Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16L59/00—Thermal insulation in general
  • F16L59/04—Arrangements using dry fillers, e.g. using slag wool which is added to the object to be insulated by pouring, spreading, spraying or the like
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16L59/00—Thermal insulation in general
  • F16L59/14—Arrangements for the insulation of pipes or pipe systems

Definitions

• the invention relates to an arrangement for filling, in a tube assembly comprising an inner tube and an outer tube-like lining surrounding said inner tube as well as an end flange arranged at each end of said tubes, the interior space between said tubes with an insulation or the like material, especially with blown insulation wool or a corresponding material, which arrangement utilizes filling means which extend through at least one of said end flanges into said interior space.
• the invention also relates to a method for filling, with an in ⁇ sulation material, the interior space between an inner tube and an outer lining surrounding said tube, through an end flange closing said interior space, in which case means extending into said interior space are utilized as filling means.
• double tube assemblies wherein an insulation is arranged in the interior space between an inner tube and an outer tube surrounding said inner tube.
• Such tube assemblies are used for a very wide variety of purposes, for instance for conducting warm or cold fluids like liquids, air or smoke.
• Such assemblies often comprise individual shorter modules to compose a tubing of a desired length and form.
• a set of insulating tubes is known from our earlier Finnish patent No. 90590, wherein the set comprises outer tubes which surround inner tubes and end flanges closing the interior space between said tubes, said interior space being filled with an insulation material, especially blown in ⁇ sulation wool or the like.
• Each module in this set comprises mating end flanges by which said tube modules can be inter ⁇ connected.
• said tube further comprises mating male and female portions.
• a problem connected with the prior art concerns the uniform filling of the interior space between the outer and inner tubes with the insulation. It is known, as such e. g from FI patent application No 912100 or from DE patent application No 28 24 906 to push an insulation feeder tube into such an interior space, from which tube said insulation is fed into said interior space, but in said cases one chiefly uses poly- urethane or a corresponding liquid state insulation which is foamed. Such an insulation is suitable enough for relatively low temperatures, but temperatures appearing in a normal fire already cause a decomposition of such an insulation and it may even be ignited.
• the inventive ar ⁇ rangement is generally characterized by the fact that the filling means comprise feeder and pressure balancing or suction tubes which function in pairs, as well as means for directing an active stream of fluid, which transports therewith said in ⁇ sulation material, through said feeder tube into said interior space of said tube assembly and, correspondingly, for sucking said fluid from said interior space via said suction tube.
• At least one of said filling means, or primarily said feeder tube for said insulation moves in said interior space of said tube assembly, in which case further means are arranged for guiding said tubes suitably simultaneously in said interior space through an opening arranged in an end flange.
• the inventive method is characterized in initially bringing one or several openings located in said end flange to register with parallel filling means functioning in pairs, after which tube assembly and/or said filling means functioning in pairs are brought in a mutually relative move ⁇ ment so that at least an end of a feeder tube is located at that location in the interior space of said tube assembly, from which the filling operation starts.
• said in ⁇ sulation material is brought to flow with a flow of fluid along one of said filling means or feeder tube into said interior space. Simultaneously, said fluid is removed through the other one of said filling means i. e. through said suction tube, while simultaneously preventing, in a suitable manner, the passage of said insulation material into said suction tube.
• said tube assembly and/or said feeder tube and, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, also said suction tube will be mutually moved, along with the advancement of the filling procedure, to that end flange through which said filling means extend into said interior space.
• said filling means When the whole tube assembly has been filled up said filling means will be located in the vicinity of the insert end flange, after which they will be removed from said interior space. After this, the opening in said end flange, which opening is adapted for said filling means, is closed by suitably separate closing flanges.
• Figure 1 schematically discloses the general arrangement ac ⁇ cording to the invention
• Figure 2 shows, in more detail, a perspective view and a partial section of a filling arrangement according to the invention
• Figure 3 shows an end portion of a tube assembly according to the invention, as seen from one end of said assembly
• Figure 4 shows, in a partial section, one end the tube as ⁇ sembly according to Figure 2,
• Figure 5 shows an alternative filling arrangement
• FIG. 6 in section shows another alternative suction tube arrangement
• Figure 7 shows a favorable embodiment of the end portion of a feeding tube, as seen from above.
• an arrangement according to the invention suitably comprises an insulation procedure table 1, at one end of which there are placed tube assemblies 2 yet to be filled and at the opposite end thereof, respectively, are placed filled tube assemblies to be taken to storage.
• Said insulation procedure table 1 favorably comprises hoisting means which, according to a favorable embodiment of the invention, lift the empty tube assembly to be weighed prior to the filling pro ⁇ cedure.
• said hoisting means are shown as roller type supports 3 which favorably are connected to a balance means generally shown as reference 4, suitably to a balance sensor which functions under said fil ⁇ ling procedure table 1.
• FIG. 1 further schematically discloses how a support member 5 is arranged above said tube assembly to be filled, said tube assembly 2 being locked by said support member after the pre ⁇ liminary weighing procedure in a correct position with respect to the filling procedure. If said tube assembly 2 should happen to be in the wrong position, this will be corrected by rotating said assembly using e. g. the roller supports 3 which are disclosed in the drawing, or other similar means.
• the described weighing and positioning is implemented as an automatic procedure.
• the tube assembly 2 to be filled is pre-fabricated into a form which is more exactly evident from Figures 2 to 6.
• the purpose of the preliminary weighing pro ⁇ cedure is to detect the tare weight of the tube assembly, suitably at an accuracy of about 100 grams.
• the tube 2 is weighed also after the filling procedure, one automatically gets the information that the filling was successful, i. e. that the desired amount of insulation material 27 has been brought into the space between the inner tube 20 and the outer lining 26. Since the purpose of the insulation 27 often is, besides the prevention of loss of heat, also to reduce the fire danger, it is usually especially important to secure that the filling procedure has been successful.
• making sure of the filling degree also comprises the control of the pressure in the feeding blower tube 10, in which case a pressure sensor 31 is arranged to cut off the blowing and feeding of insulation material only at the stage when .a certain counter pressure is achieved in the tube.
• a pressure sensor 31 is arranged to cut off the blowing and feeding of insulation material only at the stage when .a certain counter pressure is achieved in the tube.
• the pre ⁇ fabricated tube assembly 2 to be filled comprises two filling openings 6 and 7, which suitably are located in an opposed disposition at at least one end flange 8, i. e. a flange which is arranged for the filling procedure, as is shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 3.
• a filler means 9 comprises at least on set of filler means functioning in pairs, i. e. an insulation feeding tube 10 and a pressure balancing or suction tube 11. At least one of the ends of said tubes, i. e. the end portion 12 of said feeding tube 10, and, according to one embodiment of the invention, also the end 13 of said suction tube, are movable with respect to said tube assembly 2.
• both feeding means 9, i. e. said feeding tube 10 and said suction tube 11 move relative to said tube as ⁇ sembly 2 essentially along its whole length, for which move ⁇ ment a transport sledge 14 or the like movable device is suitably used.
• At least said feeding tubes 10 and 11 are at ⁇ tached to said sledge, which is movable in response to suitable guiding means in relation to the tube assembly 2 to be filled both prior to starting the filling procedure and during the actual filling.
• Figure 1 discloses that said transport sledge 14 can move, in the direction of the arrow, towards said tube assembly 2 and away from it.
• the arrangement according to the invention may equally well be such that said filling tubes 10, 11 and their feeder and suction end portions 12 and 13, respectively, remain in their initial positions and the tube assembly 2 to be filled is thread thereupon.
• Figure 1 generally discloses sepa ⁇ rate supporting means 15 according to one embodiment of the invention, wherein said filling tubes 10, 11 can slide and which suitably also comprise means for adjusting the mutual distance between said feeding tubes 10, 11 and/or their align- ment.
• said ends 12 and 13 of said tubes 10 and 11 are located, at the initial stage of the filling procedure, about at an equal distance in the vicinity of the opposite end flange 16 of said tube, as Figure 2 shows in more detail.
• the cross sections of said feeding and suction tubes 10, 11 are, in the embodiment dis ⁇ closed in the drawings, favorably arched, i. e. having the general shape of a kidney, as is more clearly evident from Figure 2. With this shape, which can be achieved e. g. by com ⁇ pression molding, the effective section of said tubes 10, 11 will be relatively large and adapted to the space to be filled, which is favorable with respect to filling speed, efficiency and low tendency to malfunction.
• Figure 6 discloses a corresponding arrangement wherein said end 13 of a suction tube 11a is arranged directly in an opening 6 in said flange 8 of said tube assembly 2, in which case said suction tube 11a in practice does not extend essentially at all into said tube assembly 2 but it is arranged through a suitably flexible tube portion lib separate from the other arrangement at the location of said opening in said flange 8.
• said end 12 of said feeder tube 10 is shaped so that a nozzle opening 12a has an inclined direction with respect to the general extent of said feeder tube 10 and said tube assembly 2. This is more clearly shown in Figure 7, wherein the end of said tube is rounded and the discharge opening 12a is located in the flank of said tube.
• the insulation 27 which is discharged from said feeder tube 10 will be brought into a turbulent motion wherein the insulation starts to build up uniformly from the back end of said tube arrangement, i. e. starting in the vicinity of said end flange 16 and evenly around the tube.
• the filling procedure is favorably performed so that a suitable fluid, usually air, is blown by a feeder blower 17 through said feeder tube 10 into said tube 2 to be filled.
• An insulation material for example a mineral or pulp wool or the like material, which is suited for blowing, or any other essentially fine graded light filling material, is fed from a filling material tank (not shown) through a feeder channel 19 which is known per se and schematically disclosed in Figure 1 into the stream of said fluid passing by.
• the filling material will transported by said fluid in said feeder tube 10 into said tube assembly 2 to be filled, wherein said filling material will be discharged from the suitably open feeder end 12 of said feeder tube 10.
• this insulation or the like filling material which is discharged from said feeder end 12, will become especially efficiently distributed evenly in said tube assembly 2 to be filled and especially around said inner tube 20, when a pressure balancing or suction tube 11 is used, which functions in parallel with said feeder tube 10.
• said suction tube 11 is suitably connected to another fan or suction blower 18 which favorably is similar to said feeder blower 17.
• the rotational speeds for both blowers may favorably be regulated so that the amount of fluid and its pressure in said feeder tube and, correspondingly, the amount and underpressure in said suction tube are essentially equal and correspond to a desired suitable filling speed and filling density.
• one and the same blower functions both as a feeder blower and as a suction blower, in which case said fluid will circulate in a essentially closed circulation in the appa ⁇ ratus.
• the suction head 13 of said pres ⁇ sure balancing or suction tube 11 is located, according to a favorable embodiment of the invention, about at the location of said feeder end 12 but on the opposite side with respect to said inner tube 20 of the tube to be filled.
• the arrangement is such that said feeder tube 10 is located higher up and said suction tube 11, correspondingly, lower down, in which case the force of gravity can be better utilized.
• both tube ends 12, 13 are located essentially at an equal distance (counted from the end flanges 8, 16 of said tube) the main air stream will occur at a very distinct area, i. e. so that said air stream and the insulation traveling therewith will remain essentially in a disk shaped transversal position when seen in the longitudinal direction of said tube 2 to be filled.
• the distribution of insu ⁇ lation or the like filler can be very well controlled, despite the fact that the filling procedure advances essentially in the horizontal direction and without moving said filling means 9 or said tube assembly to be filled, in a tangential di ⁇ rection with respect to the central axis of the procedure,
• said suction end 13 of said suction tube 11, 11a comprises special barrier means which prevent insu- lation or the like from passing into said suction tube but allow the entry of said fluid therein.
• the end 13 of said suction tube 11, 11a is closed and equipped with small holes 21 located at a range of about 100 millimeters, which can be better seen in Figure 2. Said small holes will allow said fluid, i. e. usually air, to pass through them via said pressure balancing or suction tubes 11 of said filling means 9 back to said blower 18.
• said small diameter of said holes 21 will prevent insulation from passing out from said tube assembly.
• the size of said holes 21 is favorably adapted in accordance with the quality of the insulation used, and in practice it has been observed that with a hole diameter of about 4 millimeters a good result is achieved with blow wool material and there will occur no clogging.
• said suction head 13 may be further provided with special means for opening up ob ⁇ structions. Alternatively the direction of flow can be momentarily changed so that said suction tube 11 will be pres ⁇ surized for opening up said holes 21.
• in ⁇ sulation 27 material in no case will move, be compressed or compacted at a later stage in a filled tube, or one may wish to prevent the insulation from running out if a tube is cut off.
• a glue agent or the like may further be sprayed into said insulation.
• this is schemati ⁇ cally indicated with the reference numeral 22. It has been proven that the feeding of a glue can be performed most favorably at the inlet portion of said feeder tube 10 which will provide enough time and effect for the glue and the in ⁇ sulation to be mixed while the insulation runs along with the air flow.
• a tube assembly 2 to be filled in accordance an especially favorable embodiment of the invention.
• a special end flange 8 connected to the tube as ⁇ sembly 2 has arcuate filling openings 6 and 7, respectively, arranged for the inventive filling means 9, i. e. said feeder tube 10 and said suction tube 11.
• inventive filling means 9 i. e. said feeder tube 10 and said suction tube 11.
• openings are closed with special closing flanges.
• a tube assembly ac ⁇ cording to the invention further comprises an annular groove
• said holes 24 will further promote the uniform filling of the tube as ⁇ sembly 2 as they act during the filling procedure as pressure compensators preventing the build up of an over- or under ⁇ pressure.
• said holes are especially capable of letting a certain portion of the insulation 27 transporting fluid to flow directly out just at said end flanges 8 and/or 16 of said tube 2, where the even distribution of insulation is at most difficult and where, on the other hand, the uni ⁇ formity of the insulation 27 is most important.
• said holes 24 may be at least partly replaced with on or several outlet openings 7a located at the flange 16 which is opposite to the filling end, said outlet comprising a suitably detachable screen 21a.
• said opening 7a is further connected to an extra suction arrangement.
• said outlet openings are covered with a closing plate in a similar manner to said openings 6 and 7.
• said groove 23 acts as a bracing element for the whole flange and for receiving a further gasket 25, in which case said gasket 25 seals said holes 24 and prevents the passage of any insulation 27.
• Said gasket 25 also acts as a further sealing element between successive tube modules.
• said holes 24 further constitute a portion which cuts off the thermal bridge and thus, in a chimney application and especially in a fire situation the heat does not migrate at a dangerously high level at the flange locations from said inner tube 20 to said outer lining 26, or, in a freezing piping, correspondingly, the surface temperature is prevented from falling below the condensation temperature, in which case a condensation would occur.
• Figure 4 further discloses that the extension portion 28 of said inner tube 20 favorably is realized in such a way that it comprises a bush portion 29 in connection with the end flange, over which portion said inner tube 20 can be pushed with its slightly enlarged collar portion 30.
• the inner tube 20 will in practice be quite smooth and thus it does not collect dust or soot but permits the undisturbed passage of the medium which flows in the tube.
• the invention can applied in filling situations where the actual space to be filled is not a clearly shaped space defined by two tubes located one within the other and closed by end flanges, which space still should be filled as uniformly as possible in a plane which extends transversely with respect to the essentially horizontal travel direction of the filling means.
• the assembly 2 as such may be of another material like cardboard, plastics, fibre glass or other similar material.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing Of Electric Cables (AREA)
• Thermal Insulation (AREA)
• Insulating Bodies (AREA)
• Processing And Handling Of Plastics And Other Materials For Molding In General (AREA)
• Superconductors And Manufacturing Methods Therefor (AREA)
• Insulators (AREA)
• Inorganic Insulating Materials (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8541045

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (6)

• 1994
  • 1994-07-01 FI FI943183A patent/FI102208B/fi not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1995
  • 1995-06-30 DE DE69515308T patent/DE69515308T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1995-06-30 AT AT95923357T patent/ATE190123T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1995-06-30 AU AU27946/95A patent/AU2794695A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-06-30 WO PCT/FI1995/000379 patent/WO1996001389A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1995-06-30 EP EP95923357A patent/EP0771401B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (6)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events