Alternative core material based vacuum insulated panels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10012348-B2
Application number	US-201615040413-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2016
Priority date	Feb 10, 2016
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

A vacuum insulated panel (VIP) and a method of manufacturing a VIP includes a rigid core material having high insulation and low conductivity properties. The rigid core may be made of an inorganic material that effectively mimics a porous silica core material. The core material includes large particles of an inorganic material having a diameter in a range of 10 μm to 50 μm. A portion of these large particles may be ground into small particles having a diameter of less than 1 μm. The small particles are mixed with a portion of the large particles to form a core material which is then mixed with a fiber skeleton and compacted under vacuum along with a fibrous skeleton for structure. The resulting structure provides a porosity ranging from 10 nm to 1 μm in diameter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum insulated panel comprising:
a core having a porosity defined by pores having a size in a range of approximately 10 nm to approximately 1 μm, wherein the core comprises:
a plurality of large particles of an inorganic material with a diameter in a range of greater than 10 μm to approximately 50 μm;
a plurality of small particles of the inorganic material with a diameter in a range of approximately 0.01 μm to less than 10 μm, at least some of the small particles attached to at least some of the large particles;
a plurality of fibers intermixed with the large and small particles; and
an envelope having a cavity, wherein the core is disposed within the cavity and vacuum compacted.

2. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic material is at least one of (a)-(g); (a) perlite, (b) pumice, (c) natural gypsum, (d) calcium sulfate hemi hydrate, (e) anhydrite calcium sulfate, (f) calcium sulfate di-hydrate, and (g) wollastonite.

3. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fibers are at least one of (a)-(e): (a) mineral fiber, (b) high density glass fiber, (c) mineral oxide fiber, (d) loose microfiber, and (e) woven fiber.

4. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of small particles has a diameter in a range of approximately 0.01 μm to approximately 1 μm.

5. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein the envelope is a metallic coated polymer.

6. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of large particles is at least partially covered by a portion of the plurality of small particles.

7. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein the core has a core material to fibers weight ratio of at least 1:1.

8. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 1 , wherein the core consists of the large particles, small particles, and the plurality of fibers.

9. A vacuum insulated panel comprising:
a pair of barrier walls;
a core sandwiched between the pair of barrier walls, the core including a core material and a plurality of fibers mixed with the core material forming a porous structure;
wherein the core material is an inorganic material and includes a first class of particles with a diameter in a range of greater than 10 μm to approximately 50 μm and a second class of particles with a diameter in a range of approximately 0.01 μm to less than 10 μm;
wherein the porous structure includes a plurality of the first class of particles mixed with a plurality of the second class of particles, wherein each of the plurality of first class particles is at least partially covered by a portion of the plurality of second class particles;
wherein the porous structure has a porosity defined by pores having a size in a range of approximately 10 nm to approximately 1 μm when compacted under vacuum.

10. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 9 , wherein the inorganic material is at least one of (a)-(g); (a) perlite, (b) pumice, (c) natural gypsum, (d) calcium sulfate hemi hydrate, (e) anhydrite calcium sulfate, (f) calcium sulfate di-hydrate, and (g) wollastonite.

11. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of fibers are at least one of (a)-(e); (a) mineral fiber, (b) high density glass fiber, (c) mineral oxide fiber, (d) loose microfiber, and (e) woven fiber.

12. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 9 , wherein the pair of barrier walls is metallic coated polymer.

13. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 9 , wherein the porous structure includes a core material to fibers weight ratio of at least 1:1.

14. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 9 , wherein each of the small particles has a diameter in a range of approximately 0.01 μm to approximately 1 μm.

15. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 9 , wherein the core consists of the large particles, small particles, and the plurality of fibers.

16. A vacuum insulated panel comprising:
a core having a porosity defined by pores having a size in a range of approximately 10 nm to approximately 1 μm, wherein the core comprises:
a plurality of large particles of an inorganic material with a diameter in a range of approximately 10 μm to approximately 50 μm;
a plurality of small particles of the inorganic material with a diameter in a range of approximately 0.01 μm to approximately 1 μm, at least some of the small particles attached to at least some of the large particles;
a plurality of fibers intermixed with the large and small particles; and
an envelope having a cavity, wherein the core is disposed within the cavity and vacuum compacted.

17. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 16 , wherein the envelope is a metallic coated polymer.

18. The vacuum insulated panel ot claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of large particles is at least partially covered by a portion of the plurality of small particles.

19. The vacuum insulated panel of claim 16 , wherein the core has a core material to fibers weight ratio of at least 1:1.

Assignees

• United States Gypsum Co

Inventors

• Ray Suman Sinha
• Rao Ajith

Classifications

• B29K2105/251

  Particles, powder or granules (expandable particles B29K2105/046) · CPC title

• F17C3/08 Primary

  by vacuum spaces, e.g. Dewar flask (for household use A47J41/02) · CPC title

• B29C70/88

  characterised primarily by possessing specific properties, e.g. electrically conductive or locally reinforced · CPC title

• B29C70/58

  comprising fillers only {, e.g. particles, powder, beads, flakes, spheres (B29C70/025 takes precedence, agglomerating hollow spheres to produce synthetic foam B29C70/66; compounding ingredients per se C08K)} · CPC title

• E04C2/44

  characterised by the purpose · CPC title