Patent Application
20200232209
The technical field generally relates to a building envelope, and more particularly to the panel units forming the building envelope.
A building's envelope is commonly known as the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of said building. The envelope can provide resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noise transfer, among others.
Existing systems and methods for forming the envelope of a building includes securing a plurality of panel units to the structure of the building. These panel units include a pan filled with insulating wool sealed therein. The panel unit is then positioned around the building in order to form the envelope. Over time, humidity and condensation can accumulate on the back and within the pan, thus reducing the insulating properties of the panel unit and/or causing the presence of molds.
There is a need for an improved panel unit that can be used for forming an envelope of a building which can be easily manufactured and assembled.
According to a first aspect, an insulated panel unit for connecting with structural elements of a building to at least partially form an envelope of the building is provided. The insulated panel unit includes a front panel adapted to cooperate with the structural elements of the building for positioning and connecting the panel unit in relation therewith; and at least one member having insulating properties and being secured to the front panel.
According to a possible embodiment, the at least one member is a composite member having at least one layer of a heat insulating material, or a monolithic member of a heat insulating material.
According to a possible embodiment, the composite member having the at least one layer of the heat insulating material further includes at least one layer of a protective material.
According to a possible embodiment, the at least one member includes side walls, and the front panel includes an outer edge overhanging the corresponding side wall of the member.
According to a possible embodiment, the at least one member includes four side walls, and the front panel includes four outer edges respectively overhanging one of the side walls.
According to a possible embodiment, the insulated panel unit further includes a mounting element secured to the outer edge for connecting the panel unit to the structural element of the building.
According to a possible embodiment, the insulated panel unit further includes a cover member cooperating with the mounting element for at least partially covering the front panel.
According to a possible embodiment, the mounting element includes four mounting elements respectively secured to one of the outer edges.
According to a possible embodiment, each mounting element is further secured to each adjacent mounting element.
According to a possible embodiment, each mounting element has a channel shaped and configured for receiving a corresponding side of the cover member therein.
According to a possible embodiment, the cover member is provided with a display module and/or an energy module.
According to a possible embodiment, the display module is an electronic display module, and wherein the energy module is a solar panel for at least powering the electronic display module.
According to a possible embodiment, the electronic display module is an LED screen.
According to a possible embodiment, the heat insulating material is a high-density heat insulating material.
According to a possible embodiment, the high-density heat insulating material is high-density polystyrene.
According to a possible embodiment, the front panel and the at least one member are secured to one another using an adhesive.
According to a possible embodiment, the front panel, the mounting element and the at least one member are secured to one another using an adhesive.
According to a possible embodiment, the adhesive is a silicone sealant or an adhesive tape.
According to a possible embodiment, the structural elements of the building is a rail system, and the front panel is connected to the rail system via mechanical fasteners.
According to a possible embodiment, the structural elements of the building is a rail system, and wherein the front panel is connected to the rail system via a compression plate.
According to a possible embodiment, the front panel is made of metal, fiberglass, polymeric material or a combination thereof.
According to a second aspect, a building envelope comprising panel units mounted on structural elements of said building is provided. At least one of the panel units is an insulated panel unit as defined above.
According to a third aspect, a use of an insulated panel unit as defined above as part of a building envelope is provided.
In the following description, the same numerical references refer to similar elements. Furthermore, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, namely so as to not unduly burden the figures with several references numbers, not all figures contain references to all the components and features, and references to some components and features may be found in only one figure, and components and features of the present disclosure which are illustrated in other figures can be easily inferred therefrom. The embodiments, geometrical configurations, materials mentioned and/or dimensions shown in the figures are optional, and are given for exemplification purposes only.
In addition, although the optional configurations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises various components and although the optional configurations of the panel unit as shown may consist of certain geometrical configurations as explained and illustrated herein, not all of these components and geometries are essential and thus should not be taken in their restrictive sense, i.e. should not be taken as to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that other suitable components and cooperation's therein between, as well as other suitable geometrical configurations may be used for the panel unit, and corresponding parts, as briefly explained and as can be easily inferred here from, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
As will be explained below in relation to various embodiments, an insulated panel unit connectable to structural elements of a building for at least partially forming an envelope of said building is provided. Briefly described, the panel unit includes a front panel shaped and configured to cooperate with structural elements of a building, such as a rail system for example. The panel unit further includes heat insulating material secured to the front panel in order to form an insulated panel. Components and implementations of the panel unit will become apparent from the following disclosure.
In the following description, an embodiment is to be understood as an example or implementation of the disclosed panel unit. The various appearances of “one embodiment,” “an embodiment” or “some embodiments” do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiments. Although various features of the panel unit may be described in the context of a single embodiment, the features may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although the panel unit may be described herein in the context of separate embodiments for clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a single embodiment. Reference in the description to “some embodiments”, “an embodiment”, “one embodiment”, or “other embodiments”, means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily in all embodiments.
Referring to
In one embodiment, the member 14 includes a high-density heat insulating material. More specifically, the heat insulating material can be high-density polystyrene adapted to provide a calculated thermal resistance of about R24. As should be readily understood by a person skilled in the art, the «R-value» of the heat insulating material refers to the material's resistance to conductive heat flow. It is appreciated that the R-value of R24 is exemplary, and that other R-values are possible. In some embodiments, the R-value can be calculated in relation to surface area, for example, the member 14 can have a thermal resistance of about R4.2 per square inch (R4.2/in2). It is further appreciated that any other suitable materials can be used to embody the member 14, such as stone wool (i.e., rockwool) for example. Additionally, according to another embodiment, the heat insulating material can be adapted to provide increased water resistance/insulation and/or be fire retardant.
Now referring to
In the illustrated embodiment, the front panel 12 includes one or more outer edges 22 shaped and configured to overhang a corresponding one of the side walls 18 of the monolithic member 16. More specifically, in this embodiment, the front panel 12 is rectangular and therefore has four outer edges 22 respectively overhanging one of the side walls 18. The panel unit 10 can further include mounting elements 24 secured to a front surface of the front panel 12 for connecting the panel unit 10 to the structural elements of the building. In some embodiments, the mounting elements 24 are connected to the outer edges 22 of the front panel 12, although it is appreciated that other configurations are possible. As seen in
With reference to
Referencing more specifically to
In this embodiment, the front panel 12 and mounting elements 24 are made of metal (e.g. a sheet of metal such as an aluminum sheet), although other materials can be used. For example, the front panel 12 and/or the mounting elements 24 can be made of aluminum, fiber glass, a polymeric resin (e.g. PVC), or a combination thereof. It should thus be understood that the front panel 12 and mounting elements 24 can be made of different materials in relation to one another. In some embodiments, the front panel 12 can have a thickness between about 0.032 inches and about 0.080 inches. However, it is appreciated that the front panel 12 can have any other suitable thickness. In addition, the mounting elements 24 can have a similar thickness (i.e., between about 0.032 inches and about 0.080 inches), although it is appreciated that the mounting elements 24 can have a greater thickness than the front panel 12 to increase structural integrity when connecting the mounting elements 24 to the structural elements of the building.
In some embodiments, the panel unit 10 can further include a cover member 32 (
In this embodiment, each mounting element 24 has a substantially C-shaped cross-section, although it is appreciated that other configurations are possible. It is appreciated that the mounting elements 24 can be formed of a single sheet of material which was simply bent into shape. It should be understood that the mounting elements 24 are bent twice in order to form the C-shaped cross-section. In this embodiment, the bends have a folding radius of about 0.080 inches, although other configurations are possible. Additionally, it is appreciated that the bottom surface 26, rear surface 28 and top surface 34 of the mounting elements 24 can have the same length (e.g., about 7.5 inches) for forming a substantially symmetric C-shape, or different lengths from one another. However, it is appreciated that the different surfaces of the mounting elements 24 can have any other suitable length.
In some embodiments, the cover member 32 can be provided with various modules 38 operatively connected to one another, to other panel units 10 and/or to separate components. More specifically, the modules 38 can include a display module 40 adapted to provide visual information and/or generate images, such as ads for example. The display module 40 is preferably an electronic display module 41, such as an LED screen, adapted to generate images and/or information based on an input signal, although it is appreciated that other configurations are possible. In this embodiment, the modules 38 of the cover member 32 can further include an energy module 42 positioned and configured to provide power to other components, such as the electronic display module 41 for example. The energy module 42 can include a solar panel for gathering sunlight in order to generate power for the display module 40. However, it is appreciated that the energy module 42 can generate power using any other suitable method, such as batteries for example. It is further appreciated that the cover member 32 can simply be a glass panel covering the front panel 12 of the panel unit 10.
It should be understood that, in one embodiment, the panel unit 10 can have a cover member 32 provided with a combination of display and/or energy modules 40, 42 operatively connected to one another. Alternatively, the cover member 32 of a first panel unit 10 can be provided with a display module 40 only, while the cover member 32 of a second panel unit 10 can be provided with an energy module 42 for powering the adjacent first panel unit 10. It is appreciated that other configurations of the modules 38 of the panel unit 10, and cooperation between multiple panel units 10 are possible.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing disclosure that there is provided a panel unit, which includes a single front panel with a member (preferably a monolithic member) of heat insulating material secured thereto. As such, the system can offer substantial improvements over the known prior art in that, in virtue of its design and components, as explained herein, it advantageously enables to a) increase insulation of the building it is installed on, thus reducing costs associated with heating or cooling due to heat transfer through the building envelope (i.e. poor insulation and/or air leakage); b) eliminate, or at least reduce condensation forming on or around the panel unit due to the absence of a housing surrounding the insulating material, simultaneously preventing the formation of mold; c) increase lifetime expectancy of the various components comprising the panel unit; d) provide a panel unit made of renewable/recyclable materials, and many more.
It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are not to be construed as limiting and are for descriptive purposes only. It is to be understood that the details set forth herein do not construe a limitation to an application of the invention. For example, the descriptions, examples, methods and/or materials presented in the claims and the specification are not to be construed as limiting but rather as illustrative only.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3030727 | Jan 2019 | CA | national |
