Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/236,298, filed on Oct. 2, 2015, titled TENSION FIT INSULATION, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present application relates generally to insulators for residential appliances, and more specifically to insulators for flues of residential ovens. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Insulators for residential appliances are known to those skilled in the art. Insulators reduce the transfer of heat or sound between an appliance and the surrounding environment. Thermal insulators used in residential ovens, for example, protect cabinets surrounding the oven. 
         [0004]    Residential ovens that burn natural gas to heat up the interior of the oven for cooking food require a flue to allow combustion products to be expelled from the oven. The ducts used for oven flues reach very high temperatures and are typically routed through tight spaces that are surrounded by cabinets. These flues can be heated by the combustion gases to around 700 degrees Fahrenheit and are insulated to protect the surrounding surfaces. A prior art insulation  100  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The insulator  100  surrounds a flue  102  with a collar of insulation  110  having an opening  112  that the flue  102  fits through. The insulation collar  110  can slide up and down on the flue  102  so an adhesive or fastener is required to hold the insulation in place. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Exemplary embodiments of insulators for flues of residential ovens are disclosed herein. 
         [0006]    An exemplary insulator for a flue of a residential oven includes a bendable insulating body having a first end, a second end, and a bending portion. A first cut is disposed between the bending portion and the first end and a second cut is disposed between the bending portion and the second end. The first cut is expandable to form a first opening and the second cut is expandable to form a second opening. 
         [0007]    Another exemplary insulator for a flue of a residential oven includes a rectangular insulation blanket bendable at a bend location to form a first leg and a second leg. The first leg has a first opening and the second leg has a second opening. The second opening is substantially aligned with the first opening when the insulator is in a bent condition. 
         [0008]    Still another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a method for using an insulator for a flue of a residential oven. The method includes providing an insulator comprising a bendable insulating body having a first end, a second end, a bending portion, a first opening disposed between the first end and the bending portion, and a second opening disposed between the second end and the bending portion; bending the insulator along the bending portion; and inserting the flue through the first and second openings. The first and second openings are formed by expanding first and second cuts in the bendable insulating body. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description and accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a prior art insulator assembled to a flue; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of an exemplary insulation system assembled to a flue; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2B  is a top view of the exemplary insulation system of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2C  is a side view of the exemplary insulation system of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3A  is a plan view of an exemplary insulation blanket before assembly to a flue; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 3B  is a plan view of the exemplary insulation blanket of  FIG. 3A . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Prior to discussing the various embodiments, a review of the definitions of some exemplary terms used throughout the disclosure is appropriate. Both singular and plural forms of all terms fall within each meaning. 
         [0017]    As described herein, when one or more components are described as being connected, joined, affixed, coupled, attached, or otherwise interconnected, such interconnection may be direct as between the components or may be indirect such as through the use of one or more intermediary components. Also as described herein, reference to a “member,” “component,” or “portion” shall not be limited to a single structural member, component, or element but can include an assembly of components, members, or elements. Also as described herein, the terms “substantially” and “about” are defined as at least close to (and includes) a given value or state (preferably within 10% of, more preferably within 1% of, and most preferably within 0.1% of). 
         [0018]    Referring now to  FIG. 2A , an exemplary insulator  200  is shown. The insulator  200  protects objects surrounding a flue  202  from the hot gasses flowing through the flue  202 . The insulator  200  is made from an insulation blanket  210  or any bendable insulation body that is bent at a bend or bending portion  212 . A first leg  216  of the insulation blanket  210  is formed between the bend  212  and the first end  214  of the blanket  210 . A second leg  222  of the blanket  210  is formed between the bend  212  and the second end  220 . A first opening  218  and a second opening  224  are formed in each of the first and second legs  216 ,  220 , respectively. In some embodiments, the insulation blanket  210  used in the insulation  200  may be formed of glass fibers, mineral fibers, or the like. In some embodiments, the insulation blanket  210  may be about 1 inch to about 3 inches thick. In some embodiments, the insulation  210  may be about 2 inches thick. 
         [0019]    The ends  214 ,  220  and openings  218 ,  224  are substantially aligned when the insulation blanket  210  is bent at the bend  212 , allowing the flue  202  to be inserted through both openings  218 ,  224 . The bent insulation blanket  210  has an inner surface  226  and an outer surface  228 . The insulator  200  is bent when it is assembled to the flue  202 , thereby causing it to elastically deform. The elasticity of the material of the blanket  210  causes it to resist the bending force used to bend the insulator, resulting in an elastic force that opposes the bending force. No adhesive or fastener is needed to hold the insulator  200  in place on the flue  202  because the elastic force resisting the bending of the insulator  200  causes the insulator to grip the flue  202  at the openings  218 ,  224 . 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIG. 2B , a top view of the insulator  200  is shown. The openings  218 ,  224  position the flue  202  in the insulator  200  so that it is surrounded by the insulation blanket  210  on all sides. The size of the insulation blanket  210  and the position of the opening  218  are selected based on the required safety distance between the flue  202  and surrounding objects. The hot gasses passing through the flue  202  heat the flue  202  to up to around 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat from the flue is prohibited or otherwise retarded by the insulation blanket  210  from flowing into the surrounding surfaces because the insulation blanket  210  is a poor conductor of heat. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 2C , a side view of the insulator  200  is shown. Bending the insulation blanket  210  generates tensile stress  230  near the outer surface  228  and compression stress  232  near the inner surface  226 . Opposing restorative forces (i.e., the elastic force) in the insulation blanket  210  resist the bending, generating straightening forces  234  that oppose the bending of the insulation blanket  210 . The straightening forces  234  exerted on each leg  216 ,  220  of the insulation blanket  210  cause the areas of the insulation near the openings  218 ,  224  to be pressed against the flue  202  with gripping forces  236 . The gripping forces  236  cause an increase in friction between the flue  202  and the insulation blanket  210 , thereby holding the insulation blanket  210  in place along the flue  202 . The magnitude of the gripping forces  236  is directed related to the elasticity of the insulation blanket  210 . The friction between the flue  202  and the insulation blanket  210  is directly related to the magnitude of the gripping forces  236  and the friction coefficient of the materials used for the flue  202  and insulation. 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , an exemplary insulator  300  for a flue (not shown) is shown in an unbent condition. The insulator  300  is generally rectangular in shape and formed of an insulation blanket  301  similar to the insulation blanket  210  described above. The insulator  300  has a first end  302 , a second end  304 , and a bending portion  306  between the first and second ends  302 ,  304 . In some embodiments, the bending portion  306  may include relief cuts  308  to reduce the stiffness of the insulation blanket  301  in the area of the bending portion  306 . 
         [0023]    Flue opening cuts  310  through the first and second ends  302 ,  304  allow a flue (not shown) to be inserted through both ends  302 ,  304  of the insulator  300  when it is in a bent condition. A plurality of transverse cuts  312  intersect the opening cuts  310  creating fingers  314  of insulation material that can be compressed to create a flue opening  320  ( FIG. 3B ) large enough to fit accept a flue inserted through the insulator  300 . The fingers  314  expand to contact the flue to provide gripping force in addition to the force supplied by the resistance to the bending of the insulator  300 . In some embodiments, at least one of the fingers  314  is compressed or expanded a different amount than the other fingers  314  to accommodate variations in the size and shape of the flue. In some embodiments, the fingers  314  compress different amounts to accommodate a flue having a non-rectangular cross-section, such as, for example, an ellipse, a circle, a rounded rectangle, or any other shape suitable for a flue. In some embodiments, the opening cuts  310  are expanded or stretched open to form the flue opening  320  without the addition of any transverse cuts  312 . 
         [0024]    While various inventive aspects, concepts and features of the disclosures may be described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects, concepts, and features may be used in many alternative embodiments, either individually or in various combinations and sub-combinations thereof. Unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations and sub-combinations are intended to be within the scope of the present application. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects, concepts, and features of the disclosures—such as alternative materials, structures, configurations, methods, devices, and components, alternatives as to form, fit, and function, and so on—may be described herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presently known or later developed. Those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects, concepts, or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present application even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Additionally, even though some features, concepts, or aspects of the disclosures may be described herein as being a preferred arrangement or method, such description is not intended to suggest that such feature is required or necessary unless expressly so stated. Still further, exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present application, however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Moreover, while various aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of a disclosure, such identification is not intended to be exclusive, but rather there may be inventive aspects, concepts, and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific disclosure, the disclosures instead being set forth in the appended claims. Descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are not limited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases, nor is the order that the steps are presented to be construed as required or necessary unless expressly so stated. The words used in the claims have their full ordinary meanings and are not limited in any way by the description of the embodiments in the specification.

Technology Category: f