Patent Application
20060059818
The present invention relates to insulation, and more particularly to loose-fill insulation, and still more particularly to systems for blowing loose-fill insulation.
Loose-fill insulation generally consists of granular or fluffy materials, such as cellulosic fibers, fiberglass, mineral wool and vermiculite, that can be poured or blown into hollow cavities or open attics. The main advantage of loose-fill insulation is that it can completely fill the space to be insulated without having to be cut and fitted. Loose-fill insulation is particularly desirable for spaces such as attic floors that have a lot of obstructions.
Loose-fill insulation is usually provided in bag form. When using a blowing machine for blowing loose-fill insulation, insulation installers open bags of loose-fill insulation and dump the exposed insulation into the hopper of the blowing machine. Installers usually use utility knives or other metallic objects to open the bags of loose-fill insulation. Occasionally, the installer will loose his or her grip on the utility knife and drop or otherwise lose the knife into the hopper along with the insulation. When a knife (or other metal object) reaches the interior workings of the blowing machine, it can cause damage that either reduces the efficiency of the machine or renders it inoperable. In either case, the machine must be repaired, which cuts into the productivity and profits of the installer.
On other occasions, metallic debris from the manufacturing facility may be inadvertently packaged in the bag along with the bulk loose-fill insulation. When the installer empties the bag of insulation containing the metallic debris into the hopper of the blowing machine, the same type of damage as discussed above can occur.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved blowing machine that is less susceptible to inadvertent insertion of foreign objects, particularly metallic objects, that may cause damage thereto.
A loose-fill blowing machine is provided having an input for receiving loose-fill insulation for blowing. The blowing machine includes at least one magnet disposed proximate to the input for attracting magnetic materials received in the input. In one embodiment, the input comprises a hopper and the at least one magnet is positioned to attract the magnetic materials to the interior surface of the hopper.
A method of reducing the reception of unwanted materials into a loose-fill blowing machine having an input for receiving loose-fill insulation for blowing is also described. In the method, a magnetic force is provided proximate to the input for attracting magnetic materials received in the input.
The improved blowing machine is less susceptible to being damaged by magnetic objects inadvertently introduced to the machine, such as knives misplaced in the field and debris included in the bulk loose-fill insulation. The improved resistance to damage improves the lifetime of the blowing machine, efficiency and downtime, with resulting benefits to the efficiency and margins of the installer. The magnetic solution can be retrofitted into existing machines in a variety of ways or come pre-installed in new blowing machines.
The above and other features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention that is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, as well as other information pertinent to the disclosure, in which:
By “magnet”, it is meant a body or device that can be used to attract magnetic materials. “Magnetic materials” are those materials that are attracted by magnets. Magnetic materials typically include materials including iron, cobalt, nickel, gadolinium, dysprosium and alloys and compositions containing these elements. In one embodiment, magnet(s) 40 comprises a permanent magnet. A magnet may be “permanent” in the sense that once it is magnetized, it retains a level of magnetism.
In an alternative embodiment, magnet(s) 40 may comprise an electromagnet. An “electromagnet” typically includes a wound helical coil of wire, usually with an iron core. When current flows in the coil, the iron becomes a magnet. The strength and polarity of the magnetic field created by the electromagnet are adjustable by changing the magnitude of the current flowing through the coil and by changing the current flow.
In one embodiment shown in
In practice, magnets 40 create a magnetic field that attracts magnetic materials to the interior surface 36 of the hopper. Magnets 40 either create a magnetic field that passes through the material that forms the hopper, attracting materials to the surface thereof, and/or hopper 40 comprises a material that, when within the magnetic field of magnets 40, itself becomes a temporary magnet and attracts magnetic materials to its surface 36. By “temporary magnet”, it is meant a magnet that acts like a permanent magnet when within a strong magnetic field, but loses its magnetism when the magnetic field disappears. For example, nails, paperclips and other soft iron items are examples of items which can be temporary magnets.
If magnet 40 comprises an electromagnet, it may be coupled to the same power supply as the blowing machine 22, normally, a power take off from the engine of a vehicle or a generator. Preferably, the power connection to the electromagnet remains once the blowing functions of the machine 22 are turned “off”, so that materials 42-48 remain held to surface 36 for removal and do not fall into the blowing machine 22.
In one embodiment, the hopper itself can be formed from a material or materials comprising a permanent magnet, thereby comprising the magnet 40 itself. In this embodiment, the hopper creates a permanent magnetic field that attracts magnetic materials to its interior surface. Such a hopper may be retrofitted into blowing machine 22, such as by replacing the existing hopper or by a hopper-shaped insert.
In one exemplary embodiment, the blowing machine 22 is the VOLU-MATIC® series of insulation blowing machines made by Unisul of Winter Haven, Fla. The hopper of the VOLU-MATIC blowing machine includes walls comprising aluminum plates supported by steel ribs (not shown). The primary hopper sloped surface is about 13″×59″. In one embodiment, magnets are provided to substantially cover the rear surface of this primary sloped surface and at sufficient magnetic field strengths to attract magnetic objects through the aluminum plates, as aluminum is not a temporary magnet.
Magnetic plates or other magnets can be included in newly manufactured blowing machines or retrofitted into existing blowing machines, such as through bolted couplings or other coupling means to the front or rear surfaces of a hopper or even at a point intermediate the front or rear surfaces, such as within the hopper wall. In the case of electromagnets, it is believed that only fairly simple modifications to the power system of the blowing machine would need to be made to power the electromagnet.
The kinds of materials selected for the magnet(s) and the shape and orientation of the magnet(s), as well as the current level (in the case of electromagnets), may vary and could be determined by simple experimentation. As an example, there are four kinds of recognized permanent magnets: (i) ceramic or ferrite; (ii) Aluminum Nickel Cobalt Steel (AlNiCo); (iii) Samarium Cobalt (SmCo); and (iv) Neodymium Iron Born (NdFeB or NIB). Polymeric-ferrous magnets may also be an option. Further, organic or organic/polymeric magnets have promise, as they have been recognized to be light, flexible and less energy intensive to make than conventional metal and ceramic magnets.
The improved blowing machine is less susceptible to being damaged by magnetic objects introduced to the blowing machine, such as knives misplaced in the field and debris included in the bulk loose-fill insulation. The improved resistance to damage improves the lifetime of the blowing machine, efficiency and downtime, with resultant benefits to the efficiency and margins of the installer. The magnetic solution can be retrofitted into existing machines in a variety of ways or come pre-installed in new blowing machines.
Although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the appended claims should be construed broadly to include other variants and embodiments of the invention that may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention
