Patent · US Expired

Heavy gas-filled multilayer insulation panels and method of manufacture thereof

US4959111A · kind A · utility

53Cited by
17References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 4, 1988
Grant dateSep 25, 1990
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 4, 2008

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T428/231
  • WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
  • WIPO sectorOther fields

Abstract

A self-contained thermal insulation panel, of generally flat rectangular form suitable for placement within the walls or doors of a refrigeration cabinet, consists of a hermetically sealed envelope surrounding an assembled framework defining a plurality of thin parallel internal cavities. The cavities are formed by a plurality of thin stretched-out sheets, each preferably with at least one reflective face, spaced-apart by thin interlocking peripheral gaskets between a top and a bottom frame member. A method of manufacturing an insulation panel according to this invention requries the initial assembly, on a first frame member, of an alternating array of thin sheets and gaskets, then a final sheet and a second frame member all brought firmly together and permanently affixed as a unified assembly. The assembled structure is then evacuated and refilled with a heavier-than-air gas of low thermal conductivity, e.g., a halogenated methane or ethane, and sealed into an outer envelope closely surrounding the frame structure which thereby defines the panel shape. In another embodiment of the insulation panel, gas-filled foam around the edges of the thin strectched-out sheets replaces the wel…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.