Patent Application
20070134479
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains, in general, to a noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel and, more particularly, to a lightweight, noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, which has excellent noise-absorption, adiabatic, physical, and fire-retardant properties, in addition to the excellent horizontal and vertical drag forces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, it is required that a construction interior and exterior material is light in terms of weight, and has an excellent horizontal drag force (bending strength), sufficient to endure an external force horizontally applied thereto, and a desired vertical drag force (compressive strength). Additionally, the construction interior and exterior material must have an excellent fire-retardant property, an important factor, to be considered in a design step of the construction. A lot of effort has been made in developing the desired construction interior and exterior material having the excellent fire-retardant property. In this respect, it is undesirable that the construction interior and exterior material have only a portion of required properties, such as the high horizontal drag force, the lightness, and the excellent fire-retardancy.
Accordingly, there remains a need to develop the construction interior and exterior material having all of the required properties, such as lightness, the relatively high vertical and horizontal drag forces, and excellent fire-retardancy. Further, economic efficiency and the possibility of mass production must be ensured in order to produce the desirable construction interior and exterior material.
Meanwhile, by standard of commercial use, examples of an interior material, mostly consisting of a conventional noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, or a conventional sandwich panel, include polyester non-woven fabrics, Styrofoam, urethane foams, middle density fiber panels (MDF), plaster boards, beamlite, rock wools, and glass wools. Of them, the polyester non-woven fabrics, Styrofoam, and urethane foams are weak to heat, and thus, their use is limited. Furthermore, use of the rock wools and glass wools is limited because of air pollution caused by the scattering of dust generated from the rock wools and glass wools. As well, the plaster boards, beamlite, and MDF cannot be applied to various fields because of the poor noise-absorbable and adiabatic properties.
Korean Utility Model Publication No. 20-0279956 discloses a method of producing a fire-retardant and adiabatic panel for construction interior materials, including coating a fire-retardant agent such as sodium silicate on a plate with a density of 40 to 300 kg/m3, mostly made of a polyester non-woven fabric, and heating and drying the resulting plate.
However, the method is disadvantageous in that economic efficiency is relatively low because the production costs of the fire-retardant and adiabatic panel are increased due to the coating time prolonged by an additional process of adding silicone into a solvent to produce a fire-retardant agent. Furthermore, when the high density polyester non-woven fabric with the density of 40 to 300 kg/m3 is subjected to a fire-retardant treating process, the application of the fire-retardant and adiabatic panel to the lightweight construction interior and exterior material is undesirable because of a relatively heavy weight of the panel due to the use of the high density polyester non-woven fabric, and the method is not competitive in terms of the production costs because of the use of the high density polyester non-woven fabric. Another disadvantage of the method is that the fire-retardant and adiabatic panel, produced according to the above method, is poor in terms of the horizontal drag force and vertical drag force because the polyester non-woven fabric has a multi-layered panel structure in which a plurality of layers are transversely arranged, thereby the panel is unsuitable to be used as the construction interior and exterior material.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight, noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel for construction interior and exterior materials, which has high vertical and horizontal drag forces, and excellent fire-retardancy. At this time, the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel ensures economic efficiency and the possibility of mass production.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an environmentally friendly, noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, in which the fire-retardancy and the horizontal and vertical drag forces are provided to an environmentally friendly, harmless polyester synthetic fiber having excellent adiabatic and noise-absorbable properties while having poor fire-retardancy insufficient to be used as the construction interior and exterior materials. Hence, the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to the present invention is advantageous in that it contributes to suppressing spread of the fire during the fire because the panel is coated by a fire-retardant agent, to reducing the amount of toxic gases generated during the fire and thus preventing a large accident, and does not lead to the scattering of dust, which does not lead to further air pollution.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, in which a fire-retardant film is coated on a polyester synthetic fiber while controlling a molar ratio of sodium silicate frequently used as a main raw material of a fire-retardant agent to effectively provide the fire retardancy to the panel.
Additional objects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The above and/or other objects are achieved by providing a noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, including a middle plate provided with a plurality of strips, attached to each other and then subjected to a fire-retardant treating process using a fire-retardant agent liquid. The First and second exterior plates are respectively attached to upper and lower surfaces of the middle plate in such a way that fibers of the strips run perpendicular with respect to the first and second exterior plates. At this time, the strips are formed by perpendicularly cutting a horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber so that the strips each have a predetermined length of .
With respect to this, the order of the fire-retardant treating process in a step of producing the middle plate is not restricted.
In other words, the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel may include the middle plate provided with a plurality of strips attached to each other, and the first and second exterior plates respectively attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the middle plate in such a way that the fibers of the strips run perpendicular with respect to the first and second exterior plates. In this regard, the strips are formed by subjecting a horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber to a fire-retardant treating process using a fire-retardant agent liquid, perpendicularly cutting a horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber so that the strips have a predetermined length of respectively.
Furthermore, as described above, the horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber is cut into the strips with a predetermined length of , and the strips are arranged between the first and second exterior plates and are attached to each other in such a way that fibers of the strips run perpendicular with respect to the first and second exterior plates, thereby completing the middle plate. Accordingly, a thickness of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel of the present invention is proportional to a cut length (
) of the each strip produced by perpendicularly cutting the polyester synthetic fiber with respect to a fiber of the polyester synthetic fiber, regardless of a thickness (d) of the polyester synthetic fiber. Hence, the total thickness of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel is the same as a sum of the cut length (
) of the polyester synthetic fiber and a total thickness of the first and second exterior plates.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
According to the present invention, there is provided a noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, which has the improved physical properties, such as horizontal and vertical drag forces, by reforming its structure, and which is coated with a fire-retardant agent to enable the panel to have the improved fire-retardancy.
With reference to , and the strips thus produced are attached to each other to produce the middle plate made of the polyester synthetic fiber with a single density.
More preferably, a horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber with the density of 15 to 25 kg/m3 and 30 to 40 kg/m3 are transversely cut into a plurality of strips with a predetermined length of , and the strips with the density of 15 to 25 kg/m3 and the strips with density of 30 to 40 kg/m3 are attached to each other by turns to produce the middle plate made of the polyester synthetic fiber with a double density, as shown in
The fire-retardant agent liquid for improving fire-retardancy of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to the present invention includes 55 to 75 wt % of sodium silicate solution with a molar ratio of 2.1 to 2.9 ((SiO2/Na2O)×1.032), 0.5 to 7 wt % of carboxymethyl cellulose, 0.1 to 5 wt % of polyvinyl alcohol, and water.
The sodium silicate solution is a most important factor providing the fire-retardancy to the noise-absorbable and adiabatic polyester panel according to the present invention, and the degree of fire-retardancy of the panel depends on a sodium silicate solution content in the fire-retardant agent liquid. Additionally, a weight of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic polyester panel is proportional to the sodium silicate solution content in the fire-retardant agent liquid. Hence, there is a need to properly control the sodium silicate solution content in the fire-retardant agent liquid. According to the present invention, the sodium silicate solution with a molar ratio of 2.1 to 2.9 ((SiO2/Na2O)×1.032) is added into the fire-retardant agent liquid. In this regard, the molar ratio of the sodium silicate solution is obtained by multiplying a ratio of a mole of silicon dioxide to the mole of sodium oxide by a constant of 1.032. When the molar ratio of the sodium silicate solution is within a range from 2.1 to 2.9, the coating and dehydration are easily conducted during a fire-retardant treating process, drying efficiency is improved to improve the productivity, and a fire-retardant layer with a uniform thickness is formed on a surface of the polyester synthetic fiber to increase the fire-retardancy of the panel.
When the sodium silicate solution is exposed to a high temperature, sodium oxide reacts with silicon dioxide to produce a silicon carbide layer. The silicon carbide layer thus produced is expanded while generating carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gases on fire to improve the adiabatic property of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic polyester panel. In this regard, the sodium silicate solution is well known as one of the important fire-retardant agents in the art. According to the present invention, it is preferable that the sodium silicate solution content in the fire-retardant agent is 55 to 75 wt %, because the polyester panel ensures the insufficient fire-retardancy when the sodium silicate solution content is less than 55 wt %. On the other hand, when the sodium silicate solution content is more than 75 wt %, coating and drying processes for the fire-retardant treating process cannot be easily conducted to reduce the productivity.
Carboxymethyl cellulose serves to reduce the viscosity of the sodium silicate solution and improve the storage stability of the fire-retardant agent. When a carboxymethyl cellulose content in the fire-retardant agent is less than 0.5 wt %, the coating and drying processes for the fire-retardant treating process cannot be easily conducted to reduce the productivity and the storage stability of the fire-retardant agent. On the other hand, when the carboxymethyl cellulose content is more than 7 wt %, contents of other components, such as the sodium silicate solution, are reduced in the fire-retardant agent, leading to a reduction of the fire-retardancy of the polyester panel.
Polyvinyl alcohol functions to enable a sodium component of the sodium silicate solution in the fire-retardant agent to absorb carbon dioxide in air to prevent a white powder from being formed on a surface of the panel, that is, occurrence of a whitening phenomenon. When a polyvinyl alcohol content in the fire-retardant agent is less than 0.1 wt %, the whitening phenomenon is insufficiently prevented. On the other hand, when the polyvinyl alcohol content is more than 5 wt %, the contents of other components, such as the sodium silicate solution, are reduced in the fire-retardant agent, leading to reduction of the fire-retardancy. Additionally, water acts as a carrier receiving the other components.
Meanwhile, the polyester synthetic fiber is dipped into the fire-retardant agent liquid, or the fire-retardant agent liquid is sprayed onto the polyester synthetic fiber to form the fire-retardant layer on a surface of the polyester synthetic fiber so that the fire-retardant agent liquid permeates the polyester synthetic fiber. At this time, an amount of the fire-retardant agent liquid added to the polyester synthetic fiber is properly controlled such that a final density of the polyester synthetic fiber is two to five times heavier than an initial density of the polyester synthetic fiber. In this respect, the control of the amount of the fire-retardant agent liquid is conducted according to a process of pressing the polyester synthetic fiber to dehydrate it, or according to a process of dehydrating the polyester synthetic fiber using a centrifugal separator. The polyester synthetic fiber is then dried to complete the middle plate subjected to the fire-retardant treating process. At this time, a final density of the resulting middle plate is 1.5 to 3 times heavier than an initial density of the middle plate. Drying of the resulting middle plate may be selected among a process of drying and foaming the middle plate using a high frequency generating device, a process of drying and foaming the middle plate using a far-infrared foaming drier, or a process of drying and foaming the middle plate using heated air at 110 to 250° C.
The first and second exterior plates 11, 12 may be a thin board shape like common boards, and may be made of various materials according to the use thereof. In other words, in the case of the construction exterior material, a metal plate is used as the first and second exterior plates, and a wood plate or a texture is used as the first and second exterior plates in the case of the construction interior material. At this time, the present invention is not limited to the shape and material of the first and second exterior plates 11, 12.
The polyester synthetic fiber according to the present invention is a representative noise-absorbable and adiabatic material, which is light in weight and excellent in terms of tenacity. In the present invention, the vertical drag force and fire-retardancy of the polyester synthetic fiber are maximized, thereby accomplishing the lightweight, noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, which has excellent horizontal and vertical drag forces and fire-retardancy, and usefully applied to the desired construction interior and exterior materials.
Hereafter, a detailed description will be given of preferred embodiments of the present invention referring to the drawings.
With reference to , formed by perpendicularly cutting the horizontally piled extending polyester synthetic fiber, are arranged between the first and second exterior plates 11, 12 in such a way that fibers of the strips run perpendicular with respect to the first and second exterior plates 11, 12. At this time, the neighboring strips are attached to each other to form the middle plate 13, and the first and second exterior plates 11, 12 are attached to upper and lower surfaces of the middle plate 13, respectively.
In other words, the horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber is perpendicularly cut into a plurality of strips with a predetermined length of , and the strips are arranged between the first and second exterior plates 11, 12 in such a way that the fibers of the strips run perpendicular with respect to the first and second exterior plates 11, 12. Furthermore, the neighboring strips are attached to each other to form the middle plate 13 as shown in
Referring to , formed by perpendicularly cutting horizontally piled polyester synthetic fibers with different densities from each other, are arranged between first and second exterior plates 11, 12 in such a way that fibers of the strips run perpendicular with respect to the first and second exterior plates 11, 12. At this time, strips with different densities are attached to each other to form a middle plate 13, and the first and second exterior plates 11, 12 are attached to upper and lower surfaces of the middle plate 13, respectively.
Having generally described this invention, a further understanding can be obtained by reference to examples and experimental examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified.
Step 1: Production of a Middle Plate Made of a Polyester Synthetic Fiber with a Single Density
A polyester synthetic fiber with a single density of 25 kg/m3 was longitudinally cut at regular intervals of 7.5 cm into a plurality of strips. The strips were attached to each other to produce a middle plate with the single density of 25 kg/m3 made of the polyester synthetic fiber. At this time, the middle plate was 7.5 cm in a thickness. Attachment between the strips was conducted by a traditional adhesive.
Step 2: Fire-Retardant Treating Process
A fire-retardant agent liquid, used to enable the middle plate made of the polyester synthetic fiber with the single density to be subjected to the fire-retardant treating process, was produced according to the following procedure. The fire-retardant agent liquid included 65 wt % of sodium silicate solution with a molar ratio of 2.5 ((SiO2/Na2O)×1.032), 4 wt % of carboxymethyl cellulose, 2 wt % of polyvinyl alcohol, and 29 wt % of water. The sodium silicate solution used in example 1 was produced by properly mixing sodium silicate liquid No. 2 (manufactured by RIFA Co., Ltd. in Korea) with sodium silicate liquid No. 3 (manufactured by RIFA Co., Ltd. in Korea) so as to have the desired molar ratio. With respect to this, the sodium silicate liquid No. 2 contained 52 to 54 wt % of Be′ at 20° C., 14 to 15 wt % of Na2O, 34 to 35 wt % of SiO2, 0.05 wt % or less of Fe2O3, and 0.2 wt % or less of water-insoluble matter, and the sodium silicate liquid No. 3 contained 40 to 42 wt % of Be′ at 20° C., 9 to 10 wt % of Na2O, 28 to 30 wt % of SiO2, 0.03 wt % or less of Fe2O3, and 0.2 wt % or less of water-insoluble matter.
The middle plate, made of the polyester synthetic fiber with the single density, produced in the step 1 was dipped into the resulting fire-retardant agent liquid, dehydrated in a number of times of a multiple of five, and dried at 150 to 250° C. to enable the middle plate produced in the step 1 to be subjected to the fire-retardant treating process.
The treated middle plate was arranged between upper and lower zinc-coated plates in such a way that fibers of the strips ran perpendicular with respect to the upper and lower zinc-coated plates, and then attached to the upper and lower zinc-coated plates, thereby completing the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to example 1. Attachment between the middle plate and the upper and lower zinc plates was conducted by the common adhesive.
Step 1: Production of a Middle Plate Made of a Polyester Synthetic Fiber with a Double Density
A polyester synthetic fiber with a density of 20 kg/m3 and a polyester synthetic fiber with a density of 40 kg/m3 were longitudinally cut at regular intervals of 7.5 cm into a plurality of strips respectively. Strips with different densities were combined with each other to form a middle plate with the double density made of polyester synthetic fibers. At this time, a total density of the middle plate was the same as the density of the middle plate according to example 1, and the strips were directly attached to upper and lower zinc-coated plates without attachment between the strips by a common adhesive.
Step 2: Fire-Retardant Treating Process
The middle plate made of the polyester synthetic fibers with double density was subjected to a fire-retardant treating process according to the same procedure as the step 2 of example 1. The treated middle plate was arranged between the upper and lower zinc-coated plates in such a way that fibers of the strips ran perpendicular with respect to the upper and lower zinc-coated plates, and then attached to the upper and lower zinc-coated plates, thereby completing the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to example 2. Attachment between the middle plate and the upper and lower zinc-coated plates was conducted according to the same procedure as example 1.
The physical properties of noise-absorbable and adiabatic panels, each including a middle plate subjected to a fire-retardant treating process and first and second exterior plates attached to upper and lower surfaces of the middle plate in such a way that fibers of strips ran perpendicular with respect to first and second exterior plates, according to examples 1 and 2 were measured according to the following methods.
In detail, the physical properties of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panels of examples 1 and 2 were measured according to a KS F 2273 test method. Axially compressive strengths and distribution pressure strengths of the panels were tested by a compressive strength tester (mode 49.03 kN/0.005 kN) manufactured by Dae Yeong General Instrument Industry Co., Ltd. in Korea. The results are described in Table 1.
As shown in the Table 1, the axially compressive strength of each panel is defined as a force against an external force horizontally applied to the panel, and the distribution pressure strength of the panel is defined as a force against an external force transversely applied to the panel. At this time, the distribution pressure strength of the panel is the so-called simple bending strength. From the Table 1, it can be seen that the distribution pressure strength and axially compressive strength of the panel are 740.28 N/m2 and 5268.33 N/m, respectively. This means that the panel of example 1 has excellent vertical and horizontal drag forces. As for example 2, the distribution pressure strength and axially compressive strength of the panel are 1890.30 N/m2 and 5717.30 N/m, respectively. Accordingly, the distribution pressure strength and axially compressive strength of the panel according to example 2 are higher than those of the panel according to example 1. Thereby, the panel including the middle plate with the double density has better vertical and horizontal drag forces than the panel including the middle plate with the single density when the total density of the different panels are the same.
1Max. load: Maximum load
2Distribution: Distribution pressure strength
3Compressed: Axially compressive strength
The noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to example 1 was tested for fire-retardancy, according to a KS F 2271 test method for testing the fire-retardancy of a construction of a building and an interior material, in Fire Insurers Laboratories of Korea, and the results are described in Table 2.
From the Table 2, it can be seen that the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to example 1 has the better fire-retardancy than a standard value of fire-retardancy in the 2nd degree according to the KS F 2271 test method.
Accordingly, the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel of the present invention has better physical properties than a conventional noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel made of the polyester synthetic fiber. Further, the panel, subjected to a fire-retardant treating process using a fire-retardant agent according to the present invention, has the better fire-retardancy than the standard value of fire-retardancy in the 2nd degree according to the KS F 2271 test method. In other words, the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to the present invention includes the middle plate mostly made of a polyester synthetic fiber with a single density or a double density, and the first and second exterior plates attached to upper and lower surfaces of the middle plate, thereby ensuring improved horizontal and vertical drag forces. With respect to this, the middle plate is subjected to the fire-retardant treating process to enable the panel of the present invention to have the better fire-retardancy than the standard value of fire-retardancy in the 2nd degree according to the KSF 2271 test method.
Therefore, the low density polyester synthetic fiber with the density of 40 kg/m3 or less is subjected to the fire-retardant treating process to be converted into the lightweight, noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel with the density of 85 kg/m3 or less, thereby ensuring ease of use of the panel and economic efficiency. Additionally, the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel according to the present invention has the better fire-retardancy than the standard value of fire-retardancy in the 2nd degree according to the KSF 2271 test method, and prevents the scattering of dust caused by weathering thereof to avoid further polluting the air. Furthermore, the present invention provides the multi-layered panel structure made of the horizontally piled polyester synthetic fiber, thereby ensuring improved horizontal and vertical drag forces of the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel to enable the noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel to be used as a desired construction interior and exterior materials.
As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a lightweight, noise-absorbable and adiabatic panel, which has excellent noise-absorption, adiabatic, physical, and fire-retardant properties, in addition to excellent horizontal and vertical drag forces
Although few preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-203-0014792 | Mar 2003 | KR | national |
| 10-2003-0046359 | Jul 2003 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR04/00407 | 2/26/2004 | WO | 7/13/2006 |
