JP7556515B2 - Heat retention device for pipe joints - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a thermal insulation material for joints in refrigerant piping in air conditioning equipment, etc., and to a configuration that can be used at the construction site to accommodate pipes of different sizes that are connected with joints.

Unless some measure is taken, the refrigerant piping of an air conditioner is easily affected by the outside air temperature due to its structure being exposed to the outside air, and the refrigerant temperature cannot be maintained adequately, resulting in poor efficiency of the equipment. To solve this problem, the refrigerant piping is covered with insulation material that has an insulating effect. However, if there are gaps between the insulation material of the piping or joints and the piping, the insulating effect is impaired. Therefore, when installing these insulation materials, gaps are carefully sealed with tape. It is also necessary to suppress condensation caused by moisture, and similarly tape is wrapped around it to prevent moisture from entering.

Inaba Denki Sangyo Co., Ltd., Inaba Denko General Catalog, [online], published in September 2019, [searched on May 8, 2020], Internet <https://catalog. e-setsubi. net/iportal/CatalogPageGroupSearch. do? method=catalogPageGroupSearchByCatalogCategory&type=clcsr&volumeID=CATALABO&catalogID=57985490000&catalogCategoryID=25848350000&designID=HAT>, P1-20

The invention described in Non-Patent Document 1 involves sandwiching the joints connected to the piping from both sides with heat-insulating material to insulate the joints and the piping on either side. Naturally, the refrigerant piping itself is also covered with heat-insulating material, but currently there are two types of heat-insulating material, 10 mm thick and 20 mm thick, taking into account the heat-insulating efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare 10 mm and 20 mm thick heat-insulating material for the joints as well, in order to match the thickness of each end. In other words, if the thickness of the heat-insulating material for the joints at both ends does not match the thickness of the heat-insulating material for the piping, there will be a step in each heat-insulating material, so there is a problem that even if the tape is wrapped around it, it cannot be wrapped without gaps. Thus, in the conventional configuration, the heat-insulating material for the joints needs to be prepared according to the thickness of the heat-insulating material for the piping, which causes the problem of product management becoming complicated.

The present invention aims to solve the problems with the conventional configurations described above, and aims to provide a thermal insulation material for joints that can accommodate multiple thicknesses of thermal insulation material used in refrigerant piping.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a thermal insulation material that covers a joint connecting a pair of pipes, including the joint and the pair of pipes. The thermal insulation material is divided into two pieces, each of which has a recess for accommodating the joint and a pipe accommodating section for accommodating the pipes, and the outside has a cylindrical accommodating section corresponding to the joint, a cylindrical intermediate diameter section from this accommodating section via a tapered section, and a small diameter section formed via another tapered section. In this way, the thermal insulation material is structured to cover the joints, so it provides an effective thermal insulation effect including the pipes, and at the same time protects the joints from external impacts. In addition, because there are cylindrical intermediate diameter sections and small diameter sections, even if there are multiple types of outer diameters of the thermal insulation pipes that cover the periphery of the pipes, the diameter section can be cut out to match the outer diameters.

In a configuration in which the small diameter section is followed by a tapered section and then a minimum diameter section, it is possible to accommodate the outer diameters of the heat-insulating pipes of three types of piping. This configuration corresponds to claim 3, in which the periphery of both sides of the piping is covered with heat-insulating pipes except for the parts covered with heat-insulating material.

In addition, if the part of the insulation that corresponds to the cylindrical storage section of the two-piece material is integrated with a hinge, it can be handled with one part, making parts management easier. Furthermore, by providing adhesive tape on the side opposite the hinge to close the insulation, it is possible to temporarily secure the insulation when closing it.

When the insulation material is made of foamed resin, it is possible to provide efficient insulation while at the same time making the insulation material lighter.

By adopting the above-mentioned means, the present invention makes it possible to insulate the joints as well, realizing the insulation of the entire refrigerant piping while protecting the joints from external impacts. In addition, even if the piping is covered with an insulated pipe of a different outer diameter, both ends of the joint insulation can be cut to match the outer diameter, so there is no difference in level with the insulation for the piping, and the insulation effect is not impaired.

FIG. 1 is an exploded plan view showing a main part of a preferred embodiment of a heat-retaining device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the heat retaining material of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a closed state; FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state where a heat-insulating pipe is attached to the piping for the refrigerant according to the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the state where a heat-insulating tube thicker than that of FIG. 3 is installed.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. FIG. 1 shows the thermal insulation material for joints of the present invention in an expanded form, with 1 being a joint and 2, 2 being refrigerant pipes connected to both ends of the joint 1. Although this embodiment is described as a refrigerant pipe, it is also possible to accommodate cold region specifications that require thermal insulation even for water-passing pipes through which fluids such as water pass. 3 is the thermal insulation material of the present invention, and its internal structure includes a recess 4 for accommodating the joint 1 and a pipe accommodating portion 5, 5 for accommodating the refrigerant pipe 2. The thermal insulation material 3 is split into two pieces in the longitudinal direction. 6 is a hinge for closing the opening sides of the two split thermal insulation materials 3a, 3b together to form a single piece, and 7 is an adhesive tape for closing the joint 1 and the refrigerant pipe 2 after accommodating them, as shown in FIG. 2. Here, the material for the thermal insulation material 3 is a known foamed resin material such as foamed polyurethane, foamed polyethylene, and foamed polystyrene, which can achieve sufficient thermal insulation effect and is lightweight. Regarding the outer shape, the housing section 8 of the fitting 1 is cylindrical with the largest diameter, a cylindrical intermediate diameter section 10 is provided via a tapered section 9, and a cylindrical small diameter section 12 is provided via another tapered section 11. The diameters of the intermediate diameter section 10 and the small diameter section 12 are to accommodate heat-insulating pipes of different diameters. For example, in the case of the heat-insulating pipe 13 shown in Figure 3, its thickness is 10 mm, and the diameter of the small diameter section 12 corresponds to its outer diameter. In Figure 4, the heat-insulating pipe 13 is 20 mm thick, and its outer diameter corresponds to the diameter of the intermediate diameter section 10.

The diameter of the heat-insulating pipe 13 is different in the embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4 because of considerations of the designer's knowledge and the capabilities of the heat pump equipment. In other words, the diameter (thickness) of the heat-insulating pipe 13 is made larger to increase the heat-insulating efficiency.

In this embodiment, the diameter of the heat-insulating material 3 relative to the heat-insulating pipe 13 is two types, the intermediate diameter section 10 and the small diameter section 12, but there is another 5 mm thick heat-insulating pipe 13 that is commonly used in water heaters. Therefore, in order to accommodate this 5 mm thick heat-insulating pipe 13, it is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a cylindrical minimum diameter section from the small diameter section 12 via another tapered section. In short, if there are three types of outer diameters (thicknesses) of the assumed heat-insulating pipe, three types of diameter sections are also provided. And, when the outer diameter adopted for the heat-insulating pipe 13 is as shown in FIG. 3 in this embodiment, the diameter of the small diameter section 12 of the heat-insulating material 3 in its original state matches the heat-insulating pipe 13 with a thickness of 10 mm. On the other hand, when the thickness of the heat-insulating pipe 13 is 20 mm, the form shown in FIG. 4 is obtained, in which case the separate tapered section 11 and the small diameter section 12 are cut off with a cutter or the like. It is preferable to cut off the unnecessary parts at the work site, as this reduces the number of products to be manufactured. However, if the thickness to be used for the heat-insulating tube 13 is known in advance, the unnecessary portion may be cut off at the time of shipment from the factory.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the hinge 6 is a part for connecting the two pieces of heat insulating material 3a and 3b, but the hinge 6 may be omitted and the heat insulating material 3a and 3b may be separate members. In this case, a pair of adhesive tapes 7 for closing the heat insulating material 3a and 3b may be provided on the opposing surfaces. However, the adhesive tape 7 is intended to temporarily fasten the divided heat insulating material, and in order not to impair the heat insulating effect and to prevent condensation on the outer surface of the pipe, an additional adhesive tape is usually wrapped around the heat insulating material 3. In this embodiment, a tapered portion 9 is provided, so that the heat insulating material can be easily wrapped around the tapered portion 9 while overlapping. The adhesive strength of the adhesive tape 7 may be sufficient to enable temporary fastening. However, if an adhesive tape 7 with strong adhesive strength is used, it is possible to omit wrapping the additional adhesive tape.

Reference Signs List 1 Joint 2 Refrigerant pipe 3 Thermal insulation material 4 Recess 5 Tube receiving portion 6 Hinge 7 Adhesive tape 10 Intermediate diameter portion 12 Small diameter portion 13 Thermal insulation pipe

Claims (3)

A substantially cylindrical joint heat-insulating material formed to cover a joint connecting a pair of pipes,
The inner periphery of the heat-insulating material is
a recess for receiving the joint;
a pipe receiving portion for receiving a portion of the pair of pipes connected to the joint ;
having
The outer periphery of the heat-insulating material is
A cylindrical receiving portion provided at a position opposite to the recess ;
a cylindrical intermediate diameter portion provided at a position facing the tube housing portion, having a diameter smaller than that of the housing portion, and connected to the housing portion via a tapered portion;
a cylindrical small diameter portion provided at a position facing the tube receiving portion, having a diameter smaller than that of the intermediate diameter portion, and connected to the intermediate diameter portion via another tapered portion ;
A thermal insulation material having the above structure. The pair of pipes are covered with either a first heat-insulating pipe or a second heat-insulating pipe having a different outer diameter at their outer periphery except for the portion covered with the heat-insulating material,
The outer diameter of the first heat-retaining pipe is equal to the outer diameter of the small diameter portion,
The outer diameter of the second heat-insulating pipe corresponds to the outer diameter of the intermediate diameter portion.
The heat-insulating material according to claim 1. The heat retaining material according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the heat retaining material is integrally formed from a foamed resin material .

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