Pipe Pass-Through Bellows for Airtight Insulated AHU Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fastening systems for pipes passing through insulating panels of air handling units suffer from poor air tightness and manufacturing tolerances, leading to issues when connecting to cold or hot water production systems.
Innovation Solution
A fastening system featuring bellows with a deformable portion and a frame, where the deformable portion is made of a plastic material like PA6 with glass fibers, and has a sealing lip that compresses against the wall to ensure a continuous seal around the pipe, providing improved air tightness and flexibility for better positioning tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a foam spacer with a hole is used to pass the pipe through the insulating panel, then the installation is simple, but the air tightness is poor and positioning tolerances are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a bellows structure made of flexible material that can deform to accommodate pipe position variations while maintaining a continuous sealing surface against the panel wall, thus achieving both ease of installation and reliable air tightness
Solution Approach 2:
The bellows structure allows for parameter changes in terms of flexibility and deformation capability, enabling the sealing element to adapt to different pipe positions and maintain tightness without requiring precise manufacturing tolerances
2Ease of manufacture
If a foam spacer with a hole is used to pass the pipe through the insulating panel, then the installation is simple, but the manufacturing tolerances are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows structure introduces dynamic flexibility to the system, allowing the sealing element to move and deform with the pipe, thereby compensating for positioning tolerances and eliminating the need for high-precision manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible bellows structure absorbs positioning variations through its deformable nature, enabling simple installation while achieving precise sealing performance without stringent manufacturing tolerance requirements
3Adaptability or versatility
If the pipe protrudes through the insulating panel to connect to water production systems, then the connection is possible, but tightness issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows acts as a flexible membrane that maintains a continuous seal around the pipe while allowing it to protrude for connection purposes, thus preserving both connection adaptability and tightness reliability
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 system achieves enhanced air tightness and increased manufacturing tolerances, preventing disassembly issues between pipes and water production systems, ensuring reliable connections for heat transfer fluid circulation in air handling units.
Implementation Method 1
a deformable portion 222, which is fixed to the frame 220. The deformable portion 222 comprises a wide portion 222a, which connects the deformable portion 222 to the frame 220, and a narrow portion 222b fitted around the pipe 13
Implementation Method 2
The frame 220 exerts a force, shown by arrow F on figure 7, perpendicular to the wall 72 on the deformable portion 222 which tends to compress the lip 222c against the wall 72
Data Source
AI summary
This fastening system (20) for a pipe (13) passing through an insulating side panel (7) of an air handling unit (1), said panel (7) comprising two parallel walls (71, 72) separated by a layer of insulating material (73), and a hole (15) provided through the walls (71, 72) and the layer of insulating material (73) for passing the pipe (13), comprises two bellows (22) fixed on each of the parallel walls (71, 72) of the panel (7) around the hole (13), each bellow (22) comprising a frame (220) fixed on one of the walls (71, 72) and a deformable portion (222) fixed to the frame (220), comprising a wide portion (222a) which connects the deformable portion (222) to the frame (220), and a narrow portion (222b) fitted around the pipe (13).