Patent Application
20120225236
Fiberglass is currently utilized as the insulation of choice in the construction of roofs and exterior walls of pre-engineered. buildings. This insulation is commonly installed over support members like wall girts and purlins, both z and c shaped. Where higher insulation R values are required, mainly in the roof areas, fiberglass must be run between the purlins and then criss-crossed over the top of the purlins to get additional thickness, in order to achieve the needed R values. Where such insulation crosses the girts and purlins, it is squeezed so tight it reduces the thermal break so that there can be heat conduction between the exterior wall or roof sheathing and the support members. This creates a direct path for heat to travel into a building through these support members. This heat radiates into the interior of the buildings. Heat can also radiate out of the building the same way.
There are other disadvantages of utilizing fiberglass insulation. For instance, fiberglass is irritating to the skin and once it gets into the lungs, can cause bleeding and other serious health conditions. As a result, increased care, including the use of masks, long sleeve shirts, and gloves, must be worn during fiberglass installation.
In addition, the facing on fiberglass is easily ripped and torn. This allows moisture into the insulation, breaking the vapor barrier and placing a hole in the building envelope, thereby significantly cutting the R value. Fiberglass also can grow mold when wet and has a had appearance, even when patched. Though the facing of fiberglass may stay exposed on the interior, it is not very washable and, depending on the quality, may become brittle over time. Further, rolls of fiberglass are often awkward to work with because of their wide width and long lengths. They do not store well on the jobsite and are subject to being damaged even before they are installed.
Moreover, installation of fiberglass can be labor intensive, especially in winds, and must be covered with siding or roofing as it is installed for its protection. Installed fiberglass has nothing to protect its integrity on its own after its installation. Standard fiberglass systems will not support a person who unintentionally steps or falls in it, thereby creating a risk of severe injury or, if the fall is high enough, death. While there are a number of fall arrest systems on the market to address safety concerns when installing fiberglass, such fall protection systems are labor intensive and costly to purchase and set up.
Thus, fiberglass fundamentally does not fully address the heat loss or gain by conduction, convection, or radiation and it is difficult to store, install safely, and maintain. Very significantly, fiberglass adds no strength to the constructed roof or exterior wall itself.
There are many alternative insulation construction mediums on the market such as bubble wrap, micro-bubble, and thin polystyrene rolled sheets with aluminum or white vinyl facings acting as a radiant barrier. However, these products are mainly for agricultural uses, small buildings, or utilized where lesser R values are required.
Different rigid foams such as polyurethane, polyisobutylene, and polyisocyanurate, use many of the same facings, including aluminum, and have superior R values to fiberglass, but these are very expensive and may give off gas and lose R value over time. in fact, certain of these foams are deadly when breathed in during a fire and may even be the cause of fires. Some must be sprayed on and most are not utilized as stand alone products. They must be covered with sheetrock or some other surface approved for direct exposure on the interior for their protection. And, again, none add strength to the building construction itself.
In summary, each of the alternative products described above do certain things well, but each falls short in other areas, including availability, high cost, labor intensiveness, the need for special equipment, structural support, and safety.
Thus, there are no insulation construction systems which address all the practical, economical, functional, versatility, and environmentally-friendly concerns required of an insulation system, while also providing structural value and strength to roof and exterior wall units which require effective insulation.
It is thus the object of the present invention to provide an insulated composite building panel and panel construction system which overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of existing pre-engineered building insulation, along with its building envelope, and construction systems for roofs and exterior wall units.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an insulated building panel and building construction panel system which utilizes a plurality of panels made of solid foam core with insulation R values, encapsulated within external hard coatings permanently bonded to the cores. The cores optimally consist of expanded polystyrene foam and the hard coatings are a polyurethane hard coat blend. Roof and exterior wall construction units utilize a plurality of adjacently aligned panels, each panel being located between support members and being compressed together and pressure-fitted against adjacent panels and support members such that each construction unit is formed from the compressed, pressure-fitted panels. The panels themselves serve as the primary structural elements, i.e. solid blocking to the girt and purlin support members, and only insulating elements of the construction units.
The panels and panel system of the present invention result in many benefits and advantages, including, but not limited to, the following:
The panels compromise a rigid foam core with R values sufficient to provide the requisite building insulation.
The panel coating comprises a hard coat with very high impact resistance. It will not tear, is impervious to water absorption and has an ASTM E-84 fire rating for interior and exterior uses when its fire restive coating is added. It can have a fire retardant built into the foam core as well. The hard coating can accept heat in excess of 250° F. with no adverse affects, will not promote mold growth, resist attack by vermin, and can be left exposed on the interior with no other protective covering such as sheetrock. In addition, the coating will not smoke excessively if heated and any residue is not deadly if breathed. The coating can also be high pressure washed without incurring damage.
Each panel is very lightweight, normally weighing less than twenty pounds per panel. As a result, the panels are easily lifted and carried by installers. In addition, because of their lightweight, shipping costs of panels are reduced.
The panels are virtually incompressible, thus eliminating the reduction of the thermal barriers created by the panels.
The panels will not lose insulation R value over time.
The panels are economically manufactured with readily available materials, since there are only two major components in each panel.
Panels can be made from 100% recyclable materials.
Panels in the roof and exterior wall construction system can be installed easily and safely, without risk or hazard to workers.
Installation of the panels in the construction system can be performed without the use of special breathing equipment, since the panels do not expel harmful vapors or gas during or after installation.
Panels in the construction system need no special equipment to install, They can be installed in all environments, including in wind. They can be field altered and installed from roof eaves towards roof peaks completely, before roofing or as the roofing is being installed. Panels can also be installed from base to cave or gable completely before siding is installed or while panels are being installed.
The panel construction system can be employed as the exterior vapor barriers of the roof and wall units since there are no unsealed joints completing the building's envelope.
The panel construction system will contribute to sound deadening and can be used for cold storage and food processing areas.
The panel construction system eliminates many otherwise required support members, such as purlins and girt bracing and barring plates under roof clips on standing-seam roofs as the panel is considered solid blocking.
The novel features Which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention, itself, however, both as to its design, construction ruction and use, together with additional features and advantages thereof, are best understood upon review of the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The components of roof and exterior wall construction system 1 of the present invention are most clearly shown in
In like manner, exterior wall construction unit 14 comprises a plurality of foam encapsulated wall panels adjacently aligned. Wall panels 15, 16, and 17 are referenced in FIG, I, which also shows additional wall panels, which comprise wall construction unit 14. Each panel is fitted between girls or like support members 18 and 19 which extend substantially the length of wall construction unit 14. Eave purlin or strut 20 is utilized in the joint connection between roof construction unit 2 and wall construction unit 14. The bottom of wall construction unit 14 is attached to the building's concrete slab 21 by base trim support and support base support angle members 22. As described previously with regard to the roof panels, each of the wall panels is custom designed and manufactured to be fitted within adjacent purlins and compressed together and pressure-fitted against adjacent panels and purlins to form uniform wall construction unit 14.
Panels 15 and 16 are diagonally cut such that they mate at tapered surfaces 25 and 26. Polyurethane adhesive sealant 27 is feed between tapered surfaces 25 and 26 to provide a further tight connection between panels 15 and 16. Screw 28 extending through washer 29 can optionally be inserted through thermal break sections 23 and 24 of panels 15 and 16, as an additional connection means, although in most instances, this would be unnecessary.
As best seen in
Each panel, be they roof panel 4, roof peak panel 7, or a wall panel, is fully encapsulated, as seen in
1. The coating has a Shore D hardness factor above 60, based on the standard Shore hardness measurement system.
2. The coating has a tensile strength in excess of 2500 psi, tensile strength being measured as the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched before material failure.
3. The coating has an elongation strength of 20% or higher—elongation strength being defined as the percentage increase in length of a material which occurs before it breaks down under tension. The combination of high elongation strength and high tensile strength results in a material of extreme toughness.
4. The coating is rigid or stiff. This stiffness, or flexural modulus, is measured by pounds per square inch. The coating has a flexural modulus of 50,000 psi.
5. The coating has an impact strength, the resistance of the coating to withstand a suddenly applied load—expressed in terms of energy, in excess of 50 pounds per inch.
Fire coating can be applied to all the panels in construction system 1, and may be required by specification if the panels are installed without a fire protective barrier. There are roof and wall designs, however, that provide for barriers and, in such cases, no fire coating is needed.
Each panel in construction system 1 is identical in its hard coating, encapsulated foam construction. Each can withstand high impact and compressive loads and each provides insulation characteristics which meet or exceed those resulting from the use of fiberglass or similar insulation material. While siding or roof shingles or other roof and wall coverings can be added to assembled panels, these are not necessary for the structural integrity of the system. The compressed, pressure-fitted panels of the roof and exterior wall construction units, as shown in
Certain novel features and components of this invention are disclosed in detail in order to make the invention clear in at least one form thereof. However, it is to be clearly understood that the invention as disclosed is not necessarily limited to the exact form and details as disclosed, since it is apparent that various modifications and changes may he made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of provisional utility application Ser. No. 61/464,364 filed on Mar. 3, 2011.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61464364 | Mar 2011 | US |
