Claims
- 1. A system for blowing loose-fill insulation into wall cavities, the system comprising:
- a hopper for receiving virgin insulation fibers;
- means for introducing the virgin fibers from said hopper into a blowing hose;
- means for blowing the virgin fibers through said blowing hose and out of a nozzle into wall cavities to be insulated with the loose-fill insulation;
- fiber recovery means, including a vacuum operatively associated with a return hose, for recovering waste insulation fibers and conveying the waste fibers back toward said hopper via said return hose; and
- collector means including a housing and a plurality of fiber distributing baffles mounted therein, said collector means being mounted at an elevation vertically above said hopper for receiving the waste fibers from said fiber recovery means and distributing said waste fibers back into said hopper so that the waste fibers fall from said collector means back into said hopper, wherein said plurality of baffles are of different sizes and are inclined relative to vertical so as to more evenly and uniformly distribute the waste fibers back into said hopper.
- 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of fiber distributing baffles includes first, second, and third baffles provided in said housing, and wherein said first baffle is closest to a waste fiber inlet of said housing, and wherein said second and third baffles extend vertically to greater degrees than does said first baffle.
- 3. The system of claim 2, wherein said second and third baffles extend vertically downwardly a greater amount than does said first baffle, and wherein each of said first, second, and third baffles are oriented at an angle of from about 20.degree.-45.degree. relative to the vertical so as to provide improved fiber distribution.
- 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said insulation fibers include fiberglass mixed with a dry adhesive, and said blowing means blows said fiberglass and said dry adhesive together with an adhesive activating liquid into the cavities.
- 5. The system of claim 3, wherein said blowing means includes a blower operatively associated with said blowing hose for causing the virgin and said waste fibers to be blown through said blowing hose toward and into the cavities.
- 6. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing has at least one large aperture or void in a bottom, thereof for allowing the waste fibers to fall from the collector means into said hopper.
- 7. The system of claim 1, wherein said collector means further includes substantially continuous sidewall means for laterally surrounding and encompassing an interior cavity of said collector means.
- 8. The system of claim 1, wherein said collector means is substantially rectangular in shape so as to include four separate sidewall sections, two of which are substantially parallel to one another.
- 9. A fiber recovery and distribution device for use in an insulation blowing system that includes a fiber recovery or recycling subsystem, the fiber recovery and distribution device comprising:
- substantially continuous sidewall means for defining and laterally surrounding an interior fiber recovery cavity;
- fiber inlet means defined in said sidewall means for receiving recovered insulation fibers from a return and allowing the recovered fibers to flow into said cavity;
- a top wall disposed adjacent an upper edge of said sidewall means, said top wall including aperture means defined therein for enabling air flowing into said cavity to at least partially exhaust upward through the aperture means;
- a plurality of baffles mounted to said device and extending across said cavity at different locations for evenly distributing the recovered fibers downward toward a hopper after the recovered fibers enter the cavity through the inlet means; and
- outlet means located proximate a bottom of the device for allowing the recovered fibers to fall from said cavity downward toward and into the hopper where the recovered fibers can intermix with virgin fibers;
- wherein said baffles increase in surface area as a function of increased distance from the inlet means so that baffles farther from the inlet means define more surface area than baffles closer to the inlet means.
- 10. The device of claim 9, wherein said sidewall means is rectangular in shape and includes four separate wall sections, two of said four wall sections being substantially parallel to one another.
- 11. The device of claim 10 wherein said aperture means in said top wall includes a screen for preventing said recovered fibers from blowing past said screen and allowing the air to exhaust through said screen.
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/805,729 filed Feb. 25, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (21)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
"Multi-Matic" Unisul's wall spray system, 1996. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
805729 |
Feb 1997 |
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