Insulation for Affixing to Metal

Abstract

An apparatus for removably applying insulative material to magnetic surfaces includes a sheet of insulative material. In some embodiments, snap fasteners are affixed thereto and, in some embodiments, magnets are directly affixed to the insulative material using adhesive. In embodiments using snap fasteners, each snap fastener has an eyelet and a socket such that a shaft of the eyelet passes through the sheet of insulative material and is held in an orifice of the socket. The socket has a cup-shaped area on a side that is opposite to the orifice. There are magnets, each of which is affixed to the cup-shaped area of the socket such that the sheet of insulative material is then removably attached to a magnetic material by the magnets.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of sound and/or thermal insulation and more particularly to a system for affixing insulation to metal surfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many surfaces made of metal or surrounded by metal often radiate heat/cold and freely pass sound (noise), for example, vehicle windows, vehicle walls and doors, vehicle roofs, metal garage doors, metal siding for buildings, etc. Many attempts have been made to affix thermal and/or sound reducing insulation to such surfaces with mixed results, as it is difficult to impossible to use fasteners such as staples with metal surfaces. For example, insulative material with an adhesive backing is often used, but the high temperatures and temperature swings found in vehicles, buildings, and metal garage doors often destroys the adhesive backing and the insulative material falls from the surface, leaving residue from the insulative backing.

Since many of the surfaces are made of steel, some have attempted to use sew magnets into seams in the insulative material in an attempt to hold the insulation to the metal surfaces by magnetic force. Such a configuration works in some situations, but there are several problems with this solution. The first problem has to do with adherence to the metal surfaces. As the magnets are completely surrounded by the insulative material, there must be higher force magnet since even this small distance attenuates the force exerted by the magnets. A second problem is visual, in that, unless the seams are sewn perfectly and the magnets lay flat within the seams, the ends of the insulative fabric bunch and are not pleasing. The third issue is manufacturing such insulative panels. In order to sew the magnets into the insulative material, the insulative material must be wrapped around the magnets and sewn onto itself with a seam. Such stitching works at the periphery of the insulative material where the material can be wrapped around, but when the insulative material is used on larger surfaces, adherence is required in central locations where seams are difficult or impossible to sew.

What is needed is an insulative material that uses magnets to adhere to metal surfaces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an apparatus for removably applying insulative material to magnetic surfaces is disclose including a sheet of insulative material that has of snap fasteners affixed thereto. Each snap fastener has an eyelet and a socket such that a shaft of the eyelet passes through the sheet of insulative material and is held in an orifice of the socket. The socket has a cup-shaped area on a side that is opposite to the orifice. There are magnets, each of which is affixed to the cup-shaped area of the socket such that the sheet of insulative material is then removably attached to a magnetic material by the magnets. In some embodiments, one or more of the snap fasteners include a sticky adhesive material to prevent the insulative material from sliding down the surface of which is being insulated as magnets provide very good adherence but rely on friction between the magnets and the surface to prevent sliding.

In another embodiment, an apparatus for removably applying insulative material to magnetic surfaces is disclosed including a sheet of insulative material and a plurality of snap fasteners. Each snap fastener has an eyelet and a socket such that a shaft of the eyelet passes through the sheet of the insulative material and is held in an orifice of the socket. Each socket has a cup-shaped area on a side that is opposite to the orifice and each of the cup-shaped area has a magnet installed therein. When the sheet of the insulative material is removably attached to a magnetic material and held by the magnets.

In another embodiment, an apparatus for removably applying insulative material to magnetic surfaces is disclosed including a sheet of insulative material having magnets affixed directly to the sheet of insulative material with an adhesive material such that when the sheet of the insulative material is placed on a magnetic material (e.g., a garage door), the sheet of insulative material is held to a magnetic material by a magnetic force exerted by the magnets.

In another embodiment, method of insulating a surface is disclosed. The method includes installing a plurality of snap fasteners to a sheet of insulative material. Each snap fastener has an eyelet and a socket such that a shaft of the eyelet passes through the sheet of the insulative material and is captured in an orifice of the socket. A magnet is affixed in a cup-shaped area of each snap fastener on a side that is opposite to the orifice. Now, the sheet of insulative material is removably affixed to a magnetic material by the magnets exerting a magnetic force on the magnetic material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective exploded view of magnets affixed to an insulative material.

FIG. 2 illustrates an attachment-side prospective view of the insulative material showing the magnets being attached.

FIG. 3 illustrates an elevational view of the insulative material with magnets being attached to a metal surface.

FIG. 4 illustrates an elevational view of the insulative material with magnets attached to a metal surface.

FIG. 5 illustrates the magnetic insulation with insulative material that has an area that is “see-through.”

FIG. 6 illustrates directly affixing magnets to the insulative material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures.

For clarity and brevity reasons, the magnetic insulation 100 is described as adhering to metal throughout this description, in particular, a magnetic material or magnetic metal that is attracted by magnetic force. The term insulative material refers to a material that attenuates heat and/or noise.

Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective exploded view of magnets 130 affixed to an insulative sheet 200 is shown. The insulative sheet 200 is any material that insulates or provides a barrier to heat and/or sound, for example, rubber, foam rubber, butyl, foil-backed rubber, foil-backed foam, foil-backed butyl, backed fiberglass, Reflectic®, single bubble thermal insulating material, double bubble thermal insulating material, etc. Note that such materials are available with a sticky backing, for example, for automotive use (peel and stick). There are many disadvantages to this sticky backing including: adherence ability (especially on grimy surfaces like oil, sand, grease), degradation of the adhesive due to heat and moisture, ease of removal when needed, and remnants of adhesive after removal. The magnetic insulation 100 uses magnets 130 located anywhere on the insulative sheet 200, including, for example, along edges and centrally located on the insulative sheet 200.

To secure the magnets 130 to the insulative sheet 200, snap fastener sockets 105 are used as the process of attaching the snap fastener sockets 105 to a sheet of material (e.g., canvas) is well known. The snap fastener sockets 105 are typically provided in two pieces, eyelet 11o that press-fits into a socket 120. A shaft 112 of the eyelet is pushed through the insulative sheet 200 and into an orifice 122 of the socket 120 by a snap fastener tool. The orifice 122 is size to require force in order to push the shaft 112 into the orifice 122 and, therefore, holds the shaft 112 tightly once fully engaged. The socket 120 of the snap fastener sockets 105 is cup-shaped for accepting the male section of a snap fastener (not shown) that is not used in the magnetic insulation 100. Instead, either before or after the snap fastener sockets 105 are affixed to the insulative sheet 200, a magnet 130 is affixed within the cup-shaped area of the socket 120. The cup-shaped area of the socket 120 helps protect the magnet 130 from being scraped from the insulative sheet 200. One magnet 130 is secured into the cup-shaped area of each socket 120 by an adhesive, sealant, press-fit, etc. In one embodiment, a sealant such as Dow Corning® 995 is used as such a material is excellent for heat/cool cycles as found in metal garage door and automotive environments.

Referring to FIG. 2, an attachment-side prospective view of the magnetic insulation 100 is shown with the magnets 130 being attached. In this example, the snap fastener sockets 105 have been attached to the insulative sheet 200 and the adhesive material 132 applied within the cup-shaped areas of the sockets 120. The magnets 130 are then inserted into cup-shaped areas of the sockets 120 and the adhesive material 132 is allowed to set. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the snap fastener sockets 105 are easily located around edges and within central locations of the insulative sheet 200.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 elevational views of the insulative sheet 200 with magnets 130 are shown with the magnets 130 being distal from a metal surface in FIG. 3 and with the magnets 130 held to a metal surface in FIG. 4 by way of magnetic force. As vehicles 300 such as delivery vans often have metal walls 310 and metal ceilings 320 that freely conduct heat and noise, it is desirable to cover bare metal surfaces with insulation to help maintain inside temperatures when it is hot or cold externally both for the driver/occupants and for the cargo that is often temperature sensitive (e.g., food, wine, plants). It is also desirable to reduce noise emanating from outside of the vehicle and to provide some protection against blunt forces such as an item within the vehicle hitting the metal wall and deforming the metal wall. The same is desirable for metal garage doors, air conditioning air handlers, airport hanger walls, other steel construction such as sheds and barns, etc.

The portion of a vehicle 300 shown has metal walls 310 (e.g., walls made of magnetic material such as steel), a metal ceilings 320, and a floor. A side view of the magnetic insulation 100 is shown with the eyelets 110 attached to the side of the insulative sheet 200 that is away from the metal wall 310 of the vehicle 300 and the socket 120 with magnet 130 affixed therein attached to the side of the insulative sheet 200 that is closer to the metal wall 310 of the vehicle 300. In FIG. 3, the magnetic insulation 100 is being moved towards the metal wall 310 of the vehicle 300 while in FIG. 4, the magnetic insulation 100 is held to the metal wall 310 of the vehicle 300 by magnetic force of the magnets 130. Although not shown, the same or similar magnetic insulation 100 is also attached to the metal ceilings 320 of the vehicle 300, and in some embodiments, magnetic insulation 100 is also attached to the floor 330 of the vehicle 300.

In some embodiments, the magnetic insulation 100 is pre-sized to fit spaces of known vehicles 300, for example, a set of magnetic insulation 100 is provided, each magnetic insulation 100 in the set sized/shaped to fit in specific locations and affixed with an appropriate set of magnets for a popular style of minivan.

Referring to FIG. 5, the magnetic insulation 100 is shown with the insulative sheet 200 having an area that is “see-through.” In some installations, for example, vehicles 300, metal buildings, metal garage doors, there are windows 340. In some cases, it is desirable to cover the windows 340 with magnetic insulation 100 which is possible with the above embodiments by installing the snap fastener sockets 105 with magnets 130 around the periphery of the window 340 so that the magnets 130 are attracted to and attach to the metal around the window 340. This will help insulate from heat and noise entering/exiting the window 340. In some cases, it is desired to maintain visibility through the window. For such cases, in some embodiments, the insulative sheet 200 is or has a window 205 that allows light to pass through, for example, the perforated material used to make bus window advertisements, allowing those within the bus to see outside while those outside the bus see advertisements printed on the perforated material.

Referring to FIG. 6, the magnetic insulation 100A is shown. In this embodiment, the magnets 130 are directly affixed to the insulative sheet 200 by the adhesive material 132, creating a strong bond between the insulative sheet 200 and each of the magnets 130.

In some embodiments, to prevent the magnets from slipping when the surface on which the insulative sheet 200 is affixed, adhesive or sticky pads 209 are included to reduce slippage.

Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result.

It is believed that the system and method as described and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.

Claims

1. An apparatus for removably applying insulative material to magnetic surfaces, the apparatus comprising:

a sheet of insulative material;

a plurality of snap fasteners, each snap fastener having an eyelet and a socket such that a shaft of the eyelet passes through the sheet of the insulative material and is held in an orifice of the socket and wherein the socket has a cup-shaped area on a side that is opposite to the orifice, each of the cup-shaped area having a magnet installed therein; and

whereas the sheet of the insulative material is removably attached to a magnetic material and held by the magnets.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the magnets is held in the cup-shaped area of the sockets using an adhesive.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the magnets is held in the cup-shaped area of the sockets by way of a press fit.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one sticky member affixed to the sheet of insulative material on a same side of the insulative material as the magnets.

5. An apparatus for removably applying insulative material to magnetic surfaces, the apparatus comprising:

a sheet of insulative material;

a plurality of magnets, each of the magnets affixed to sheet of insulative material by an adhesive; and

whereas the sheet of the insulative material is then removably held to a magnetic material by a magnetic force exerted by the magnets.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein each of the magnets is affixed to the insulative material using an adhesive.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising at least one sticky member affixed to the sheet of insulative material on a same side of the insulative material as the plurality of magnets.

8. A method of insulating a surface, the method comprising:

installing a plurality of snap fasteners to a sheet of insulative material, each snap fastener having an eyelet and a socket such that a shaft of the eyelet passing through the sheet of the insulative material and capturing the eyelet in an orifice of the socket;

affixing a magnet in a cup-shaped area of each snap fastener on a side that is opposite to the orifice; and

removably affixing the sheet of insulative material to a magnetic material by the magnets exerting a magnetic force on the magnetic material.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the magnetic material is a garage door.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the magnetic material is an inside surface of a vehicle.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the affixing the magnet in the cup-shaped area of the each snap fastener comprises using an adhesive.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the affixing the magnet in the cup-shaped area of the each snap fastener comprises using a press fit.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising affixing at least one sticky member to the sheet of the insulative material on a same side of the sheet of the insulative material as the magnets.