Method for producing polymeric fiber insulation batts for residential and commercial construction applications

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-07-30
V&W ACQUISITION LLC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]In a second aspect, the invention is a polymeric fiber thermal insulation batt in the form of a boardstock having an uncompressed thickness of from 25 to 300 mm, the batt exhibiting an overhang deflection value of 240 mm or less, wherein the batt is formed of entangled and melt-bonded polymeric fibers, the polymeric fibers including from 55-80% by weight of at least one staple fiber and from 20-45% by weight of at least one binder fiber, wherein the average fiber diameter is from 12.0 to 20.5 microns and at least 55% by weight of the fibers are crimped, and the insulation batt A) has an uncompressed bulk density of from 6 to 14 kg/m3 and B) exhibits a lambda value of from 35-50 mW/m-K.
[0016]In another aspect, th

Problems solved by technology

The main problem with down is its high cost.
The high cost of down now restricts its use almost exclusively to higher-end textile applications.
Therefore, much effort has gone into developing less-expensive alternatives to down for textile applications.
The challenge has been to develop materials that provide comparable thermal insulation properties, are light in weight, and have acceptable tactile properties.
For that reason, cost differences between alternative materials in many cases will not drive the selection of one material over another, if important properties are sacrificed as a result.
However, these materials are irritants, and can cause injury to skin, eyes, and lungs (if inhaled, as is often the case).
Fiberglass insulation tends to be hard to work with, because it is very flexible at the densities used in building insulation applications.
As a result, sections of fiberglass insulation with useful thicknesses and lengths for most cavity insulation applications cannot support their own weight.
Fiberglass insulation batting has the additional disadvantage of not tearing easily in more or less straight line.
This makes it difficult for one person to install.
The added labor increases installation costs.
If it cannot do so, it will not provide the desired thermal resistance.
One of the main problems is the cost of the fibers.
Most synthetic polymer fibers are expensive, relative to fiberglass or mineral wool.
There have been attempts to produce a synthetic fiber batting for building insulation applications, but so far these products have not been successful in meeting both performance and cost expectations.
Because of the high densities of most of these products, their cost is too high to compete with fiberglass or mineral wool battings.
As shown by the QUIETSTUF ABB materials, reducing density increases thermal conductivity, so a combination of low density and good thermal conductivity is not achieved by these materials.

Method used

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  • Method for producing polymeric fiber insulation batts for residential and commercial construction applications

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

examples 1-5

[0062]The following lab-scale batt production process is used to make Batt Examples 1-3.

[0063]Fibers are received in large bales. Fibers of each type are weighed and mixed by hand at the proportions indicated below. The hand-blended fibers are dropped onto a conveyor which transports the fiber to a carding device which grabs, fluffs and entangles the fibers to produce a carded web 400 mm wide. The web so produced weighs about 10 g / m2. The carded web is wound around a drum of greater than 600 mm circumference as it is produced. The wound web is then slit to remove it from the drum, with ˜600 mm long sections being produced in this manner.

[0064]For Example 1, about 85 of the 400 mmט600 mm sections so produced are stacked. The stack is then compressed to a thickness of 100 mm and heat set by heating the stack at 170° C. for 60-90 seconds. Individual layer thickness in the calibrated and heat-set batt is approximately 1.18 mm. The batt is then cut to final dimensions of 400×600 mm.

[006...

examples 6-7

[0070]The following large-scale batt production process is used to make batt Examples 6-7.

[0071]Fiber bales are processed to a bale opener and blender where the fibers are blended in proportions as indicated below. The fiber mix then enters a carding machine that entangles the fibers to produce a web of 10-20 mm thickness and 4000 mm width. The web is conveyed to a cross-lapper which assembles 72 layers (in the case of Example 6) or 64 layers (in the case of Example 7) of the web into a stack. The stack is then processed through a thermo-bonding oven in which the stack is compressed to the desired height and density and is heat set. After calibrating and heat setting, the thickness of the individual layers in the batt is approximately 2.5 mm.

[0072]In Examples 6-7, the fibers and their relative proportions are the same as in Examples 1-5, again resulting in an average fiber diameter of 16.0 microns.

[0073]Lambda, density and lambda*density are determine as described with respect to Ex...

examples 8-10

[0074]The lab-scale process as described for Example 5 is used to make batt Examples 8-10, with the following modifications. The fibers are the same as indicated for Examples 1-3, except that the fiber blend contains only 30% by weight of the bicomponent fiber and 70% of the staple fiber. Average fiber diameter is 16.3 microns. For Example 8, two 100-mm thick batts are prepared by stacking ˜95 layers of the web, and calibrating and heat-setting. The two 100-mm calibrated and heat-set batts are then stacked to form a 200-mm batt. Individual layer thickness in batt Example 8 is about 1.05 mm. For Example 9, 100 web layers are stacked and formed into 100-mm calibrated and heat-set batts, two of which are again stacked to form a 200-mm material. In this case, individual layer thicknesses are about 1 mm. For Example 10, ˜122 layers are used to form each 100-mm batt. Individual layer thickness is about 0.82 mm.

[0075]Lambda, density and lambda*density are determined as described with respe...

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Abstract

Method for producing Fiber insulation batts suitable for building thermal insulating applications are made using polymer fibers such as PET. A mixture of staple fibers and binder fibers are used to make the batt. The batt has a bulk density of 6-14 kg / m3, a thermal conductivity of 35-50 mW / m-K and a lambda*density value of from 250-550. The batts can be made by forming a web of the fibers, and calibrating and heat-setting the web. The web can be formed using pneumatic or mechanical carding processes. In some processes, the batt can be made by forming a stack of multiple plies of the web and calibrating and heat-setting the stack.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to polymer fiber insulation batts.[0002]Thermal insulative batting materials are widely used in applications that are as diverse as textiles and building insulation. Because of the wide range of applications for these batting materials, a variety of insulative batting materials have been developed to meet specific market needs. This can be illustrated by reference to two primary markets for thermal insulating materials—textiles one the one hand, and building insulation on the other.[0003]For centuries, the material of choice for textile applications was down. Down offers very good thermal insulation properties, and is well-known for its soft feel and good cushioning properties. The main problem with down is its high cost. The high cost of down now restricts its use almost exclusively to higher-end textile applications.[0004]Therefore, much effort has gone into developing less-expensive alternatives to down for textile ap...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): D04H1/46D04H13/00
CPCD04H1/60D04H13/007D04H13/002D04H1/435D04H1/559D04H1/5412D04H1/5418D04H1/45D04H13/00
InventorVAN KERREBROUCK, JOZEFCOTTENS, MARC
OwnerV&W ACQUISITION LLC