FR2581348A1 - Flexible and lightweight quilting (padding) intended simultaneously for thermo-mechanical protection, for thermal insulation and for comfort - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a thermal-insulation and mechanical-protection composite (complex) consisting of a thickness of grooved plastic foam reinforced with an adhesive-coated grid on a metallised film. This composite (complex) is particularly intended for camping, for leisure pursuits, for thermal insulation or for packaging.

Description

 The present invention relates to a flexible, light and thermal insulating mattress. There are already bivouac, camping or sports mattresses, made up of an expanded plastic foam sheet. There are also thermal insulation materials composed of a metallized film, laminated on a thickness of plastic foam such as expanded polystyrene particularly used for the insulation of the backs of radiators or pipes. There is also on the market a substitute for corrugated cardboard obtained by extruding a polyethylene sheet mixed with a gas under pressure.

 Expanded plastic foam mattresses have many drawbacks. They are heavy because in order to be able to resist tearing and withstand the compression forces measured during coating, it is necessary to use foams with a density of the order of 30 to 60 kg / m 3. These mattresses are relatively rigid and therefore difficult to roll, tighten and difficult to take along when camping, especially since their minimum thickness determines an always large radius of curvature.

 laminating a film on one of these mattresses is a source of disappointment, in fact, the film quickly delaminates from the mattress due to the significant differences in expansion, differences in the radius of curvature between the film and the plastic mattress, quickly a large bubble appears, a sign of the delamination of the film and the mattress. To date, we have only succeeded in producing complexes composed of a foam of 2 to 3 mm and a metallized film.

 Rolling these small mattresses is difficult because the foams used until now tend to flake and tense due to their lack of flexibility.

 The product according to the present invention makes it possible to obtain a flexible, insulating, light mattress, easy to roll, not deteriorating. It consists of a plastic film with a surface which has been metallized. On this metallized surface, a fluted plastic foam obtained by extrusion or any other process is laminated, taking care to interpose a reinforcing textile grid between the film and the foam.

 There are already bivouac, sleeping or floor mats made of massive plastic foam and others, such as those described in patent No. 81 08 605. However, these beach or tanning mats lack comfort. and transmit to the body all the roughness of the soil. They are not able to stop trans i se heat by c j ndi ction and contact with cold ground.

 The product will be better understood by referring to the drawing.

The object of this patent will therefore be composed of a film of plastic material metallized on one side A. This plastic material may be any material capable of being metallized by a well-known technique of vacuum metallization such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polyurethane, polyamide, etc
On one face of this film, a metallization B will have been deposited such as aluminum vacuum metallips, vacuum silver and any other body capable of constituting a thermoreflective mirror.

 This film AB must be laminated on a plastic foam E. The object of the present invention claims the new use of packaging foam to constitute a camping, bivouac, tanning, or mechanical protection mattress insulating.

 This packaging foam is the product that is gradually replacing corrugated cardboard. This foam is obtained by extrusion in a die of a plastic film according to well known techniques. We only took the precaution of introducing into the molten polyethylene a gas under pressure, this gas expands when the material leaves the die and causes the transformation of solid polyethylene into expanded polyethylene. Instead of extruding the polyethylene by a perfectly straight die, it was preferred to extrude it by a die which would have grooves so that the material which leaves is itself directly grooved.

 It is particularly advantageous to note that this plastic material comes out to be rolled up and therefore originally has the fabrications of a forming and a complexion allowing it to be very easily rolled on itself as a wheel.

 To fix the film AB on the foam E, we will have between the metallized surface of the film and the non-grooved part of the foam. to resist tearing and deformation. This grid may preferably be made of polyester and may have a mesh of 5 to 15 mm.

 Different thicknesses of foam can be used, it turns out however that the foam giving the best satisfaction will have a total thickness of 4 to 15 mm and the non-cannulated part a thickness of 2 to 4 mm.

 The fixing of these different materials to each other is carried out by the traditional means perfectly known to those skilled in the art, for example, depositing with a roller # a film of adhesive, unwinding of a heat-fusible grid.

flame treatment of the surface, thermofusion of a foam, extrusion of a binder between part-B of the film AB and the non-grooved surface of the foam, etc.
The manufacturing may preferably be carried out in one go, but it is part of the present progress to proceed in two steps, for example: coating of the grid and of adhesive on the foam, then lamination of the whole foam, grid, glue on the metallized part of the film or vice versa.

 The product according to the invention is particularly intended for the production of bivouac mattresses, camping and sports mattresses, tanning mattresses, beach mattresses, insulating mattresses for their use either in bedding or to avoid contact with any cold surface or also on seats.

The object of the present invention can also be used in the field of thermal insulation, and packaging.

It turned out, in fact, that the product according to the present invention has completely unexpected characteristics, particularly with regard to the impression of heat felt by the camper. Measurements made in laboratories have made it possible to show that the mattress according to the present invention exhibited thermal insulation performances very notoriously superior to those which allowed theory and those
obtained by a mattress of foam of massive plastic material This is probably due to the arrangement of the grooves and to the dimension of these whose space - the distance between two wave vertices will be 5 to 12 mm with a preference of 7 to 8 mm. The space between two wave vertices will be between 2 and 5 mm so as to enclose a motionless air space, whose natural convection is hampered by its insufficient thickness.

- the depth of the groove between two wave vertices called Y will be roughly equivalent to the space between the vertex of the grooves, called X.

 It will be important, in the context of the present invention, that the thickness Z of the solid part of the foam is less than the thickness of the grooved part.

 In fact, it can be seen that if the thickness Z is too large, the foam can no longer be rolled up on itself.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention will therefore comprise a fluted foam, the solid part Z of which will have a thickness of 2 to 5 mm, the fluted part Y a thickness anyway approximately 2 times greater than the solid part. Thus, in a preferred embodiment the dimension Z will be 3 mm, the dimension Y will be 6 mm, the dimension X will be 8 mm.

It goes without saying that different thicknesses can be used, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Different plastics have been tried, and the present invention resells 4'mPlo of materials pj # # + tlwa di ts paraffiniques (polyethylene, polypropylene) in particular because of their hydrophobic characteristics. It is indeed important that moisture does not tend to spread over the material, but that it tends, on the contrary, to form non-contiguous droplets.

 The present invention necessarily involves the use of a closed cell plastic foam.

 If the above recommendations are not observed, the product obtained is far from having all of the characteristics of the product according to the present invention, particularly with regard to comfort and with regard to thermal insulation. When the object of the present invention is carried out using an extruded polyethylene foam with closed cells with grooves of a pitch of 7 mm complexed on a metallized polyester film, a mattress of flexibility and flexibility is obtained. '' comfort equivalent to that obtained by a mattress of plastic foam even in crosslinked polyethylene of 12 ~ to 15 mm with a weight which is only 20% of that of identical mattresses in comfort.

Regarding the impression of thermal comfort we
realizes that a mattress whose grooves have a thickness
total of 7 to 8 mm causes the sleeper, a heat equivalent to
that obtained on a mattress of '2mm.ueci seems to be due to the air
retained between the grooves more insulating than plastic
retaining the same volume of air and as well as the presence of the thermo filrn
reflector.

In addition, the presence of a waterproof film on the surface of the
foam protects it from the introduction of moisture.

Indeed, it has never been observed until now that
on a mattress, the humidity came not from below, but from
on it due to the fact that the human body constantly gives off
sweating and that it tends to condense on
any surface and especially on the ground. To date, everything
the world had the seal on the ground side, while the humidity in
the majority of cases come from the sleeper side. The fact that the film
metallized is waterproof on top, prevents moisture from the sleeper
does not penetrate into the foam and reduces the insulation performance
thermal.

Made in the same way, the mattress described above
finds a particularly interesting application in the field
of metal insulation.

The object of the present invention is particularly intended
the production of camper mattresses, bivouac mattresses,
civilians and the military in extreme conditions, as well as recreational campsites. This product may also be
used as a tanning mat on the beach, in the sea and in the countryside or in the mountains. It has also proved to be particularly advantageous for the production of thermal protection packaging because of the previously mentioned insulating performance.

The object of the present invention also finds an applica
privileged tion for the realization of insulation complexes
thermal before providing good resistance to the transmission of
thermal energy with a small thickness, great flexibility
good mechanical resistance. We can use this product
whenever there is a need for thermal insulation such as
piping, motorhome, buildings, industry, chemicals, laboratories and all other places where we are looking for thin, flexible insulation
resistant to corrosion and atmospheric attack

Claims (1)

 - CLAIMS I - Thermal insulation and mechanical protection complex  composed of a plastic film, one side of which is  metallized, bonded with plastic foam  expanded, characterized in that the foam made of plas  tick has grooves on its free face.  II - Complex according to claim I characterized in that a  reinforcing clay is inserted between the film and the foam  grooved. III - Complex according to claims I and II characterized in that the foam is a plastic foam with closed cell, non-opaque, and as transparent as possible, such as polyethylene foam.  IV - Complex according to claims I - II and III characterized  in that it is manufactured in two operations a) fixing a grid on the metallized face of a film  of plastic by laminating a poly layer  thy lene. b) simultaneous passage of polyethylene foam and  film with the grid in a heating grille.