GB2092718A

GB2092718A - Heat-insulation jacket panel

Info

Publication number: GB2092718A
Application number: GB8103752A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: WARDLAW MICHAEL GUY
Current assignee: WARDLAW MICHAEL GUY
Priority date: 1981-02-06
Filing date: 1981-02-06
Publication date: 1982-08-18

Abstract

The invention relates to a heat- insulation jacket panel, especially one which, together with one or more further panels, forms an insulation jacket for a domed domestic hot- water cylinder. The panel accordingly comprises an envelope or outer covering containing heat-insulation material e.g. glass wool, with the panel being folded over to produce two leg portions (26, 28), and one portion (24) of double thickness, the panel being held in its folded-over condition by eyelets (16, 18, 20, 22) punched through the envelope. Cords are threaded through these eyelets to hold the assembled panels in place. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Heat-insulation jacket panel The present invention relates to a heatinsulation jacket panel, especially one which, together with one or more further panels, forms an insulation jacket for a domestic hot water cylinder.

One such panel as made hitherto is shown in Figure 1, the panel being used with, say, five other identical panels, to form a jacket which fits over a domestic hot water cylinder of the shape shown in Figure 2. The panel comprises an outer covering of synthetic plastics material and a filling of glass fibre heat-insulation material. The panel is elongate and tapers at its top to have an inverted "V"-shaped end 1. An eyelet 2 at the very top end of the panel extends through the covering and the glass fibre insulation. This eyelet allows a cord to be passed through it so that a number of panels (for example, four, six or eight) can be held together at their top ends around an inlet pipe 3 at the top of the tank, the panels thereby forming a jacket surrounding the whole tank.

A disadvantage of such a panel is that the weight of the glass fibre insulation in the main part of the panel in use tends to pull at the material in the "V"-shaped top part of the panel. The top part becomes thinner and less effective for insulation purposes as a result. Eventually, the glass fibre insulation may tear away from the eyelet 2 altogether leaving little or no insulation in the top part of the panel.

An aim of the present invention is to provide an insulation jacket panel which is not subject or which is less subject to this disadvantage. The invention is accordingly directed to a panel comprising an outer covering having a filling of heat-insulation material wherein the panel is folded double at an intended upper end thereof to increase the amount of insulating material at that end and to inhibit insulating material at that end from sliding down within the outer covering during use of the panel.

As a result of the folding, insulation material is trapped at the top of the panel. Further, there is a double thickness over the top of the hot water cylinder or other object which is being thermally insulated when the panel is in use. This is the region from which heat losses of course would be greatest and, as a result, saving in energy will be that much greater.

Savings in the expenditure on raw materials and labour costs in the manufacture of insulation panels can be obtained in one form of the present invention in which a length of panelling roughly twice that of the height of the object which is to be lagged is first folded diagonally across its width, at a position halfway between its ends, into an L-shape, and then folded again at the corner of the "L" to bring the two lengths of the "L" alongside one another. This forms a twin panel of double width adapted to cover at least a portion of a hot water cylinder or other object to be lagged without the need for tailoring any "Vs" at the top of the panelling. This is because the "V" shapes are effectively formed by folding.

The twin panel preferably has eyelets punched into it at the top centre position when the panel would meet the inlet pipe of a hot water cylinder, and at its top side corners.

The invention extends to a panel sold in an unfolded state (for example, in a rolled condition) so that the purchaser can subsequently fold it appropriately and secure it on to a hot water cylinder or other object to be lagged. Such a panel will be distinguished by its elongate rectangular shape and the position of its eyelets from existing panels having "V"-shaped upper end portions.

Examples of an insulation panel in accordance with the present invention are illustrated in Figures 3 to 7 of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 3 is a plan view of a twin panel in an unfolded state prior to use; Figure 4 is a section through the panel taken on the line IV-IV in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a plan view of the panel shown in Figure 3 after it has been folded diagonally across its width halfway between its ends; Figure 6 is an elevational view of the panel shown in Figures 3 to 5 arranged to lag a hot water cylinder; Figure 7 is a plan view of a further panel prior to being folded; and Figure 8 is a plan view of the panel shown in Figure 7 after it has been folded.

The unfolded elongate panel shown in Figures 3 and 4 comprises Fibreglass Crown 75 heatinsulation material 10, or an equivalent thereof, enclosed in a PVC envelope or covering 1 2. The covering may, alternatively, be made of a flexible polythene plastics material, American cloth, or glass cloth. The length of the elongate panel in this particular instance is approximately 86 inches (218 cm), i.e., about twice the height of a domestic hot water cylinder which it is intended to fit. Its width is approximately 1 6 inches (45 cm), i.e., about one-quarter of the circumference of the cylinder.

The elongate panel is designed to be folded into an "L" shape (see Figure 5) along the line 14 which extends diagonally across the width of the panel and which is preferably a crease line along which the PVC covering on one side of the insulation material 10 is heat-fused to the PVC covering on the other side of the insulation material. After the panel has been thus folded, eyelets 1 6, 1 8, 20 and 22 are punched through the triangular-shaped double-thickness portion 24 of the panel, with respective eyelets 1 6 and 20 at or near the two ends of the fold line 14, another eyelet,18, approximately half-way along the fold line, and a fourth eyelet, 22, at the corner of the double-thickness portion 24 which does not lie on the fold line 14.

With the elongate panel folded in this way, it has two leg portions 26 and 28, extending from the triangular-shaped portion 24 of double thickness. It can then be fitted on to a domestic hot water cylinder as shown in Figure 6 with its two leg portions 26 and 28 extending parallel to one another, side by side, in a vertical direction so as to cover a portion of the cylindrical outside of the cylinder, with the portion 24 of double thickness thereby covering the domed top of the cylinder. Another such twin panel (not shown) is arranged on the other side of the cylinder (the side hidden from view in Figure 6), in precisely the same way. Three cords may now be threaded through the eyelets and tied to hold the panels in place.One cord 30 is threaded through the central eyelets 1 8 of the two twin panels. Another, 32, is threaded through the eyelet 1 6 of one of the twin panels, and the eyelet 20 of the other (not shown), and a third cord 34, is threaded through the remaining pair of adjacent eyelets of the two twin panels. The legs of the panels may additionally be held in place by a belt 36 extending around the outside of the leg portions.

Although one particular example of a twin panel has been described in detail to show how the invention may be put into effect, it will be appreciated that other forms of panel are possible.

For example, a panel in accordance with the present invention can have the shape shown in Figure 7 wherein the upper end 38 of the panel extends diagonally from one side edge 40 to the other, longer, side edge 42. This is the shape which each half of the panel shown in Figure 3 would have if the panel were cut along its fold line 14. The panel shown in Figure 7 tapers from one side only, to a tip 44 on the side edge 42. This tip 44 is brought over by folding the panel along the line 46, so that the panel then has triangularshaped end portion 48 with a double thickness which tapers from both side edges of the panel as shown in Figure 8. To keep the top portion 48 in this folded state, three eyelets 50 are punched through the double thickness of the top portion at the three corners thereof. Cords are passed through the eyelets of four such panels to keep them together around a domestic hot water cylinder.

It is preferably to punch eyelets through the double thickness portion of the panel after it has been folded as described in both of the foregoing examples. This keeps it in folded state and ensures that it is fitted correctly to a domestic hot water cylinder. However, it would be possible alternatively to punch eyelets through the panel prior to folding, in a symmetrical arrangement about the fold line, and to hold the panel subsequently in its folded state by cords passing through pairs of eyelets which are then in register with one another.

Claims

1. A heat-insulation jacket panel, especially one which, together with one of more further panels, forms an insulation jacket for a domestic hotwater cylinder, comprising an outer covering or envelope having a filling of heat-insulation material, in which the panel is folded double at an intended upper end thereof to increase the thickness of insulation material at that end and to inhibit insulation material at that end from sliding down within the outer covering or envelope during use of the panel.

2. A panel according to claim 1 formed by folding a length of panelling diagonally across its width, at a position half-way between its ends, into an L-shape, the panel thereafter being foldable again at the corner of the "L" to bring the two legs or limbs of the "L" alongside one another to form a twin panel of double width.

3. A panel according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which eyelets or other holding means are punched into the panel at those portions which are folded over.

4. A panel according to any one of claims 1-3, in which the outer covering or envelope is made of a synthetic plastics material such as PVC or of American cloth or glass cloth.

5. A panel according to any preceding claim, in which the heat-insulation material comprises fibre-glass wool.

6. A panel according to any preceding claim, in which the folded over portions of the envelope or outer covering are heat-fused together.

7. A panel according to claim 1, in which one end of the panel extends diagonally from one side edge to the other side edge so that the two side edges are of different length, the triangular tip portion of the panel thereafter being folded over so that the panel has one end shaped like an arrow.

8. A heat-insulation jacket panel substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 3-6 or Figures 7-8 of the accompanying drawings.