Flexible Chimney Pipe Installation Tool for Exhaust Stack Retrofit
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-storey buildings, upgrading heating systems to modern, low-energy systems poses the challenge of installing new chimney pipes without disrupting existing heating systems or requiring significant structural changes or high investment costs, especially when protective elements cover connection areas.
Innovation Solution
A method using a tool with a flexible extension rod and magnetically active parts to establish a mechanical connection between the chimney end and connection area, allowing for easy installation of a partially flexible PVDF chimney pipe, which can be tensioned before connection to minimize length and avoid cross-sectional narrowing, and includes adapter plates for secure attachment without additional structural changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If protective elements are installed in connection areas to ensure safety, then protection against damage is improved, but accessibility for installing chimney pipes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The protective element is divided into multiple segments that can be independently moved or removed. This allows the protective element to be partially displaced to provide access for chimney pipe installation while maintaining protection in other areas, thus resolving the contradiction between protection and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective element is designed to be dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. It can be moved between a protective position and an accessible position, allowing the system to adapt between safety requirements and installation needs, thereby resolving the contradiction between static protection and dynamic accessibility.
2Ease of manufacture
If chimney pipes are installed in existing exhaust chimneys without structural changes, then investment costs are reduced, but installation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The chimney pipe is designed to be nested within the existing exhaust chimney structure without requiring removal or modification of the outer chimney. This nested configuration allows installation of new piping while preserving the existing structure, reducing investment costs while managing installation complexity through a standardized nesting procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
Protective elements are pre-positioned or pre-configured to facilitate chimney pipe installation before the actual piping work begins. This preliminary arrangement of protective elements creates optimal access conditions, reducing the complexity of the subsequent installation process while maintaining the benefit of avoiding structural changes.
3Ease of operation
If chimney pipes are made flexible to enable installation through protective elements, then ease of installation is improved, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The chimney pipe system is segmented into flexible sections for installation purposes and rigid sections for structural stability. The flexible segments allow the pipe to navigate through protective elements and complex routing, while the rigid segments provide the necessary structural integrity and stability once installed, thus resolving the contradiction between flexibility for installation and rigidity for stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the chimney pipe have different mechanical properties tailored to their specific functions. The portion that needs to pass through protective elements is made flexible, while the portions requiring structural stability are made rigid. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction by applying flexibility only where needed for installation while maintaining stability where required for operation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables simple, cost-effective installation of chimney pipes in existing exhaust chimneys, ensuring compatibility with modern heating systems and maintaining operational integrity by allowing the chimney pipe to expand and elongate under heat, while preventing damage detection through pressure testing.
Implementation Method 1
the second part on the side facing the first part has a second magnetically active area, such that the two magnetically active areas attract
Implementation Method 2
allowing the chimney pipe to expand and elongate under heat
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 3
AI summary
The method involves producing a connection between an upper chimney end (34) and a connection area (27) using an auxiliary unit and a plastic string, and connecting the auxiliary unit and the plastic string with a partially flexible chimney pipe (25) on a side of the chimney end or the connection area. The chimney pipe is inserted into an exhaust gas stack (1) by the auxiliary unit and the plastic string. Respective ends (32, 33) of the chimney pipe in the area of the chimney end are connected with the exhaust gas stack or the connection area. An independent claim is also included for an assembly set for installation of a chimney pipe for a heating system in an exhaust gas stack, comprising an auxiliary unit.