DOUBLE-WALLED PANEL FOR BUILDING

Abstract

A double-walled panel for building includes a main body defining an inner space and two opposite open sides, and being internally provided with spacing boards to divide the inner space into a plurality of chambers respectively having two opposite open ends; a working liquid being filled in at least one of the chambers; and at least two sealing covers being respectively provided on one surface facing toward the main body with insert portions for sealing the two open ends of each of the chambers. The double-walled panel may be used as a ceiling panel or a partition wall. The working liquid filled in the chambers not only helps in lowering indoor temperature in normal use conditions, but also helps in extinguishing fire when the building is on fire. The working liquid can also serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part patent application of U.S. application Ser. No.12/146,687 filed on Jun. 26, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C.§120.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a panel for use in a building, and more particularly to a double-walled panel for building that not only helps in lowering indoor temperature in normal use conditions, but also helps in extinguishing fire when the building is on fire. The working liquid can also serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, a conventional ceiling structure includes at least a set of lightweight steel frames connected to an inside roof of a room, and a plurality of plastic panels or gypsum panels is supported on the lightweight steel frames.

The plastic panels and the gypsum panels supported on the lightweight steel frames are only decorative panels without the function of lowering indoor temperature. Moreover, the plastic panels and the gypsum panels are easily burned and damaged in a fire to produce a large amount of black smoke and toxic gases, which increase people's difficulty in safely leaving the building on fire to result in increased number of injured and dead.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a double-walled panel for use as a ceiling panel and/or a partition wall in a building, so that the panel not only helps in lowering indoor temperature in normal use conditions, but also helps in extinguishing fire when the building is on fire. Further, the working liquid can also serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster.

To achieve the above and other objects, the double-walled panel according to the present invention includes a double-walled main body defining an inner space and two opposite open sides, and being internally provided with a plurality of spacing boards to divide the inner space into a plurality of chambers, and each of the chambers having two opposite open ends at the two open sides of the main body; a working liquid being filled in at least one of the chambers in the main body; and at least two sealing covers for sealing the two open sides of the main body as well as the two open ends of each of the chambers. The sealing covers are respectively provided on one surface facing toward the main body with a plurality of insert portions for separately inserting into the open ends of the chambers to seal the same.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a double-walled panel for building according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows the use of the double-walled panel of the present invention as a ceiling panel;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the circled area “a” of FIG. 4; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 show how the double-walled panel of the present invention served as a ceiling panel releases a working liquid filled therein when the building is on fire;

FIG. 8 shows the use of the double-walled panel of the present invention as a partition wall;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows how the double-walled panel of the present invention served as a partition wall releases the working liquid filled therein when the building is on fire; and

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a double-walled panel for building according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 that are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a double-walled panel for building according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, and to FIG. 3 that is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2. As shown, the double-walled panel of the present invention includes a main body 1, a working liquid 2, and at least two sealing covers 3.

The main body 1 is double-walled to define an inner space and two opposite open sides, and may be made of a plastic material. The double-walled main body 1 is internally provided with a plurality of spacing boards 11 to divide the inner space into a plurality of chambers 12, such that each of the chambers 12 has two opposite open ends 121, 122 at the two open sides of the main body 1.

The working liquid 2 is filled in at least one of the chambers 12 in the main body 1, and may be water or other suitable fire-extinguishing liquids. The working liquid 2 can function to extinguish fire, condition the temperature of an environment in which the double-walled panel is used, or serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster. The volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the chambers 12 may be smaller than or equal to a total volume of the chambers 12, depending on actual need. In addition, the working liquid 2 can be filled in only one or some or all of the chambers 12, depending on actual need. For instance, as shown in FIG. 2, a middle chamber 12 in the main body 1 of the double-walled panel is empty while all other chambers 12 are filled with the working liquid 2.

The sealing covers 3 are connected to the two opposite open sides of the main body 1 to seal the open ends 121, 122 of all the chambers 12. Each of the sealing covers 3 is provided on one surface facing toward the main body 1 with a plurality of insert portions 31 for separately inserting into the open ends 121, 122 of the chambers 12, so that the open ends 121, 122 are securely sealed.

Please refer to FIGS. 4 to 7, in which FIG. 4 shows the use of the double-walled panel of the present invention as a ceiling panel in a building, FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the circled area “a” of FIG. 4, and FIGS. 6 and 7 show how the double-walled panel of the present invention served as a ceiling panel releases the working liquid 2 filled therein when the building is on fire. As shown, to use the double-walled panels of the present invention as a ceiling panel, simply install the already sealed main body 1 of the double-walled panels on a predetermined framework 4, such as a lightweight ceiling suspension system. Fixing elements 41 for fixing the framework 4 to the double-walled panel can be extended through the chambers 12 that do not have the working liquid 2 filled therein. When the environment, in which the double-walled panel is used, is in normal conditions, the working liquid 2 in the sealed chambers 12 of the double-walled main body 1 can absorb ambient heat to lower the environment temperature. In the event the building using the double-walled panel is on fire, the working liquid 2 in the sealed chambers 12 of the main body 1 would be heated and vaporized due to the surrounding high temperature. The vaporized working liquid 2 results in expansion and final breaking of the plastic main body 1, so that the working liquid 2 in the chambers 12 of the main body 1 flows out of the damaged main body 1 onto burning things to help in extinguishing the fire. Moreover, in the case of using clean water or drinking water as the working liquid 2, the working liquid 2 can also serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster, so that the trapped have more chances to survive the disaster even after the rescue golden time, i.e. the first 72 hours after the disaster. Further, the volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the doubled-walled main body 1 is changeable according to actual conditions. For example, when the working liquid 2 has high heat-absorption capacity or has good fire-extinguishing capacity, the volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the chambers 12 can be reduced. On the other hand, when the working liquid 2 has low heat-absorption capacity or has poor fire-extinguishing capacity, the volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the chambers 12 should be increased.

Please refer to FIGS. 8 to 10, in which FIG. 8 shows the use of the double-walled panel of the present invention as a partition wall in a building; FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 8; and FIG. 10 shows how the double-walled panel of the present invention served as a partition wall releases the working liquid 2 filled therein when the building is on fire. As shown, to install the double-walled panel of the present invention that is used as a partition wall in a building, fixing elements 5 can be extended through the chambers 12 that do not have the working liquid 2 filled therein. When the environment, in which the double-walled panel is used, is in normal conditions, the working liquid 2 in the sealed chambers 12 of the double-walled main body 1 can absorb ambient heat to lower the environment temperature. In the event the building using the double-walled panel is on fire, the working liquid 2 in the sealed chambers 12 of the main body 1 would be heated and vaporized due to the surrounding high temperature. The vaporized working liquid 2 results in expansion and final breaking of the plastic main body 1, so that the working liquid 2 in the chambers 12 of the main body 1 flows out of the damaged main body 1 onto burning things to help in extinguishing the fire. Moreover, in the case of using clean water or drinking water as the working liquid 2, the working liquid 2 can also serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster, so that the trapped have more chances to survive the disaster even after the rescue golden time, i.e. the first 72 hours after the disaster. Further, the volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the doubled-walled main body 1 is changeable according to actual conditions. For example, when the working liquid 2 has high heat-absorption capacity or has good fire-extinguishing capacity, the volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the chambers 12 can be reduced. On the other hand, when the working liquid 2 has low heat-absorption capacity or has poor fire-extinguishing capacity, the volume of the working liquid 2 filled in the chambers 12 should be increased.

Please refer to FIG. 11 that is an exploded perspective view of a double-walled panel for building according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, in the second preferred embodiment, the sealing covers 3 respectively include a plurality of separated sections 32, and the insert portions 31 are respectively provided on the sections 32 on one surface thereof facing toward the main body 1. By providing the sealing covers 3 in the form of a plurality of separated sections 32, the working liquid 2 can be filled into or removed from specific chambers 12 to meet different requirements and enable enhanced convenience in using the double-walled panel of the present invention.

The double-walled panel of the present invention can be used either as a ceiling panel or a partition wall . With the working liquid 2 filled in the chambers 12, the double-walled panel for building according to the present invention not only helps in lowering indoor temperature in normal use conditions, but also helps in extinguishing fire, in the event the building is on fire unfortunately. Further, the working liquid can also serve as drinking water for those who are trapped in a collapsed building during a disaster. Therefore, the present invention effectively overcomes the problems in the conventional plastic and gypsum panels and is very practical for use.

The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A double-walled panel for building, comprising:

a double-walled main body defining an inner space and two opposite open sides, and being internally provided with a plurality of spacing boards to divide the inner space into a plurality of chambers, and each of the chambers having two opposite open ends at the two open sides of the main body;

a working liquid being filled in at least one of the chambers in the main body; and

at least two sealing covers for sealing the two open sides of the main body as well as the two open ends of each of the chambers; and the sealing covers being respectively provided on one surface facing toward the main body with a plurality of insert portions for separately inserting into the open ends of the chambers to seal the same.

2. The double-walled panel for building as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body is made of a plastic material.

3. The double-walled panel for building as claimed in claim 1, wherein the working liquid is selected from the group consisting of water and other fire-extinguishing liquids.

4. The double-walled panel for building as claimed in claim 1, wherein the working liquid filled in the chambers is in a volume smaller than or equal to a total volume of the chambers.

5. The double-walled panel for building as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing covers respectively include a plurality of separated sections, and the insert portions being respectively provided on the sections on one surface thereof facing toward the main body.