Source: https://patents.justia.com/patent/10710196
Timestamp: 2020-08-09 05:46:00
Document Index: 740446706

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2017', 'Application No. 2016', 'Application No. 2016', 'Application No. 2017', 'Application No. 17813134', 'Application No. 17813135', 'Application No. 2016']

US Patent for Vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method, and vacuum insulation panel Patent (Patent # 10,710,196 issued July 14, 2020) - Justia Patents Search
Justia Patents US Patent for Vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method, and vacuum insulation panel Patent (Patent # 10,710,196)
Dec 21, 2018 - NISSHIN STEEL CO., LTD.
A vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method that makes it possible to manufacture low-cost, high-performance vacuum insulation panels, and a vacuum insulation panel are provided. This method of manufacturing a vacuum insulation panel (1) involves: a stacking step in which a first metal plate (20) is stacked on one side of an insulating core material (10), and in which a backing member (50) having an opening (51) and a second metal plate (30) having an evacuation port (32) are stacked, with the opening (51) and the evacuation port (32) stacking, on the other surface of the core member (10) in the order of backing member (50) and second metal plate (30) from the core member (10) side; a first welding step for welding outwards of where the core member (10) is arranged in the first metal plate (20) and the second metal plate (30); an evacuating step from the evacuation port (32) to create a vacuum in an inner area which is held between the first metal plate (20) and the second metal plate (30) and in which the core member (10) is arranged; and a laser welding step in which, in a state in which the inner area is made into a vacuum by the evacuating step, the evacuation port (32) is sealed by means of a sealing material (60) and the sealing material (60), the second metal plate (30) and the backing member (50) are laser welded.
The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/308,948, filed on Dec. 11, 2018, now U.S. Pat. 10,639,743 the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The 16/308,948 application is the U.S. National Stage of Application No. PCT/JP2017/020290, filed on May 31, 2017, which claimed the benefit of the date of the earlier filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-023648, filed Feb. 10, 2017 and Japanese Application No. 2016-117305, filed on Jun. 13, 2016, priority to which is also claimed herein, and the contents of which are also incorporated by reference herein.
A fiber laser welding machine manufactured by IPG was used as the laser welding unit 300, and the welding conditions are a welding speed of 10 m/min, an output of 700 W, a laser spot diameter of ϕ 0.2 mm, and pulse-type laser oscillation.
A fiber laser welding machine manufactured by IPG was used as the laser welding unit 300, and the welding conditions are a welding speed of 10 m/min, an output of 1 kW, a laser spot diameter of ϕ 0.2 mm, and continuous laser oscillation.
1. A vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method comprising:
a stacking step in which a first metal plate is stacked on one side of an insulating core member, and a second metal plate having an evacuation port, and a reinforcing material having an opening are stacked on the other side of the core member sequentially from the core member, such that the evacuation port and the opening are stacked,
a first welding step for welding outwards of where the core member is arranged in the first metal plate and the second metal plate;
an evacuating step for applying a vacuum in an inner area which is held between the first metal plate and the second metal plate and in which the core member is arranged, from the evacuation port and the opening; and
a laser welding step in which, in a state in which the inner area is made into a vacuum by the evacuating step, the evacuation port and the opening are sealed by means of a sealing member, and the sealing member and the reinforcing material are laser welded, or the sealing member, the reinforcing material and the second metal plate are laser welded.
2. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the laser welding step is
for lowering the sealing member and blocking the evacuation port and the opening by way of the sealing member, an outer periphery of the sealing member being held by a holding plate including a hole for allowing laser light to pass through,
the sealing member is pressed toward the reinforcing material side, and
in a state in which a stacked portion between the sealing member, the reinforcing material and the second metal plate is restrained without any gap, and
the sealing member, the reinforcing material and the second metal plate are laser welded.
3. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein
the sealing member is made of a magnetic body, and
the holding plate for holding the sealing member includes a magnet and holds the sealing member by using a magnetic force.
4. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to any one of claim 2,
wherein the holding plate for holding the sealing member is supported by way of a support rod attached in three places along an outer periphery, and
wherein an upper end of the support rod is fixed to a lifting plate, passing through an outer periphery of a portion where a window is provided to an upper middle portion of the chamber, in which quartz glass is attached to the window.
5. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the stacking step includes a step of welding the second metal plate and the reinforcing material.
6. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to 1, wherein
the evacuating step is for starting evacuating from the evacuation port to apply a vacuum in an inner area which is held between the first metal plate and the second metal plate and in which the core member is arranged, by vacuumizing a chamber
by covering with the chamber a region including the opening of the reinforcing material,
in a state in which the sealing member is temporarily lowered and allowed to approach the evacuation port.
7. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to claim 6,
wherein laser irradiation is performed from an outer side of the chamber in the laser welding step, and
wherein only the sealing member and the reinforcing material are joined, and laser welding is performed under a condition that the second metal plate does not melt.
8. The vacuum insulation panel manufacturing method according to any one of claim 1, wherein the first welding step is a seam welding step.
9. A vacuum insulation panel comprising:
a second metal plate arranged on the other surface of the core member sequentially from the core member and having an evacuation port
a reinforcing material having an opening at a position stacking with the evacuation port; and
a sealing member sealing the opening,
wherein outer sides of regions of the first metal plate and the second metal plate between which the core member is sandwiched are welded,
wherein the sealing member, the reinforcing material, and the second metal plate are welded, and
wherein a vacuum state is created between the first metal plate and the second metal plate.
10. The vacuum insulation panel according to claim 9, wherein the sealing member is a magnetic body.
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Patent Publication Number: 20190193201
Inventors: Tsutomu Azuma (Tokyo), Hirohisa Mishima (Tokyo), Takefumi Nakako (Tokyo)
Application Number: 16/229,233
Current U.S. Class: 219/12
International Classification: F16L 59/065 (20060101); B23K 26/21 (20140101); B23K 26/10 (20060101); B23K 37/04 (20060101); B23K 11/36 (20060101); B23K 37/02 (20060101); B23K 26/60 (20140101); B23K 11/06 (20060101); B23K 26/20 (20140101); B23K 26/28 (20140101); B23K 26/32 (20140101); B23K 11/16 (20060101); B23K 11/34 (20060101); E04B 1/80 (20060101); F16L 59/02 (20060101); F25D 23/06 (20060101); B23K 103/16 (20060101);