Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
  • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
  • B05B7/00—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent materials from two or more sources, e.g. of liquid and air, of powder and gas
  • B05B7/14—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent materials from two or more sources, e.g. of liquid and air, of powder and gas designed for spraying particulate materials
  • B05B7/1404—Arrangements for supplying particulate material
  • B05B7/1409—Arrangements for supplying particulate material specially adapted for short fibres or chips
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
  • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
  • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
  • B05B1/26—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with means for mechanically breaking-up or deflecting the jet after discharge, e.g. with fixed deflectors; Breaking-up the discharged liquid or other fluent material by impinging jets
  • B05B1/262—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with means for mechanically breaking-up or deflecting the jet after discharge, e.g. with fixed deflectors; Breaking-up the discharged liquid or other fluent material by impinging jets with fixed deflectors
  • B05B1/267—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with means for mechanically breaking-up or deflecting the jet after discharge, e.g. with fixed deflectors; Breaking-up the discharged liquid or other fluent material by impinging jets with fixed deflectors the liquid or other fluent material being deflected in determined directions

Definitions

• the present invention relates in general to apparatus for dispensing fibrous
• insulation materials and in particular to apparatus for increasing the density of blown fibrous insulation as such insulation is discharged from the apparatus are discharged from the apparatus.
• the essential components of a typical blown fiberglass delivery system include a source of fiberglass material, conduit means for conveying the glass fibers from the fiberglass source to the installation site and a source of pressurized air such as a compressor, blower or the like, for generating a flow of pressurized air for entraining the fiberglass and delivering it from the fiberglass source through the conduit means for discharge at the
• R-value refers to an insulation's thermal resistance or resistance to heat flow.
• constructions can increase the R-value of their insulation by supplementing existing insulation with additional insulation.
• blown or pneumatically delivered fibrous installation are the thickness and density of the material to be installed. In "open" areas such as attics, for example, insulation thickness or density is not normally of great concern. However, in confined areas such as the voids between interior and building walls the available insulation space may be quite limited. This physical constraint restricts installation of blown insulation beyond a certain thickness and thus may materially impact the available R-value for insulation present in such areas.
• FIG. 1 is a side view of a conventional fibrous insulation delivery system dispensing apparatus
• FIG. 2 is a side view of a fibrous insulation delivery system dispensing apparatus constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 3 is a cross-section view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;
• FIG. 4 is a side view of a fibrous insulation delivery system dispensing apparatus constructed in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 5 is a side view of a fibrous insulation delivery system dispensing apparatus constructed in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 the dispensing apparatus 10 of a conventional fibrous insulation delivery system.
• fibrous insulation delivery system include a source of fibrous insulation material such as fiberglass or the like, conduit means, a compressor, blower or the like, and a dispensing apparatus attached to the distal and of the conduit means.
• the compressor or blower generates a flow of pressurized air for entraining the fibrous insulation material and delivering it from the insulation source
• Conventional dispensing apparatus 10 include a lightweight rigid, metal or plastic pipe 12 of about 2 to about 4 inches in diameter, typically about 3 to about 4 inches in diameter. Although it may be permanently affixed thereto, pipe 12 is normally releasably
• Pipe 12 may range in length from about the width of a user's palm, i.e., about 4 inches, up to about 8 feet whereby the pipe may be manually grasped and
• Fitting member 20 is provided to promote precise placement of the insulation material and is normally constructed from the same or similar material as pipe 12 and may be
• Fitting member 20 is formed as a continuously curved circular cross-section pipe section of the same or substantially same internal diameter as pipe 12. The fitting member 20 changes the direction of flow of the fibrous insulation through the dispensing apparatus 10 from substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis "A" of pipe 12 to
• substantially parallel to the outlet or discharge axis "B" may be of the fitting member, which
• fitting member discharge axis B is typically angularly oriented from about 20° to about, as illustrated, 90° with respect to pipe axis A.
• Fitting member 20 possesses no means for meaningfully compressing the fibrous insulation discharged from dispensing apparatus 10.
• the density of fibrous insulation thus remains substantially unchanged as it enters, traverses and exits the dispensing apparatus. Consequently, dispensing apparatus 10 is of limited utility when it is desirable or necessary to install a dense, comparatively thin layer of high R-value blown fibrous insulation in a confined building space, e.g., the voids between interior and exterior building walls.
• FIGS. 2 and 3 reveal a first embodiment of a dispensing apparatus according
• the dispensing apparatus identified generally by reference numeral
• a circular, cylindrical, rigid pipe 112 which may be formed of the same or similar materials and may assume the same or similar dimensions as pipe 12 of the conventional fibrous insulation dispensing apparatus 10 discussed above.
• the rearward end of pipe 112 may be permanently or releasably attached to
• Dispensing apparatus 110 further comprises deflector means 120, the function of which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. Deflector means 120
• Deflector means 120 is preferably although not necessarily a unitary member which may be fabricated from any suitable rigid material such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum, wood or high strength, inelastic plastics such as, for example, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene.
• the attachment portion 122 is preferably contoured for close fitting contact with the outer
• the deflector means 120 may be detached from the pipe 112 when maintenance or replacement of the pipe or deflector means is desired or necessary. If a more permanent connection is desired, the attachment portion 122 of the deflector means 120 may be welded, soldered, brazed, fused, adhered or otherwise fixedly
• deflector means 120 may be formed integrally with pipe 112 thereby eliminating the need for attachment portion 122 and subsequent physical attachment of the deflector means to the pipe.
• deflector portion 124 is preferably
• the deflector portion 124 preferably presents a flat, untextured face toward pipe outlet 126, although it may be wavy, ridged, corrugated or otherwise textured inner face. And, to the extent the deflection portion 124 may be substantially planar, it may in fact have a mild concave curvature although the radius of such curve should be considerably greater than the radius of pipe 112.
• the length "L,” of deflector portion 124 is preferably sufficient to span the entire diameter of outlet 126.
• the width "W" of the deflector portion 124 may be
• deflector portion is configured substantially as a rectangle in the manner depicted in FIG. 3.
• deflector portion 124 may be substantially circular or elliptical in shape. Hence, the width W of deflector portion 124 may increase from its point of attachment to pipe 112 whereupon it reaches a maximum at about half of length L, and thereafter decreases to a minimum at its
• deflector portion 124 it should be dimensioned such that its orthogonal projection onto pipe outlet 126 is sufficient to entirely cover the pipe outlet. In this way, substantially all fibrous insulation which is discharged by the pipe 112 impinges upon the deflector portion whereby it may be compressed and beneficially densified thereby.
• Pneumatically delivered fibrous insulation typically comprises macerated fiberglass whose individual fiber lengths may range from about 0.25 inches to about 2.0 inches and diameters may range from about 1.0 to 10.0 microns.
• the insulation may optionally include binders or other additives to enhance its cohesiveness, flowability, durability or other beneficial processing or performance characteristics.
• the density of such materials as presently deposited by conventional dispensing apparatus such as apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is about 0.4 to about 0.5 lb/ft 3 .
• similar fibrous insulation discharged by dispensing apparatus 110 and later- described dispensing apparatus 210 and 310 is compressed by virtue of its forceful contact with at least one deflector means such that its as-deposited or installed density is about 0.6 to
• the present dispensing apparatus may install fibrous insulation with at least about 10 percent and up to about 100 percent greater density than existing dispensing apparatus such as apparatus 10.
• the instant apparatus may install thinner layers of blown fibrous installation having R- values comparable to thicker layers of
• the R-value of the layer deposited by the present dispensing apparatus will be greater.
• dispensing apparatus 110 The operation of dispensing apparatus 110 is as follows.
• the pressurized air source of the fibrous insulation system is activated to generate a flow of pressurized air of sufficient velocity to entrain fibrous insulation from the supply thereof whereby the entrained insulation may be conveyed through conduit means 114 and into pipe 112.
• the moving insulation passes through the pipe 112 and exits outlet 126 whereupon it forcefully strikes or impinges upon the rear face of deflector portion 124 of deflector means 120 to deplete the insulation of much of its forward kinetic energy and momentum.
• This now slower moving insulation is concurrently struck from behind, compressed and densified by a stream of continuously flowing insulation.
• the densified insulation is then discharged through mouth or gap G and onto the installation site. This process proceeds continuously until a desired quantity compressed insulation has been placed at the site.
• the deflector portion 124 may also include wings or
• FIG. 4 there is shown a further embodiment of a fibrous insulation dispensing apparatus, identified generally by reference numeral 10, constructed in
• Dispensing apparatus 210 comprises a pipe 212 and a first deflector means 220.
• Pipe 212 and first deflector means 220 may be assumed to be constructed consistent with the descriptions of pipe 112 and deflector means 120 of dispensing apparatus 110 and thus will not be described in further detail herein except where necessary to provide a proper understanding of the invention.
• dispensing apparatus further preferably comprises a second deflector means 220a connected to pipe 212 generally diametrically opposite the first deflector means 220.
• the second deflector means 220a may include an attachment portion 222a and may be mechanically fastened to pipe 212 by fastening means 218 such as
• the second deflector means 220a may also be adhered, formed integrally with or otherwise affixed to the pipe 212 if a permanent attachment of the second deflector means to the pipe is desired or
• the second deflector means 220a is preferably constructed substantially similarly to first deflector means and thus includes a deflector portion 224a that is preferably substantially planar or, more preferably, truly planar and may extend at an angle ⁇ of between
• dispensing apparatus 210 is essentially identical to that of dispensing apparatus 110 up to the point at which compressed fibrous insulation material
• Such compressed insulation material then strikes the deflector portion 224a of the second deflector means 220a.
• the deflector portion 224a absorbs much of the remaining kinetic energy and momentum of the moving compressed fibrous insulation material and causes same to flow from the impingement surface of the deflector portion 224a in a quasi-fluid fashion and thereby provide enhanced directional control and placement of the fibrous material at the installation site.
• FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of a fibrous insulation dispensing apparatus, generally identified by reference numeral 310, constructed in accordance with the present invention.
• Apparatus 310 comprises a pipe 312 and a deflector means 320. Except for the deflector portion 324 of deflector means 320, it may be assumed that the remainder of apparatus 310 may be constructed consistent with the descriptions of pipe 112 and deflector means 114 of dispensing apparatus 110. Therefore, only deflector portion 324 and its impact on the operation of dispensing apparatus 310 will be described in detail.
• deflector portion 324 of deflector means 320 is preferably not entirely inelastic or rigid. Indeed, deflector portion
• deflector portion 324 which presents a substantially planar or, more preferably, a truly planar face with respect to outlet 326 of pipe 312, is preferably somewhat flexible and elastic whereby it partially yields upon impact by moving fibrous material. Nevertheless, it should not be so flexible that it does not provide a firm surface against which moving fibrous material may be compressed. To achieve these desired ends, deflector portion 324 may be fabricated from a
• deflector portion 324 may assume the form of a brush comprised of densely compacted natural and/or artificial bristles.
• An advantage provided by the construction of dispensing apparatus 310 is that
• dispensing apparatus 310 may also include a second deflector means constructed and arranged substantially similar to second deflector means 220a of dispensing apparatus 210.

Landscapes

• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
• Nozzles (AREA)
• Pipe Accessories (AREA)
• Preliminary Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)

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Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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Citations (6)

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• 1999
  • 1999-01-25 US US09/236,431 patent/US6082639A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2000
  • 2000-01-20 CA CA002325924A patent/CA2325924C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-01-20 JP JP2000594577A patent/JP2002535121A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-01-20 EP EP00908307A patent/EP1064099A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-01-20 WO PCT/US2000/001278 patent/WO2000043128A1/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (6)

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