicker or more bulky there are applications where the increased weight per unit area, thickness and/or bulk are unacceptable. There is therefore a need for a lightweight flexible fabric barrier which will conform with the fire resistance standards but which is of reduced thickness and/or weight per unit area compared to prior art barriers and the present invention seeks to meet this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a laminated fabric comprises a first layer of knitted glass fabric, a second layer of heat reflecting foil, a third layer comprising a woven glass fabric and a fourth layer comprising an abrasion resistant material.
Suitably the first layer is a weft knitted fabric, and the second layer is selected from the group comprising aluminium foil and stainless steel foil. Desirably the first layer is clad on each surface with a second, a third and a fourth layer.
The invention provides a flexible fabric which is lightweight, very flexible, and can be made quite thin and still meet the above-mentioned British Standard specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of an example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 shows, schematically, a cross-section through a flexible fire barrier constructed in accordance with the present invention, and
FIG. 2 shows a length of barrier material of the type shown in FIG. 1, as a partly rolled-up blanket.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a barrier 9 comprises a layer of weft knitted texturised glass fabric 10. This fabric is knitted from electrical grade glass filaments of approximately 6.mu. diameter to give a layer of approximately 8 mm thick.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the fabric 10 is leached in hydrochloric acid to remove impurities and thus improve its temperature resistance.
A heat reflective layer 11, for example an aluminium foil, about 15.mu. thick is located adjacent each surface of the fabric 10. The aluminium layers 11 are not bonded to the fabric 10. Each aluminium layer 11 is preferably bonded, using a neoprene or a silicone adhesive, to an outer layer of woven glass fabric 12. It is not absolutely necessary to bond the aluminium to the outer layer 12 at this stage of manufacture. The fabric layer 12 is a plain weave using electrical grade glass filaments of about 9.mu. diameter. The outermost surface of each fabric layer 12 is coated with a thin skin of silicone rubber 13 to provide abrasion resistance. The total thickness of the barrier shown in the drawing is about 12 mm, although various thicknesses can be produced using different diameters of glass filaments.
Various modifications can be made without departing from the invention. For example although the aluminium heat reflective layers 11 are shown in the drawing between the knitted fabric layer 10 and each woven fabric layer 12, the aluminium layers 11 could be provided on the outside surface of the woven layer 12. In this case, the silicone rubber 13 would be applied to the aluminium layers 11, and the aluminium layers 11 would be bonded to the surface of the woven layers 12. The silicone rubber could be omitted, in which case the glass fabric would be subjected to a vermiculite treatment.
In yet a further modification, a thicker barrier could be made by adding one or more layers of knitted glass fabrics similar to the layer 10. In this modification, heat reflective layers of aluminium could be located between knitted glass layers, although it may also be poss
REFERENCES:
patent: 4777086 (1988-10-01), Madden et al.
patent: 4865907 (1989-09-01), Julis et al.
patent: 4948660 (1990-08-01), Rias et al.
Courtaulds PLC
Lesmes George F.
Shelborne Kathryne
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