EP0200764B1 - Device for fixing to a support wall a fibre insulation element - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for fixing to a support wall a fibre insulation element comprises a metal part (1) consisting of a first portion (2, 3) capable of penetrating into the module (11) according to a direction parallel to the support wall, preferably like the tines of a fork, and of a second portion (8, 9, 10) which may co-operate with a hooking member (screw, bolt etc...) fixed to the support wall, and of a third portion (4-7) which connects the first two portions and which may co-operate with the end of a similar metal part which has traversed an adjacent element.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for fixing an insulating element formed on fibers, in particular ceramic fibers, to a support wall.

One of the usual techniques for thermal insulation of high temperature chambers consists in placing on the hot face of a support wall which may be made of refractory steel, a layer of insulating material based on refractory ceramic fibers, this layer being obtained by laying elements in the shape of a parallelepiped called "modules" obtained either by cutting plies of needled fibers, stacked or more, for example in accordion, or by forming blocks in which the fibers are linked together, for example to the using a small amount of a binder, which does not reduce the flexibility of the module.

Usually these modules, the dimensions of which, in two directions parallel to the support wall are, for example 300x300 mm or 600x600 mm, are fixed individually to the support wall of the thermal enclosure by means of a metal hooking device inserted from a part, in the module itself by gluing or by a mechanical system, and fixed on the other hand to the shielding at the time of the construction of the wall by welding, screwing, or any other means.

In existing systems, the modules have an independent fixing, and they are therefore independent of each other, their connection between them being effected only by contact and friction of the strips of ceramic fiber more or less compressed and clamped on each other . This has the disadvantage that if a fixing fails, there is a risk of the corresponding module detaching from the wall, which can then be damaged by the temperature of the atmosphere of the enclosure.

The object of the invention is to provide a fixing device which avoids this drawback by allowing a temporary maintenance of a module even in the event of failure of its fixing to the wall, this device being moreover at least as inexpensive and easy to implement that existing devices.

The invention therefore provides a device for fixing an insulating element formed from fibers to a support wall, this device comprising a metal part, a first part of which is capable of penetrating inside said module by spreading the fibers apart. and a second part of which is calculated to be fixed to the wall by welding or using a hooking member such as a screw head which has the particularity that said part of the metal part is capable of penetrating into the element parallel to the wall and at a certain distance from this wall over a length greater than that of the element in the direction in which it passes through it, in that the metal part comprises a third part capable of cooperating with one end d another metal part which has passed through an adjacent element, said third part connecting together the first and second parts.

Preferably the third part is arranged in a plane perpendicular to that of the support wall, and is intended to be placed in the junction plane between two adjacent modules.

According to an interesting method, the metal part, as a whole, is obtained from a single metal rod, suitably bent.

Advantageously, the first part consists of two branches parallel to each other and arranged to be parallel to the surface of the support wall, and spaced from the latter, the second part extends in a plane intended to be tangent to the surface of the support wall and is intended to be welded to said support wall or to be crossed by a fastening member thereto, and the third part is intended to be crossed with friction by the ends of the two branches constituting the first part d 'an adjacent metal part.

• Fig. 1 est une vue perspective montrant une pièce métallique selon l'invention et un module non engagé dans la pièce;
• Fig. 2 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 1 mais avec le module engagé dans la pièce;
• Fig. 3 est une vue en coupe partielle d'une paroi d'enceinte construite en utilisant le dispositif de l'invention;
• Fig. 4 est une vue perspective, sous un autre angle que les figures 1 et 2, montrant la coopération de deux pièces.

The invention will now be described in more detail using a non-limiting practical example, illustrated in the drawings among which:

• Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a metal part according to the invention and a module not engaged in the part;
• Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but with the module engaged in the part;
• Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of an enclosure wall constructed using the device of the invention;
• Fig. 4 is a perspective view, from another angle than Figures 1 and 2, showing the cooperation of two parts.

The metal part 1 visible in the figures is obtained by bending a refractory steel rod.

It has two parallel branches 2, 3, of the same length, one end of which ends in a point and the other end of which is connected to a curved part 4, 5.

These curved parts have the shape of an arc of a circle extending over a little more than 180 °, with an internal radius close to the half-diameter of the branches 2, 3 for a reason which will be explained later. The curved parts 4, 5 are situated in a plane perpendicular to that of the two branches 2, 3 and their open part is oriented in a direction which is 45 ° with the plane which contains the branches 2, 3, going towards the mediating plane of the two branches. The curved parts 4, 5 are each connected, on the side opposite to the branches 2, 3 to a straight part 6, 7 perpendicular to the plane which contains the branches 2,3.

The two rectilinear parts 6, 7 are of the same length, and they are connected together, at their end opposite to the curved parts, by a connecting part 8, which is substantially rectilinear and has a direction parallel to the intersection of the two planes one containing the branches 2, 3 and the other the straight parts 6, 7. The connecting part 8 has two curvatures 9, 10 in U-shaped, located in a plane parallel to that of the branches 2, 3.

One of these bends, 9, is open in the direction of the branches 2, 3 and the other 10, in the opposite direction.

The whole of the part 1 is symmetrical with respect to the mediating plane of the branches 2, 3, apart from the curvatures 9, 10.

• Figure 1 shows, next to a part 1, a module 11 of ceramic fibers in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, formed of a stack of fiber plates cut into the shape of a rectangle and linked together. Figure 2 shows the same module 11 into which the branches 2,3 have entered. The branches 2, 3 are of sufficient length so that their end then leaves the module 11 on the face opposite to that by which they entered and the connecting part 8, with its curvatures 9, 10 is in the plane of one of the large faces of the module.
• Figure 3 further shows a support wall 12 against which is placed a series of modules 11, 11a, 11b held by parts 1, 1a, 1b. These parts 1 are made integral with the support wall 12 by welding or by means of attachment means 13, 14 such as studs or screws whose head is spaced from the support wall by a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the rod from which the part 1 is made. The attachment means can cooperate with one or other of the curvatures 9, 10. These curvatures preferably have an internal radius close to the half-diameter of the rod rod or of the screw 13, 14 and a curvature extending over a little more than 180 ° so as to obtain a blocking by elasticity.
• FIG. 4 shows the way in which two metal parts 1, 1 cooperate when the installation is finished.

As can be seen in this figure, the branches 2, 3 of the part 1, after having passed through the module 11, not shown in this figure, penetrate into the curved parts 4a, 5a of the adjacent part 1a.

The end of the branches 2, 3 of the part 1 is slightly spaced from the rest position, and this end comes to be placed parallel to the branches 2a, 3a of the part 1 a, and in contact with them. The friction of the ends of the branches 2, 3 of the part 1 against the curved parts 4a, 5a and the branches 2a, 3a of the part contributes to keeping the part 1 in place relative to the part 1a.

Due to the fact that the curved parts 4a, 5a have the shape of an arc of a circle which extends over more than 180 ° the branches 2, 3 can only penetrate inside these curved parts or leave it by a displacement along the axis of the branches.

Consequently the parts 1 and 1a cannot separate once they have been fixed to the wall.

To facilitate the introduction of the branches 2, 3 in the bends 4a, 5a, it is possible, as a variant, to provide that these branches are of slightly different length. The operator then sets up the longest branch, then the shortest.

According to a first embodiment of the device of the invention, to build the insulation of an enclosure, one begins by placing, by welding for example, fixing studs 13 on the wall (FIG. 5), then, a module 11 being fixed with the help of the corresponding metal part 1, the ends of the branches 2, 3 of which protrude on one side, a new module 11 is approached previously equipped with its metal part, and it is advanced in such a way that the ends of the branches 2, 3, which project from the module 11 already in place enters the curved parts 4a, 5a of the part 1 a of the new module, and that, simultaneously, a stud 13a enters the curvature 9a of room 1a. This if found then fixed by a simple push from the module 11a towards the module 11.

According to another embodiment, which does not require the prior fixing of the stud, and therefore gives more flexibility, the fixing means are not studs fixed beforehand, but self-tapping screws 14a, 14b, which are put in place in the curve 10 by the operator who pushes slightly to the left (in FIG. 3) the fibers of the module already in place, which then return to their position by elasticity. In addition to or in replacement of that which is placed in the curvature 10, it will be observed that this operating mode allows the installation of two metal parts 1 in the same module, directed perpendicularly to one another.

In all cases, pieces 1 of special shapes can be provided for the angles, orifices and other singular points of the enclosure, for example, at one end of the line, so that the metal piece does not go beyond the limit of the module, the curvature 10 can be eliminated, and at the other end of the line, for the same purpose, the branches 2 and 3 can be shortened.

Other operating modes are, of course, possible.

• - la fabrication des modules est extrêmement facilités, le dispositif métallique d'accrochage étant mis en place après la constitution du module de fibres lui-même.
• - Le montage se fait «en suivant», chaque module étant individuellement comprimé, à la demande, en fonction uniquement de l'entraxe choisi pour les points de fixation au blindage.
• - Dans chaque module, la compression des bandes est uniforme, entre elles et sur toute leur surface.
• - On peut, à volonté, poser ou non une sous-couche en fibre céramique entre le blindage du four et les modules.
• - Cette sous-couche peut aussi avoir été mise en place sur le module lors de la fabrication.
• - La fixation de chaque module sur le blindage de four peut être faite de n'importe quelle manière par goujon soudé sur le blindage et écrou. Par vis traversant le blindage et écrou-Par vis autotarau- deuse-Par soudage, soit manuel, soit automatique, sans que cette liste soit limitative.

Whichever fastening system is chosen, mounting is simplified because the operator can always see the fastening at the time of the operation. The main advantages of the invention are as follows:

• - the manufacture of the modules is extremely easy, the metal attachment device being put in place after the constitution of the fiber module itself.
• - The assembly is done "following", each module being individually compressed, on request, depending only on the distance chosen for the fixing points to the shielding.
• - In each module, the compression of the strips is uniform, between them and over their entire surface.
• - You can, at will, install or not a ceramic fiber underlay between the furnace shield and the modules.
• - This underlay may also have been placed on the module during manufacture.
• - The fixing of each module on the furnace shielding can be done in any way by stud welded on the shielding and nut. By screw through the shield and nut-By self-tapping screw-By welding, either manual or automatic, without this list being exhaustive.

Claims (4)

1. Device for fixing on a support wall an insulation element formed from fibres, this device comprising a metallic component a first part of which is capable of penetrating inside the said module by separating the fibres therefrom and a second part of which is designed in order to be fixed to the wall by welding or by means of a fastening member as a screw head, characterized in that the metallic component, overall, is produced from a single metallic rod, suitably folded, so that the said first part of the metallic component is capable of penetrating into the element parallel to the wall and at a certain distance from this wall over a length greater than that of the element in the direction where it traverses it, and in that the metallic component comprises a third part capable of interacting with an end of another metallic component which has traversed an adjacent element, the said third part connecting together the first and the second part.

2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the third part is disposed in a plane perpendicular to that of the support wall and is intended to be placed in the joining plane between two adjacent modules.

3. Device according to either of Claims 1 and 2 in which the first part consists of two branches which are parallel to each other and disposed in order to be parallel to the surface of the support wall, and separate from the latter, the second part extends in a plane intended to be tangent to the surface of the support wall and is intended to be welded to the said support wall or to be traversed in a member for fixing to the latter, characterized in that the third part, intended to be traversed with friction by the ends of the two branches constituting the first part of an adjacent metallic component, comprises parts curved in the shape of an arc of a circle extending over more than 180° with an inner radius in the region of half the diameter of the branches and intended to be traversed by the latter.

4. Device according to Claim 3, characterized in that the two branches are of different lengths.

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