GB2465826A

GB2465826A - Plug for aperture for filling cavity wall

Info

Publication number: GB2465826A
Application number: GB0822090A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard William Cropley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-12-03
Filing date: 2008-12-03
Publication date: 2010-06-09
Also published as: GB0822090D0

Abstract

A plug1for temporary blanking of an aperture formed in an outer leaf of a cavity wall comprises a sealing body4removably insertable into the aperture and a manually graspable handle means2. A blanking element3may be disposed between the sealing body4and the handle2for contacting the outer surface of the building wall. The sealing body may be configured to form an interference fit within an aperture formed in a building wall. The plug may comprise a resiliently compressible material. A carrying belt and a plug is also provided. The belt has means for carrying the plugs. An associated method of installing cavity wall insulation comprises receiving a plurality of plugs1, forming a plurality of apertures through an outer layer of a cavity wall, inserting a plug1in each aperture, and subsequently removing each plug1prior to introducing insulating material through the respective aperture into a cavity of the cavity wall.

Description

CAVITY WALL SEALING PLUG

The present invention relates to a device for temporary sealing of apertures formed in building walls. More particularly but not exclusively, it relates to such a device for use in the course of installing cavity wall insulation.

Thermal insulation of buildings, particularly domestic buildings, has become of increasing importance, for both economic and ecological reasons. One effective step that may be taken is to fill the cavity of a cavity wall with a thermally insulating material, such as a mineral *.. fibre filling, or an expanding polymer foam. The present invention will be described below largely in respect of installation of a foam insulation, but the same considerations are likely to * apply to the installation of other insulating materials.

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L: The standard approach to installing such cavity wall insulation is to drill a plurality of apertures through the external layer of the wall of the building into the cavity. The foam is generated in specialist equipment and injected into the cavity through each aperture in turn.

The foam then expands and sets within the cavity. To ensure that the set foam completely fills the cavity, the apertures must be carefully spaced and arranged over the entire width and height of the walls. A typical two-storey detached house will require between one hundred * and one hundred and fifty apertures to be drilled. To enable the apertures to be filled unobtrusively after use, they are customarily drilled through the mortar between bricks or the like. Each aperture is of a set diameter, typically 20 or 25mm, to receive a particular size of injection nozzle.

Drilling such a number of holes cleanly and accurately is not a quick job, particularly since around half will be inaccessible from ground level and so will require the use of a ladder or other elevated access arrangements. Typically, a practiced worker will take half a day to drill all the holes required. A further half a day will usually be required to fill the cavity with foam through these holes.

Conveniently, the holes may be drilled in a morning and the foam injected in the afternoon.

However, this would lead to the expensive foam generation and injection apparatus, and the truck or lorry to which it is usually mounted, being unused for half of each day. This is clearly economically undesirable. * ** * * S * *S *SS S

*... However, there is believed to be considerable consumer resistance to the idea of holes being * * drilled through their walls one day and then the foam being injected on another day, whether :: this would be the next morning, after a weekend, or even later. The perceived risk of ingress L:' of water or insects through the holes is too great.

It is hence an object of the invention to provide apparatus to allow apertures through a layer of a cavity wall to be formed safely in advance of filling the cavity with insulating material, obviating the real or perceived need for the cavity to be filled immediately after the apertures have been formed. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of installing insulation into cavity walls using such apparatus.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device adapted temporarily to block an aperture of predetermined dimensions formed through an outer layer of a cavity wall, comprising a sealing body removably insertable into the aperture and handle means manually graspable to insert and to extract the sealing body.

Preferably, the device comprises a blanking element, so disposed between the sealing body and the handle means as to contact the outer layer of the cavity wall substantially to each side of the aperture when the sealing body is inserted therein.

Advantageously, the sealing body comprises an elongate body extending substantially from a centre of the blanking element.

The sealing body may taper towards its distal end, so as to ease insertion thereof. * S * 5*5

* s The sealing body preferably comprises a sealing element configured to correspond to a cross-* S.....

* sectional profile of the aperture. * .. * . .

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The sealing element may thus form an interference fit within the aperture.

The sealing element may comprise a plurality of longitudinal rib means radiating from its longitudinal axis.

Preferably, the handle means comprises at least one grip means adapted to engage with one or more fingers of a user, optionally at least two said grip means.

The device may then be extractable by engagement of the user's finger or fingers with the or each grip means and pulling outwardly with said finger or fingers.

The or each said grip means may comprise a generally hook-shaped element defining a recess, opening generally distally of the device and adapted to receive a user's finger.

The handle means may comprise two opposed said generally hook-shaped elements, such that the handle means has a generally T-shaped profile.

Preferably, the device comprises a plastics material.

Advantageously, the device comprises a thermoplastics material. * *. * * S * **

* The device may comprise a single unitary moulding. ** I * I * * S.

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* The device may comprise a tough, resiliently compressible material. * ** * S * *** *

The plastics material may comprise a polyamide composition.

Preferably, the device is coloured to aid location once inserted into an aperture.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means of carrying devices as described in the first aspect above, comprising belt means wearable by a user and provided with a plurality of holder means each adapted to receive a respective device.

Preferably, each holder means is adapted to receive a sealing body of a respective device.

Alternatively, each holder means is adapted to engage with a hook-shaped element of handle means of a respective device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of installing cavity wall insulation, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of devices as described in the first aspect above, forming a plurality of apertures through an outer layer of a cavity wall, inserting one said device in each said aperture, and subsequently removing each said device in turn prior to introducing insulating material through the respective aperture into a cavity of the cavity wall. * ** * * * * ** S...

*..* The method may comprise leaving said devices in the respective apertures for a period of a *. . day or more, prior to removal for introduction of the insulating material.

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An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a blanking plug embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a frontal elevation of the blanking plug shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the blanking plug shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a proximal end elevation of the blanking plug shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a distal end elevation of the blanking plug shown in Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a schematic representation of an external wall surface of a house prepared for installation of cavity wall insulation.

Referring now to the Figures and to Figure 1 in particular, a blanking plug I embodying the present invention comprises a proximal handle portion 2, a blanking disc 3 and an elongate distal insert portion 4. The handle portion 2 extends outwardly from a centre of a first face of the blanking disc 3, and comprises two opposed laterally extending hook members 5, each defining a recess 6 adapted to receive one or more fingers of a user's hand.

The insert portion 4 extends substantially coaxially from a centre of a second face of the blanking disc 3 opposite the first. The insert portion 4 comprises four identical orthogonally-arranged ribs 7, each tapering towards a distal tip of the insert portion 4. A sealing disc 8 extends at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the insert portion 4, at a point close to the *:** blanking disc 3, intersecting with the ribs 7. A radius of the sealing disc 8 is substantially *..S S. * identical to a width of each rib 7 at said point. ** S * * S * ** *

S*e.*S * The blanking plug 1 is conveniently moulded from a tough, resilient plastics material, such as :. : a nylon composition, or perhaps a polypropylene composition. Typical dimensions for a plug I for use with a twenty millimetre hole would be an overall length, from the distal tip of the insert portion 4 to a proximal end of the handle portion 2, of around eighty-eight millimetres; an overall width of the handle portion 2, over both hook members 5, of around seventy-eight millimetres and a blanking disc 3 diameter of about forty-five millimetres. The sealing disc 8 would have a diameter of twenty millimetres, so as to form an interference fit within the hole (thus, for a twenty-five millimetre hole, a plug I having a twenty-five millimetre sealing disc 8 would be employed).

The blanking plugs 1 may conveniently be carried, ready for use, in loops on a user's belt, said loops being dimensioned to receive the respective insert portions 4. Alternatively, one hook member 5 may be hooked into a belt loop, or may be hooked over an upper margin of a plain belt.

The use of the blanking plugs 1 will now be described with reference to a wall plan of a house to be insulated, as shown in Figure 6.

A first operator attends a house 10 or the like that is to have cavity wall insulation installed.

The first operator uses a conventional power drill to drill a predetermined array of holes 11 through an outer layer of a cavity wall into its central cavity. The holes 11 are dimensioned to receive a particular injection nozzle of a foam injection apparatus (or a mineral fibre blower, or the like). As shown in Figure 6, some of these holes 11 are accessible from S...

* ground level, but many, level with the first floor of the house, or higher on the gable ends, *., can only be drilled by the first operator standing on a ladder (or supported on some other arrangement for working at a height). Each hole 11 is carefully drilled though a mortar layer . : between bricks (or equivalent) of the wall, ideally where a vertical and a horizontal layer of mortar meet. This allows the holes 11 to be filled unobtrusively at the end of installation, using a matching mortar composition.

Once the first operator has drilled each hole 11, he or she takes a blanking plug 1, ideally from a belt loop, and inserts the insert portion 4 into the hole 11. The tapering form of the * insert portion 4 aids rapid and reliable insertion. The blanking plug 1 is pushed home until the blanking disc 3 is in contact with the wall. The sealing disc 8 will then form an interference fit within a bore of the hole 11, substantially sealing the hole 11. A short zone of the insert portion 4 between the blanking disc 3 and the sealing disc 8 will be marginally wider than the hole 11 (before insertion) and so will be slightly squeezed inwardly by the bore of the hole 11, such that the plug I is securely gripped in place.

The blanking plug I thus prevents ingress of rain or insects through the hole 11 into the cavity, which may be of significant concern to a householder. The blanking plug 1 is preferably formed from a brightly-coloured composition, so that the location of each hole 11 is subsequently clearly visible (another advantage over existing approaches, in which one must search for the holes 11, not an easy procedure for holes drilled at above ground floor level).

The house 10 may now safely be left for whatever period is necessary for a second operator, *:*::* equipped with foam generators and injection apparatus (or the like) to arrive at the house 10.

The second operator will then proceed in sequence from hole 11 to hole 11, starting with those accessible from ground level, and working upwardly (the plugs 1 may optionally be *....S. * . . * * numbered or colour-coded to indicate a desirable sequence, for example as a training aid). * .. * S * **. *

At each hole II, the second operator may simply hook a finger into the recess 6 of each hook member 5, then pull outwardly to extract the blanking plug 1 from the hole 11. The plug 1 may be hooked over or plugged into loops of a belt worn by the operator, or may simply be dropped for later collection. The operator then inserts a nozzle of a hose connected to the foam generating apparatus into the hole 11, and injects a predetermined quantity of foam through the hole 4 into the cavity.

This stage is hence close to conventional insulation methods, except that the holes 11 are easier to locate, and it is not necessary to restrict operations to drilling in the morning and filling in the afternoon. The expensive foam generation and injection apparatus (costing around �15,000 -�20,000, plus the cost of the truck or lorry required to transport it) may thus be gainfully employed for a much greater proportion of the day than has hitherto been possible. The first operator only requires transport capable of carrying drills, safety equipment, ladders and a stock of blanking plugs 1, so can for example travel independently in a conventional small van or estate car.

The cavity wall insulation process may thus be carried out more economically, more reliably, more flexibly and more conveniently than at present. * .* * S a * ..

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Claims

CLAIMS1. A device for temporary blanking of an aperture formed in a building wall, comprising a sealing body removably insertable into the aperture and manually graspable handle means to facilitate insertion and extraction of the sealing body.
2. A device as claimed in claim 1, comprising a blanking element, so disposed between the sealing body and the handle means as to contact the outer layer of the building wall substantially to each side of the aperture when the sealing body is inserted therein.
3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said sealing body comprises an insert portion extending substantially from a centre of said blanking element.
4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said insert portion tapers towards its distal end, so as to ease insertion thereof.
5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said sealing body *:: : comprises a sealing element configured to correspond to a cross-sectional profile of the aperture. * * *I.. a.. * *.S.
6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said sealing element is dimensioned : * to form an interference fit within the aperture. S..

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7. A device as claimed in any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the insert portion comprises a plurality of longitudinal rib means radiating from its longitudinal axis.
8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said sealing element comprises a sealing disc that extends at right angles to said longitudinal axis of said insert portion.
9. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein, at the point of intersection of said ribs and said sealing disc, the sealing disc has a radius that is substantially identical to the width of each said rib.
10. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said handle means comprises at least one grip means adapted to engage with one or more fingers of a user, optionally at least two said grip means.
11. A device as claimed in claim 10, wherein each said grip means comprises a generally hook-shaped element defining a recess.
12. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the handle means comprises two opposed said generally hook-shaped elements, such that the handle means has a generally T-shaped profile. * **. * * ***s
13. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a resiliently * * : compressible material. * ** * * S * S..
14. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a plastics material.
15. A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein said plastics material is a thermoplastics material.
16. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein said plastics material comprises a polyamide composition.
17. A device as claimed in any of claim 14 to 16, comprising a single unitary moulding.
18. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, coloured to aid location once inserted into an aperture.
19. Belt means wearable by a user and a device as claimed in any of claims I to 18, the belt means provided with a plurality of holder means each adapted to receive part of a device as claimed in any of claims ito 18.
20. Belt means as claimed in claim 19, wherein each holder means is adapted to receive said sealing body of said device. * * * ** . * **. * *
21. Belt means as claimed in claim 19, wherein each holder means is adapted to * *I*.engage with said handle means of said respective device. * I * I. * * S *SS*

*....:
22. A method of installing cavity wall insulation, comprising the steps of: * S receiving a plurality of devices, each as claimed in any of claims ito 18, forming a plurality of apertures through an outer layer of a cavity wall, inserting one said device in each said aperture, and subsequently removing each said inserted device in turn prior to introducing insulating material through the respective aperture into a cavity of the cavity wall.
23. A method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising the step of leaving inserted devices in the respective apertures for a period of at least a day, prior to removal forintroduction of the insulating material.
24. A device for temporary blanking of an aperture formed through an outer layer of a cavity wall substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying Figures.
25. Belt means substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying Figures.
26. A method of installing cavity wall insulation substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying Figures. * , * ** * **S. * * **** * S *.S. * * * * ** * * * *.SS * * S