Fabric (woven – knitted – or nonwoven textile or cloth – etc.) – Scrim
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-16
2003-09-30
Morris, Terrel (Department: 1764)
Fabric (woven, knitted, or nonwoven textile or cloth, etc.)
Scrim
C442S394000, C442S397000, C442S344000, C442S414000, C442S417000, C442S082000, C442S085000, C442S086000, C442S169000, C428S347000, C428S421000, C428S920000, C428S027000, C428S040600, C428S138000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06627561
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a burn through and flame propagation resistant layer or covering for use in thermal and acoustical insulation systems, such as, but not limited to, those used in commercial aircraft. Preferably, for many applications such as commercial aircraft, the burn through and flame propagation resistant layer is also water vapor transmission resistant. The invention can be used as a layer or covering, e.g. interleaved between, laid over, or laid behind layers of thermal and acoustical insulation material or as a covering or bag for partially or totally encapsulating one or more layers of thermal and acoustical insulation material. While the burn through and flame propagation resistant layer or covering of the present invention is particularly well suited for aircraft applications, especially when the layer or covering is also water vapor transmission resistant, the burn through and flame propagation layer or covering may also be used for other applications where layers or coverings having these properties are needed or desirable.
The Notice of Proposed Rule-making expected to be issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the near future will require thermal and acoustical insulation blanket systems in commercial aircraft to provide improved burn through protection and flame propagation resistance. These systems typically include thermal and acoustical insulation blankets encapsulated within a film covering or bag. As the thermal and acoustical insulation systems are currently constructed, the burn through regulations primarily affect the contents of the insulation systems bags and the flame propagation resistance regulations primarily affect the film coverings used to fabricate the bags. Previous development work by a number of manufacturers has addressed the burn through resistance of the insulation within the bags or the flame propagation resistance of the film coverings used to fabricate the bags housing the insulation. However, no current system has solved both problems in the same product while providing the properties and low costs necessary for widespread commercial acceptance. Some of the systems currently being proposed are outlined in the following paragraphs.
With regard to burn through resistance one proposed system would utilize one or more layers of a nonwoven mat, made of fibers commercially available from The 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn. under the trade designation “NEXTEL” as a fire barrier in the insulation blanket. The mat weighs 65 g/m
2
and costs $15.00/m
2
or more. Flame propagation issues still have to be addressed in connection with the film covering material.
With regard to flame propagation resistance, one proposed system would use a reinforced metallized polyvinylfluoride film covering manufactured by Facile Holdings, Inc. of Paterson, N.J., under the trade designations “INSULFAB 330® or INSULFAB 331®”. The reinforced metallized polyvinylfluoride film provides flame propagation resistance to the system but weighs 44 g/m
2
and costs about $9.00/m
2
compared to the reinforced polyester film covering currently used to fabricate the bag which weighs 25 g/m
2
and costs about $2.70/m
2
.
Another proposal for flame propagation resistance is a system which would use reinforced polyimide film covering material manufactured by Orcon Corporation under the trade designation “KN-80®”. The reinforced polyimide film covering material provides flame propagation resistance to the system but weighs 50 g/m
2
and costs about $13.00/m
2
compared to the reinforced polyester film covering currently used to fabricate the bag which weighs 25 g/m
2
and costs about $2.70/m
2
. Alone, this reinforced polyimide film covering does not provide significant burn through resistance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The preferred burn through and flame propagation resistant layer or covering of the present invention, which is also water vapor transmission resistant, provides a solution, in a single light weight product, to both the burn through and the flame propagation requirements for light weight, thermal and acoustical insulation systems (such as those to be used in commercial aircraft) while also providing the water vapor transmission resistance required by such insulation systems. Furthermore, the burn through, flame propagation and water vapor transmission resistant layer or covering of the present invention can be easily incorporated into such insulation systems without the need to redesign the individual components of the system, e.g. by making the bag that contains or houses the insulation of the system from the covering of the present invention. Typically, the individual thermal and acoustical insulation components used to insulate aircraft fuselages are specifically designed at considerable cost to very close tolerances (e.g. length, width, thickness, and configuration) to precisely fit each specific portion of the fuselage. Thus, the ability to incorporate the burn through, flame propagation and, preferably, water vapor transmission resistant layer or covering of the present invention into such insulation systems without the need to redesign the individual components of the system is a valuable characteristic of the present invention.
One preferred embodiment of the burn through, flame propagation and water vapor transmission resistant system of the present invention includes a layer or covering which includes a sheet of burn through and flame propagation resistant paper made of aramid fibers, mica flakes, and aramid fibrid binder; and a sheet of water vapor transmission and flame propagation resistant polymeric film which has a major surface bonded to one major surface of the sheet of burn through and flame propagation resistant paper to form a laminated sheet. The laminated sheet may include a second sheet of polymeric film bonded to the other major surface of the burn through and flame propagation resistant paper.
The laminated sheet may also have a scrim layer incorporated into or bonded to the sheet or one of the sheets of the polymeric film and/or the sheet of burn through and flame propagation resistant paper to add strength to the laminated sheet, especially puncture and tear resistance. Furthermore, the sheet of polymeric film or, when two sheets of polymeric film are used, one of the sheets or both sheets of polymeric film in the laminated sheet may have a second major surface coated with a heat or ultrasonically sealable adhesive (hereinafter “a heat sealable adhesive”) for securing the laminated sheet: to itself or to another laminated sheet to form a covering, envelope, or bag for containing or encapsulating an insulation material; to an insulation layer; or to a structure, such as the skin, framework and/or the trim panels of an aircraft fuselage.
When the burn through and flame propagation resistant laminated sheet is also water vapor transmission resistant and the laminated sheet is formed into a covering, such as a bag or envelope, that partially or totally encloses or encapsulates one or more layers of thermal and acoustical insulation material, such as lightweight, flexible, glass fiber blankets or sheets of polyimide foam, the covering, envelope or bag formed from the laminated sheet serves to inhibit water vapor transmission during normal service and to inhibit both burn through and flame propagation in the event of fire. When the burn through and flame propagation resistant laminated sheet is also water vapor transmission resistant, the laminated sheet may also be used between layers or as a covering for one or more layers of lightweight, flexible, thermal and acoustical insulation material in an insulation system to inhibit water vapor transmission during normal service and to inhibit both burn through and flame propagation in the event of fire. For example, the laminated sheet may be used in a “wallpaper” application as a covering or layer that is located intermediate insulation material in fuselage wall cavities and the outer skin of an aircraft fuselage (as an outboard layer of an insulati
Fay Ralph Michael
Wulliman Rebecca S.
Johns Manville International Inc.
Morris Terrel
Touslee Robert D.
Wachtel Alexis
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