Flexible Sealant With Gas-Filled Microspheres for Closed-Channel Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealants lack sufficient structural properties for various applications, such as compressibility and flexibility, and often contain harmful chemicals or flammable propellants, making them unsuitable for fire-resistant and smoke-resistant applications.
Innovation Solution
A sealant composition comprising a polymeric dispersion, density modifier, and additives, which is formulated to be elastic, compressible, and includes gas-filled microspheres for vibration damping and insulation, with optional flame resistance, allowing it to be applied in various forms and meet building codes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional mastic sealants are used, then they provide basic sealing, but they lack sufficient compressibility and deform outward from the bead line
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the physical parameters of the sealant by incorporating gas-filled microspheres (20-65 vol%) to change the density and compressibility characteristics. This allows the sealant to compress in a closed chamber while maintaining its shape, resolving the contradiction between compressibility and deformation control.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite sealant system combining polymeric dispersion with gas-filled microspheres. This composite structure provides both the structural integrity to resist outward deformation and the compressibility needed for closed chamber applications, eliminating the need for specialized two-component systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If high-movement elastomeric sealants are used, then extension capability improves, but they cannot compress without protruding in other directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state and density parameters by incorporating gas-filled microspheres, which allow the sealant to compress uniformly in all directions including closed chambers, while maintaining extension capability through the polymeric dispersion matrix.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealant composition is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it provides extension capability for movement joints, compression for closed chambers, and maintains structural integrity without requiring specialized application tools or causing protrusion in unintended directions.
3Reliability
If two-component spray foams are used, then sealing performance improves, but they require off-gassing chemicals and specialized application tools
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for two-component chemistry and specialized application tools by formulating a one-component sealant with gas-filled microspheres that provides equivalent sealing performance through physical compression rather than chemical reaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces complex, regulated chemical systems with a simpler, safer physical system using inert gas-filled microspheres that can be applied with standard tools, reducing regulatory burden and application complexity.
4Reliability
If conventional spray foams are used, then sealing capability improves, but they contain flammable propellants reducing fire resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potential harm of flammable propellants into a beneficial inert gas-filled microsphere system that provides sealing without fire risk. The gas-filled microspheres serve as both the sealing mechanism and the fire-resistant alternative to flammable chemistry.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses inert gas-filled microspheres to create a non-flammable sealing system, replacing the flammable propellant chemistry of conventional spray foams with an inert physical system that maintains sealing capability without fire hazard.
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 sealant composition provides excellent sealing properties, vibration damping, and insulation while being smoke- and flame-resistant, suitable for diverse applications including seismic joints and firestop uses, with high compression capability without deformation.
Implementation Method 1
gas-filled microspheres for vibration damping and insulation
Implementation Method 2
the sealant composition provides excellent sealing properties, vibration damping, and insulation while being smoke- and flame-resistant
Implementation Method 3
from about 20 vol % to about 65 vol % of a density modifier
Data Source
AI summary
In certain embodiments, the disclosed sealant comprises a one-component, closed-cell, semi-foam, sealant using gas-filled, flexible, organic microspheres to create a product that is elastic and compressible under pressure without protruding in an outward direction when compressed, thereby allowing the applied sealant to compress in an enclosed, maximum-filled channel unlike typical mastic sealants (while retaining the ability to rebound). This allows the sealant to function as a gasket, and, once fully cured, to have properties including vibration damping, insulating, and condensation resistance. The sealant can be formulated as an air barrier or a vapor barrier and at various degrees of moisture resistance. It may be applied by different packaging variations including aerosol can (bag in can or bag on valve), airless sprayer, cartridge tubes, foil tubes, squeeze tubes, and buckets to be applied using a brush, trowel, spatula, etc. The disclosed sealant can also be formulated to be smoke-resistant and flame-resistant.