EP3131749A1

EP3131749A1 - Method for thermally insulating and sound-proofing components

Info

Publication number: EP3131749A1
Application number: EP15719632.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jozef HUDINA; Josef Giesinger
Original assignee: Henkel AG and Co KGaA
Current assignee: Henkel AG and Co KGaA
Priority date: 2014-04-15
Filing date: 2015-04-14
Publication date: 2017-02-22
Also published as: CN106457306A; US20170028691A1; WO2015158680A1; DE102014207161A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for sound-proofing and/or acoustically insulating metal components and/or plastics components. An insulating layer consisting of a foamed first thermoplastic polymer material is applied to the components and bonded thereto. A mass damping layer consisting of a second thermoplastic polymer material of a density of 1.5 to 5 g/cm³ is then applied to the insulating layer by direct extrusion at melt temperatures between 120 and 300° C as defined profile. The invention also concerns components produced by this method.

Description

Method for thermal insulation and sound insulation of components

The present invention relates to a method for thermal insulation and sound insulation and / or sound insulation of metallic components and / or plastic components.

In the manufacture of modern equipment, apparatus and machinery nowadays almost exclusively very thin-walled metallic sheets or plastic components are used. Mechanically moving parts, washing and rinsing processes or running motors inevitably cause these thin-walled sheets or plastic components to vibrate, which are often in the audible range of the human ear. These vibrations are transmitted in the form of structure-borne noise over the entire machine, the apparatus or the device and can be emitted at remote locations in the air as disturbing sound. To reduce the sound radiation and the structure-borne sound attenuation, these sheets or plastic components are therefore provided, for example, in the automotive industry or in the production of household appliances with sound-absorbing coverings, so-called anti-roughening coatings.

In accordance with the conventional procedure, mixtures of fillers of high specific weight and bitumen are extruded into (asphalt) films, from which then the corresponding shaped parts are punched or cut. Subsequently, these films are glued to the sheet metal parts in question, they may need to be adjusted while heating to the shape of the sheet.

It is particularly for the so-called "white goods", ie household appliances or household appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines, state of the art to attenuate them acoustically to improve their noise behavior with an asphalt heavy foil The device container is in these cases usually made of thin stainless steel sheet with a typical thickness of about 0.4 mm.

The application of the heavy foil primarily serves to increase the mass of the container wall. This approach is commonly referred to as "mass damping" and usually improves the acoustic properties of the device Without such a measure, the usually very thin-walled sheet would, for example, due to the sustained water jet pulses to the inside of the washing container, excited as a resonating body to vibrate and the device becomes a very disturbing noise source in the household. The acoustic behavior of such devices, however, is one of the main distinguishing features of individual products on the market in addition to the energy consumption and the quality of the rinsing or washing properties.

Bitumen-based materials, as derivatives of heavy oil, are not among the preferred materials used in areas where food is stored and prepared, as is the case in a household kitchen. Nevertheless, the classic mass damping with asphalt heavy foils continues to be used due to lack of cost-effective alternatives. Another disadvantage of asphalt films is that such heavy films are very good heat conductors and thus lead to increased heat losses.

It was therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new method that makes it possible to carry out the acoustic mass damping, in particular of household appliances such as dishwashers, without the use of bitumen.

It has now been found that this object can be achieved by a method in which, instead of an asphalt heavy foil, a multilayer insulation based on food-safe polypropylene materials is used, wherein the multilayer insulation has a thermal insulation layer of a polypropylene coating applied directly to the device. Foam sheet and has an overlying layer of highly filled polypropylene.

These insulating layers have several advantages over the previously used asphalt films. First, they are, as already mentioned, toxicologically safe. In addition, they provide thermal insulation that minimizes energy loss in addition to a mass loss comparable to that achievable with asphalt heavy foil. Finally, they also offer an improved flame retardancy. In addition, the adhesion of the mass damping to the component can be improved by the construction according to the invention.

In a first aspect, therefore, the invention relates to a method for sound insulation and / or sound insulation of metallic components and / or plastic components, wherein in the method in a first step, an insulating layer of a foamed thermoplastic polymer first material is applied to the components and then from a mass attenuation layer a second thermoplastic polymer material having a density of 1, 5 to 5 g / cm ^{3 is applied} by direct extrusion at melting temperatures between 120 and 300 ° C on the insulating layer as a defined profile.

Metallic components are preferably thin-walled sheets of steel, aluminum and in particular stainless steel. Plastic components can be made, for example, of thin-walled PVC, Polycarbonate, polypropylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymers or glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP) exist.

These components to be coated are preferably components of so-called "white goods", ie household appliances or household appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines or bathtubs, shower trays, shower trays or sinks, but they can also be part of data processing equipment (computers), pump housings, compressors, be agricultural vehicles and equipment, medical equipment or housing chimneys of wind turbines.

In various embodiments, the coated components are the housing or the rinsing body of a dishwashing or washing machine, in particular a dishwasher. Such housing or flushing usually consist of stainless steel or in some cases also of polypropylene.

Thermoplastic polymer materials for the purposes of this invention are pure thermoplastic polymers to which additional fillers, optionally reinforcing agents and / or other additives have been added. Examples of thermoplastic polymers to be used are vinyl polymers, in particular ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyolefins, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, polyamides (PA), polyesters, polyacetals, polycarbonates, polyurethanes and ionomers. No thermoplastic polymer in the context of the present invention is bitumen. The polymeric materials used herein are preferably free of bitumen. The polymer preferably used in the described processes is polypropylene.

The thermoplastic polymer material used as the insulating layer is a foamed material. Foams of thermoplastic polymers, in particular polypropylene, are particularly preferred. Such foam sheets may have a thickness in the range of 1 to 10 mm, preferably the thickness is in the range 2-5 mm.

These foam sheets are applied to the components and preferably adhered thereto. With particular preference, these foamed sheets are applied to the components by means of blow molding.

The insulating layer can be applied in such a way that all surfaces of a component, for example a rinsing container, are coated. Alternatively, the application can only take place on parts of the component. Likewise, the application of the mass damping layer can be made on all surfaces of a component, in particular on all surfaces that are already coated with the insulating layer. Alternatively, however, the ground damping layer can be applied only to parts of the surfaces of the component, in particular parts of the surfaces of the component which are coated with an insulating layer. In certain embodiments, the insulating layer may be at locations where additional material for mass damping, ie. the mass damping layer is applied, compressed and flattened, for example by means of pressing elements, such as pressure rollers. This makes it possible to achieve a uniform thickness of the coating. For example, a 4mm thick foam sheet may be compressed to 1mm at the locations where the bulk cushioning layer is applied, and then the 3mm thickness of the cushioning layer applied so that the component is completely coated with a 4mm thick coating.

The total layer thickness on the component is in various embodiments 3-6 mm, preferably about 4 mm. The foam sheet may have the desired thickness of 3-6, preferably 4 mm, outside the area of the cover with the mass cushioning layer, and in areas where a mass cushioning layer is applied, the foam sheet is previously compressed to such a thickness that after application the mass damping layer, usually in a thickness of 2-5, preferably 3 mm, the desired total thickness of 3-6, preferably 4 mm is obtained, ie For example, compression can be made to a thickness of 1 mm.

The second thermoplastic polymer material used as the bulk cushioning layer may also contain one of the above-mentioned polymers. In order to achieve a high density of the thermoplastic polymer material, they should be highly filled, that is, have a filler content of at least 60 wt .-% based on the polymer material.

As fillers serve inorganic salts or oxides, preferably those with a high density between 2.5 and about 12 g / cm ³ . Examples of such fillers are zinc oxide (ZnO), tin dioxide (SnO 2), titanium dioxide (titanium (IV) oxide, ΤΊΟ 2), iron oxides - in particular iron (II) oxide (FeO), iron (II) oxide (iron sesquioxide Fe 2 O 3 ), Iron (II, II) oxide (ferroferrioxide Fe3U4, magnetite), barium sulfate (BaSC), lead sulfate (leadivitriol, PbSC), aluminum hydroxide, (for example in the form of hydrargillite, bayerite, nordstrandite) or aluminum metahydroxide ( eg in the form of diaspore or boehmite), hafnium boride, hafnium carbide, hafnium nitride, hafnium dioxide (HfC), tungsten oxides (eg triwolframoxide (W3O), tungsten dioxide (tungsten (IV) oxide, WO2), tungsten trioxide (tungsten (VI) - oxide, WO3)), rhenium dioxide (ReC), rhenium trioxide (ReCb) and rhenium heptoxide (Re2Ü7).

Another possibility is to use the corresponding rock or ore flours as filler. Examples of these are dolomite, cassiterite (tinstone, SnC), bismuth (eulytine, pebble bismuth, Bi4 [Si04] 3), bismuth lignite (bismuthine, B12S3), ilmenite (titanium iron, FeTiCb) and granite rock flour.

Very particular preference is given to the use of barite, iron oxides, aluminum hydroxides or mixtures thereof. A particularly preferred embodiment contains calcium carbonate as a filler, which can be used alone or in admixture with the other fillers.

The fillers used have a particle size range between 0.01 and 5000μιη, preferably between 0.1 and 100μιη, more preferably 0.5 and 20μιη.

The density of the highly filled thermoplastic polymer materials used is generally in the range of 1.5 to 5 g / cm ³ , preferably in the range of 2.1 to 4.5 g / cm ³ .

In various embodiments, temperatures in the range of 180 to 250 ° C are used in the extrusion of the second thermoplastic polymer material.

The thickness of the bulk cushioning layer of second thermoplastic polymer material is usually 1 to 10 mm, preferably about 2 to 5 mm.

The highly filled polymer material is preferably used in the form of granules. The granules (also called pellets) may have a grain diameter of 0.5 mm to 30 mm, preferably from 2 to 10 mm. The grain size can be z. B. be determined by sieve analysis. Preferably, the grain has a spherical or lenticular shape, but it may also be elliptical or cylindrical. Preferably, the granules are to be surface free of adhesive or block free, so that sticking together to larger aggregates during storage and promotion of the granules is avoided.

The polymer materials used may additionally contain as such known auxiliaries.

The mass loss layer is applied by direct extrusion (DEX). This increases the degree of freedom of the device manufacturer, since no prefabricated heavy foils must be used. Instead, the position and the layer thickness of the coating can be chosen and set freely programmable.

Feeding the operational thermoplastic material to the extruder may be by gravity or pneumatic conveying systems. Under pneumatic conveying systems are understood in this context suction and / or blow conveyor.

The feeding of the thermoplastic material and / or other auxiliaries, is preferably carried out by continuous gravimetric or volumetric dosing such that, depending on the application, a defined profile of constant or predetermined variable dimensions directly is applied from the extruder to the substrate to be coated, possibly preheated. Alternatively, the individual components of the material can be supplied to the extruder in a volume-accurate manner.

It is preferred that the insulating layer and the grounding layer have the same polymer base, i. For example, both made of polypropylene materials. As a result, in the direct extrusion of the second polymer material, both layers are welded and need not be glued. Although such welding is preferred, in alternative embodiments, methods may also be used in which the two layers are adhered. For this purpose, a hot melt adhesive can be added to the second polymer material and / or the component can be coated with such a hot melt adhesive. Suitable hot melt adhesives are known in the art.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the insulating layer and / or the mass damping layer, preferably at least the insulating layer, in particular only the insulating layer, hollow microspheres, in particular selected from glass, plastic or ceramic hollow microspheres, in particular ceramic hollow microspheres or glass microbubbles, preferably ceramic hollow microspheres and / or Glass microbubbles based on silicate / aluminate glasses or ceramics. By using hollow microspheres, in particular in the insulating layer, the thermal insulation and the material properties can be further improved. Plastic hollow spheres, for example made of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene or a mixture thereof, can be used as organic hollow microspheres, for example. The mineral hollow microspheres may contain, for example, clay, aluminum silicate, glass or mixtures thereof. In particular, the organic or mineral hollow microspheres have a diameter of 1 to 1000 μιη, preferably from 5 to 200 μιη on. The hollow microspheres may have a vacuum or partial vacuum in the interior or may be filled with air, inert gases, for example nitrogen, helium or argon, or reactive gases, for example oxygen. Microbubble spheres are preferably used as hollow microspheres. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the hollow microspheres have a compressive strength of at least 50 bar, in particular of at least 100 bar, preferably 130 bar. Hollow spheres preferably used according to the invention have Mohs hardness of at least 4, in particular at least 4.5, more preferably at least 5. Micro hollow spheres preferred according to the invention have a shell diameter which is only about 5 to 15%, preferably only about 10%, of the total spheres (ie in other words about 85% to 95%, preferably about 90%, of the balls are formed by the cavity). For example, 3M-Scotchlite Glass Bubbles can be used as hollow glass microspheres or are commercially available from Omega Minerals Germany GmbH, Norderstedt, under the product designation "ISOSPHERES SG-300-B". The preheating of the substrate prior to coating to a defined temperature can be carried out inductively by infrared radiation, laser radiation, hot air or in metallic substrates. The inductive preheating can be carried out in particular dynamically, ie, a sensor determines the substrate temperature, this is then compared with a predetermined setpoint value to determine and adjust the necessary heating power of the induction heating. Preferably, corresponding preheating devices are mounted directly on the extruder head or immediately in front of it, so that the preheating takes place promptly for coating.

In order to coat the substrate, the component to be coated and the extruder head with nozzle mounted thereon must execute a relative movement relative to one another. In this case, the procedure for generating the relative movement can be as follows:

• the component stops and the nozzle moves, or

• both component and nozzle are moving, or

• The nozzle is stationary and the component moves.

The generation of the relative movement is preferably carried out by manipulators. Manipulators for the purposes of this invention are devices that allow a physical interaction with the environment. In the specific case, this is the moving part of the structure that performs the mechanical work of the extruder head.

For the cases of the moving nozzle, the manipulator used can be a robot with 5 or 6 axes of rotation or translation (rotational or translatory axes), whereby the combination of the individual movements is combined into one overall movement.

The robot can carry the extruder - including the preheater - and perform the relative movements. Similar robots are described for example in the documents US5358397, EP0787576 B1, DE10137214 A1.

When both component and extruder die are moving, the manipulator is preferably located stationarily adjacent to a conveyor belt, the manipulator moving the extruder mounted thereon or the extruder die only along two mutually orthogonal axes. The component to be coated is guided horizontally past the manipulator station on a conveyor device, this conveyor device optionally being provided with guide devices transverse to the transport direction, controlling the beginning and end of the extrusion of the coating material.

If the nozzle is arranged stationary, the component to be coated is passed by means of a suitable robot to the nozzle of the extruder. Depending on the geometry and size of the component 2 to be coated, the robot has up to 6 rotational or displacement axes. The specific embodiment of both the conveyor and the coating station depends on the size and geometry of the components to be coated. If the component to be coated is, for example, a complete washing container of a washing machine, a dishwasher or a housing cockpit, the design of the conveying devices for feeding the components to the coating station must be adapted thereto. The manipulator or robot carrying out the coating must also be designed accordingly. Such devices are already known for example from the automotive industry.

Claims

claims

1. A method for sound insulation and / or sound insulation of metallic components and / or plastic components, characterized in that an insulating layer of a foamed thermoplastic polymer first material is applied to the components and then a mass attenuation layer of a second thermoplastic polymer material having a density of 1, 5th to 5 g / cm ³ by direct extrusion at melting temperatures between 120 and 300 ° C is applied to the insulating layer as a defined profile.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the components are used for household appliances or household machines or are part of household appliances or household appliances.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it is the components to sinks, bathtubs, shower trays or shower trays.

4. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the substrates to be coated made of stainless steel or PVC, polycarbonate, polypropylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymers or glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP) exist ,

5. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first thermoplastic polymer material is a foam sheet, in particular a polypropylene foam sheet.

6. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first thermoplastic polymer material is applied by means of blow molding on the components and preferably glued.

7. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second thermoplastic polymer material is highly filled with inorganic salts of polypropylene (PP), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) or polyamide, in particular a highly filled with inorganic salts of polypropylene (PP).

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that

the inorganic salts are selected from barium sulfate, aluminum hydroxide and / or iron oxides and / or the second thermoplastic polymer material has densities between 2, 1 and 4.5 g / cm ³ and / or

the second thermoplastic polymer material may be applied at temperatures between 180 and 250 ° C.

9. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second thermoplastic polymer material is in granular form prior to heating.

10. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insulating layer and / or the mass attenuation layer contains hollow microspheres.

1 1. Sound-insulated and / or sound-insulated metallic or plastic component obtainable according to a method according to any one of claims 1-10.