AU2012101977A4

AU2012101977A4 - Insulating sheet

Info

Publication number: AU2012101977A4
Application number: AU2012101977A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Charles Cameron
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-10-07
Filing date: 2012-09-26
Publication date: 2017-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 2020-09-26
Also published as: AU2012227354A2; AU2012227354A1

Abstract

Abstract An insulating sheet comprising opposite sheet surfaces and a plurality of substantially parallel grooves spaced across at least one of the surfaces along a width of the 5 sheet, wherein the sheet is made of an insulating material that is substantially self-supporting yet compressible so as to permit the sheet to be compressed and narrowed at the grooves to thereby reduce the width of the sheet. 3658431_1 (GHMatters) P88108.AU.1 26/09/12

Description

1 2012227354 26 Jun2017

Insulating sheet

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to insulation and, in 5 particular, to insulating sheets for forming insulation.

Background

In many buildings insulation is used to reduce heat and noise transfer through walls, floors and to roofs. 10

One common method for insulating homes is to use insulating bats. Bats are a fibrous, flexible material provided in rolls or strips. The rolls or strips are cut to size to fit a particular space desired to be insulated. 15

Fibres of bats can become irritants, particularly as fibrous fragments become airborne during and after cutting of bats. These fragments can be injurious, lodging behind eyes and in the skin. The bats themselves also provide 20 nesting sites for rodents and pests.

Due to their flexibility, bats are typically unsuitable for use under houses since they drop out from the spaces in which they are positioned. Also owing to their 25 flexibility, bats have a tendency to slump when positioned vertically (e.g. in walls).

Some modern insulations are delivered by sprays, the sprayed material expanding upon contact with air, to fill 30 a space (e.g. between wall studs) to be insulated.

Sufficient material is delivered to the space to ensure it is entirely filled, resulting in insulation extending out of the gap after expanding, which will usually need to be cut back to the studs after expansion has completed. 26/06/17 2 2012227354 26 Jun2017

Spray insulation is difficult, and in some cases toxic or unsafe, to handle. Applying spray insulations therefore should require protective clothing to protect against contact with the insulating material during spraying and 5 subsequent expansion.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide an insulation that is safe to handle, non-irritant, and which can be used under houses and in walls. 10

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an insulating sheet positioned between adjacent wall studs, the insulating sheet comprising opposite sheet 15 surfaces and a plurality of substantially parallel grooves spaced across both opposite sheet surfaces along a width of the sheet wherein the grooves of one surface together with the grooves of the other surface form an alternating series of grooves across the width of the sheet, 20 wherein the grooves of both surfaces extend through more than 50% of a depth of the sheet; wherein the sheet is made of an insulating material that is substantially self-supporting yet compressible so as to permit the sheet to be compressed and narrowed at 25 the grooves, wherein when positioned between the wall studs, the sheet bears outwardly against the studs to hold the sheet in position between the studs.. 30 The grooves are provided on both surfaces of the sheet.

The grooves may be evenly spaced across the surface.

In some embodiments, the grooves on at least one surface of the sheet extend more than 50% through the width or 35 depth of the sheet. 26/06/17 3 2012227354 26 Jun2017

In some embodiments, the grooves on both surfaces extend more than 50% through the width or depth of the sheet. The grooves may penetrate between 25% to 80% of the sheet 5 thickness. The grooves on one surface of the sheet may be deeper than the grooves on the opposed surface of the sheet. The grooves of one surface together with the grooves of the other surface may form an alternating series of grooves across the width of the sheet. The 10 grooves may include a first set of parallel grooves and a second set of parallel grooves aligned at an angle to the first set of grooves.

The second set of grooves may be substantially 15 perpendicular to the first set of grooves. The grooves may be spaced at predetermined distances from each other and/or from an edge of the sheet. The predetermined distance may correspond to a gap spacing between structural members in a structure so that the sheet can be 20 broken at one or more of the grooves to reduce the sheet width and permit insertion into the gap.

In some embodiments, a substrate covers at least one surface of the sheet to increase one or more of the 25 thermal resistance, fire rating and noise attenuation properties of the sheet.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the insulating sheet further comprises a coupling system 30 including a first formation at one edge of the sheet and a cooperating second formation at an opposite edge of the sheet that is shaped to engage the first formation, whereby adjacent similar insulating sheets can be connected together by engaging the first formation on one 35 sheet with the second formation of the adjacent sheet. 26/06/17 4 2012227354 26 Jun2017

In some embodiments, the first formation and cooperating second formation are a tongue and groove. 5 In some embodiments, the sheet will include both a connection system and grooves as described above.

As used herein, the term "substantially self-supporting" refers to a material from which a sheet of a particular 10 shape can be fabricated, where the sheet maintains that shape regardless of the orientation of the sheet when in position (e.g. in a wall). For example, the material may have sufficient structure so that a sheet of reasonable size can be formed therefrom and oriented substantially 15 upright, with the lowermost portion of the sheet supporting the remainder of the sheet above. This is in contrast to, for example, fibre bats and other insulating materials that tend to fold or slump when upright (e.g. when positioned in a wall cavity). 20

As used herein, the term "compressible" means that a sheet can be manually pushed from the sides to slightly reduce e.g. its width. Compression is advantageous as the sheet can be compressed to fit into a gap between structural 25 elements (e.g. wall studs) that is slightly narrower than the original width of the sheet. When the sheet is made from, for example, expanded polystyrene (EPS) it will attempt to return to it uncompressed state and thereby bear outwardly against the structural elements to hold the 30 sheet in position. This is particularly useful where the sheet is to be positioned between floor bearers, as it will be less likely to fall out from between the bearers, or where the sheet is positioned between wall studs as it will remain in position while plaster or other cladding is 26/06/17 5 2012227354 26 Jun2017 being applied, whereas other forms of insulation will slump or otherwise fall out from between the studs.

In addition, materials such as EPS are only compressible 5 to a small degree without breaking. The grooves formed in one side of the sheet create gaps in the material so that only the material in the plane of the groove between the bottom of the groove and the other side of the sheet needs to be compressed in order for the entire sheet to be 10 narrowed by approximately the width of the groove (discussed in further detail hereafter). The insulating material may be one of expanded polystyrene, vacuum insulated panelling, polyurethane, and extruded polystyrene . 15

Also provided is a method of installing an insulating sheet between adjacent wall studs comprising: providing an insulation sheet, compressing the insulation sheet to narrow the grooves to reduce the width of the sheet, and 20 positioning the insulation sheet between adjacent wall studs so that the sheet bears outwardly against the studs to hold the sheet in position between the studs.

The method may be used to install the sheet as set forth 25 above between wall studs. 26/06/17 6 2012227354 26 Jun2017

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 5

Figure 1 is a perspective view of insulating sheets according to an embodiment of the invention mounted in a structure;

Figure 2 is a side isometric view of an insulating 10 sheet of indeterminate length;

Figure 3 is a side isometric view of the insulating sheet of Figure 2 when in a narrowed or compressed condition;

Figure 4 is a side view of two interconnected sheets, 15 a portion of one sheet having been broken off and connected to the other sheet;

Figure 5 is a side view of a covered/laminated insulating sheet;

Figure 6 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment 20 of an insulating sheet; and

Figure 7 is a plan view of another alternative embodiment of an insulating sheet.

Detailed Description 25 An insulating sheet 10, as shown in Figure 2, comprises opposite sheet surfaces 24, 26 and a plurality of substantially parallel grooves 18, 28 spaced across at least one of the surfaces along a width of the sheet. It will be appreciated that for particular purposes it can be 30 desirable to provide only one of the pluralities of grooves 18 and 28 across only one of the respective surfaces 24 and 26.

The sheet 10 is made of an insulating material that is 35 substantially self-supporting yet compressible so as to 26/06/17 7 2012227354 26 Jun2017 permit the sheet 10 to be compressed and narrowed at the grooves 18, 28 to thereby reduce the width of the sheet 10. 5 An insulating sheet 10, as shown in Figure 1, is used for forming insulation in buildings, for example, in a wall structure 12. In Figure 1, the insulating sheets 10 are shown mounted between wall studs 14 in the wall structure 12, both above and below a cross-member 16. 10

The sheets 10 are also suitable for use in roofs, under floors, between walls, around tanks and piping (particularly where only one side 24, 26 has grooves 18, 28 as discussed hereafter), between walls and internal 15 covers such as plasterboard and cladding, and other applications. Particularly due to the self-supporting nature of the sheets 10, they can be reliably fitted under floors between bearers, whereas other types of insulation (e.g. fibre bats) will slump downwardly out from between 20 the bearers.

With reference to Figure 2, the insulating sheet 10 comprises a plurality of first grooves 18 at spaced intervals across the sheet 10. The width of the sheet 10 25 can be substantially uniformly reduced, as shown in Figure 3, by narrowing the first grooves 18.

For some materials, such as EPS, this narrowing will result in the creation of small voids 27 that act as air 30 gaps and may thus be capable of improving the thermal insulation properties of the sheet 10 when compared with a solid sheet (i.e. a sheet without grooves 18, 28 or gaps 27). For more compressible materials it may be possible to altogether remove the voids 27 by supplying sufficient 35 compressive force to the sheet 10. 26/06/17 8 2012227354 26 Jun2017

The narrowing of the sheet 10 can be affected by pressing edges 20, 22 of the sheet 10 towards each other. In general, the material from which the sheet 10 is formed 5 will remain substantially uncompressed when compared with the grooves 18, though small regions 29 of compressed material may be created or these regions 29 may transition from compression in the region of the bottom of the respective groove 18, 28 to tension along a line 31 that 10 is generally in the plane of the respective groove 18, 28 but on the opposite side 26, 24 respectively of the sheet 10. Therefore, the amount by which a sheet 10 can be narrowed will be generally determined by the total width of all of the grooves 18, 28. 15

Although the material of the sheet 10 will be substantially uncompressed, some small elastic compression will usually be desirable. With a small degree of elastic compressibility the sheet 10 can be broken at one or more 20 of the grooves 18, 28 so that the resulting sheet 10 is slightly wider than a gap between wall studs 14.

Therefore, the sheet 10 will bear outwardly (i.e. push against) the wall studs 14 when mounted therebetween to assist in maintaining the position of the sheet 10. One 25 material suitable for such applications is EPS.

The sheet 10 has two opposed sides or surfaces 24, 26, the first grooves 18 being spaced across one side 24 of the sheet 10. In the present embodiment the sheet 10 further 30 includes a plurality of second grooves 28 spaced across the other side 26 of the sheet 10 opposite the first grooves 18 though, as discussed above, it can be desirable to provide only one such plurality of grooves 18, 28. 26/06/17 9 2012227354 26 Jun2017

In the absence of the second grooves 28, narrowing of the sheet 10 would generally lead to one side 24 being shorter than the other side 26. Therefore, the sheet 10 would assume an arc-shape during narrowing. This can be 5 desirable where, for example, the sheet 10 is used for insulating a tank, hot water system or other cylindrical body. Such an arc- or convex-/concave-shape can be beneficial for many reasons including that it can be fitted to and will conform to the cylindrical shape of 10 various bodies such as tanks and pipes.

In addition, where the sheet 10 is intended to be positioned between wall studs 14 against pre-existing cladding or similar, the arc form can be positioned 15 against that cladding so that the insulation takes on a slightly convex shape (i.e. bows away from the cladding). As the sheet 10 tries to flatten out back to its original shape it will in effect be trying to draw itself closer to the cladding and thereby more securely hold the sheet 10 20 in position between the studs 14.

By providing grooves 18, 28 on opposite sides 24, 26 of the sheet 10 respectively, the sheet 10 is encouraged to compress or narrow whilst maintaining a generally planar 25 shape. A sheet 10 with grooves 18, 28 on only one side 24, 26 is much less likely to have a planar shape when compressed.

In the present embodiment, the grooves 18, 28 extend more 30 through than 50% of the depth of the sheet 10 so that the sheet 10 narrows consistently through its depth.

Therefore, no straight line can be drawn between the ends 20, 22 of the sheet 10 that will not intersect at least one plurality of grooves 18, 28. This allows the sheet 10 35 to be more readily compressed. For example, if it were 26/06/17 10 2012227354 26 Jun2017 possible to draw a straight line between the ends 20, 22 that did not intersect at least one plurality of grooves 18, 28 then the material of the sheet 10 along that line would be less susceptible to compression than the 5 remainder of the sheet 10. In essence, the bottom of one or both of the grooves 18, 28 should be closer to the opposite side 26, 24 respectively of the sheet 10, than the bottom of the other grooves 28, 18. 10 The grooves 18, 28 should extend through between 25% and 80% of the depth of the sheet 10 and it will generally be the case that the grooves 18, 28 of at least one surface 24, 26 will extending through more than 50% of the depth of the sheet 10. Moreover, the grooves 18, 28 need not 15 have the same depth. Instead, the grooves 18, 28 on one surface 24, 26 of the sheet 10 may be deeper than the grooves 18, 28 on the opposed surface 24, 26 of the sheet 10. 20 To ensure substantially uniform compression and stresses in the sheet 10, the grooves 18 of one surface 24 together with the grooves 28 of the other surface 26 form an alternating series of grooves 18, 28 across the width of the sheet 10. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, when 25 progressing from end 20 to end 22 the sheet 10 first provides one groove 28i, followed by groove 18i, followed by groove 28ii and so on to the opposite end 22 of the sheet 10, thereby forming an alternating series of grooves 18, 28. 30

The grooves 18, 28 in the present embodiment are substantially parallel to each other and to the ends 20, 22 of the sheet 10. As such, grooves 18, 28 are easily formed by standard cutting equipment. 35 26/06/17 11 2012227354 26 Jun2017

Since the sheet 10 has only limited compressibility (i.e. a limited amount by which it can be narrowed) a whole sheet 10 will not fit all spaces in which insulation is desired. While the sheet 10 may be cut to fit a particular 5 gap, cutting can be avoided as the grooves 18, 28 form lines of weakness or rupture lines (e.g. through the region 29 from the bottom of the respective groove to the line 31 as discussed above) along which the sheet 10 can be broken as shown in Figure 4. Therefore, the grooves 10 18, 28 penetrate a thickness of the sheet 10 to an extent whereby the grooves 18, 28 act as break lines along which the sheet 10 may be broken.

The grooves 18, 28 can be spaced at a predetermined 15 distance X, X' from each other and/or from an edge 20, 22 of the sheet 10 so that the predetermined distance X, X' corresponds to a gap spacing between structural members 26 (e.g. wall studs 14 - see Figure 1) in a structure 12.

The sheet 10 can thereby be broken at one or more of the 20 grooves 18, 28 to reduce the width of the sheet 10 and permit insertion thereof into the gap.

Desirably, the distance X will be slightly larger than the distance X'', so that the sheet 10 can be compressed to 25 fit into the gap between wall studs 14 and once released will apply some force against the wall studs 14 to maintain the sheet 10 in position therebetween. In other words, the grooves 18, 28 can be spaced to facilitate easy installation between structural elements that have 30 standard spacing.

As discussed above, the insulating sheet 10 is made from an insulating and self-supporting material. In the present embodiment, the sheet 10 comprises a coupling 35 system comprising a first formation, presently a tongue 26/06/17 12 2012227354 26 Jun2017 30, at one edge 20 of the sheet 10 and a cooperating second formation, presently engagement groove 32, at an opposite edge 22 of the sheet 10 that is shaped to engage the first formation (tongue 30). Using the connection 5 system, adjacent similar insulating sheets 10 can be connected together by engaging the first formation (tongue 30) on one sheet with the second formation (engagement groove 32) of the adjacent sheet 34. 10 While each of the embodiments shown in the Figures includes a tongue 30 and engagement groove 32, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention may not include such a connection system and may instead include some other connection system or no connection 15 system.

If the sheet 10 is broken to size to fit a particular gap between e.g. wall studs 14, there would traditionally be wastage of the remainder of the sheet 10 not positioned 20 between the studs 14. The tongue 30 and engagement groove 32 enable the remainder 10' of the sheet 10 to be connected with an adjacent sheet 34, to thereby be used with at least a portion of the adjacent sheet 34 to insulate the same or a further gap (i.e. the remainder 10' 25 of the sheet 10 and the adjacent sheet 34 can be connected together to form a single insulating sheet). Therefore, wastage of the remainder 10' of the sheet 10 is avoided.

It can also be desirable that the remainder 10' of the 30 sheet 10 include the tongue 30 rather than the engagement groove 32. This is due to the sides of the engagement groove 32 providing two lines of contact with a wall stud 14 rather than a single line of contact afforded by the tip of the tongue 30. In other words, the contact surface 35 between the grooved edge 22 and stud 14 is distributed and 26/06/17 13 2012227354 26 Jun2017 consequently more stable than would be a contact surface between the tongue 30 and stud 14. Also, the remainder 10' of the sheet 10 will include a newly created generally planar edge 36 that will then abut a further wall stud 14 5 when the sheet formed by remainder 10' and adjacent sheet 34 is broken to fit into a gap between wall studs 14.

As best seen in Figure 2, the tongue 30 includes barbs 38 that can compress slightly, increasing friction between 10 the tongue 30 and engagement groove 32 to lock and securely connect sheets 10, 34 together. The distance between the tips of the barbs 38 is slightly greater than the width of the engagement groove 32 and thus when the tongue 30 and engagement groove 32 are engaged, the barbs 15 38 bear against the walls of the engagement groove 32 to increase friction between the tongue 30 and engagement groove 32 and more securely connect the sheets 10, 34 together. 20 To enhance the noise and/or thermal rating of the insulating sheet 10, a substrate 40, 42 may be provided, to cover at least one surface 24, 26 of the sheet 10.

Such a substrate 40, 42 may increase one or more of the thermal resistance, fire rating and noise attenuation 25 properties of the sheet 10, and may also improve the water resistance of the sheet 10.

While the laminate 40, 42 can be applied only to one side 24, 26 of the sheet 10, in the present embodiment the 30 cover 40, 42 is applied to both sides of the sheet 10 as shown in Figure 5.

Substrates 40, 42 can be applied by adhesion, during the process of forming sheet 10 or by any other appropriate 35 method (e.g. by forming small tabs (not shown) on the 26/06/17 14 2012227354 26 Jun2017 laminate 40, 42 which tabs pierce, and become lodged in, the material of the sheet during formation thereof)· The covers 40, 42 may also attach to the sheet 10 at edges 41, 43 (see Figure 2) thereof by, for example, a friction fit. 5

The present substrates 40, 42 are an aluminium laminate that is adhered to the sides of the sheet 10. Advantageously, where laminates 40, 42 are used, the thickness of the sheet 10 can be reduced with a consequent 10 cost saving, whilst maintaining adequate noise and/or thermal properties of the sheet 10. In other words the combination of sheet 10 and laminates 40, 42 can have the same thermal, fire and/or noise properties as a thicker sheet 10 that is not laminated or covered. 15

It will be appreciated that various patterns of grooves 18, 28 can be used as desired. In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the sheet 10 includes a first set of parallel grooves 18 and a second set of parallel grooves 44. The 20 additional grooves 44 have been cut into the sheet 10 at spaced intervals across the sheet 10 and at an angle to the first set of parallel grooves 18. In the present case, the additional grooves 44 form substantially perpendicular grooves 44 at an angle of 90° to the 25 plurality of grooves 18. However, any angle between grooves 18, 44 may be used as appropriate. For example, it may be desirable to fit the sheet 10 into a right-angled triangular gap and thus the plurality of grooves 18 may be aligned so that they are parallel to one short edge of the 30 triangle and perpendicular to the other short edge, with the angled grooves 44 being parallel with the hypotenuse. As such, the additional grooves 44 may be at any angle, e.g. 15°, 30° or 45° to the plurality of grooves 18. 26/06/17 15 2012227354 26 Jun2017

In essence, the combination of grooves 18, 44 allows the sheet 10 to break and/or be compressed in two dimensions. It will be appreciated that the number of grooves 18, 28, 44, their orientations with respect to each other and the 5 sheet 10 can be selected as appropriate. Importantly, the grooves 18, 28, 44 should be provided at evenly or regularly spaced intervals across the sheet 10 so as to allow uniform narrowing of the sheet 10 across its width (e.g. the grooves 18, 28, 44 are not concentrated at any 10 one location on the sheet 10 as this would cause localised narrowing only and also, inter alia, reduce the flexibility of the sheet 10 to be broken to fit specific spaces in structural work). 15 A further sheet 46 is shown in Figure 7. Notably, the sheet 46 contains no grooves. Such a sheet 46 can be fabricated to be of a length to fit a standard sized gap as with sheet 10. Alternatively, either sheet 10, 46 can be fabricated to have a width that corresponds with a 20 standard sized gap (see X, X' and X'' as discussed above) thus allowing a plurality of sheets 10, 46 to interconnect to fill the entire gap regardless of the length of the gap. In addition, sheet 46 can be smaller than sheet 10, with the sheet 46 being able to be assembled together to 25 form a continuous insulating body of practically any shape and dimensions. Moreover, sheets 46 can be connected to sheets 10 if desired, due to the common engagement formations 30, 32. 30 The skilled person will appreciate that many different types of material may be used to form the insulating sheet 10, 46 as described herein. For example, the sheet 10, 46 may be formed from one of expanded polystyrene, vacuum insulated panelling, polyurethane, and extruded 35 polystyrene. 26/06/17 16 2012227354 26 Jun2017

It will be understood to persons skilled in the art of the invention that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 5

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as 10 "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention. 26/06/17

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows.

1. An insulating sheet positioned between adjacent wall studs, the insulating sheet comprising opposite sheet surfaces and a plurality of substantially parallel grooves spaced across both opposite sheet surfaces along a width of the sheet wherein the grooves of one surface together with the grooves of the other surface form an alternating series of grooves across the width of the sheet, wherein the grooves of both surfaces extend through more than 50% of a depth of the sheet, and wherein the sheet is made of an insulating material that is substantially self-supporting yet compressible so as to permit the sheet to be compressed and narrowed at the grooves, wherein, when positioned between the wall studs, the sheet bears outwardly against the studs to hold the sheet in position between the studs .
2. A sheet according to claim 1, further comprising a substrate covering at least one surface to increase one or more of the thermal resistance, fire rating and noise attenuation properties of the sheet.
3. A sheet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the grooves are spaced at predetermined distances from each other and/or from an edge of the sheet, wherein the predetermined distance corresponds to a gap spacing between the wall studs so that the sheet can be broken at one or more of the grooves to reduce the sheet width and permit insertion into the gap. 4 . A sheet according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a coupling system including a first formation at one edge of the sheet and a cooperating second formation at an opposite edge of the sheet that is shaped to engage the first formation, whereby adjacent similar insulating sheets can be connected together by engaging the first formation on one sheet with the second formation of the adjacent sheet wherein the first and second formations are a tongue and groove.
5. . A method of installing an insulation sheet between adjacent wall studs comprising: providing an insulating sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, compressing the insulation sheet to narrow the grooves to reduce the width of the sheet, and positioning the insulation sheet between adjacent wall studs so that the sheet bears outwardly against the studs to hold the sheet in position between the studs.