APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:

• Appliances--R-14 per inch appliance insulation to replace CFC- blown foam; modular panels used in composite with non-CFC foam to boost performance or decrease wall thickness
• Transportation--High performance, lightweight GFPs offer strong potential for thermal and acoustic applications in electric/hybrid vehicles, RVs, airplanes, and other automotive/transportation insulation industries

ADVANTAGES:

• Stiff GFPs for appliances: 1" thick R-12 GFP provides performance equivalent to 2" thick foam
• Gas-barrier materials technology is available commercially in shipping containers for the food packaging industry (see cargotech.com)
• Reduces transportation and storage costs
• Replaces CFC-dependent insulations
• In tight spots, use of GFPs reduces the need to either sacrifice performance or to redesign
• In automobile, truck and RV door interior panels, use of GFPs combines thermal insulation and sound dampening into a single device
• Use in vehicle doors decreases manufacturing complexity by reducing required number of parts

ABSTRACT:

Gas Filled Panels (GFPs) are a new, advanced approach to ambient-temperature thermal insulation applications. They consist of infrared reflecting (low emissivity), multilayer baffles enveloped by a sealed barrier and filled with a low conductivity gas or air (at atmospheric pressure). The panels are easy to make, may either be transported in a collapsed state and inflated on location, or pre-filled for shipment. Innovative, thin, highly efficient insulations such as Gas Filled Panels are increasingly desirable as energy efficiency becomes more important and manufacturers resist increases in insulation thickness. Gas Filled Panel technology holds great promise in niche areas in appliances — such as refrigerator doors — where space constraints due to user features or mechanical components would otherwise cause design problems. For example, high-performance, krypton GFPs offer performance in 1 inch of space that is equivalent to 2 inches of insulating foam. Similarly, in cars, planes, and RVs, Gas Filled Panel technology holds the promise of thin, efficient, thermal insulation that functions as acoustic insulation as well.

STATUS:

• U.S. patent #5,270,092. Other patents pending.
• Licensed in the following fields of use: (i) building insulation; (ii) insulated shipping containers; (iii) outdoor recreation equipment; (iv) insulating means of transportaton; and (v) appliances for industrial, commercial or agricultural use. Available for licensing in all other fields of use, including (a) insulating appliances for residential use (refrigerators, freezers, hot water heaters, etc.); (b) insulating ducts, climate conditioning equipment and their associated thermal distribution system.

REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-801, 1499