Method of making members with a thermal break
Method of forming members from thermally conductive components which have a gap therebetween. The gap is bridged and the conductive components integrated into a composite member by a reinforced polymer. This provides a thermal break which inhibits the flow of heat between the conductive components of the member. This construction also blocks the transfer of sound and other vibrations between the conductive components of the member. The construction also mitigates the formation of condensation on an artifact fixed to one of the components. After the gap is bridged with the reinforced polymer, the member may be punched with holes and roll formed.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/165,093 filed on Jun. 6, 2002 and presently allowed but not issued.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a method of making novel, improved members with features which inhibit the transfer of heat from one edge of the member to another. These features also inhibit the transmission of sound and other vibrations and mitigate the formation of condensate.
One important application of the principles of the present invention is found in the provision of heat and vibration transfer resistant structural members for steel framed buildings, and what follows will be devoted primarily to that application of the invention. It is to be understood that this is being done for the sake of clarity and convenience and is not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONBuildings and other structures with exterior walls, ceilings, floors, and/or roofs framed from steel components are ubiquitous because of the superior physical properties of steel vis-à-vis wood, concrete, and other building materials and because steel components commonly prove more economical because less material is used. One particularly significant disadvantage of such structural members is that they transfer heat from the interior of the building in which they are found to its exterior and in the opposite direction. Sound and other vibrations are transferred with equal facility.
This minimally inhibited transfer of heat is deleterious because it can result in the spreading of fire. And, in less severe instances, the transfer of heat through the steel members can result in an expensive loss of heat from the building in which they are found and/or can increase air conditioning costs by allowing the transfer of heat from the ambient surroundings to the interior of a building.
Different approaches to the problems dealt with in the preceding paragraphs have been proposed if not actually used. One is to configure a building component, in this case a stud, such that stagnant air pockets are formed between the exterior/interior edges of the stud and inner/outer panels covering the pocket-defining surfaces of the component. The just-described solution to the thermal isolation problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,057 issued 25 Nov. 1980.
The Executive Summary of the 1999 North American Steel Framing Alliance Business Plan (page 4A) suggests, in the abstract, the use of “greater thicknesses of cavity/wall insulation and/or exterior rigid board insulation to provide a thermal break.” On page 9A of the Executive Summary, the authors recognize that there is a need for improved thermal performance. This need persists to the present day.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA novel, cost effective solution to the heat transfer problem has now been discovered and is disclosed herein. Specifically, members embodying the principles of the present invention are composed of two (or more) components with a gap therebetween. This gap is spanned, and the components of the member joined in to a heat transfer resistant composite, with a thermally insulating, high strength, reinforced polymer. This inhibits the transfer of heat (or sound or other vibrations) from one component of the member to another. The result is a structural member which is strong and cost effective and which satisfactorily inhibits the transfer of heat and audible (and other) vibrations.
The reinforced, polymeric material may be bonded to the metallic elements of the structural member in any desired manner. For example, there are a number of sheet type adhesives which can be used for that purpose. The disclosed method provides an efficient and economical way to produce the member.
Other advantages of a member made using the principles of the present invention are:
The formation of condensate on artifacts attached to the members is inhibited;
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- The members can be spaced further apart in a wall, ceiling, roof, etc. than comparably employed members fabricated from a material such as wood (typically 24 ins. on center versus 16 ins. on center for wall studs, and 48 ins. versus 24 ins. on center for roof trusses);
- Structural members as disclosed herein can be easily designed by conversion and extrapolation of the dimensions, shapes and other properties of structural members fabricated from materials such as wood;
- In many instances involving roof trusses, the commonly employed plywood underlayment is not required;
- The composite structural members are non-flammable when a fire retardant is employed, are in large part made of recyclable materials (such as steel), and do not give off toxic fumes when heated;
- All radiuses are easily formed;
- The herein disclosed members are lighter and stronger than many members of other materials and configurations; and they have superior resistance to seismic disturbances and to high winds, of which hurricanes are one example; also, they are resistant to condensation;
- Such members don't shrink, rot, warp, creep, split, bow, buckle, twist, or creak under load; and they are immune to attacks by ants and other insects and vermin.
Because of the just-described properties, buildings employing these structural members typically may not require servicing to correct structural defects, and the costs of insurance may be lower;
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- Members embodying the principles of the present invention have a high degree of integrity, and construction of structures such as buildings is facilitated by such members;
- Yet another advantage of the present invention is that its principles may easily be employed in products other than building components—for example, in turbine engine inlet filters.
Another advantage of the present invention is that batts and other preformed units of insulation can be used instead of the ubiquitous foamed and blown insulation although a foam or blown insulation can be employed if one so desires.
Also significant is the advantage of the method of the present invention which provides an economical and effective approach to manufacture of the members with a thermal break discussed in detail above.
The object, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to the reader from the foregoing and the appended claims and from the accompanying drawings taken in conjunction with the accompanying description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The discussion which follows deals with multiple embodiments of the invention. To the extent that components of these embodiments are alike, they will be identified by the same reference characters.
Referring now to the drawings,
A representative one of the structural components depicted in
As indicated above, the configuration and other characteristics of the two structural number components 34 and 36 are essentially identical. Therefore, in the ensuing description of those components, common features will be for the most part identified by the same reference characters with the suffixes L and R being employed to identify the left-hand and right-hand components 34 and 36 of structural member 32 with that member oriented as shown in
As shown in
The insulating component 39 of structural member 32 is fabricated from two separate layers (or pads) 48 and 50 of an insulating material. In the manufacture of a representative structural member 32, these elements are fused together into a single entity (component 39) which is located in the gap 38 between the web-forming segments 40L and 40R of components 34 and 36 and laps onto the web-forming elements 40L and 40R of components 34 and 36.
At the present time, the preferred insulating material is TWINTEX, a material woven from multistrand rovings of a polypropylene and glass fibers. TWINTEX is available from Vetrotex America, Maumee, Ohio.
TWINTEX is an effective thermal insulator. It also has the advantage of being stronger than steel. Therefore, the strength of a structural member is not reduced by using that material to bridge the gap between adjacent components of that member. The TWINTEX material is 30 to 40 percent polypropylene and 70 to 60 percent fiberglass reinforcement.
The reinforcing glass fibers of the composite materials described above conduct heat to some extent. Consequently, it may be advantageous to fill the gap between the two components of a structural member as disclosed herein with a material which does not contain glass or other thermally conductive components. Urethane foams useful for this purpose are available from a variety of manufacturers. Such a strip is employed in structural member 32. This strip is shown in
As shown in
Continuing with these drawings,
Referring still to
Irrespective of the shape of the openings, they are preferably arranged in two staggered rows to reduce the transfer of thermal energy from one structural member component to another. This lengthens the paths along which thermal energy and vibrations are conducted, decreasing the ability of the structural member components in which the anchoring holes are formed to transfer thermal energy and vibrations.
Structural member 80 also has layers (or on coatings) 87 and 88 of fire retardant on the exposed faces 89 and 90 of thermal barrier component 82. A fire retardant is used when the polymeric material of the insulation material is not flame proof.
As discussed above, superior performance can often be obtained by locating the thermal break-providing gap and insulation closer to an exterior wall end of the structural member than the inner wall. A structural member of the character just described is the structural member 80 illustrated if
As discussed above, it is conventional for pipes, electrical conduits, pipes, and the like to be routed through the structural members of a building's framework. A structural member with an opening provided for this purpose is depicted in
Referring to the
For the sake of clarity, only one of the adhesive film supply arrangements is shown. This supply arrangement comprises unwind roll 119 and idler roll 120. The adhesive film is identified by reference character 121.
It should be noted that as an alternative to slitting a single roll of metal strip 104 into two portions, two separate rolls (not shown) of metal strip could be used. The gap between the two separate strips from the two rolls would be set by guides 302A and guides 302. This arrangement is not shown but can be readily appreciated. The method previously and subsequently described would be directly applicable under this configuration.
At this point, a sandwich 122 of two thermal insulation strips 108 and 110, two adhesive films 121, and steel strip 104 is created. This sandwich is then fed to a belt type heating unit 124. In heating unit 124, the adhesive films (only one of which, numeral 121, is depicted) are heated to a temperature high enough for the adhesive to bond the strips of thermal insulation 108 and 110 to the opposite sides of steel strip 104.
As an alternative to applying adhesive films 121 from unwind roll 119 to the strip 104, adhesive could be sprayed from a sprayer 121A upstream of the application of the thermal insulation 108 and 110. The sprayer 121A could spray either or both sides of the strip 104.
In this newly formed sandwich 122, the polymeric matrix of the thermal insulation strips softens and is displaced along with its component of reinforcing fibers into the gap between the two components 34 and 36 of the structural element 32 as shown in
Referring back to
At this point, it should be mentioned that the length of the unwound strip 104 (now a component in sandwich 122 described above) is monitored with respect to length in a well known manner by a computer control system and encoder. This monitoring of length is important as sandwich 122 is now fed to punch press 93 which punches holes 94 into the strip 104 at predetermined locations, depending on the application. These holes 94 are also shown in
As an alternative to cutting the sandwich 122 into predetermined lengths at cutting station 190 and subsequently roll forming it in roll former 186, the sandwich can be roll formed and then cut.
Another alternative in the manufacture of the thermal structural member is to punch holes or apertures in the opposite marginal edges of strip 104 as it is fed to the processing line.
For some applications, the application of the thermal insulation to only one side of the structural member components may be sufficient. Such a finished member can be manufactured on a line as illustrated in
Referring now to
The reader will be aware that there are many applications in which the principles of the present invention may be employed to advantage in addition to those named above. For example, the material from which the structural member core is formed need not be steel, but may instead be brass, copper, or another alloy or metal or a non-metallic material, and the thermal barrier may be formed from a material other than the fiber reinforced polymeric material and polyurethane foam described above. Therefore, the presented embodiments of the invention are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description; and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
Claims
1. A method of manufacturing a member capable of blocking the transfer of heat and vibrations from a first to a second side of the member, said member having a web comprising the steps of:
- arranging an assembly of first and second conductive components of said web in side-by-side relation with a gap between complementary surfaces of said first and second conductive components; and
- bonding an insulation material having an upper and lower side capable of inhibiting the transfer of heat between said components in gap spanning relationship to the first and second conductive components to form a thermal break between said first and second components and to form a unitary assembly of said first and second conductive components and the insulation material; and
- applying a fire retardant to at least one side of the insulation material.
2. A method as defined in claim 1 in which the insulation material comprises a reinforced polymer.
3. A method as defined in claim 2 in which the polymer is a polypropylene.
4. A method as defined in claim 3 wherein the polypropylene is one which will so change character upon being heated as to increase the thermal resistance offered by the third component.
5. A method as defined in claim 1 which said insulation material is adhesively bonded to said first and second conductive components.
6. A method as defined in claim 1 in which the configuration of at least one of said first and second conductive components is altered after the insulation material is bonded to said first and second conductive components of said web.
7. A method as defined in claim 6 in which the configurations of the first and second conductive components are so altered that the member has integral flanges at opposite sides of the web.
8. A method as defined in claim 1 in which at least one of the first and second conductive components has through apertures.
9. A method as defined in claim 1 in which the first and second conductive components are preheated, in which first an adhesive and then the insulation material are applied to said components, and in which the resulting assemblage of first and second conductive components and insulating material is then cooled to set a polymeric component of the insulating material.
10. A method as defined in claim 9 in which said adhesive and insulation material are applied to first and second, opposite sides of the first and second conductive components, respectively.
11. A method as defined in claim 1 in which an aperture is formed through the assemblage of first and second conductive components and insulation material and in which a flanged bushing is thereafter installed in the aperture to protect the structural integrity of the member and to prevent damage to articles in or passed through said aperture.
12. A method as defined in claim 8 in which said apertures are on opposite marginal edges of the first and second conductive components of said web to accommodate the flow of the said insulation material thereby promoting a bond between said insulation material on opposite sides of said first and second conductive components, and anchoring said insulation material to the first and second components of the web.
13. A method as defined in claim 12 in which there are at least two rows of apertures in the marginal edge of at least one of the first and second conductive components, the apertures in said rows being so staggered as to lengthen thermally conductive spanwise paths through each component in which the apertures are formed, thereby impeding the transfer of heat between inner and outer faces of the member.
14. A method as defined in claim 1 in which said insulation material is bonded to only one side of said first and second conductive components.
15. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the assemblage of said first and second conductive components and said insulation material is cut to a predetermined length.
16. The method of claim 12 wherein said first and second conductive components are pre-heated prior to bonding said insulation material thereto.
17. The method of claim 1 which includes guiding said first and second conductive components so that said gap between said complementary surfaces of said first and second conductive components is maintained prior to bonding said insulation material to said first and second conductive components.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein cam rolls abut the first and second conductive components so that the said gap between said complementary surfaces of said first and second conductive components is maintained prior to bonding said insulation material to said first and second conductive components.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 21, 2005
Publication Date: Aug 25, 2005
Inventors: Gary Jensen (Liberty Lake, WA), Verne Lindberg (Everett, WA), Michael Sparling (Ellensberg, WA)
Application Number: 11/084,976