RESILIENT CORES WITH CONVECTION BARRIERS PARTICULARLY FOR INFLATABLE BODIES AND METHODS FOR MAKING THE SAME

Abstract

Resilient cores preferably for inflatable bodies having resilient slabs that define a plurality of generally columnar holes or resilient arrays of generally columnar solids, methods for making such slabs and arrays, and articles incorporating the same wherein the cores further includes thermal transmission mitigation means for improving a core's resistance to heat transfer beyond the core's innate insulative properties. Non-exclusive and non-exhaustive examples of such thermal transmission mitigation means in slab core embodiments include consideration to hole or bore geometric cross section, frequency, pattern and orientation, the introduction of a thermal barrier at or within at least some holes or bores, and/or slab material selection/treatment. Non-exclusive and non-exhaustive examples of such thermal transmission mitigation means in array core embodiments include consideration to the geometric cross section, frequency (density), pattern and orientation of the solids, the introduction of thermal barriers within inter-solid spaces and/or solid material selection/treatment.

Claims

1. A resilient core of material, comprising: a mechanically unitary slab having a first major surface in general opposing relationship to a second major surface, with a common perimeter surface joining the two major surfaces; a plurality of holes or bores defined by the unitary slab wherein each hole or bore has an orientation relative to at least one major surface that is defined by an axis and a geometric cross section, and the plurality of holes or bores defines an arrangement thereof and has a density; and a radiant reflective material applied to at least one of the first major surface and the second major surface that improves the resilient core's resistance to heat transfer relative to the resilient core's innate insulative properties; wherein the resilient core and the radiant reflective material are configured to be fully contained within an inflatable envelope.

2. The resilient core of claim 1, wherein the radiant reflective material is vapor deposited aluminum.

3. The resilient core of claim 2, wherein the axis and the geometric cross section of at least some of the holes or bores form oblique open or oblique occluded holes or bores.

4. The resilient core of claim 1, wherein the radiant reflective material is a radiant barrier film.

5. The resilient core of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive applied to the radiant reflective material to adhere the radiant reflective material to the at least one of the first major surface and the second major surface.

6. The resilient core of claim 1, further comprising a low melting point plastic applied to the radiant reflective material to adhere the radiant reflective material to the at least one of the first major surface and the second major surface.

7. The resilient core of claim 6, wherein the low melting point plastic is a film material having a thermally reflective coating on one or both sides.

8. The resilient core of claim 1, wherein the radiant reflective material includes one or more perforations to permit a gas or a fluid escape and entry.

9. An inflatable body, comprising: a resilient core of material comprising: a mechanically unitary slab having a first major surface in general opposing relationship to a second major surface, with a common perimeter surface joining the two major surfaces; a plurality of holes or bores defined by the unitary slab wherein each hole or bore has an orientation relative to at least one major surface that is defined by an axis and a geometric cross section, and the plurality of holes or bores defines an arrangement thereof and has a density; and a radiant reflective material applied to at least one of the first major surface and that second major surface that improves the resilient core's resistance to heat transfer relative to the resilient core's innate insulative properties; and an inflatable envelope for fully containing the resilient core.

10. The inflatable body of claim 9, wherein the envelope includes a material bonded to the envelope.

11. The inflatable body of claim 10, wherein the material is an insulating material.

12. The inflatable body of claim 10, wherein the material is a convection barrier.

13. The inflatable body of claim 10, wherein the material is a radiant barrier.

14. The inflatable body of claim 9, wherein the radiant reflective material is vapor deposited aluminum.

15. The inflatable body of claim 14, wherein the axis and the geometric cross section of at least some of the holes or bores form oblique open or oblique occluded holes or bores.

16. The inflatable body of claim 9, wherein the radiant reflective material is a radiant barrier film.

17. The inflatable body of claim 9, further comprising an adhesive applied to the radiant reflective material to adhere the radiant reflective material to the at least one of the first major surface and the second major surface.

18. The inflatable body of claim 9, further comprising a low melting point plastic applied to the radiant reflective material to adhere the radiant reflective material to the at least one of the first major surface and the second major surface.

19. The inflatable body of claim 18, wherein the low melting point plastic is a film material having a thermally reflective coating on one or both sides.

20. The inflatable body of claim 9, wherein the radiant reflective material includes one or more perforations to permit a gas or a fluid to escape and enter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional slab core wherein a plurality of open normal holes/bores extending from one major surface to an opposing major surface are defined by a slab of resilient material;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a detailed partial section view of the slab core of FIG. 1 illustrating unrestricted radiant and convection thermal transmission paths provided by normal holes/bores;

[0033] FIG. 3 shows the slab core of FIGS. 1 and 2 after incorporation of a thermal transmission mitigation means in the form of discrete plug members disposed in at least some of the normal holes/bores, according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates a variation of the slab core of FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein the slab comprises two sub-slabs and wherein a thermal transmission mitigation means in the form of a thermal barrier is disposed there between, according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0035] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an array core embodiment of the invention wherein a plurality of columnar solids are shown in registered opposition and a thermal transmission mitigation means in the form of a thermal barrier is disposed there between;

[0036] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a slab core embodiment of the invention wherein a plurality of occluded oblique holes/bores extend from one major surface to an opposing major surface of a slab of resilient material to constitute a thermal transmission mitigation means;

[0037] FIG. 7 is a detailed partial section view of the slab core of FIG. 6 illustrating the occluded nature of the oblique holes/bores, thus constituting a radiant heat transmission mitigation means;

[0038] FIG. 8 shows the section view of FIG. 7 after the slab core is subjected to an orthogonal compressive load, thereby collapsing at least some occluded oblique holes/bores and constituting a convection heat transmission mitigation means;

[0039] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a slab core embodiment of the invention wherein a thermal transmission mitigation means in the form of a plurality of open normal holes/bores extend from one major surface to an opposing major surface of a slab of resilient material and have purposely selected geometric cross sections to decrease the force necessary to achieve compression collapse of the same;

[0040] FIG. 10 is a cross section view taken substantially along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9 showing several of the holes/bores prior to compression loading;

[0041] FIG. 11 shows the cross section of FIG. 10 after subjected to compression loading in a direction orthogonal to the major surface of the slab core whereby the several holes/bores constitute a convection heat transmission mitigation means;

[0042] FIG. 12 is an exploded schematic view in perspective of a slab core disposed between an upper platen and a lower platen;

[0043] FIG. 13 shows the arrangement of FIG. 12 after platen compression of the slab core;

[0044] FIG. 14 is a representative side elevation view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 13;

[0045] FIG. 15 is a detailed partial cross section view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 14;

[0046] FIG. 16 shows the lateral movement of an upper platen in compressive contact with the slab core to induce shear therein, and the application of die elements to create holes/bores therein;

[0047] FIG. 17 shows the die elements of FIG. 16 fully extended into the slab core;

[0048] FIG. 18 shows the arrangement of FIG. 17 after removal of the die elements; and

[0049] FIG. 19 shows the arrangement of FIG. 18 after disengagement of the platens and restoration of the original form of the slab core, which now possess occluded oblique holes/bores.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION EMBODIMENTS

[0050] Preface: The terminal end of any numeric lead line in the several drawings, when associated with any structure or process, reference or landmark described in this section, is intended to representatively identify and associate such structure or process, reference or landmark with respect to the written description of such object or process. It is not intended, nor should be inferred, to delimit or define per se boundaries of the referenced object or process, unless specifically stated as such or facially clear from the drawings and the context in which the term(s) is/are used. Unless specifically stated as such or facially clear from the several drawings and the context in which the term(s) is/are used, all words and visual aids should be given their common commercial and/or scientific meaning consistent with the context of the disclosure herein.

[0051] The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment show, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

[0052] Turning then to the several drawings wherein like numerals indicate like parts, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional slab core is shown for reference. Slab core 20 is preferably formed from a resilient material, which is often an open cellular foam material and particularly an open cellular urethane foam. Slab core 20 has major surfaces 22 and 24 (for convention, major surface 22 may also be described herein as “lower major surface 22” and major surface 24 may also be described herein as “upper major surface 24”; major surface 24 is not shown in the perspective views but is necessarily present and is referenced for completeness), as well as perimeter surface 26. Slab core 20 further defines a plurality of holes/bores 30, which are generally bounded by orifices 32 and 34 (orifices 34 are not shown as they are present on major surface 24), and by wall 36. Each hole/bore 30 has a geometric cross section.

[0053] As particularly illustrated in FIG. 2, holes/bores 30 have a major axis that is generally orthogonal to both major surfaces 22 and 24, and are therefore styled as “normal holes/bores”. Also as particularly illustrated in FIG. 2 is the lack of any thermal transmission mitigation means to affect the rate of radiant or convection heat transfer between major surfaces 22 and 24. Thus, while creating a less dense slab core, introduction of normal holes/bores 30 decreases the innate insulative property of the slab core.

[0054] A first illustrated solution to undesired loss of insulative properties in such slab cores is shown in FIG. 3 wherein a plurality of plug elements 40 are introduced into, or are retained in during formation of, at least some of holes/bores 30. Whether derived from intrinsic or extrinsic material, whether linked to a common substrate or discrete in nature, plug elements 40 are disposed between opposing major surfaces 22 and 24 to limit convective and/or radiant heat transfer there between. The skilled practitioner will appreciate that material selection for plug elements 40 will affect insulative performance of the slab as well as weight. Therefore, the balance between these two factors will at least partially drive the material selection process.

[0055] A second illustrated solution to undesired loss of insulative properties in such slab cores is shown in FIG. 4 wherein thermal barrier 50 is disposed between two sub-slabs 20′a and 20′b, which combined form slab core 20′. Thermal barrier 50 again may comprise any material intended for its purpose. Thus, many embodiments within this solution will use radiantly reflective batting such as aluminized MYLAR (a film material) or polyester batting (generally a spun material) so that both radiant and convection heat transfers modes will be beneficially affected. Alternatively or additionally, thermal barrier 50 may be disposed on either or both major surfaces 22 and 24, again with consideration being given to the competing objectives of decreasing slab core weight and improving thermal performance. Thermal performance can further be increased in multi sub-slab embodiments by offsetting holes/bores 30 in addition to integrating thermal barrier 50 therein.

[0056] Thermal barrier 50 can also be used as a substrate for columnar solids 160 to create array core 120, as best shown in FIG. 5. Here, both sides of barrier 50 have solids 160 associated there with, preferably being mechanically linked thereto such as by adhesive or similar means.

[0057] In addition to adding material to a slab core 20/20′ as a form of thermal transfer mitigation means, slab core 20 can be treated. Treatment can comprise application of chemicals or other substances, or can comprise modification of the hole/bore parameters. As best shown in FIGS. 6-8, oblique occluded holes/bores 230 can be formed in slab core 220. Such holes/bores intrinsically mitigate radiant heat transfer, which is linear and nearly always orthogonal to one or both major surfaces 222, 224: the radiation entering an orifice 232, 234 will necessarily impinge upon a hole/bore wall 236. However, there still exists an effective fluid path between orifices 232 and 234, which is conducive to convection heat transfer.

[0058] A feature of many oblique holes/bores, whether open or occluded, is their tendency to collapse during off axis compression, as best shown in FIG. 8. When in a collapsed state, the previously open fluid pathway defined by walls 236 is now obstructed, thereby significantly reducing heat transfer via convection, and greatly improving thermal performance of the slab core, without the addition of any intrinsic or extrinsic material. Because in many applications such as inflatable padding thermal performance is only of issue when such articles are undergoing compression, the selective closure of such convection pathways is not detrimental.

[0059] While oblique holes/bores are considered desirable, normal holes/bores can be created to include similar functionality, albeit with perhaps reduced performance. FIGS. 9-11 demonstrate a similar hole/bore collapse strategy whereby normal holes/bores 330 are formed in slab core 320, and undergo compressive collapse to thereby obstruct the previously open fluid pathway defined by walls 336. The skilled practitioner will appreciate that intelligent selection of the geometric cross section of any given hole/bore and awareness of hole/bore density within the slab core will affect the force necessary to achieve collapse as well as the reduction in slab core weight.

[0060] Turning next to FIGS. 12-19, a method for creating slab core 230 is illustrated. A solid slab 230′ is positioned between two foraminous platens 270a and 270b (FIG. 12) and compressed thereby (FIGS. 13-15) with sufficient force to generate a coefficient of friction sufficient to permit slab 230′ to undergo shear as best shown in FIG. 16. At such time, die elements 280 enter through holes 272a in platen 270a, perforate slab 230′ and partially exit through holes 272b in platen 270b, as is shown in FIG. 17. Upon withdrawal of die elements 280 (FIG. 18) and decompression of platens 270a and 270b (FIG. 19), the shear force is removed from slab 230, which reverts to its original configuration. The resulting slab 230 now possesses oblique holes/bores 230 that were created by non-obliquely aligned tools.