Patent Publication Number: US-2006013985-A1

Title: Frangible fiberglass insulation batts

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY  
      The present disclosure relates to apparatus and methods for producing fiberglass insulation batts, and in particular, batts of fiberglass insulation suitable for use in building construction. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to fiberglass insulation batts that are configured to be converted into separate fiberglass insulation strips of various predetermined widths in the field without the use of cutting tools.  
      Fiberglass insulation is made of glass fibers held together by a binder. Glass fibers are produced by melting sand or recycled glass products and spinning those materials to produce tiny strands of fiberglass. Glass fibers will not stick together unless they are glued or bound together. A binder is an adhesive material that holds fibers together, allowing them to keep their shape or overall form. Fiberglass insulation is made, for example, by spraying a binder on the glass fibers. After being cured in an oven, the binder holds the fibers together.  
      A batt is a blanket of fiberglass insulation used to insulate residential and commercial buildings. Some batts include a paper or foil facing material affixed to the fiberglass insulation, and other batts do not include any facing material.  
      According to the present disclosure, a frangible fiberglass insulation batt includes a pair of fiberglass strips arranged to lie in side-by-side relation to one another and a frangible adhesive bridge spanning a gap between the fiberglass strips and retaining the fiberglass strips in side-by-side relation. In the field at a construction site, a worker can separate one of the fiberglass strips from the other of the strips by pulling one strip laterally away from the other strip using a “peeling away” action owing to relatively weak internal bonds in the frangible adhesive bridge. No tools are needed to accomplish such separation of the two fiberglass strips.  
      A method of producing such a frangible fiberglass insulation batt comprises the steps of passing a stream of cured fiberglass insulation through a cutter to form two side-by-side fiberglass strips and then passing the two side-by-side strips through an adhesive applicator. The adhesive applicator applies an adhesive material to one or both of the strips and the strips are mated to establish the frangible adhesive bridge between the strips. This frangible adhesive bridge spans the gap and retains the two fiberglass strips in fixed relation to one another until the frangible adhesive bridge is, for example, torn along its length or otherwise fractured by a construction worker in the field.  
      In an illustrative embodiment, the adhesive applicator includes a strip separator, an adhesive dispenser, and a strip joiner. The strip separator intercepts and deflects the moving fiberglass insulation after it exits the cutter to separate the two side-by-side strips along a cut line therebetween to expose opposing side edges of the strips and provide a widened gap between the strips. The adhesive dispenser is located in or near the widened gap between the strips and configured to dispense an adhesive material onto one or both of the opposing side edges of the strips. The strip joiner is configured to manipulate one or more of the strips to mate the opposing edges of the strips so that adhesive material deposited therebetween bonds with the fiberglass strips to establish the frangible adhesive bridge between the fiberglass strips. Internal bonds of the frangible adhesive bridge are relatively weak in comparison to internal bonds of the fiberglass strips and are broken easily by a worker in the field to facilitate separation of one strip from the other strip without the use of tools.  
      Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of a method in accordance with the present disclosure for producing a frangible fiberglass insulation batt (that can be separated by hand into strips having predetermined widths) by curing uncured fiberglass insulation in a “curing oven”, cutting that fiberglass insulation in a “cutter” to form separate yet adjacent insulation strips and a gap between the strips, applying an adhesive material to the separated strips to cause the strips to bond together to establish a frangible adhesive bridge spanning the gap between the strips, and then using either a “strip marker” or “facing apparatus” to indicate the location of the frangible adhesive bridges in the fiberglass insulation;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a frangible fiberglass insulation batt formed to include two frangible adhesive bridges extending along the length of the batt so that the batt can be “broken” manually along the two frangible adhesive bridges to produce three separate insulation strips without the use of cutting tools;  
       FIG. 2   a  shows a fiberglass diagrammatic view of the three strips shown in  FIG. 2  and the gaps between those three strips after separation of the strips;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a system for producing a fiberglass insulation batt, which system uses a conveyor to move cured fiberglass insulation so that the fiberglass insulation is intercepted by, in sequence, a cutter, a strip separator, an adhesive dispenser, and a strip joiner and showing a first embodiment (in solid) wherein the strip joiner comprises a pair of spaced-apart barriers (each barrier comprising, e.g., a rotating wheel) and a second embodiment (in phantom) wherein the strip joiner comprises a “force generator” that functions to apply a pneumatic or other force (using, e.g., compressed air) to move one or more insulation strips toward another insulation strip;  
       FIG. 4  is a top plan view of the system shown in  FIG. 3  showing a first strip separator and first adhesive dispenser in a widened gap formed between first and second insulation strips and showing a second strip separator and second adhesive dispenser in a widened gap formed between second and third insulation strips; and  
       FIG. 5  is a side elevation view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Apparatus and methods are disclosed herein for producing a fiberglass insulation batt that is formed to include longitudinally extending frangible planes therein to enable construction workers to convert the fiberglass insulation batt into separate fiberglass insulation strips of various predetermined widths in the field without the use of cutting tools. A “batt” is a blanket of thermal insulation usually comprising glass fibers.  
      Relatively weak internal bonds are established using an adhesive material during manufacture of the fiberglass insulation batt to define the longitudinally extending frangible planes using apparatus and methods described herein. These internal bonds are strong enough to hold the fiberglass insulation batt “together in one piece” during transport from inventory to a construction site and yet are weak enough to allow a construction worker to separate one longitudinally extending strip in the batt from an adjacent longitudinally extending strip in the batt manually and without the use of cutting tools.  
      Various methods are suggested diagrammatically in  FIG. 1  for producing a frangible fiberglass insulation batt  10  shown, for example, in  FIG. 2 . Batt  10  is formed using apparatus and methods disclosed herein to include two longitudinally extending frangible adhesive bridges  12 ,  14  which are arranged to lie in spaced-apart parallel relation to one another to “partition” batt  10  into three formative longitudinally extending strips  21 ,  22 , and  23 .  
      In the field at a construction site, a worker can separate first strip  21  from second strip  22  along first frangible adhesive bridge  14  by pulling one strip laterally away from the other strip using a “peeling-away” or other fracturing action owing to relatively weak internal bonds established along first frangible adhesive bridge  12  between fiberglass material comprising first and second strips  21 ,  22 . Likewise, a worker can separate third strip  23  from second strip  22  along second frangible adhesive bridge  14  by pulling one of those strips away from the other of those strips in a similar manner owing to relatively weak internal bonds established along second frangible adhesive bridge  14  between fiberglass material comprising second and third strips  22 ,  23 . Because, in an illustrative embodiment, each frangible adhesive bridge  12 ,  14  contains only an insubstantial amount of glass fibers, it is readily or easily broken (i.e., frangible) in response to manual “tearing” or “peeling” forces applied by a construction worker in the field so that the worker can separate one strip from its side-by-side companion strip manually without the use of cutting tools.  
      During building construction activities, workers often need to create insulation strips of non-conventional width and the ability to create a variety of strip widths without using cutting tools by use of frangible fiberglass insulation batt  10  would be welcomed by many workers in the construction trade. As suggested in  FIG. 2 , first strip  21  has a width  31 , second strip  22  has a width  32 , and third strip  23  has a width  33 . When bonded together during manufacture, first and second strips  21 ,  22  have a combined width  34 , second and third strips  22 ,  23  have a combined width  35 , and first, second, and third strips  21 ,  22 , and  23  have a combined width  36 . By selecting the location of frangible adhesive bridges  12 ,  14  carefully during manufacture, it is possible to create a unified but frangible fiberglass insulation batt that can be separated in the field to produce a wide variety of insulation strip widths without using cutting tools.  
      Using a first method illustrated diagrammatically in  FIG. 1 , a stream of uncured fiberglass insulation  40  is passed through a curing oven  44  to cause the binder associated with the fiberglass to polymerize during exposure to fiberglass curing heat (at a temperature of about 350° F. to 600° F.) to produce a fiberglass insulation blanket  11 . Uncured fiberglass insulation  40  comprises glass fibers coated with a binder. The binder “sets” when exposed to high temperature in a curing oven  44  to bind the glass fibers together. A fiberglass insulation blanket  11  is discharged from curing oven  44  and transported along a conveyor  50  in a downstream direction  54  past, in series, a cutter  42  and an adhesive applicator  43  as suggested, for example, in  FIGS. 1 and 3 .  
      Fiberglass insulation blanket  11  is passed through a cutter  42  to cut the uncured fiberglass insulation  40  into two or more separate strips. Cutter  42  cuts all the way through uncured fiberglass insulation  40  along cut lines  53  as the insulation  40  passes through cutter  42  to provide first, second, and third strips  21 ,  22 , and  23  separated by longitudinally extending gaps  56  and  58 .  
      Next, an adhesive applicator  43  is used to apply an adhesive material  51  to contact the strips along a cut line  53  therebetween established by cutter  42  and to join the strips together to cause the adhesive material to establish a frangible adhesive bridge spanning a gap between the strips. To “span” gap  56  or  58  is to extend across the gap and interconnect the strips defining the gap without necessarily filling or entering the gap. Adhesive material  51  can flow into the gap continuously, periodically, or intermittently to establish a suitable frangible adhesive bridge between the strips. Before batt  10  is delivered to inventory  48 , it is passed through a strip marker  46  that operates to apply one or more “indicator lines” to an exterior surface of batt  10  to mark the location of each longitudinally extending frangible adhesive bridge in batt  10 .  
      Using a method illustrated diagrammatically in  FIG. 3 , cured fiberglass insulation  39  is passed through a strip press  41  to compress fiberglass insulation  39  to a compacted thickness before such fiberglass insulation  39  is passed through cutter  42 . In the illustration embodiment, cutter  42  comprises a pressurized fluid source  86  for supplying high-pressure fluid through fluid transfer conduits  87  to fluid-jet nozzles  88  to generate streams of fluid that pass through fiberglass insulation  39  to create longitudinally extending gaps (or cut lines)  56 ,  58 . Strip press  41  is positioned to lie upstream of fluid-jet nozzles  88  to compress fiberglass insulation  39  to a compacted thickness selected to facilitate “cutting” fiberglass insulation using fluid-jet nozzles  88 . It is within the scope of this disclosure to use saw blades (not shown) or other knife means to cut blanket  11  to form gaps  56 ,  58 .  
      Using a method illustrated diagrammatically in  FIG. 1 , a facing apparatus  47  is used to apply a facing material (pre-marked with indicator lines) to one surface of the cut fiberglass insulation blanket  11  to align the indicator lines with the frangible adhesive bridges formed in the fiberglass insulation blanket  11 . Alternatively, adhesive material  51  could have a color different from the color of strips  21 ,  22 ,  23  to provide suitable, visible indicator lines for gaps  56 ,  58 .  
      As suggested in  FIG. 1 , a batt cutter  45  is provided downstream of strip marker  46  or facing apparatus  47 . Batt cutter  45  is configured to cut periodically the strips  21 ,  22 ,  23  and frangible adhesive bridges  12 ,  14  laterally to provide a series of separate elongated frangible fiberglass insulation batts (not shown) for delivery to inventory  48 .  
      Adhesive applicator  43  comprises a strip separator  60 , an adhesive dispenser  62 , and a strip joiner  64  arranged in series as suggested, for example, in  FIGS. 3-5 . In the illustrated embodiment, adhesive dispenser  62  comprises a source of adhesive material  51  for supplying adhesive material through transfer conduits  66  to discharge nozzles  68  to generate streams of adhesive material  51  that are discharged into the gap formed between a pair of side-by-side insulation strips.  
      As suggested in  FIGS. 3-5 , fiberglass insulation blanket  11  is passed through cutter  42  to cut blanket  11  along a first cut line  53  to form two side-by-side separate strips  21 ,  22  separated by a gap  56  and along a second cut line  53  to form a third strip  23  separated from second strip  22  by a gap  58 . As suggested in  FIG. 2   a,  first strip  21  includes a longitudinally extending side edge  70  that cooperates with an opposing longitudinally extending side edge  72  of second strip  22  to form gap  56  therebetween. Likewise, second strip  72  includes another longitudinally extending side edge  74  that cooperates with an opposing longitudinally extending side edge  76  of third strip  23  to form gap  58  therebetween. The width of the gaps  56 ,  58  shown in  FIG. 2   a  is exaggerated for clarity and it is within the scope of this disclosure to vary the width of gaps  56 ,  58  to accommodate a suitable adhesive material to be deposited therein.  
      Adhesive material  51  is applied to one or both of side edges  70 ,  72  and one or both of side edges  74 ,  76  by adhesive dispenser  62 . In the illustrated embodiment, strip separators  60  are arranged to lie downstream of cutter  42  and configured to separate first strip  21  from second strip  22  at cut line  53  and to separate second strip  22  from third strip  23  at cut line  53  to establish widened gaps  156 ,  158 . Each strip separator  60  is arranged to intercept blanket  11  at one of cut lines  53  and is shaped to spread the strips apart so that they move away from one another as blanket  11  moves on conveyor  50  in downstream direction  54 . Although strip separator  60  is shoe-shaped in the illustrated embodiment, a rod or other deflector having a lateral dimension wider than gaps  56 ,  58  could be used to separate adjacent insulation strips.  
      In the illustrated embodiment, adhesive material  51  is dispensed into widened gaps  156 ,  158  to contact at least one of side edges  70 ,  72  and at least one of side edges  74 ,  76 . As suggested in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , discharge nozzle  68  is located in widened gap  156  and operated to discharge adhesive material  51  onto at least one of side edge  70  of first strip  21  and side edge  72  of second strip  22 . The other discharge nozzle  68  is located in widened gap  158 . It is within the scope of this disclosure to locate the discharge nozzles  68  near to the widened gaps  156 ,  158  so that adhesive material  51  can be discharged to contact the strips in a desired manner.  
      In a first embodiment, strip joiner  64  includes two barriers  80  that are spaced apart from one another to define a channel  15  therebetween as suggested in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . A downstream portion  13  of fiberglass insulation blanket  11  (having a width that is wider than the width of channel  15 ) is transported on conveyor  52  through the channel to compress blanket  11  to cause (1) first and second strips  21 ,  22  to move toward one another to trap adhesive material  51  introduced into widened gap  156  to establish frangible adhesive bridge  12  and (2) second and third strips  22 ,  23  to move toward one another to trap adhesive material  51  introduced into widened gap  158  to establish frangible adhesive bridge  14 .  
      In one embodiment, each barrier  80  includes an upright axle  82  and an edge roller  84  mounted for rotation on upright axle  82  to engage an exterior edge  86  or  90  of fiberglass insulation blanket  11  as blanket  11  moves along conveyor  50 . Illustratively, barriers  80  are anchored in a fixed position relative to one another and to moving blanket  11  to cause the distance  88  between barriers  80  to be fixed and less than the width of the portion of blanket  11  entering channel  15  defined by barriers  80 .  
      In another embodiment, strip joiner  64  is provided by force generators  91 ,  92  as suggested in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . It is within the scope of this disclosure to use a first force generator  91  to discharge a first stream (continuous or pulsed flow) of pressurized gas (e.g. air) to impact first exterior edge  86  of fiberglass insulation blanket  11  and to use a second force generator  92  to discharge a second stream of pressurized gas to impact a second exterior edge  90  of fiberglass insulation blanket  11 . It is within the scope of this disclosure to use one force generator to produce both of the first and second streams of pressurized gas. The forces applied to first exterior edge  86  and to second exterior edge  90  cooperate to compress blanket  11  laterally to mate strips  21 ,  22 , and  23  to trap the adhesive material  51  deposited there between to form frangible adhesive bridges  56 ,  58 .