Abstract:
A removable/reusable insulating cover includes an insulating material, a flexible and puncture resistant coating, a flap which is an extension of the coating and a hinge which is an integral part of the coating. The system provides a flexible yet durable insulation cover, which may be removed and reused.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to removable reusable insulation covers generally used for insulating structures such as valves and flanges.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Structures used in industrial applications such as valves and flanges with sharp protrusions frequently require insulation. These objects often require inspection, thus necessitating frequent removal of the insulation. If permanent insulation is used on the object then each time the insulation is removed new insulation must be put back on. This is time consuming, sometimes difficult to schedule and in many instances prohibitively expensive. The most practical method to insulate these types of objects is to utilise a removable and reusable insulating jacket. There are a number of such systems available and they do insulate and are removable and reusable as required. An example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,669 issued Feb. 28, 1989, corresponding to Canadian patent no. 1,249,974 of Prestidge.  
           [0003]    These systems in general include an insulating material, an outer covering to protect and keep the insulation dry and various fastening devices to seal and to secure the insulating jacket to the object. Some of the systems are flexible but not durable while some are durable but rigid. One type of system uses insulation covered with silicone impregnated fibreglass cloth. The inventor considers that the use of cloth renders the product liable to tearing during installation, hence is flexible at the expense of a decrease in durability.  
           [0004]    Another type of system uses rigid insulation covered by sheet metal with the sections secured together with mechanical hinges, clasps or straps. Such a product is durable at the expense of loss of flexibility.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    There is therefore provided an insulating cover that is designed to meet these problems, and thus provide an insulation cover that has enhance flexibility as compared with a metal cover, and enhanced durability when compared with a cloth cover. In accordance with a broad aspect of the invention there is provided a removable and reusable insulating cover for insulating an object with sharp protrusions.  
           [0006]    According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an insulation cover comprising insulation coated with a coating material, for example completely coated, and a fastener attached to the coated insulation for removably securing the coated insulation to a structure to be insulated.  
           [0007]    According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of installing an insulation cover. In such a method, there are provided the steps of obtaining insulation coated with a coating material; and removably attaching the coated insulation to a structure to be insulated.  
           [0008]    According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of making an insulation cover. In such a method, there are provided the steps of applying coating material to insulation to form coated insulation; and attaching a fastener to the coated insulation for removably securing the coated insulation to a structure to be insulated.  
           [0009]    Preferably, the insulation cover comprises a flap secured to the insulation, which is formed as part of the insulation cover and used as a support for the fastener.  
           [0010]    The insulation may be provided as one or more segments of insulation, each individually coated, and which may be hinged together for example by one or more living hinges. Such a segmented hinged insulation cover is thus adapted to be wrapped around a structure and secured with the fastener.  
           [0011]    The fastener may be formed of a first fastener and a second fastener, each secured to different parts of the insulation cover, the first fastener and second fastener being configured to secure to each other for wrapping the insulation cover around a structure to be insulated.  
           [0012]    The coating, which is bonded to the insulation, seals and protects the insulation from damage. The flap prevents moisture from penetrating into a cavity formed by the insulating cover.  
           [0013]    The insulation is preferably a closed cell flexible foam material; and the coating is preferably a sprayed on polyurethane polymer coating which possesses the properties of being flexible in a broad range of temperatures yet resistant to puncture.  
           [0014]    Further features and advantages of the invention will appear from the description that follows. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0015]    There will now be described preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the drawings, by way of illustration, in which like numerals denote like elements and in which:  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 shows a cross-section view of an insulation segment coated with an outer layer, together with a view of a second insulation segment;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of insulation segment  14  of FIG. 1, with a strip of tape extending over one edge of the insulation segment;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of insulation segment  14  of FIG. 2 with a layer of coating applied over the tape strip and extending onto the first layer of coating;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3A shows an insulation segment with a fastener on the inside surface of a flap;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of two segments of coated insulation joined by a first strip of tape;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the two insulation segments of FIG. 4 with a layer of coating applied over the tape strip and extending onto the first layer of coating;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an insulation segment with a strip of fiberglass weave cloth applied in position over the coated tape strip;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 shows the embodiment of FIG. 6 in which the fiberglass is covered by coating material; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the invention wrapped around a structure.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0025]    In this patent document, “comprising” means “including”. In addition, a reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present. A coating is a film of material that covers and bonds to the underlying substrate. When application of a coating is referred to, or reference is made to coating, then this is preferably carried out by spraying of the coating, but may be painted on or applied in other ways such as by dipping the object in a liquid coating bath. The term “removable” when used in this patent document means removable without damaging the insulation cover.  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a cross-section of a semi-circular piece of insulation  10  coated with a first protective coating layer  12  thus creating an insulation segment  14  and a second semi-circular insulation segment  16  coated by a first protective coating layer  18 . The preferred choice of insulation is ARMORFLEX™ insulation, which is commercially available from C &amp; I Insulation of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The preferred choice of coating material is a polyether polyol such as HYDROSEAL™ polyurethane coating, which is commercially available from Hydroseal Polymers Incorporated, Riverside, Calif. The protective coating material is applied wherever it is deemed necessary to provide mechanical protection to the insulation. In one embodiment, the coating completely covers the insulation on all sides. In another embodiment, one face of the insulation may be left uncoated, with all remaining faces coated. The uncoated face may be the inner concave face of the insulation segment  16  shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0027]    The thickness of the coating may be chosen to suit the intended application. A thicker coating is more durable, but less flexible. The coating should be sufficiently flexible when cured to allow bending of the insulation cover when it is wrapped around a structure. The coating should be resistant against corrosion caused by common industrial fluids such as solvents, hydrocarbons, acids and water. The coating should also be resistant against puncture by protrusions from a structure and resistant against abrasion. Various polymeric resins may be used, preferably polyurethane. Preferred polymeric resins that may be used have similar durability and flexibility as polyurethane.  
         [0028]    Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and  3 A, a strip of tape  20  is applied to surface  22  of insulation segment  14  such that part of the tape overhangs past the edge  42 . The tape is preferably duct tape commercially available from Canadian Tire of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A coating layer  24  is applied over a portion of surface  22  and over tape  20 . The coating over the tape  20  creates a flap  26 , and the tape  20  may be removed if desired, leaving the flap  26 . A fastener  25  is attached to the inner surface of flap  26  such as by adhesive. The fastener  25  is selected to mate with a complementary fastener  27  on the outer surface of insulation segment  16 . The fasteners  25  and  27  may be hook and loop type fasteners (Velcro™) or may be any other fastener system that allows the insulation cover to be removably attached to a structure. Examples of detachable fasteners include buttons, zips, cord laced through holes in flaps and large size hook and ring combinations. A single fastener may be used as shown in FIG. 1. The single fastener may be attached to the surface of an insulated coating for attaching, for example, an insulation cover according to the invention over an opening in a wall. In this case, the wall has a complementary fastener attached to it. The fastener of this example may run around the periphery of a rectangular segment of coated insulation, with the complementary fastener of the wall running around the opening intended to be covered. Flaps  26  with fasteners  25  may be created along all peripheral edges of the insulation cover. Adjacent insulation cover segments are attached to each other by respective fasteners on the flaps to form an interior cavity. The complete unit is wrapped around a structure with the structure in the interior cavity. The flaps protect the interior cavity and the structure from ingress of liquids.  
         [0029]    Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a strip of tape  28  is applied to surface  22  of insulation segment  14  and surface  30  of insulation segment  16  such that the tape  28  bridges the gap  32  between the two surfaces  22  and  30 . A coating layer  34  is applied over a portion of surfaces  22  and  30  and over tape  28  to create a living hinge. The tape  28  may then be removed. This embodiment is particularly suited to wrapping the insulation cover around a structure  44  as illustrated in FIG. 8. The segments  14  and  16  are shown as round, but they may be shaped to map the shape of the structure around which they are wrapped. The structure  44  may be any commercial apparatus requiring insulation, such as a valve, flange, tank, pipe or electrical box.  
         [0030]    Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the insulation cover may be strengthened using fibreglass. A strip of fibreglass weave  38 , may be applied proximately to the tape strip  20  on the surface of coating layer  24  in order to reinforce the flap  26 . A coating layer  40  is applied on top of coating layer  22  and on top of fibreglass weave strip  38 . Alternatively the fibreglass weave strip may be applied proximately next to tape strip  20  prior to the application of coating layer  24 , thus eliminating the requirement for coating layer  40 . Hinge  36  may be reinforced in a similar fashion by following the same procedure as outlined for flap  26 .  
         [0031]    Some advantages of the present invention are that the coating layer acts to hold the form of the insulation in the desired shape, protects the insulation from damage due to contact with sharp objects and prevents the insulation from losing its insulation value by preventing the ingress of water. The combination of the insulation coated with the protective outer layer creates a flexible yet durable insulation cover which may be bent without fear of damaging the cover and which may come into contact with sharp protrusions without fear of penetrating the outer covering and thereby exposing the insulation to the elements.  
         [0032]    A person skilled in the art could make immaterial modifications to the invention described and claimed in this patent disclosure without departing from the essence of the invention.