EP2365147A1

EP2365147A1 - An optimized method for preparing insulation material

Info

Publication number: EP2365147A1
Application number: EP10002294A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Axel Manøe Jepsen
Original assignee: Seelen AS
Current assignee: Seelen AS
Priority date: 2010-03-05
Filing date: 2010-03-05
Publication date: 2011-09-14

Abstract

The invention discloses a piece of compressible insulation material and a method of preparing such, wherein said method comprises separating said insulation material into smaller sections such that two neighbouring smaller sections are still connected in at least one point.

Description

The invention relates to the preparation of insulation material and an optimized method for wrapping insulation material in foil.

Background

Insulation material to be used in e.g. the building industry is conventionally produced in a large continuous piece by a production machine. After exiting the production machine, the large continuous piece is cut into smaller well defined rectangular pieces, which are subsequently stacked, compressed and wrapped in foil thereby forming smaller packages. Normally, these smaller packages are packed together and wrapped one more time in foil thereby forming larger packages, which are easily transported to e.g. a construction site.
As a consequence of the above, larger rectangular packages of compressed insulation material need to be handled, when e.g. isolating a house. Rectangular packages can be easily stabled on top of one another, which enables an easy transport in e.g. a car or a truck. However, it is seldomly convenient for one person to carry such a large rectangular package from one place to another, in particular if this involves going up staircases, pressing the package through a hatch to an attic, or the like.
When opening one of the smaller packages with compressed insulation material, the material will unavoidably "pop" out of the package as it expands. As the expansion will not occur until the package is at the place where the foil is removed first, the stack of insulation material will easily topple over to one side. The net result is thereby that the insulation material will spread over a large area, which can be rather inconvenient.

Description of the invention

Disclosed herein is also a method of preparing compressible insulation material, wherein said method comprises separating said insulation material into smaller sections such that two neighbouring smaller sections are still connected in at least one point. As the method ensures that the material is easily separated into smaller sections, it is highly convenient for a person to work with insulation material handled in this manor. Further, by having the smaller sections predefined, a consistency in the size and shape of the sections is ensured, which is essential when using the material for e.g. isolating a house or the like. Obtaining the same consistency in the size and shape is nearly unobtainable if a person was to cut smaller sections of insulation material from a large piece of material, which has not been divided into smaller sections as described above. Thus dividing the insulation material in smaller sections is time-saving, just as it ensures a size and shape consistency and reduces the hand power needed in the process
In one or more embodiments said insulation material is separated into smaller sections in two directions oriented perpendicularly in relation to each other, thereby forming a matrix pattern, which gives an optimized utilization of a larger piece of insulation material.
In one or more embodiments said smaller sections have a rectangular shape, making them easy to handle and to work with.
In one or more embodiments said method further comprises the actions of 1) rolling said insulation material into a roll; 2) compressing said roll of insulation material; and 3) wrapping said roll of insulation material in foil. Since all the smaller sections are connected, packing them into a roll eliminates the previously observed problems with tipping of stacks of individual sections packed together upon opening of the compressed stack of material. The roll further ensures an easy transport of the insulation material and an easy unrolling of the material, thereby allowing the craftsman to access all or only parts of the material depending on how much of it he/she unrolls at the time. Also, rolling and subsequently wrapping the material in foil reduces the amount of foil needed to wrap the compressed insulation material compared to the amount of foil needed to wrap a package of separate, individual sections.
In one or more embodiments said actions of rolling and compressing said compressible material occurs simultaneously, which optimizes the wrapping process time wise.
Disclosed herein is also a division of compressible insulation material, wherein said insulation material is separated into smaller sections such that two neighbouring smaller sections are still connected in at least one point. As the material is easily separated into smaller sections, it is highly convenient for a person to work with the insulation material. Further, since all the smaller sections are connected, packing of them into e.g. a roll is easily done, without experiencing the previously observed problems with tipping of stacks of individual sections packed together upon opening of the compressed stack of material.
In one or more embodiments said insulation material is divided into smaller sections in two directions oriented perpendicularly in relation to each other, thereby forming a matrix pattern, which gives an optimized utilization of a larger piece of insulation material.
In one or more embodiments said insulation material is divided into smaller sections in one direction only. This makes a roll of such material either long and thin or short and thick - both of which can be advantageous for transportation and/or handling in a further process.
In one or more embodiments said smaller sections have a rectangular shape, making them easy to handle and to work with.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 illustrates the large continuous piece of insulation material coming directly out of the production machine.
Figure 2a illustrates a prior art solution of cutting a large section of insulation material into smaller pieces, and figure 2b illustrates a packages when these smaller pieces have been stacked, compressed and wrapped.
Figure 3 illustrates the large continuous piece of insulation material which is divided into smaller sections.
Figures 4a-d illustrate alternative examples of patterns dividing the large continuous piece of insulation material into smaller sections.
Figures 5a-d illustrate different examples of patterns dividing the large continuous piece of insulation material in smaller sections.
Figure 6 illustrates a side view of the compressed insulation material wrapped into a manageable roll.
Figure 7 illustrates a side view of several smaller rolls of the compressed insulation material wrapped into one larger roll.
Figures 8a-d illustrate the process from having a roll of compressed insulation material to having a smaller section of insulation material ready for use.

Description of preferred embodiments

Figure 1 illustrates a large continuous piece 100 of insulation material coming directly out of the production machine 102, the latter illustrated schematically. The continuous piece 100 of insulation material is cut into larger sections after exiting the production machine 102. This can be done at the production line or at an alternative place. In figure 1, the arrow 104 points to a position along the production line, where the insulation material 100 can be cut, e.g. by a knife-holding machine.
In the prior art solution shown in figure 2a, the large section of insulation material 200 is cut into smaller separate sections 202. These separate sections 202 are subsequently stacked, compressed and wrapped in foil 204 thereby forming smaller rectangular packages 206 as shown in figure 2b.
Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of this invention, wherein the large section of insulation material 300 contrary to the prior art solution shown in figures 2a and b is divided into smaller sections 302 instead of being fully cut into smaller sections. The division is done in such a manner that the individual smaller sections 302 are only partly cut from the large section of insulation material 300 thereby keeping each small individual section 302 connected with the neighbouring small section(s) in at least one point. Thus the insulation material 300 is still one entire piece. The positions, where the neighbouring sections 302 of insulation material are still connected, are marked with white 304 in the figure, whereas the black lines 306 are the positions, where the neighbouring sections 302 of insulation material are fully separated.
The division of the insulation material 300 can be done e.g. by a machine, which has a knife cutting the insulation material 300 at the positions 306 marked with black in the figure.
The individual sections 302 are normally of the same size and shape, and can be separated by ripping the material 300 at the positions 304 where the sections 302 are still connected to the neighbouring section. Thus the person using the insulation material 300 does not need to cut through a large piece of material in order to get a small manageable piece of material, as he/she can just rip it from the larger section of insulation material 300. Further, by having the sections 302 predefined, a consistency in the size and shape of the sections 302 is ensured, which is essential when using the material for e.g. isolating a house or the like. Obtaining the same consistency in the size and shape is impossible if a person was to cut smaller sections of insulation material from a large piece of material, which has not been divided into smaller sections as described above. Thus dividing the insulation material 300 in smaller sections 302 saves time, reduces the hand power needed in the process, and ensures a size and shape consistency.
As an alternative to ripping the material by hand, one can also use a small knife or the like.
The insulation material 300 can be divided into the smaller sections 302 in different directions. Normally, it will be divided in two directions 308, 310, which are perpendicularly oriented in relation to each other as shown in figure 3. Alternatively, the material 300 can be divided into the smaller sections 302 in only one direction or in more than two different directions as e.g. shown in figure 5c.
The insulation material 300 can be divided in smaller sections 302 in different ways as illustrated in figures 4a-c. Figure 4a shows a dotted 402 division pattern, where the neighbouring individual smaller sections 302 are connected in several places along the lines separating the different sections 302. Figure 4b shows an alternative division pattern 404, where the neighbouring individual smaller sections 302 are connected only at the corner ends. Different division patterns 406, 408 can also be used as illustrated in figures 4c-d. For all the figures, the position where the neighbouring sections 302 of insulation material are still connected are marked with white 304, whereas the black lines 306 are the positions, where the neighbouring sections 302 of insulation material are separated.
In figures 3 and 4a-d examples are shown where the smaller sections have a rectangular shape with the long side of the rectangle being parallel to the length of the insulation material. In alternative embodiments the long side of the rectangle could of course also be parallel to the width of the insulation material. The rectangular sections being rotated 90 degrees compared to the examples of figure 3 and 4a-d.
Normally, the smaller sections 302 have a rectangular shape 502 as shown in figure 5a. Alternative shapes, such as squares 504 as shown in figure 5b or triangles 506 as shown in figure 5c, can however also be used. The smaller sections 302 might be divided by the dotted pattern shown in figures 5a-c or by an alternative pattern as e.g. shown in figures 4b-d.
As shown in figure 5d, the smaller sections do not necessarily need to be of the same size and/or shape through out the entire piece of insulation material 300. Some sections can be of a larger rectangular shape 508 while others might have a smaller square shape 510. Still, the sections having the same size and shape will ensure the required size/shape-consistency needed when applying the material.
Figure 6 illustrates a side view of the compressed insulation material 300 wrapped into a manageable roll 600. Creating the roll 600 is done by rolling and compressing the insulation material 300 - either in one step or in two separate steps - and subsequently wrapping foil 602 around the roll 600. The division of the insulation material 300 into smaller sections 302 can also be seen in the figure.
Rolling the insulation material 300 is advantageous as it reduces the amount of foil 602 needed to wrap the material compared to the amount of foil needed to wrap a package of separate individual sections 302 stacked on top of one another as shown in the prior art figure 2b.
Further, the roll of insulation material 600 has a shape, which makes it easy to transport and carry for a single person. Pressing a roll 600 through e.g. a hatch to an attic is easily done for a single person as compared to pressing the prior art rectangular package 206 shown in figure 2b through the same place.
Figure 7 illustrates a side view of several smaller rolls 600 of the compressed insulation material positioned next to each other and wrapped in foil 702 resulting in a package comprising 3 smaller rolls of insulation material 700. In this way a larger amount of smaller rolls can easily be transported and/or carried up and down stairs or the likes. The figure displays 3 smaller rolls 600 wrapped into one large roll 700, but both fewer and more rolls 600 can be wrapped into the larger roll 700 as well.
Figures 8a-d illustrate the process from having a roll 600 of compressed insulation material 300 to having a smaller section 302 of insulation material 300 ready for use.
In figure 8a, the roll 600 of compressed insulation material 300 is shown in a side-view after it has been transported to the site where it is to be used. When the foil 602 is removed, the insulation material 300 can be rolled out for use as shown in a side-view in figure 8b. Depending on the working space available at the site, the roll 600 can be rolled out fully or only partly as shown in the figure. The option of only partly rolling out the material 300 after the foil 602 has been removed gives one a good control of the material 300. Thus, the problems with stacks 206 tipping over previously observed when opening packages containing stacks of smaller compressed sections are avoided.
Figure 8c shows a top-view of the insulation material 300 after it has been fully rolled out. In this embodiment of the invention, the insulation material 300 has a dotted division pattern 402 dividing the material 300 in smaller rectangular sections 502. Instead of the dotted division pattern and the rectangular shape of he smaller sections, different mixtures of the alternatives shown in figures 4a-c and figures 5a-d could also be used.
Figure 8d shows the separation of the material 300 into the smaller sections 502, e.g. used for isolating a house. One does not need to separate all the individual sections at once - this can be done when the material is needed. Also, the remaining part of the material not used on one day, can easily be rolled up again for storage until the next day.

References

100: large continuous piece of insulation material
102: production machine
104: place where the large continuous piece of insulation material is cut into smaller pieces
200: insulation material
202: smaller sections of insulation material
204: foil
206: rectangular package of stacked, compressed and wrapped insulation material
300: large section of insulation material
302: smaller section of insulation material
304: position where the neighbouring sections of insulation material are still connected
306: position where the neighbouring sections of insulation material are separated
308: first direction
310: second direction
402: first division pattern
404: second division pattern
406: third division pattern
408: fourth division pattern
502: rectangular shaped section
504: square shaped section
506: triangular shaped section
508: larger rectangular shaped section
510: smaller square shaped section
600: roll of insulation material
602: foil
700: Package comprising 3 smaller rolls of insulation material
702: foil

Claims

A method of preparing compressible insulation material (300), wherein said method comprises separating said insulation material into smaller sections (302) such that two neighbouring smaller sections are still connected in at least one point.
A method according to claim 1, wherein said insulation material (300) is separated into smaller sections (302) in two directions (308, 310) oriented perpendicularly in relation to each other, thereby forming a matrix pattern.
A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said smaller sections have a rectangular shape (502).
A method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein said method further comprises the actions of:
o rolling said insulation material into a roll (600);

o compressing said roll (600) of insulation material; and

o wrapping said roll of insulation material in foil (602).
A method according to claim 4, wherein said actions of rolling and compressing said insulation material occurs simultaneously.
A division of compressible insulation material (300), wherein said insulation material is separated into smaller sections (302) such that two neighbouring smaller sections are still connected in at least one point.
A division of insulation material (300) according to claim 6, wherein said insulation material (300) is divided into smaller sections (302) in two directions oriented perpendicularly in relation to each other, thereby forming a matrix pattern.
A division of insulation material (300) according to claim 6, wherein said insulation material (300) is divided into smaller sections (302) in one direction only.
A division of insulation material (300) according to any of the claims 6-8, wherein said smaller sections have a rectangular shape (502).