GB2458183A

GB2458183A - Thermally insulating curtain system and hinge

Info

Publication number: GB2458183A
Application number: GB0904027A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Harrison
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-03-07
Filing date: 2009-03-09
Publication date: 2009-09-09
Also published as: GB0904027D0

Abstract

A thermally insulating curtain system 110 having at least one strip of a flexible insulating material forming a curtain 120, supported at an upper area thereof by a swinging arm 130, said swinging arm including a generally rigid member 132 extending substantially across the width of the curtain. The swinging arm 130 further includes an inclined pivot (138, Figure 3). The pivot (138) may be mounted to a vertical surface by a bracket (140, Figure 3). Arm 130 may include a magnet or magnetic material (134, Figure 2) to hold the curtain in a closed position when interacting with a magnet (133, Figure 2) which may be present in an upper region of an opening P. The curtain may have slits (16, Figure 6) to allow rotation of the lower part of the curtain; the slits may be covered with draft excluders (40, Figure 8) which may be magnetically attached. The curtain may be formed of an insulating layer (15, Figure 7) such as bubble-wrap, a reflective foil (19, not shown) may be present as may an outer covering (13, Figure 7) of thermoplastic polyurethane. A reinforcing strip (24, Figure 5a) may also be present.

Description

Thermally Insulating Curtain System and a hinge therefor This invention relates to curtain and a hinge for such a curtain, typically used to divide a cold area such as cold store from a warmer area.

Curtains in the form of strips of material are known for use in cold stores and the like where frequent access to the cool store is required. Wide sections of strip curtain, for example up to 500mm and typically 300mm are used to reduce the number of places in the curtain where air can escape. These strips are each suspended across their width to inhibit twisting and the resultant passage of air through the curtain. The suspension area is often a weak point because workers and forklift trucks tend to simply push through the strip curtain and consequently pull on the strip. Thus an obvious answer would be to reinforce that area to increase its strength. However such reinforced strips would be awkward to use because the strips would then be more difficult for users to move aside and so would further inhibit passage through the curtain.

Additionally, some curtains are manufactured from heavy materials for strength and so the wide and heavy strips are often removed by workers, because they are inconvenient. Another problem encountered is the need for a simple self closing system which return curtains to their closed positions and holds them

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The inventor has realised there is a need for a wide strip curtain which ** S. workers can pass through more easily and has devised embodiments which *** address at least this problem.

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* According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a *SSS*S * thermally insulating curtain system having at least one strip of a flexible insulating material forming a curtain, supported at an upper area thereof by a swinging arm, said swinging arm including a generally rigid member extending substantially across the width of the curtain and attached thereto. The swinging arm further including, adjacent one side of the curtain, a pivot, said pivot having an axis which is inclined away from the vertical towards the curtain and upper area of the curtain.

Preferably, the pivot includes a mounting bracket for attaching the swinging arm to a vertical surface.

More preferably the pivot includes a pivot pin to which the rigid member is attached at a proximal end of the rigid member, and the swinging arm further includes a support stay attached to a lower end of the pivot pin and to a distal end of the rigid member.

Preferably the pivot pin includes, at its lower end, a bush for fitting into a complementary aperture in the mounting bracket.

The swinging arm may include a magnet or magnetic portion, and the curtain system may include a complementary magnet or magnetic element positionable to hold the swinging arm in a curtain closed position.

Preferably the curtain system includes two swinging arms positionable on .. : opposed sides of an opening for attaching to flexible curtains, to provide a pair of

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swinging curtains which come together in a closed rest position. S. 55

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a S..

elongate thermally insulating curtain strip of generally flat construction for being

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* : suspended in use adjacent like strips to form a thermally insulating curtain, the **.*** * strip being suitable for extending downwardly generally in a plane which includes an axis, the strip including two edges defining the width of the strip and a top area for hanging or suspending the strip, the strip including also at least one slit at or adjacent the top area, said at least one slit extending inwardly from one of the edges toward the axis for allowing a portion of the strip below the slit to twist approximately about said axis during passage through said thermally insulating curtain.

Preferably said at least one slit comprises a pair of opposed slits and more preferably the pair of slits are of equal size.

In a preferred embodiment the top area further includes a support for suspending the strip in use and a flexible strap extending downwardly from the support terminating below the or each slit. More preferably, the or each slit extends to meet an edge of the strap.

In a preferred embodiment the axis is central to the strip width and the strap is located centrally to the strip width also.

Conveniently the pair of slits are located about half way along the length of the strap.

Preferably the slit(s) are strengthened by supporting members adjacent the slit(s).

Preferably the supporting members comprise resilient rods.

The invention extends to a thermally insulating curtain strip for being *. ** suspended in use adjacent like strips to form a curtain, including front and rear elements of sheet plastics material forming an outer covering, and an inner

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* thermally insulating layer between the front and rear elements, the strip including 5.5.SI * 5 also at an upper area, a strip suspension means including strap of webbing material attached to the front and/or rear elements.

In a preferred embodiment the strip includes a hanger for hanging the strip to a curtain rail and the strap extends downwardly from the hanger.

In a preferred embodiment the strip further includes horizontal slits, preferably in a form as mentioned above.

Preferably the inner layer is formed from multiple sheets of plastics material such as polythene having pockets of gas trapped between the multiple layers, such as material known as bubble-wrap.

In an embodiment the insulating layer includes a layer of foil, such as metallised plastics or aluminium foil.

Conveniently, the outer covering is formed from a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Preferably the TPU includes a reinforcement such as plain woven nylon having a weight of about 200 to 240 grams per square metre.

Preferably the weight of the outer covering (the TPU and its reinforcement) is about 500 to 600 grams per square metre.

It is envisaged that the outer covering will be wrapped around the insulating layer and joined by a single seam. The seam may be formed by one or more of heat welding, cold welding, adhesive application, stitching, or a mechanical connection such as a zip or buttons, or other complementary mechanical interconnections. _. .*

In a preferred embodiment the curtain includes a window in the form of an S..

opening in the insulating layer. The window may be formed from the same material as the outer covering or the window may coincide with an opening in the outer covering between the two edges which is filled substantially with a transparent or translucent plastics film for example a TPU having a thickness of between 0.5 and 1.5mm. If TPU is used for the window this increases its wear resistance.

Preferably a lower end of the curtain strip includes a plurality of lateral seams one above the other, extending from one side to the other, so that the curtain can be trimmed to a suitable height without exposing the insulating layer.

In an embodiment the lower end has no lateral seam for at least 20mm from its end, and preferably for 20 to 80 mm from its end so as to avoid the risk of sharp lateral seam edges cuffing a user.

The invention extends to a curtain system comprising a plurality of curtain strips as mentioned above and including a hanging rail, each strip including, at an upper, and a hanger for sliding along said rail.

Preferably each curtain has an overlap of at least 10mm preferably about 40-60mm.

Preferably, the curtain system includes a pair of side members adapted to exclude side draughts from the curtain system, said side members each including a fixing strip and a complementary flexible member slideably connected to the fixing strip. Each fixing strip and/or hanging rail may include an * .S* elongate concavity which has a slotted mouth, the mouth in cross-section having ***s * I a smaller width than the maximum width of the concave recess. In an . *1 embodiment the hangers and flexible members include a p-shaped for sliding S..

* within the concave recess.

Preferably the hanger and fixing strips are formed from extruded pvc *....S material or the like.

The invention extends to a chiller cabinet or cold store having a curtain system as defined above.

The inventor has devised a lighter weight strip curtain material which is thermally insulating.

According to a third aspect the invention provides a thermally insulating curtain strip or strip curtain, including a polyurethane coated polyamide fabric, such as nylon, forming an outer layer, around an insulating inner layer.

Preferably, the outer layer is plain weave polyamide preferably having a yarn of 940 Dtex and preferably a weight of about 220g/m2, giving a total material weight of about 550g1m2. Preferably, the material has a tensile strength of 2800-2700N per 50mm strip and preferably a tear resistance of about 1100 to 1000 (150 2411). Preferably the outer layer is welded using high frequency welding or hot air welding around the insulating layer.

The invention extends to any single novel feature or novel combination of the features mentioned herein or the features illustrated in the drawings.

The invention may be put into effect in various ways, embodiments of which is described below with reference to the drawings wherein: Figure 1 shows a thermally insulating curtain system; Figure 2 shows an enlarged view of a portion II of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows an element of the curtain system shown in Figure 1; *...

Figures 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d show a modified element of the curtain system * shown in Figure t *** * Figure 5a shows a thermally insulating curtain strip; *. ..* Figure 5b shows a thermally insulating curtain; Figure 6 shows an enlarged view of the strip shown in Figure 5a.

Figure 7 shows a modification of the strip shown in Figure 6; and Figure 8 shows an enlarged sectional view of the strip shown in Figure 7 with further modifications.

Figure 1 shows a curtain system 110 for fitting into an opening P to inhibit currents of air from travelling through the opening P. The system comprises two curtains 120 manufactured from flexible insulating material described in more detail below. The system further includes two swinging arms 130 which allow pivoting of the curtains 120 approximately about the edges of the opening P, so that personnel can walk through the opening without difficulty or vehicles can negotiate the opening relatively unimpeded. The curtains 120 have been shown completely transparent, but in practice the curtains can be opaque, and include windows 122 to allow viewing through the opening P, for safety.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged view of the area II in Figure 1. The swinging arm 130 can be seen more clearly. The swinging arm 130 includes a pivot axis B which is inclined so that it diverges from a generally upright plane parallel with the side of the opening P. The angle X of inclination is approximately 6° to 10°, more preferably about 8This inclination means that the swinging arm 30 can pivot about the axis B and any deviation from the closed rest position shown in * . S Figures 1 and 2 requires a lifting of the curtain 120. Therefore, the swinging arm S...

is urged by gravity into the rest position shown.

The swinging arm 130 can be further restrained from movement by means of magnets, 133 and 134. These magnets are positioned so that the S...

swinging arms are urged magnetically into their closed positions and are particularly useful when strong draughts are present.

One of the magnets could be replaced by a magnetic element and where the swinging arm 130 is manufactured from magnetic material such as steel, then it is possible to do without the magnet 134 shown.

Figure 3 shows the swinging arm assembly in more detail. The swinging arm 130 comprises a support arm 132 which is attached to the curtain 120 in use, for example by means of clips, hooks, or the like. The arm 132 is supported by a stay 136, which provides additional strength. At the proximal end of the supporting arm 132 is a pivot pin 138. As described above the pin is inclined to the vertical to provide a self-closing effect. The arm 132 and stay 136 are welded to the pivot pin 138. The pivot pin is mounted on a mounting bracket 140, which is described in more detail below.

Figures 4a, b, c and d show a swinging arm assembly 130' and details, which is similar to the assembly 130 described above and like parts have like reference numerals. Supporting arm 132 is in this case slightly longer than the supporting arm shown in the previous Figures and therefore two support stays one at 136 and one at 137 are used for rigidity. The support arm 132 and both stays 136 and 137 are welded to a pivot pin 138. The pin is insertable into the support bracket 140, by first inserting an upper portion of the pin 138 into a top * 1. * S S

hole (142 Figure 4b) and then lowering the pivot pin at 138 into a lower aperture S...

*:* 144 (shown in Figure 4b also). The pivot pin sits in a bush arrangement 145 as shown in Figure 4c. The pivot pin 138 is prevented from lifting out of the lower aperture 144 by means of a split pin 146 fitted to the pivot pin 138 below the *SS..

* : upperaperture 142.

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Figure 4d shows a section of the support arm 132 on the plane DD shown in Figure 4a. It can be seen that the arm includes flat section 152 and a part circular section 154. The part circular section 154 accepts a complementary circular channel section which slides along the arm 132. In use the curtain 120 is attached to the complementary channel section so that it is held to the part circular section 154 and thereby held to the swinging arm 130/130'.

In practice the curtain system described above can be a single curtain and single swinging arm or a pair of curtains and arms or multiple curtains and multiple swinging arms.

Referring to Figures 5a&b there is shown a elongate curtain strip 10, which, when used in conjunction with a plurality of overlapping similar strips, provides a thermally insulating curtain or barrier 30 as shown in Figure ib, for example for use between cold and warm areas, found at the opening to a cold store in a retail food outlet. Such curtains can be passed-through by moving aside some of the strips, or by lifting the strips, for example when driving a forklift truck.

Each strip 10 is generally elongate in shape, in this instance having a window 12 positioned in the upper half of the strip 10. The window 12 is formed from a transparent material, for example a transparent or translucent * * * thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The curtain includes also a hanger 14 which S...

is attached across most of the upper edge of the strip 10 at upper area 11. In this instance the hanger 14 is a p-shaped extruded plastics member which is stitched and riveted to the upper area 11.

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Also attached to the hanger 14 is a flexible polyester webbing strap 24 shown in chain dotted outline. Adjacent the strap 24 are two opposed slits 16 which separate the edges of the strip above the slits from those below the slits.

The purpose of the slits is described below.

The strip 10 includes a lower section 21 which has a plurality of heat-welded lower seams 17. The purpose of the lower seams is to provide a point at which the curtain can be trimmed to suit its application. The width between the lower seams is at least 50 mm so that the strip is not made too rigid at its base to reduce the likelihood of injury to users. Alternatively in place of the lower seams, the front and rear portions of the cover can be affixed together by means of adhesive at a lower portion and the strip can be cut to any length at the portion.

Figure 6 shows an enlarged isometric view of an upper part of the strip 10 shown in Figures 5. Curtain strip 10 is shown to have an outer covering 13 wrapped around an insulating inner layer 15. In this case the material of insulating layer 15 is a polythene sheet having pockets of trapped air, commonly known as bubble-wrap. The insulating layer 15 includes also foil 19 for reflecting radiant heat, in this case away from the cool area to be insulated. The layer 15 is surrounded by the outer covering 13 which is formed from a fabric reinforced TPU. The outer cover 13 is wrapped around the inner insulating layer 15 and its * S S edges are joined together by a single elongate seam 18 which extends along S...

substantially the length of the curtain 10 and is positioned to be approximately midway between the edges of the curtain strip. The outer covering has a front portion 20 and a rear portion 22 with the insulating layer 15 sandwiched between S.....

them. In between the front and rear portions is the strap 24 which is attached to the hanger 14 by rivets 26 in this case. The insulating layer 15 is missing where the strap and front and rear portions come together. The front and rear portions and 22 of the outer cover 13 are attached to the strap by means of stitching.

To improve usability, two slits 16 are formed in the edges of the outer covering 13, which extend inwardly from the edges to the strap 24. The slits are formed by cutting the outer layer and heat-forming seams at the cut edges to provide a slit of a width from zero to about 3 mm in width, preferably from zero to about 1 mm in width.

The slits provide easier passage through the curtain 30 for users or vehicles because the strip 10, below the slits is able to rotate readily approximately about axis R in the directions of arrows A. It will be understood that the strip will be distorted in many directions in use so the description of the rotation about axis R is only a rough approximation. However, the increased ease of distortion of the strip 10 will be apparent. Strap 24 provides support for the strip 10 and maintains the strip's orientation when hanging undistorted.

Additional stitching 28 is provided to improve the strength of the innermost region of the slits 16 and to inhibit tearing of the strip 10. Use of a resilient outer covering material such as reinforced TPU allows the strip to spring back to its original position shown in Figure 6 when it has been distorted by users. * * *

. 20 Figure 7 shows the top portion of curtain strip 100 which is a modified * �'a* version of the curtain strip 10 shown in Figure 6. In this embodiment, features * common to the curtain strips 10 and 100 have like reference numerals. S.

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Curtain strip 100 includes two slits 16 also. These slits are reinforced and * S5s* made more resilient by supporting members in the form of an upper resilient rod

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32 and lower resilient rods 34 and 36. The upper rod 32 is manufactured from fibreglass reinforced polyester resin material extending across substantially the whole width of the strip. Similar rods 34 and 36 extend underneath the slits 16.

It has been found that lower rods 34 and 36 need only extend across the width of the slits 16 and not necessarily across the whole width of the strip.

The rods 32, 34 and 36 are resilient and of a diameter of approximately 1- 2mm. The rods act as supports which keep the slits in position and therefore inhibit air currents through the curtain strip. It will be apparent that other arrangements of slit strengthening could be employed. The rods used are circular but other shapes could be employed. Other materials besides fibreglass could be used for example, carbon fibre reinforced rods could be used. The rods can be inserted into the curtain strip 100 by making a small incision (not shown) in the outer covering 13, immediately above and below the ends of the slits 16. The rods are then slid into position.

Figure 8 shows an enlarged sectional view in the area of the slits 16 shown in Figure 7. In addition to the components described above, in this modification a draught excluder flap 40 is employed. In this embodiment the draught excluder flap 40 is attached at a seam 42 to upper area 11 of the curtain strip 100. The draught excluder is manufactured from TPU and is flexible such * .** * * . ::.. 20 that it can be moved at least into the position 40' shown in chain dotted lines, as *S.I respective sides of the slit 16 are moved away from each other in use of the I. *. S. *

:. curtain. A lower portion of the draught excluder 40 includes a ferromagnetic strip 44 which is attracted to a complementary strip 46, in this case, in the **.,...

curtain strip 100 so that the draught excluder acts like a flap to close the slits 16 and further inhibit draughts through the slits 16. Use of the rods 32, 34 and 36 provide a self-centring action to bring the edges of the slits 16 into alignment and thereby reduce draughts. Use of the draught excluder flap 40 allows an almost complete seal across the slits 16.

The use of the reinforcement rods and draught excluder flaps is particularly effective where wide curtain strips, for example 500-750mm in width are used because the slits stay in position and are effectively sealed by the flaps 40.

It will be evident to the skilled addressee that the foregoing embodiment may be modified, altered, or varied without departing from the scope of the invention. Also, many alternatives will be apparent to the skilled addressee. For example, equivalents or alternatives to the materials described could be employed. The inner layer 15 may be formed from expanded manmade foam, or a natural material such as mineral wool, sheep wool, cellulose fibres, or the like. The outer covering 13 may be formed from any sheet material such as PVC plastics, or a natural material such as a woven fabric, which may be rubber coated.

It has been found that a suitable size for each curtain strip 10 is approximately 0.3m mm in width and approximately 2-3m in length. However, it will be appreciated that strips having a width of 0.lmor greater, e.g. 0.5 to.75m, say 0.6m, will form a suitable thermal barrier and yet allow access. Also, where lower seams 17 are employed each curtain strip 10 in a curtain 30 can be S.....

trimmed to a suitable length without exposing the inner insulating layer 15, and thereby reducing the risk of contamination of the curtain strip 10 at its base.

The foregoing demonstrates an embodiment suitable for providing an easily accessible curtain 30 which can be moved with ease. Thus users are less likely to remove or tie-back the curtain 30 and this will lead to reduced energy costs and more predictable food temperatures. Whilst the curtain's use in a cold store has been described, the curtain will be equally useful where air of different temperatures needs to be kept separate, for example at the entrance to a hot store, green house or the like. It will be apparent that features shown on one embodiment may be utilised in another embodiment. *.I* * * * ** * **** * S * *** S. *S * * S * S * *

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Claims

Claims 1. A thermally insulating curtain system having at least one strip of a flexible insulating material forming a curtain, supported at an upper area thereof by a swinging arm, said swinging arm including a generally rigid member extending substantially across the width of the curtain and attached thereto, the swinging arm further including, adjacent one side of the curtain, a pivot, said pivot having an axis which is inclined away from the vertical towards the upper area of the curtain.
2. A curtain system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pivot includes a mounting bracket for attaching the swinging arm to a vertical surface.
3. A curtain system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pivot includes a pivot pin to which the rigid member is attached at a proximal end of the rigid member, and the swinging arm further includes a support stay attached to a lower end of the pivot pin and to a distal end of the rigid member.
4. A curtain system as claimed in claims 2 or 3, wherein the pivot pin includes, at its lower end, a bush for fitting into a complementary aperture in the mounting bracket.
5. A curtain system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the swinging arm includes a magnet or magnetic portion, and the curtain system may include a complementary magnet or magnetic element positionable to hold the swinging arm in a curtain closed position.
6. A curtain system as claimed in claim 5 wherein, the curtain system further S....includes two swinging arms positionable on opposed sides of an opening for attaching to flexible curtains, to provide a pair of swinging curtains which come together in a closed rest position.
7. A curtain system substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings. * * S
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