Modular Foam Insulation Kit for Building Openings
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing insulating covers for building openings, such as attic scuttle hatches and louvers, often fail to provide a robust and airtight seal, leading to heat transfer between warmer and cooler areas, and existing solutions are either cumbersome to assemble or lack efficient heat barrier designs.
Innovation Solution
A disassembled kit of lightweight polymer heat insulation components with complementary connections, such as dowel channels and tongue-and-groove joints, that can be quickly assembled into a box-shaped heat barrier structure with an open bottom, forming a tight seal and blocking heat transfer through openings in buildings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If insulating covers are made with several layers of foam board and plywood boards to provide sufficient weight for sealing, then sealing performance is improved, but assembly complexity and time increase due to on-site assembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating cover is divided into multiple modular panels that can be assembled on-site through simple connections. Each panel is a separate component that can be easily handled and positioned, reducing overall assembly complexity while maintaining sealing performance through the modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The panels are pre-fabricated with connection elements and insulation layers already in place before delivery. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex on-site construction, allowing workers to simply assemble pre-prepared components rather than building the insulation structure from raw materials.
2Temperature
If insulating covers are made with thick foam board and multiple layers to achieve adequate insulation, then heat barrier performance is improved, but weight increases making handling and installation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The thick insulation is divided into multiple thinner panels that can be stacked or arranged to achieve the required thermal resistance. This segmentation reduces the weight of individual components that need to be handled, while the cumulative insulation effect of multiple panels maintains the necessary heat barrier performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover system uses composite construction combining multiple insulation materials and air gaps between panels. This composite approach achieves high thermal resistance without requiring a single massive thick layer, thereby reducing overall weight while maintaining effective heat barrier performance.
3Reliability
If insulating covers are custom-made to fit specific opening dimensions, then sealing performance is improved, but manufacturing cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The panels are designed with standardized dimensions and universal connection elements that can accommodate various opening sizes. By adjusting the number of panels and their arrangement rather than customizing each panel, the system achieves good sealing performance for different applications while maintaining efficient standardized manufacturing processes.
4Ease of operation
If insulating covers are designed as single-piece units to simplify installation, then ease of installation is improved, but adaptability to different opening sizes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation system is segmented into standardized panels that can be easily assembled like building blocks. This modular design maintains installation simplicity while providing flexibility to configure different numbers and arrangements of panels to fit various opening dimensions, thereby achieving both ease of installation and adaptability.
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 effectively reduces heat transfer by creating airtight seams and can be easily transported and assembled, providing a compact, economical, and robust heat barrier for various building openings.
Implementation Method 1
when a dowel is inserted to make the complimentary connection the mating surface and the complimentary mating surface are compressed together to remove the offset and form a resultant airtight seam
Implementation Method 2
lightweight insulating material capable of being transported in a disassembled state and then assembled into a box-shaped heat barrier structure... effectively reduces heat transfer by creating airtight seams
Data Source
AI summary
A cover device kit includes: a plurality of heat insulation components comprising a lightweight construction material such as synthetic resin foam capable of being transported in a disassembled state and then quickly assembled into a box-shaped heat barrier structure having six sides including an opening on an open side for covering an opening in a floor or wall of a building. Four of the plurality of heat insulation components 14, 16, 18, 20 each includes two complimentary connections for uniting with two corresponding adjacent heat insulation components of the plurality of heat insulation components when assembled into four side walls of the box-shaped heat barrier structure 10. The cover 12 serves as a fifth heat insulation component and unites with the four components 14, 16, 18, 20 that constitute side walls of the box-shaped structure and is situated opposite the opening on the open side.