Pipes and tubular conduits – Distinct layers – With intermediate insulation layer
Patent
1994-11-23
1997-03-18
Scherbel, David
Pipes and tubular conduits
Distinct layers
With intermediate insulation layer
138121, 138156, 138122, 138133, F16L 714
Patent
active
056113749
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to thermally insulating pipe lagging and to its method of manufacture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pipes or ducts that convey a fluid at a temperature that differs from the temperature of the ambient medium are generally provided with lagging that surrounds them and that performs two or three functions, namely: providing thermal insulation, protecting said pipes or ducts, and also protecting personnel who may be called upon to move about in the vicinity of said pipes or ducts when they are located at ground or floor level or within reach of a person.
Proposals have thus been made to provide such ducts or pipes with lagging made of foamed plastics material, e.g. PVC, and although such lagging is satisfactory with respect to providing thermal insulation, it is nevertheless mechanically fragile, and is also unsatisfactory for implementation in confined spaces (mine galleries, submarines, etc . . . ) where it is required that the lagging used should present a certain amount of resistance to fire and that it should not give off toxic smoke or vapor in the event of a fire. Consequently, in such applications, conventional lagging made of plastics foam is unsuitable, and instead use is made of casing based on mats of resin-impregnated fiberglass of considerable thickness, the mats being built up and allowed to set in situ, or in a variant being applied to lengths of pipe in workshops fitted for that task. Although the results obtained are satisfactory, this is achieved only at the cost of difficulty in implementation when the pipes are covered in situ, or else at the cost of a very large amount of work to dismantle the pipes, to transport them from the locations at which they are installed to lagging factories, and back again, etc . . . such that when it is necessary to equip a building or a ship that has a very large number of pipes or ducts of complex shape, then installing such insulating lagging gives rise to considerable constraints.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As a result, a general object of the invention is to provide thermally insulating pipe lagging that avoids the drawbacks of known lagging based on plastics material foam.
Another object of the invention is to provide such thermally insulating lagging suitable for being installed on a pipe or duct that is to be fitted therewith without any need for the pipe or duct to be "swaddled" in casing based on mats of resin-impregnated fiberglass.
Another object of the invention is to provide such thermally insulation pipe lagging that is flexible and which can therefore be installed on the pipes or ducts to be fitted therewith while fitting closely to the often complex shape of said pipe or duct.
Another object of the invention is to provide thermally insulating pipe lagging having good mechanical strength, which does not make the pipe or duct fitted therewith any bulkier than a pipe or duct fitted with known lagging, and which also provides thermal insulation that is at least as good as if not better than that of prior devices.
Finally, an object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing such lagging.
According to the invention, thermally insulating pipe lagging is characterized in that it comprises a tube made of a material of the compact and flexible elastomer type, designed to come into contact with the pipe to be insulated, and which is shaped on its inside surface with a helical groove that leaves a "coil" filled with air or gas between its adjacent turns when the lagging is in place on said pipe and surrounds it.
The air- or gas-filled "coil" provides a fraction of the insulation of the lagging, with the remainder of the insulation being provided by the structure of the lagging as described below.
According to another characteristic of the invention, in order to obtain good mechanical strength, in particular resistance to be being crushed, the lagging further comprises a helical reinforcing winding, advantageously in the form of a rod of thermoplastic material.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invent
REFERENCES:
patent: 3060069 (1962-10-01), Sindars
patent: 4417603 (1983-11-01), Argy
patent: 4570679 (1986-02-01), Schippl
patent: 4605043 (1986-08-01), Grenier
patent: 5148836 (1992-09-01), Lawrence
patent: 5279333 (1994-01-01), Lawrence
patent: 5462090 (1995-10-01), Winter et al.
Blin Philippe
Mahin Daniel
Brinson Patrick F.
Hutchinson
Scherbel David
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