Curtain Wall Panels with Integrated Fire-Safing Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation of fire-safing insulation in traditional and hybrid curtain wall façade systems is inefficient, time-consuming, and costly, especially when gaps are hidden beneath structural elements, necessitating a more efficient and cost-effective method.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a strip of fire-safing insulation into façade panels during installation, where it is secured with impaling pins and noncombustible adhesives, allowing it to be compressed and sandwiched between panels and floor edges, forming a continuous seal that enhances fire safety and acoustic insulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fire-safing insulation is installed in the gap/safing slot after curtain panels are installed, then fire safety is improved, but installation time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fire-safing insulation is pre-installed on the building structure (floor edges) before the curtain panels are installed. This preliminary action eliminates the need for post-installation insulation work, reducing installation time while maintaining fire safety compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the fire-safing insulation installation with the curtain panel installation process into a single integrated operation. By coordinating these two tasks simultaneously, the overall installation time is reduced without compromising fire safety performance.
2Reliability
If fire-safing insulation is installed in hidden gaps beneath structural elements, then fire safety is improved, but installation complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fire-safing insulation is pre-positioned on accessible structural elements (floor edges) before curtain panels are installed. This preliminary placement in accessible locations eliminates the need for later complex work in hidden or obscured gaps, reducing installation complexity while ensuring fire safety coverage.
3Ease of operation
If curtain panels are installed at a distance from slab edges to create gaps, then curtain wall functionality is improved, but fire safety installation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fire-safing insulation is pre-installed on the floor edges before the curtain panels are positioned at their operational distance from the slabs. This preliminary action ensures that the insulation is in place and accessible, making the subsequent panel installation easier while maintaining fire safety requirements.
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
This method simplifies and speeds up the installation of fire-safing insulation, reducing costs while providing enhanced fire safety and acoustic performance by creating a continuous, compressed seal that increases the thickness and effectiveness of the fire barrier between building floors.
Implementation Method 1
integrating a strip of fire-safing insulation into façade panels during installation, where it is secured with impaling pins
Implementation Method 2
secured with impaling pins and noncombustible adhesives
Implementation Method 3
allowing it to be compressed and sandwiched between panels and floor edges, forming a continuous seal that enhances fire safety
Implementation Method 4
enhanced fire safety and acoustic performance by creating a continuous, compressed seal that increases the thickness and effectiveness of the fire barrier between building floors
Data Source
AI summary
A building façade secured to a building structure having a plurality of floor levels can comprise a plurality of façade panels wherein one or more façade panels include a strip of fire-safing insulation. The façade panels can be secured to the building structure adjacent an edge of a floor with the strip of fire-safing insulation engaging the floor edge along a vertical surface and a horizontal surface of the floor. Additionally, a method of installing a façade on a building structure can comprise the steps of: providing a plurality of façade panels, wherein the façade panels include a strip of fire-safing insulation, hanging the façade panels on the building floors adjacent an edge thereof, during the step of hanging, traversing the strip of fire-safing insulation vertically downwardly and horizontally towards the floor edge, and sandwiching the strip of fire-safing insulation between the façade panels and the floor edge.