Thermally-insulating sheet and method of manufacturing same
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional thermally-insulating sheets suffer from poor adhesive properties and fragility, particularly when large in size, leading to peeling off of protective sheets and loss of silica xerogel, which compromises thermal insulation and durability.
Innovation Solution
A thermally-insulating sheet design featuring a fiber sheet with spaces filled with silica xerogel, a dense resin layer on its surface, and protective sheets bonded with acrylic adhesive to prevent peeling, ensuring strong bonding and maintaining thermal insulation without silica xerogel adherence on resin surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a thermally-insulating sheet is made large in size, then thermal insulation coverage is improved, but adhesive strength deteriorates causing protective sheet peeling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a resin layer with specific local properties on the fiber sheet surface. The resin layer has a density of 0.03-0.15 g/cm³ and contains 5-30 wt% resin, providing localized adhesive strength exactly where needed at the bonding interface between protective sheets and the thermal insulator, while maintaining the overall large size of the insulating sheet for adequate thermal coverage.
2Reliability
If conventional thermally-insulating sheets are used, then thermal insulation is provided, but durability deteriorates due to silica xerogel loss and protective sheet peeling
Solution Approach 1:
The resin layer serves as an intermediary between the fiber sheet and protective sheets. It prevents direct contact that would allow silica xerogel to adhere to protective sheets, while providing its own adhesive bonding capability. This intermediary layer solves both problems: it maintains thermal insulation by containing silica xerogel within the fiber sheet spaces and ensures durability through strong adhesive bonding of protective sheets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the adhesive function from the protective sheets themselves and places it in a dedicated resin layer. By separating the adhesive function into a distinct component with controlled properties (5-30 wt% resin content, specific density range), the design ensures that adhesive strength is optimized independently from the protective function, preventing peeling over time.
3Reliability
If silica xerogel is applied to fiber sheet, then thermal conductivity is reduced improving thermal insulation, but adhesive properties deteriorate causing poor bonding
Solution Approach 1:
The resin layer creates a localized zone with optimized adhesive properties (5-30 wt% resin, density 0.03-0.15 g/cm³) at the bonding interface, while the bulk fiber sheet maintains its low thermal conductivity through silica xerogel filling. This spatial separation allows the fiber sheet to excel at thermal insulation while the resin layer excels at adhesive bonding.
Solution Approach 2:
The resin layer acts as an intermediary that prevents silica xerogel from directly contacting protective sheets. By interposing this layer with controlled resin content, the patent eliminates the adhesive problem caused by silica xerogel while preserving the thermal insulation benefits of silica xerogel-filled fiber sheet spaces.
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
The solution enhances the adhesive strength and durability of the thermally-insulating sheet, preventing protective sheet peeling and maintaining effective thermal insulation, even at larger sizes, while ensuring silica xerogel remains within the fiber sheet spaces.
Implementation Method 1
a thermally-insulating sheet having a thermal conductivity lower than that of air may be used. This lower heat conductivity is exhibited by applying silica xerogel to a fiber sheet of this thermally-insulating sheet.
Implementation Method 2
a resin layer provided on a part of a surface of the fiber sheet... a protective sheet bonded onto the resin layer so as to cover the thermal insulator
Data Source
AI summary
A thermally-insulating sheet includes a thermal insulator which includes a fiber sheet made of fibers providing spaces among the fibers, a resin layer provided on a part of a surface of the fiber sheet, the first resin having a denser surface than the fiber sheet, and a silica xerogel held in the spaces of the fiber sheet. The thermally-insulating sheet further includes a protective sheet bonded onto the resin layer so as to cover the thermal insulator and to cover the surface of the fiber sheet. This thermally-insulating sheet hardly break even if having a large size.