Vacuum Insulation Panel Groove Structure for Bending Reliability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Vacuum insulation materials face challenges in maintaining excellent insulation performance when bent, as they often suffer from reduced gas barrier properties and wrinkles due to insufficient restraint of the sheathing material and inadequate groove formation.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum insulation material with a pouch-shaped sheathing material and a core, featuring a bendable region with specific groove configurations, including outer and inner grooves with optimized intervals and depths, to enhance bending formability while maintaining gas barrier properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If grooves are formed at the vacuum insulation material to enable bending, then bending formability is improved, but the sheathing material elongates and damages with reduced gas barrier property
Solution Approach 1:
The groove structure is segmented into multiple portions (first groove portion and second groove portion) with different depths. The first groove portion has a greater depth than the second groove portion, creating zones of different flexibility that allow bending while controlling sheathing material deformation and protecting the gas barrier property.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the groove structure have different depths to provide localized properties. The first groove portion (deeper) provides flexibility for bending, while the second groove portion (shallower) maintains structural integrity and gas barrier property, creating local quality variations that resolve the contradiction between formability and reliability.
2Shape
If grooves are formed to enable R-bending (curved shape), then shape adaptation is improved, but wrinkles are formed and insulation performance is lowered
Solution Approach 1:
The groove is divided into multiple portions with varying depths along its length. This segmentation allows different sections to accommodate the curvature of R-bending differently, with deeper portions providing flexibility and shallower portions maintaining surface integrity, thereby enabling shape adaptation while preventing wrinkle formation that would compromise insulation performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove structure implements local quality by having different depths at different locations. The first groove portion (deeper) accommodates bending deformation, while the second groove portion (shallower) maintains the surface smoothness required for good insulation performance, thus resolving the contradiction between shape adaptation and insulation effectiveness.
3Shape
If the number of grooves is increased to prevent wrinkles, then shape adaptation is improved, but small thickness portions increase and insulation performance is lowered
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the number of grooves uniformly, the invention uses local quality by varying the depth of grooves at different positions. The first groove portion has greater depth to provide bending flexibility, while the second groove portion has lesser depth to maintain thickness and insulation performance, thus achieving shape adaptation without compromising insulation through excessive groove density.
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 allows for improved shape adaptation to curved surfaces, reduced elongation of the sheathing material, and enhanced insulation performance, even when bent, thereby reducing energy consumption and increasing the capacity of appliances like refrigerators.
Implementation Method 1
a vacuum insulation material including a pouch-shaped sheathing material (3) having a gas barrier property and a core (5) received in the sheathing material (3) as a spacer
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A vacuum insulation material having bending formability while restraining reduction in a gas barrier property of a sheathing material. The vacuum insulation material includes a pouch-shaped sheathing material having a gas barrier property and a core (5) received in the sheathing material as a spacer, the vacuum insulation material having a bendable region (11), a first surface, and a second surface opposite to the first surface, wherein at least one of the first and second surfaces in the bendable region is provided with a plurality of grooves extending at intervals, the grooves include a pair of outer grooves (7, 9) formed in the bendable region and a plurality of inner grooves (8, 10) formed inside the outer grooves (7, 9), and an interval between each outer groove (7,9) and a corresponding one of the inner grooves (8, 10) adjacent to each outer groove (7,9) is greater than an interval between the inner grooves (8, 10).