EP3999707A1

EP3999707A1 - Insulation for door- and window-frames

Info

Publication number: EP3999707A1
Application number: EP20739680.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Silvain Meessen; Florence SCHÖPGES; Jean-Pierre Mayeres
Original assignee: NMC SA
Current assignee: NMC SA
Priority date: 2019-07-18
Filing date: 2020-07-13
Publication date: 2022-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-13
Also published as: DE20739680T1; BE1027432A1; ES2961633T3; WO2021009120A1; EP3999707B1; BE1027432B1; PL3999707T3; SI3999707T1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for insulating a cavity of an aluminium profile section or a thermal-break cavity of an aluminium fixed-frame or opening-frame of a door or window, the method comprising the following steps of: (a) inserting, into said cavity, an insulating device comprising a foam body made of a first polymer composition of polygonal cross section provided on at least one surface, preferably on each of two opposite surfaces, with one or more foam or non-foam fins made of a second polymer composition, in which the distance between said finned surface of the foam body and the opposite surface, or preferably between the two opposite finned surfaces of the foam body, respectively, represents 80 to 97% of the distance separating the corresponding faces of the cavity, in which the foam body made of the first polymer composition is based on one or more (co-)polyesters; and (b) heating the aluminium profile section or the aluminium frame to a temperature higher than a temperature comprised between 180 and 250°C in order to cause the second polymer composition to soften or melt, the foam body to expand and the fins to become compressed through the effect of the expansion of the foam body, and cooling the aluminium profile section or the aluminium frame to cause the second polymer composition to solidify, fixing the insulating device to the corresponding face or faces of the cavity.

Description

INSULATION OF DOOR AND WINDOW FRAMES

Technical area

The present invention relates to the insulation of aluminum profiles or frames for doors and windows and more particularly the insulation of the spaces between the interior and exterior profiles of a frame.

State of the art

[0002] Breaking the thermal bridge by barring is an insulation technique used on aluminum sashes and frames to increase the insulation performance of this type of frame. The principle is simple: a material that is not very thermally conductive (i.e. much less thermally conductive than aluminum) is crimped between the interior and exterior aluminum profiles of the sash and the frame to reduce reciprocal temperature exchanges of the inside to outside the building or vice versa. The bars are generally plastic profiles with an elongated cross section and having at each end of this section a mechanical fastening system complementary to a fastening system provided on the internal faces of the inner and outer profiles, for example a fixing to dovetail. The interior and exterior aluminum profiles assembled by these bars form a composite profile, also called a frame, thus generally comprising one or more cavities between the two profiles, hereinafter called barrettage cavity (s). However, it is well known that in the cavities provided in the aluminum profiles themselves, air convection and / or radiation can negatively influence the insulation performance of the assembly. It is the same in the case of the barrier cavity where the convection of the air and / or especially the radiation between the internal faces of the exterior and interior profiles increase the energy flow and therefore the energy losses through the chassis.

[0003] There are solutions in which the barrettage cavity is at least partially filled with a foamed polymer material. However, unlike the profile cavities, the filling of the barrettage cavity cannot be coextruded with the profile (as for example in EP 2 501 530 A1), but must be done at the time of the barrettage or after, therefore during or after the assembly of two interior and exterior profiles by means of bars. In a known manner, a polymer foam profile of appropriate cross section is inserted either by being fixed beforehand to one of the bars (filling during assembly) or even simply by sliding a polymer foam profile into the cavity via one of the ends. of the assembled frame (filling after assembly). It should be noted that the sliding of a foam in longitudinal cavities of great length can be difficult, especially if the section of the foam must completely fill said cavity and / or if the foam profile to be inserted is very flexible or friable. Another technique consists in injecting a polyurethane foam (PUR) in liquid form on at least one of the bars before assembling them with the interior and exterior aluminum profiles. The expansion of the PUR foam takes place freely outside the limits of the strip. However, this method does not allow the entire cavity to be filled and the shape of the foam is generally rounded.

[0004] The aluminum frames are for the most part covered with one (or more) layer (s) of finish applied according to known techniques. A technique often used is powder coating. Powder coating is a process used to paint profiles in a sustainable manner. Once the profiles have been stripped, cleaned of impurities and pretreated to ensure perfect adhesion of the lacquer, a paint powder, for example a polyester paint powder, is applied to them via an electrostatic powder coating, depositing colored particles. In an oven heated to about 200 ° C, the polymerization then hardens everything to stabilize the chosen coating.

[0005] However, at these temperatures, many plastics (therefore in this case the bars) soften, lose their rigidity and therefore, if necessary, risk losing their initial shape and dimensions. Likewise, certain types of foams (for example polyurethanes) inserted beforehand into the barrettage cavity can also soften and lose their initial dimensions, or even collapse, which can result in a lesser or even no insulation effect of the foam profile. inserted.

Another frequently used technique is the anodizing of the aluminum profiles or of the frame. In a simplified manner, the anodizing operation, which is an operation not involving high temperatures such as powder coating, consists in producing a thin layer of aluminum oxide (alumina) resistant to surface of a profile, which can act on its decorative appearance. It is carried out through controlled oxidation by chemical or electrolytic coloring. To do this, the parts to be anodized are immersed in several successive baths, which first ensure the preparation of the surface of the profile or the frame, then the production of alumina with, if desired, the deposition of a appearance and color and, finally, stabilization of the alumina layer by a so-called "sealing" operation consisting in hydrating the alumina layer in order to obtain good corrosion resistance.

[0007] The presence of foam in the cavities of a profile or a frame can affect the anodizing operation mainly due to the phenomenon of capillarity at the places of contact of the foam with the walls of the cavity. Since anodization requires the successive contact of the surfaces to be treated with different solutions, the capillary action prevents complete flow and the correct rinsing of the surfaces after each operation. The anodization treatment therefore risks being incomplete at the places of contact with the foam, respectively the incompletely rinsed treatment products risk damaging the foam and therefore also resulting in a lesser or even no insulation effect on the foam profile. inserted.

Object of the invention

[0008] An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a polymeric foam profile of suitable cross section for insulating an aluminum profile cavity and preferably a bar cavity by reducing energy losses by convection and / or radiation, which can be used both in profiles or frames likely to be anodized, as those intended for powder coating.

General description of the invention

In order to solve the problem mentioned above, the present invention provides, in a first aspect, a method of isolating a cavity of an aluminum profile or of a bar cavity of a frame in aluminum door or window sash or frame, the process comprising the following steps:

(a) inserting into said cavity an insulation device comprising a foamed body of a first polymeric composition of cross section polygonal provided on at least one surface, preferably on (each of) two opposing surfaces with one or more foamed or non-foamed fins of a second polymeric composition, wherein the distance between said finned surface and the surface opposed thereto, respectively preferably between the two opposed surfaces provided with fins of the foamed body represents 80 to 97% of the distance between the corresponding faces of the cavity, in which the foamed body of the first polymer composition is at base of one or more (co) polyesters, preferably of polyalkylene terephthalate type, such as for example polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polybutylene naphthalate (PEN), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) , etc.,

and either step (b) or step (b ’) following:

(b) heating the aluminum profile or aluminum frame to a temperature between 180 and 250 ° C, to cause softening or melting of the second polymer composition, expansion of the foamed body and compression of the fins against the walls corresponding of the cavity by the expansion effect of the foamed body, and cooling of the aluminum profile or the aluminum frame causing the solidification of the second polymer composition fixing the insulation device to the corresponding face or faces of the cavity,

(b ') anodization comprising immersing the aluminum profile or the aluminum frame in several successive baths ensuring the preparation of the surface of the profile or the frame, the production of alumina on said surfaces, optionally with the deposition of a appearance and / or color and stabilization of the alumina layer by a sealing operation.

[0010] In an advantageous variant, the process, comprising steps (a) and (b), further comprises, before or after step (a), a step (x) of spraying a paint powder, for example polyester, preferably by electrostatic powder coating, on the outer faces of the aluminum profile or the aluminum frame, the polyester paint powder melting in step (b) to form a protective coating (powder coated). A process comprising steps (a), (x) and (b) is therefore a powder coating process as described above.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a device for isolating a cavity of an aluminum profile or of a barrettage cavity of an aluminum frame of an opening or a door or window frame, comprising a foamed body of a first polymeric composition of polygonal cross section provided on at least one surface, preferably on (each of) two opposing surfaces with one or more foamed or non-foamed fins of a second polymeric composition, wherein the foamed body of the first polymer composition comprises a foam based on polyesters, preferably of the polyalkylene terephthalate type, such as, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polybutylene naphthalate (PEN), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), etc.

As mentioned above, the problem of the insulation of a cavity, in particular in the case of a barrettage cavity, is twofold: on the one hand the foam inside the cavity must cover the entire distance between the bars to be able to guarantee the absence of convection and / or radiation between the two internal faces of the two outer and inner profiles, and, in the case of a powder coating, it must remain intact even after a heats without the bars softened by the powder coating heat becoming deformed, and in the case of anodization, it must prevent the retention of liquids from successive baths by capillarity, that is to say, it must allow the correct drainage and rinsing of the surfaces of the profile or frame.

Now, in the case of heating (steps (a) and (b)), in particular in the case of powder coating (steps (a), (x) and (b)) as indicated above, a foam contained in a cavity risks deteriorating, or even partially collapsing. In fact, it has been observed that the foam included in the cavity will expand more when subjected to higher temperatures than those of its initial foaming, this phenomenon is called thermal expansion below. If the foam is heated to too high temperatures, the cell walls will rupture and the foam may collapse. Therefore, the first polymer composition comprises (co) polyesters exhibiting good rigidity even at the high temperatures of powder coating. However, the inventors have found that by proceeding in this manner, the forces exerted by the foam subjected to thermal expansion is liable to deform the bars. Currently, the trend is to improve the insulation performance of the strips by making them less dense (by foaming for example) and / or thinner, which further increases the risk of deformation during powder coating.

[0014] In addition, the inventors have observed that the foam can recontact (at least partially) during cooling to room temperature after heating or powder coating and thus again release part of the distance between the strips and therefore reduce performance insulation of the chassis.

The inventors then designed the insulation devices according to the invention by slightly reducing the initial size of the foam body relative to the distance between two bars and by providing at least one side of the fins which at the temperature of heating or powder coating will soften or melt, will be crushed by the thermally expanding foam, above all, will solidify later (at a lower temperature) than the foam in the body and will thus not only fill any recontraction space, even if necessary glue the foam body to the bars. Such bonding, depending on the choice of the nature of the second polymer composition, is moreover particularly advantageous, because it makes it possible to increase not only the insulation performance, but also the mechanical rigidity of the assembly. The inventors have determined that in certain variants, for the isolation device to be particularly suitable in an isolation process comprising steps (a) and (b) or steps (a), (x) and (b), it is preferable to choose the second polymer composition preferably from polymer compositions capable of softening or of melting at a temperature below a temperature between 180 and 250 ° C. However, they also found that an isolation device can also be useful in an isolation process comprising steps (a) and (b) or steps (a), (x) and (b), even though the softening or melting temperature of the second composition is only slightly lower, or even identical, to that of the first composition, that is to say of the foamed body. Indeed, when heating the aluminum profile or frame, the fins being located closer to the surfaces of the profile, they tend to heat up more quickly than the foamed body. It is to highlight that in these cases, however, the heating step must be controlled more precisely both in terms of temperature and in terms of heating time.

On the basis of these findings, the inventors have determined that it would also possibly be advantageous to provide a foam which, beyond a certain temperature would be subjected not only to thermal expansion, but also to a new additional foaming, even more important than thermal expansion, so as to fill said cavity as much as possible, that is to say by means of post-foaming. There is therefore optionally provided a certain amount of chemical foaming agents which do not decompose at the temperatures of the initial extrusion of the foam, but which would decompose under the effect of the temperatures of heating step (b). and / or a quantity of physical foaming agents liquid at room temperature, as described in more detail below, thereby making even better insulation possible.

In the case of anodization, the fins provided according to the invention play the role of spacer elements which make it possible to maintain the surface or surfaces of the foam body at a certain distance from the corresponding surfaces of the profile or frame, of preferably at a distance of 4 to 8 mm, preferably 5 to 6 mm, so as to ensure the normal flow (without capillary effect) of the liquids from the treatment baths.

The inventors have further determined that it is not essential to avoid losses by convection and / or radiation that the opposite sides of an insulation device according to the invention cover the entire distance between the corresponding surfaces of the profile or frame (i.e. the insulation device must be in contact on two opposite sides with the profile or frame), but a gap of up to approx. 2 to 3 mm, preferably up to about 1 to 2 mm, does not significantly decrease the insulation performance. Indeed, it has been observed that a slit of such a small width does not allow significant convection through the slit (and therefore a significant loss of heat). This is also true for the radiation losses which are extremely low and therefore negligible under these conditions.

[0019] Therefore, the dimensions of an insulation device according to the invention can be chosen so as to be up to 3 mm, preferably up to 1 to 2 mm below those of the cavity without reducing the insulation performance, even in the case of an anodizing process without an additional expansion step of the foam. A particular advantage is that the isolation device is all the easier to insert into said cavity.

The fins can be of generally any cross section, preferably of polygonal shape and particularly preferably of roughly triangular or trapezoidal section. The number of fins per side of the foam body will be chosen appropriately, in particular according to the dimensions of the cavity to be insulated, and will often be between 1 and 10, preferably between 2 and 5.

The insertion of the isolation device in step (a) can be done in any suitable manner. Alternatively, the isolation device is inserted into the bar cavity after the profiles have been assembled into a frame by inserting it through one end of the frame. In another advantageous variant, the isolation device is inserted with one of the bars at the time of assembly. In such a case, it is particularly advantageous to fix the insulation device by one of its sides to one of the bars, then insert the bar provided with the insulation device in the grooves of the profiles. The fixing of the insulation device on the bar is done for example by gluing, welding, coextrusion, etc. In this case, the fins are located at least on the side opposite to the side attached to the bar and possibly on other sides, but not on the side attached to the bar. In this context, it should be noted that the side attached to the bar effectively prevents the capillary effect in the event of anodization.

[0022] Particularly advantageously, the insulation method according to the invention is used for the insulation of a bar cavity of an aluminum frame. In these variants, the fins or at least part of them are located facing a bar, either in direct contact or at a very small distance of less than 3 mm, or even less than 2 mm.

The first polymer composition, that is to say that forming the foamed body of the insulation device, is preferably a composition comprising (co) polyesters, in particular PET, PBT, PTT, PEN, ..., or mixtures thereof, as the sole polymers or optionally in combination with other (co) polymers, such as impact modifying polymers known for (co) polyesters, ethylene copolymers, such as ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers, ethylene-methyl acrylate (EMA) copolymers , ethylene-ethyl acrylate (EEA) copolymers, ethylene-butyl acrylate (EBA) copolymers, ethylene copolymers modified with groups such as, for example, maleic anhydride or glycidyl methacrylate, etc., , elastomeric thermoplastics (TPE), such as polyester elastomer thermoplastics (TPC), unvulcanized (TPO) or vulcanized (TPV) olefinic elastomer thermoplastics, urethane elastomer thermoplastics (TPU), styrene elastomer thermoplastics (TPS), thermoplastic polyamide elastomers (TPA), ... The densities of the foamed body are generally between 30 and 400 kg / m ³ , preferably between 60 and 250 kg / m ³ , preferably between 80 kg / m ³ and 100 kg / m ³ .

The second polymer composition, that is to say that forming the fins of the insulation device, comprises one or more polymers chosen from crosslinked polyethylene, copolymers of ethylene modified or not by groups such as by example maleic anhydride, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE, such as TPS, TPU, TPC, TPV, TPO), (co) polyesters (PET, PBT, PTT, PEN, etc.) and is optionally foamed. The densities of the fins will generally be greater than 25 kg / m ³ , preferably between 100 kg / m ³ and the non-foamed density of the second polymer composition.

In an advantageous variant for a heating process (steps (a) and (b)) or powder coating (steps (a), (x) and (b)), the first polymer composition (that is to say - say the foamed body) and / or the second polymer composition (that is to say the fins), therefore introduced before the initial foaming of the foamed body and / or where appropriate of the fins, comprising (d / nent), as foaming agent (s) additional to the other physical and / or chemical foaming agents used for the initial foaming of these compositions, an amount between 0.001 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 3% by weight, in particular from 0.1 to 2% by weight of at least one chemical foaming agent chosen from chemical agents which decompose at temperatures higher than those used for the initial foaming of the foamed body, preferably the chemical agents which can be used which decompose at high temperatures temperatures above 180 ° C and are chosen advantageously from hydrazine derivatives, such as azodicarbonamide, tetrazoles, such as 5-phenyltetrazole, mixtures of carbonate salts and acids, such as mixtures of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. The so-called chemical post-foaming in the case of chemical foaming agents is done by the additional volume of gas generated by the decomposition of the chemical foaming agent, the gas initially contained in the cells and the gas generated during heating to more high temperature being moreover simultaneously subjected to thermal expansion.

As a variant or in addition, the first polymer composition and / or the second polymer composition, therefore introduced before the initial foaming of the foamed body and / or where appropriate of the fins, can (t / vent) understand, as the only agent foaming agent or in addition to other physical and / or chemical foaming agents commonly used for foaming such compositions, an amount between 0.001 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 3% by weight, in particular 0 , 1 to 2% by weight of at least one physical foaming agent that is liquid at room temperature (and at atmospheric pressure), preferably chosen from alkanes having a boiling point greater than 25 ° C, in particular n-pentane , isopentane or cyclopentane, hexanes (all isomers), heptanes, etc., or else from ethanol, dimethyl ether, etc., or mixtures thereof. The presence of these foaming agents in the first and / or second polymer composition will cause post-foaming inside the cavity during heating or powder coating. Indeed, the phenomenon responsible for the so-called physical post-foaming in the case of liquid physical foaming agents at ambient temperatures results not only from the liquefaction and then the re-evaporation of the initial physical foaming agent, but results from a combination with the phenomenon of gas exchange through cell walls. This phenomenon is well known in the field and is the reason why the gas initially responsible for foaming will generally be gradually exchanged by atmospheric air. The so-called physical post-foaming described here benefits the air permeability and the liquefaction of normally liquid agents at room temperature which results in the entry of air into the cells being increased by reducing the volume of the agent. foaming liquefying on cooling. After a while, the cells therefore not only contain the amount of foaming agent initial (whose volume is reduced by its change of state), but also a large quantity of air. If such a foam is subsequently heated, its volume will consequently increase further, when the liquid foaming agent evaporates again.

It should be noted that the presence of such a chemical and / or physical foaming agent, although not necessary in the case of a process comprising anodization (steps (a) and (b ')), does not negatively influence the performance of the isolation device. In certain variants of the process according to the invention comprising steps (a) and (b ’), it is moreover envisaged to also perform step (b).

The foaming agents which can be used for the initial foaming of the first and / or second polymeric compositions can be physical or chemical foaming agents or a combination of these two types. The physical foaming agents, such as in particular molecular nitrogen, carbon dioxide, linear or branched C 1 to C 4 alkanes, are present in the form of gas under normal temperature and pressure conditions. These gases or liquids are soluble in the polymer compositions melted at high temperature and under high pressure and form a single phase under the appropriate conditions of pressure and temperature. By depressurizing the monophasic system, the nucleation and growth of gas bubbles that have become insoluble generate a cellular structure. The foaming agent (s) are preferably chosen from propane, isobutane, n-butane and / or carbon dioxide. Chemical foaming agents decompose when the temperature rises. They can be classified into two families: exothermic chemical foaming agents, such as azodicarbonamide, OxydiBenzeneSulfonyl Hydrazide, etc. which decompose by producing heat. For example, azodicarbonamide decomposes at around 210 ° C (see above if its decomposition is not desired during the initial foaming), but in the presence of a suitable decomposition accelerator, such as zinc oxide and / or zinc stearate, the decomposition temperature can be lowered by about 60 ° C. Endothermic chemical foaming agents break down on absorbing heat. For example, citric acid, baking soda and their mixtures decompose between 150 and 230 ° C and generally produce less gas volume per gram of chemical foaming agents than exothermic chemical foaming agents.

[0029] The invention also relates to aluminum profiles or aluminum frames comprising at least one cavity provided with an insulation device as described here. Preferably, the aluminum profiles or aluminum frames have been subjected to powder coating or anodization after the insertion of the insulation device in at least one of the cavities of the profile or frame. Advantageously, the cavity provided with an insulation device according to the invention is a barrettage cavity of a frame.

The invention contemplates in yet another aspect the use of an insulation device according to the invention for the insulation of cavities in aluminum profiles or in bar cavities of an aluminum frame for improve their insulation performance.

A barrettage cavity is the cavity formed when two profiles are attached (generally one intended to be located outside and one intended to be located inside a building) by means of bars in order to avoid a thermal bridge between the two profiles. A barrettage cavity is therefore generally of polygonal section, often roughly rectangular, delimited on the one hand by two bars and on the other hand by the internal faces (facing each other) of the two profiles.

The bars that can be used for the barrettage of two sections to form a frame are those generally used in the field, preferably they are made of polyamide, in particular of polyamide 6.6, as a mixture composed of poly (phenylene oxide) and polystyrene ( PS / PPO), for example Noryl, dense or foamed, possibly reinforced with glass fibers, and they have a generally essentially linear central section comprising at each end a partial section allowing mechanical fixing with a corresponding section provided on the profiles, for example example a so-called dovetail or similar section. It should be noted that the bars may have a more complex cross section, but they nevertheless always comprise at least two regions for mechanical attachment of (at least) two sections. Brief description of the drawings

[0033] Other features and characteristics of the invention will emerge from the detailed description of some advantageous embodiments presented below, by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings. These show:

Fig. 1: is a cross section through one embodiment of an insulation device according to the invention;

Fig. 2: is a cross section through an embodiment of a door or window frame, in which a variant of an insulation device according to Fig. 1 was inserted into a barrette cavity, before the heating procedure (b) or the anodization procedure (b ’); and

Fig. 3: is a cross section through the door or window frame embodiment of FIG. 2, in which is shown the variant of an insulation device in the barrettage cavity after having been subjected to heating (step (b)), for example during powder coating.

Description of a preferred execution

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a variant of an insulation device 40 according to the invention which comprises a foamed body 41 and fins 42 arranged on at least one side (here two opposite sides) of the foamed body 41. The foamed body 41 preferably has the shape of the cross section of the cavity to be isolated, but its dimensions are smaller (at least in the direction joining the bars), for example 80 to 97% of the distance between the corresponding opposite sides of the cavity . The fins 42 can be non-foamed (compact) or foamed.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows the isolation device 40 shown in FIG. 1 after its insertion into a cavity (11, 21, 31), here the bar cavity 31 of a frame formed by the inner profile 10, the outer profile 20 and the bar formed by the bars 30. The isolation device 40 has not yet undergone post-foaming treatment by heating to higher temperatures than during its extrusion so as to decompose the chemical post-foaming agent. In the case of an insulation process comprising anodization (steps (a) and (b '), the insulation device will remain essentially unchanged (unlike in the case of heating as in step (b)) and it can be seen in Fig. 1 that the configuration of the device insulation makes it possible to avoid capillarity phenomena and therefore allows easy flow of the treatment bath liquids. This figure also illustrates in a certain way the case of the insulation device having undergone heating (step (b)) in the absence of chemical foaming agent after cooling and recontraction of the foamed body, except that in this particular case the fins would have lost their original shape due to the compression by the expansion of the foamed body due to heating and their stretching due to the recontraction of the foamed body on cooling.

[0036] Finally, FIG. 3 shows the isolation device 40 of FIG. 2 after the heating procedure (step (b)), for example after powder coating, in the particular case where the foamed body 41 included a certain quantity of chemical foaming agent not yet decomposed before heating and / or a foaming agent physical liquid at room temperature, as described in more detail above, the foamed body having increased in volume by post-foaming (and also by physical expansion of the gas contained in the cells of the foam) and having crushed the softened fins 42 or melted, then resolidified after cooling to room temperature. The molten and resolidified fins 42 adhere both to the bars 30 and to the foamed body 41 thus forming an effective insulation device against convection and / or radiation between the two outer 20 and inner 10 sections of the frame.

Legend:

10 interior profile

11 cavity in internal profile

20 external profile

21 cavity in external profile

30 bar

31 barrettage cavity

40 isolation device

41 foamed body

42 fins

Claims

1. A method of insulating a cavity of an aluminum profile or a barrettage cavity of an aluminum frame of an opening or a door or window frame, the method comprising the following steps:

(a) inserting into said cavity an insulation device comprising a foamed body of a first polymeric composition of polygonal cross section provided on at least one surface, preferably on each of two opposing surfaces, with one or a plurality of foamed or non-foamed fins of a second polymeric composition, wherein the distance between said finned surface of the foamed body and the surface opposite thereto, respectively preferably between the two opposing finned surfaces of the foamed body represents 80 to 97% of the distance separating the corresponding faces of the cavity, in which the foamed body of the first polymer composition is based on one or more (co) polyesters, preferably of the polyalkylene terephthalate type, such as, for example polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polybutylene naphthalate and / or polytrimethylene terephthalate, and

(b) heating the aluminum profile or aluminum frame to a temperature above the temperature between 180 and 250 ° C to cause softening or melting of the second polymeric composition, expansion of the foamed body and compression of the fins by the expansion effect of the foamed body, and cooling of the aluminum profile or the aluminum frame causing the solidification of the second polymer composition fixing the insulation device to the corresponding face or faces of the cavity.

2. Insulation method according to claim 1, wherein the isolation device is fixed by one of its sides to one of the bars during the assembly of the profiles in the frame, the fins are located at least on the side opposite the side attached to the bar, the fixing of the insulation device on the bar preferably being by gluing, welding or coextrusion.

3. Insulation method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising, before or after step (a), a step (x) of spraying a paint powder, preferably polyester, in particular by electrostatic powder coating. , on the outer faces of the aluminum profile or the aluminum frame, the paint powder melting in step (b) to form a protective coating.

4. Insulation method according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the foamed body and / or the fins comprises / comprise an amount between 0.001 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 3% by weight. , in particular from 0.1 to 2% by weight of at least one chemical foaming agent which has not yet decomposed and which can be decomposed at the temperatures of step (b).

5. Insulation method according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the foamed body and / or the fins comprises / comprise an amount between 0.001 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 3% by weight. , in particular from 0.1 to 2% by weight of at least one physical foaming agent which is liquid at room temperature, preferably chosen from alkanes having a boiling point greater than 25 ° C, in particular n-pentane, l isopentane, cyclopentane, all isomers of hexane or heptane, ethanol, dimethyl ether, or mixtures thereof.

6. Insulation method according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second polymer composition comprises one or more polymers chosen from crosslinked polyethylene, copolymers of ethylene modified or not by groups, such as for example l maleic anhydride, the thermoplastic elastomers and the second polymeric composition is preferably foamed.

7. Insulation method according to one of the preceding claims, for the insulation of a bar cavity of an aluminum frame, in which at least part of the fins are in contact with a bar.

8. Device for isolating a cavity of an aluminum profile or of a barrettage cavity of an aluminum frame of a door or window sash or frame, comprising a body foamed with a first polymer composition. of polygonal cross section provided on at least one surface, with preferably on each of two opposing surfaces of one or more foamed or non-foamed fins of a second polymeric composition, wherein the foamed body of the first polymeric composition is based on polyesters, preferably of the polyalkylene terephthalate type, such as that, for example, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polybutylene naphthalate and / or polytrimethylene terephthalate and the second polymer composition has a softening or melting temperature below a temperature between 180 and 250 ° C.

9. An insulating device according to claim 8, wherein the foamed body and / or the fins comprises / comprise an amount between 0.001 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 3% by weight, in particular 0, 1 to 2% by weight of undecomposed foaming chemical agent, preferably chosen from hydrazine derivatives, such as azodicarbonamide, tetrazoles, such as 5-phenyltetrazole, mixtures of carbonate salts and of acids, such as baking soda and citric acid mixtures.

10. Insulation device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the foamed body and / or the fins comprises / comprise an amount between 0.001 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 3% by weight, in particular of 0.1 to 2% by weight of at least one physical foaming agent that is liquid at room temperature, preferably chosen from alkanes having a boiling point greater than 25 ° C, in particular n-pentane, isopentane, cyclopentane, all isomers of hexane or of heptane, ethanol, dimethyl ether or their mixtures.

11. An insulation device according to claim 8 to 10, wherein the fins have been fixed to the foamed body by coextrusion, by post-extrusion, by gluing or by thermal welding.

12. Insulation device according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the density of the foamed body is between 30 and 400 kg / m ³ , preferably between 60 and 250 kg / m ³ , preferably between 80. kg / m ³ and 100 kg / m ³ .

13. Insulation device according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the second polymer composition comprises one or more polymers selected from crosslinked polyethylene, ethylene copolymers. modified or not by groups such as for example maleic anhydride, thermoplastic elastomers, (co) polyesters, preferably of polyalkylene terephthalate type, such as for example polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polybutylene naphthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, or mixtures thereof, optionally in combination with other (co) polymers, such as impact modifying polymers, ethylene copolymers or elastomeric thermoplastics, and the second polymer composition is preferably foamed.

14. Insulation device according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the density of the fins is greater than 25 kg / m ³ , preferably between 100 kg / m ³ and the unfoamed density of the second composition. polymer.

15. Aluminum profile or aluminum frame comprising at least one cavity provided with an insulation device according to any one of claims 8 to 14, the aluminum profile or the aluminum frame having preferably been subjected to heating. at a temperature above the temperature between 180 and 250 ° C.

16. An aluminum frame according to claim 15, wherein the cavity provided with an isolation device according to any one of claims 8 to 14 is a bar cavity.

17. Use of an insulation device according to any one of claims 8 to 14 for the insulation of cavities in aluminum profiles or in bar cavities of an aluminum frame to improve their insulation performance. , the aluminum profiles or the aluminum frames having preferably been subjected to heating at a temperature above the temperature between 180 and 250 ° C after the insertion of the insulation device in the aluminum profiles or the frames in aluminum.