Prefabricated lining panel with heat insulation

Abstract

 The invention concerna a prefabricated lining panel with heat insulation, which panel comprises a facade board (1) of concrete, to whose outer face the face material (2) of the facade is fitted and to whose innerface an insulation material layer (3) is connected. According to the invention, the specific rigidity of the material of the insulation layer (3) decreases as a function of the distance from the side facing the facade layer (1). Hence, the insulation layer (3) is attached to the facade board (1) from its more rigid side, whereby the softer side of the insulation layer faces the building (4) to be lined. The insulation layer (3) preferably comprises several adjoining glass wool layers, ventilation grooves (5) being formed into the most rigid one of the glass wool layers, which said ventilation grooves (5) are placed at the joint between the facade board (1) and the insulation layer (3).

Description

[0001] The subject of the present invention is a prefabricated lining panel in accordance with the preamble of claim 1. Generally speaking, such a panel comprises a board-shaped facade layer to whose outer face the face material of the facade is fitted and to whose inner face the layer of insulating material is connected. Moreover, as a rule, grooves are formed into the layer of insulating material of such a lining panel so as to ventilate any moisture carried into the insulation.

[0002] In prior art, in the lining of the facades of buildings, soft or rigid insulation materials have been used in the insulation layer provided between the facade layer and the old wall or carrying wall. Among soft insulation materials might be mentioned the mineral-based ones, such as glass wool. The most commonly used materials among rigid insulation materials are expanded polystyrenes.

[0003] In the lining of facades, in practice, the following procedures have been used.

[0004] a) When the insulation layer has consisted of a rigid heat insulation, the insulation has first been fixed tightly by means of various fastenings onto the old facade or to the carrying structure of the wall. Hereupon, the facade layer, which has usually been board-shaped, has been attached by means of suitable fastenings so that a ventilation space or ventilation grooves remain between the facade board and the heat insulation, through which space or grooves any moisture that has had access into the insulation is removed, whereby the wall structure remains dry.

[0005] However, a drawback of this construction is the joint between the insulation and the carrying structure, which cannot be made sufficiently tight. The rigid insulation does, viz., usually not follow the face of the carrying wall easily. This is the case in particular if the carrying wall has rather large manufacturing tolerances, which is quite usual. At the joint, detrimental currents of air are produced, which deteriorate the functioning of the heat insulation decisively. This difficulty might be reduced by increasing the number of fastenings. On the other hand, a sufficiently high number of fastening points would become remarkably expensive and increase the time taken by the construction work, and therefore it is out of the question.

[0006] b) When.a soft heat insulation is used, the heat insulation may be ready fixed to the facade board, in which case the installation takes place by pressing the entire insulated facade panel into tight contact with the carrying walls structure, or the heat insulation may be attached separately to the carrying frame, whereupon the lining board is pressed tightly against the insulation layer.

[0007] It is a drawback of this alternative that a ventilation space or ventilation grooves cannot be allowed to remain between the heat insulation and the facade board, because, in the case of a soft heat insulation, a flow of air deteriorates its heat insulation capacity decisively.

[0008] In such a case, traditionally, the ventilation of the insulation space in the wall structure has been arranged by installing a ventilation pipe at the joints between the panels. This solution meets a certain level of minimum requirement, but it is, however, not capable of guaranteeing that the insulation layer remains sufficiently dry, not even nearly under all circumstances. Thus, as the insulation layer is not ventilated adequately, but the moisture content is considerable, the heat insulation capacity of the wall structure is also, consequently, essentially lower than if the insulation layer could be made to remain dry. The moisture also involves other detrimental factors, such as frost damage and corrosion of the fastenings.

[0009] The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks related to the above solutions and to provide a heat-insulated lining panel of an entirely novel type. The invention is based on the idea that the rigidity of the insulation layer connected to the inside face of the facade layer at each point of the insulation layer is a function of the distance of this point from one . face of the insulation layer. In the following, the rigidity of the layer at a certain point is called the specific rigidity of the insulation layer. According to the invention, the insulation is preferably rigid at the facade layer and soft in the portion to be placed against the old wall or carrying wall. The change in the specific rigidity of the insulation layer is preferably continuous and smooth. Thus, it is changed smoothly from soft to rigid when moving from the frame side to the facade side. More specifically, the panel in accordance with the invention is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.

[0010] The insulation layer of variable specific rigidity preferably consists of several layers of different rigidities, placed one upon the other and joining together. Such an insulation is manufactured particularly favourably of one material, e.g. mineral wool, most appropriately glass wool. The insulation in accordance with the invention, made of glass wool, usually comprises 2 to 4 fibreglass layers produced by means of centrifugal apparatuses and placed one upon the other. The differences in the rigidity of the layers are produced by using glass fibres of different strengths and different quantities of binder agents. This is why the layers also differ from each other in respect of density.

[0011] Ventilation grooves are formed into the layer of insulation material for the ventilation of any moisture carried into the insulation. The said grooves are placed preferably in the rigid part of the insulation, and particularly advantageously in the joint between the facade board and the insulation layer.

[0012] By means of the solution in accordance with the invention, considerable advantages are achieved. Thus, any tolerances present in the building frame do not cause detrimental air leakage points between the insulation and the frame, because the heat insulation is resilient at the face adjoining the frame. Thus, the facade lining can be installed directly even if there were relatively large unevennesses on the frame of the building. Since the heat insulation is rigid at the side facing the facade lining board, the face of the insulation may be provided with grooves, or a ventilation gap may be allowed to remain between the insulation and the facade lining board without substantial deterioration of the heat insulation capacity of the insulation layer. By means of the ventilation grooves, the insulation remains dry under all circumstances, no matter how tight the facade lining board is.

[0013] The lining panel in accordance with the invention can be manufactured by combining the insulation layer and the facade lining board with one another right at the prefabrication plant. Being a finished product, it is, at the same time, ideal for easing the installation and construction schedule. Such a structure, which is attached to the frame structure by the intermediate of a resilient medium, does not cause forced strains on the frame structure as a result of thermal deformations, nor are, consequently, detrimental distortions produced as a result of changes in the temperature or moisture of the facade.

[0014] The invention will be examined in the following in more detail with the aid of the attached drawings.

[0015] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a panel in accordance with the invention, and Figure 2 is a sectional view of the panel.

[0016] In the example case, the lining panel consists of a facade board 1 of concrete, onto whose outer face the face material 2 of the facade, in this case a thin layer of bricks, has been fixed. The insulation layer 3 is attached to the inside face of the facade board 1. In the joint between the insulation layer 3 and the facade board 1, ventilation grooves 5 have been formed, running in the transverse direction of the panel. The insulation layer 3 can be-fixed to the facade board either by glueing, mechanically, or in connection with the manufacture of the facade board by means of the adhesion of the binder agent of the facade board's 1 own. The other side of the insulation layer 3 is fixed to the building to be lined in the way shown in Fig. 2. The panel can be fixed either to the old wall or, in the case of a new building, to the carrying wall 4. The panel is fixed by using a conventional technique, e.g. by means of fastenings. The specific rigidity of the insulation used in the panel varies when passing through the layer, preferably so that the rigidity of the insulation is higher at the side facing the facade board 1 than at the side facing the carrying wall 4.

[0017] The mineral-wool heat insulation of variable specific rigidity is manufactured by means of conventional manufacturing processes.

[0018] Of course, the manufacturing process of an ordinary heat insulation proceeds so that glass fibre of appropriate strength is centrifuged out of molten glass mix and guided onto a desired conveyor belt base by means of an air current, at the same time as a resin adhesive is sprayed among the fibres so as to join them together.

[0019] As a rule, there are several centrifuging apparatuses for glass fibre on the line (usually 3 or 4 pcs.), one after the other, whereby the rate of progress of the line can be made adequate even if the quantity of glass fibre (density) or the thickness of the insulation are relatively large.

[0020] Differing from the symmetric spraying by subsequent centrifuging apparatuses, the mineral-wool heat insulation in accordance with the present invention is produced so that, for example, the first centrifuging apparatus makes the fibres stronger and, moreover, a larger quantity of adhesive resin is used for joining the fibres together, whereby the insulation becomes rigid. On the other'hand, the second centrifuging apparatus sprays the next layer onto the first layer with a slightly thinner glass fibre strength and and with a slightly lower resin content, whereby the said layer becomes more resilient than the first layer. Hereupon, the third centrifuging apparatus sprays even thinner glass fibre strength and a smaller layer of adhesive resin, and the layer formed is more resilient than the preceding layer. The fourth centrifuging apparatus sprays still thinner and more resilient layer.

[0021] In this way, the ultimate heat insulation, whose specific rigidity varies when passing through the layer, can be produced as layers by centrifuging, so that it has different rigidities and different densities. More precise control is achieved by controlling the air flow and the quantity of the adhesive resin.

[0022] Thus, the insulation can be produced by using conventional manufacturing processes and by varying the adjustment values of the manufacturing equipment, and therefore no additional cost is incurred at the manufacturing stage.

[0023] The insulation layer 3 of varying specific rigidity can also be produced in a way differing from the above. Thus, the insulation can be produced by joining an ordinary rigid insulation layer and an ordinary soft insulation together. In such a case, e.g., one half of the insulation, facing the building frame, is resilient and soft, and the portion of the insulation facing the facade is rigid. The ratio of the thicknesses of the resilient and the rigid heat insulation layer may, of course, show variation in accordance with the requirements of use at each particular time.

Claims

1. Prefabricated lining panel with heat insulation, which panel comprises

- a board-shaped facade layer (1, 2) preferably made of concrete, and
a heat isulation layer (3) sandwiched and fastened to the inside face of the facade layer (1, 2),
characterized in that
the specific rigidity of the material of the insulation layer (3) decreases as a function of the distance from the side facing the facade layer (1, 2).

2. Panel as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the insulation layer (3) comprises several partial layers of different rigidities, sandwiched o.e upon the other.

3. Panel as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the number of the partial layers is 2 to 4.

4. Panel as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the decrease in the specific rigidity of the insulation layer (3) is continuous and smooth.

5. Panel as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the entire insulation layer (3) is manufactured of one and the same material.

6. Panel as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the insulation layer (3) is made of mineral wool, preferably glass wool.

7. Panel as claimed in Claim 1, wherein ventilation grooves (5) or equivalent are provided in the insulation layer (3), characterized in that the ventila- tion grooves (5) are placed at the more rigid side of the insulation layer (3).

8. Panel as claimed in Claim 7, characterized in that the ventilation grooves (5) are placed in the joint between the facade layer (1) and the insulation layer (3).

Drawing