Vacuum insulated structure with filter features in a vacuum cavity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vacuum insulated structures face challenges in efficiently evacuating air, leading to prolonged evacuation times due to the limited surface area of traditional single vacuum ports, which restricts the rate of air removal and increases heat gain through conduction, convection, and radiation.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a mesh member and filter members with adhesive components creates a channel system that expands the surface area for air evacuation, allowing air to be drawn through a larger channel between the mesh and filter members, reducing the distance air needs to travel and enhancing the evacuation process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a traditional single vacuum port is used, then the structure is simple, but the evacuation time is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The single vacuum port is segmented into multiple vacuum ports distributed across the vacuum insulated structure. This segmentation increases the total surface area available for air evacuation, enabling parallel air removal through multiple pathways and significantly reducing evacuation time while maintaining structural simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The vacuum port configuration transitions from a single-point (0D) or single-line (1D) port to a distributed two-dimensional (2D) array of ports across the vacuum insulated structure surface. This dimensional expansion maximizes the evacuation surface area and creates multiple simultaneous evacuation pathways
2Productivity
If the vacuum port surface area is limited, then the structure remains compact, but the air removal rate is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The total vacuum port surface area is segmented into multiple smaller ports distributed across the structure. This segmentation approach increases the cumulative surface area available for air removal while maintaining a compact overall structure, as each individual port remains small but their collective area is significantly enlarged
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple vacuum ports are nested within the compact vacuum insulated structure boundaries. The ports are integrated into the structure's existing geometry, allowing increased evacuation surface area without proportionally increasing the external dimensions of the insulated component
3Object-affected harmful factors
If evacuation time is prolonged, then less complex equipment is needed, but heat gain through conduction, convection, and radiation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The evacuation process is segmented into multiple parallel pathways through distributed vacuum ports. This segmentation accelerates the overall evacuation rate by enabling simultaneous air removal through multiple channels, thereby reducing the time the vacuum structure is exposed to atmospheric conditions and minimizing heat gain during the transition to vacuum state
Solution Approach 2:
The distributed vacuum port configuration is pre-installed in the vacuum insulated structure before vacuum evacuation. This preliminary preparation enables immediate multi-point evacuation upon activation, preventing delayed single-point evacuation that would prolong exposure to atmospheric heat transfer and allowing rapid establishment of vacuum conditions
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 configuration significantly reduces evacuation time from several days to approximately one hour, while maintaining a vacuum with low air pressure, thereby minimizing heat gain and improving insulation efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The filter member is permeable to air and configured to trap the insulation material
Implementation Method 2
The mesh member and the filter member define a channel between the vacuum cavity and the vacuum port
Implementation Method 3
allowing air to be drawn through a larger channel
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A vacuum insulated structure (82) includes a first panel (21) having an inner surface (21B) and a vacuum port (76). The first panel (21) is interconnected with a second panel (70) in an air-tight manner to define a vacuum cavity (72) therebetween. A first filter member (40) is disposed on and substantially covers the inner surface (21B) of the first panel (21) and the vacuum port (76) of the first panel (21). A filter member (40) covers the mesh member (30) to define a channel (84) therebetween to improve evacuation time using the channel (84) to evacuate the vacuum cavity (72) between the first and second panels (21, 70).