Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Sheet including cover or casing – Filled with gas other than air; or under vacuum
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-21
2003-11-11
Thomas, Alexander S. (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Sheet including cover or casing
Filled with gas other than air; or under vacuum
C428S072000, C428S076000, C428S195100, C428S198000, C052S406200, C052S406300, C052S407500, C126S618000, C165S046000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06645598
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention involves heat insulation for building structures whereby the walls, roof, ceiling, floors and other partitions of the building are insulated with flexible sheets of heat insulation material. More particularly, this invention involves heat insulation material that utilizes, in various combinations, phase change material, heat reflective material, dead air space, and fibrous blanket material, for use alone or in combination with other heat insulation materials in a building structure, to retard the transfer of heat between adjacent spaces about a building structure. Also, the method of making cell blanket heat insulation with a layer of phase change material is disclosed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Heat insulation material placed in walls, ceilings, roofs, floors and other areas about a building typically comprise fibrous blanket insulation, such as elongated blankets formed of fiberglass. The principle of the blanket insulation is to form dead air spaces that provide insulation against convection and conduction heat transfer. The blanket insulation can be formed in small “clumps” and blown into spaces such as into the attics of residential homes and other areas about building structures, and also can be made into elongated blankets formed in a specific width and thickness that are suitable for placement between parallel joists, studs, rafters, purlins and other parallel support structures that are uniformly spaced apart. The elongated blanket, such as a fiberglass blanket, usually is supplied in reels and is cut to the desired length at the job site for placement between the parallel structures.
Fiberglass is one of the more desirable materials for forming blanket insulation because it holds its shape and traps a substantial amount of air between its fibers to form the dead air spaces. However, the fiberglass alone does not provide adequate heat insulation against radiant heat transfer.
In the recent past, an additional sheet of radiant heat reflective material has been applied in building structures, sometimes in combination with other materials such as blanket material. The reflective material, such as aluminum foil, functions as a reflective surface for reflecting radiant heat, thereby functioning as a barrier to radiant heat transfer, and enhancing the insulation capabilities of the other heat insulation materials.
One of the problems with the above noted heat reflective insulation is that when reflective surfaces of the heat reflective foil engage another surface, such as an adjacent layer of insulation material or the structure of the building, the foil loses at least some of its ability to reflect heat. A space, such as a dead air space, must be maintained adjacent the foil in order for the foil to function as an effective heat reflector.
Another problem with the use of reflective surfaces in combination with other insulation materials for heat insulation is that if the surface of the reflective sheet material should become dirty from an accumulation of dust, trash, fibers, vapor, etc., the reflective sheet loses its ability to reflect radiant heat, and therefore loses its insulation value.
Another insulation innovation that has been developed in the recent past is the use of phase change material (“PCM”) in combination with other insulation materials. The PCM loses heat when it changes phase from a liquid to a solid and absorbs heat when it changes phase from a solid to a liquid. These changes of phase occur at a substantially constant temperature for the PCM. The net result is that when the PCM is used in a roof structure, for example, and the outside temperature begins to rise to a level higher than the phase change temperature, the PCM will remain at its phase change temperature as the PCM changes phase from a solid to a liquid. In the meantime, the PCM absorbs heat from the outside, warmer atmosphere without changing its own temperature or influencing a change of temperature in the inside atmosphere of the building structure. This effectively delays the transfer of heat from outside to inside of the building structure, reducing the load to be carried by the conventional air conditioning system of the building structure.
Likewise, the reverse is true when the outside temperature becomes lower than the phase change temperature of the PCM. The PCM begins to change phase from liquid to solid at a substantially constant temperature, gradually giving up its heat to the outside, cooler atmosphere, thereby delaying the transfer of heat from the warm interior of the building to the cooler outside atmosphere.
The use of PCM as an insulator for building structures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,936, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Although the use of PCM has been disclosed in the prior art as being used as an insulator for building structures, the production and installation of insulators that include PCM is still somewhat expensive and not appreciated by most in the industry.
It is to these problems that this invention is addressed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, the present invention comprises an improved heat insulation assembly for placement in and for becoming a part of a building structure, for insulating the structure from conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer through the wall structures of the building. This includes vertical walls, ceilings, roofs, floors, and other partitions that separate the interior temperature controlled spaces from outside uncontrolled temperature spaces, generally referred to herein as “wall structures.”
In the disclosed embodiments, radiant heat insulation is used, either alone or in combination with other types of heat insulation. Also, phase change material (“PCM”) is used in combination with other heat insulation materials.
The radiant heat insulation includes heat reflective sheet material, such as radiant heat reflective metal foil, radiant heat reflective metalized plastic sheet material, and plastic material coated with reflective substances such as metal. More specifically, the reflective material can be formed of the group consisting essentially of metalized polyester, metalized polyethylene, metalized polyvinyl chloride, and metalized polypropylene. Typically, foil and other radiant heat reflective sheet materials are silver in color, or other efficient radiant heat reflective colors. The reflective surface of the sheet is maintained in a spaced relationship with respect to the next adjacent structure, and is enclosed in a space that protects the reflective surfaces of the reflective sheet from the accumulation of dirt, dust, insulation fibers, vapor and other things that are likely to occlude or diminish the reflective properties of the reflective surface of the reflective sheet.
In addition to reflective insulation, the invention includes use of phase change material in combination with the reflective material. Phase change material can be any material that changes between a liquid state and a solid state in response to the change in temperature, when the temperature rises across the phase change temperature of the PCM or decreases from a level higher than to a level lower than the phase change temperature of the PCM. PCM suitable for use can include calcium chloride hexahydrate, sodium sulfate, paraffin, Na
2
SO
4
.10H
2
O, CaCl
2
.6H
2
O, NaHPO
4
.12H
2
O, Na
2
S
2
O
3
.5H
2
O, and NaCO
3
.10H
2
O.
An example of the use of PCM as a heat insulator is when the PCM is placed in an exterior wall or attic of a building and the outside temperature rises from a level substantially lower than the phase change temperature of the PCM to a level substantially higher than the phase change temperature of the PCM. As the temperature exceeds the phase change temperature of the PCM, the PCM remains at the same temperature as it absorbs heat that causes the PCM to change phase from solid to liquid. This has the effect of delaying the transfer of heat from the warmer atmosphere to the cooler interior of the building.
In the reverse situation, the outside temperature
Thomas Alexander S.
Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley
LandOfFree
Cell insulation blanket with phase change material, and... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Cell insulation blanket with phase change material, and..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cell insulation blanket with phase change material, and... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3148376