AU675830B2 - Improved duct and method of manufacture - Google Patents

Description

1- P/00/00 I I Regulat ion 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 C'OMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

o 0 Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service 111 THAM-JAMES-ONN~ TFALtmfl :ztvsrnEArs I..roinh William James Donnelly in Australia: CARTER SMITH BEADLE 2 Railway Parade Camberwell Victoria 3124 Australia Invention Title: IMPROVED DUCT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Details of Associated Provisional Application: PL. 8782 filed 12 May 1993 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us -2- The present invention relates to ducting and more particularly to an improved flexible duct construction of the kind suilable for use in ducted heating and airconditioning systems for example. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the duct.

Many differing forms of duct construction have been used to the past for heating and airconditioning duct constrnction, as well in the construction of ducts for ventilation and air extraction systems.

More recently some known constructions have been banned for health or safety reasons. For example, ducts constructed of fiberglass are now banned for health reasons and polypropylene foam is not suitable in fire-rated. applications.

Other constructions which are acceptable for use generally suffer some disadvantage or another such as being costly to produce or requiring expensive raw materials. In most cases, insulating material is added to the duct after the basic duct is constructed.

15 Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improved duct construction which overcomes one or more of the disadvantages of known ducting constructions.

"Thus, one broad form of the invention which may be preferred provides a duct construction comprising a tubular casing of foam plastics having a continuous wire-like reinforcing element extending around the inside of the casing and progressively along the length of the duct, said reinforcing element being recessed into the inner surface of the casing so as to retain fixed relative thereto whilst allowing bending of the duct to follow differing paths.

Preferably said tubular casing is cylindrical and said reinforcing element is of helical configuration.

Preferably said tubular casing is extruded and said reinforcing element is formed of wire.

Another broad form of the invention which may be preferred provides a method of manufacturing a duct comprising the steps of extruding a tubular casing of foam plastics, forming a continuous length of a wire-like reinforcing element MGE:LD:1616Mi 3 May 19941 -3around a mandrel in a manner whereby the element extends along the mandrel, said mandrel having dimension and shape substantially equivalent to the internal dimensions and shape of said casing, rrmechanically expanding said casing over said mandrel, allowing said casing to contact so as to contact said element, removing said mandrel and heating said reinforcing element to cause the element to melt said foam in the vicinity of said element whereby said element is caused to form a continuous groove in the inner surface of said casing, in which groove said element is located.

Preferably said heating is achieved by passing an electric current through said element.

Preferably said duct is of circular cross-sectional and said reinforcing element is helical.

According to another broad form of the invention there is provided for **producing a duct, a process comprising the steps of: extruding a substantially tubular casing composed of a polymeric foam; coiling a continuous elongated reinforcing element composed of an electrically conductive metal helically about a split mandrel, said split mandrel having parts that are operable to contract to a normal mandrel diameter and expand to a slightly greater diameter, said parts having been expanded to said slightly greater than normal diameter; S. 20 inserting said expanded mandrel with said helically coiled element and said tububr casing; contracting said split mandrel and removing it from within said helically coiled element and said tubular casing; and passing an electrical current through said elongated reinforcing element in order to heat said elongated reinforcing element above the softening point of said tubular casing and to embed said reinforcing element into the inner surface of said tubular casing.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, one particular embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: MGE:LD:#6166 3 May 19* -4- Figure 1 is a cross-section of a duct according to the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a mandrel for forming a reinforcing element of the duct; and Figure 3 is a part sectional side view of the duct of Figure 1.

As seen in Figure 1, the duct according to this embodimerit is of circular cross-section and is formed of extruded foam plastics material such as polyurethane foam. The process of extruding polyurethane foam is known per se. The duct of Figure 1 includes reinforcing wire (not shown in Figure 1) to provide structural strength and integrity to the finish duct product.

Referring to Figure 2, a mandrel 11 is arranged to rotate in the direction shown by arrow 12 to cause wire 13 to be wound in a helical path along the length of the mandrel. The wire 13 is of a springy-type wire and is electrically conductive.

T: he extrude duct 10 is cut to a suitable length and is expanded by insertion of a split mandrel (not shown) which is inserted into the cut length of the duct to cause the diameter of the duct to be increased slightly. Since the polyurethane foam has some resilience and some "memory", it may be expanded slightly and will, over a period of time, contact to its original shape. By ilse of the split mandrel the duct 10 is expanded so as to be capable of installation over the mandrel 11 which has an outer diameter equal to the normal diameter of the duct 10. Once the duct 10 has been installed over the mandrel 11 and has contracted to its original diameter whereby it fits tightly over the mandrel 11, the mandrel 11, which is also a split mandrel, is contracted and withdrawn whereby the helically formed wire 13 extends along the length of the duct 10 against the inner surface thereof. Of course prior to insertion of the duct 10 over the mandrel 11 the wire 13 is terminated at each end of the mandrel 11 by means of clamiping (not shown) at the ends.

The final stage of manufacture involves securing the wire 13 to the inner surface of the duct 10 and this is achieved by application of a predetermined electrical current to the wire 13 whereby the wire is heated causing the foam duct in the vicinity of the wire to melt. The slight force of the helical wire against the MGE.LD:N6166 3 May 1994 inner surface of the duct 10 causes the wire to become embedded in the inner surface of the duct, as is shown more clearly in Figure 3. Once embedded the wire 13 is strongly bonded within the duct 10 and provides a reinforcing element whereby the duct may be bent to follow various differing paths when it is in use. The wire also provides structural integrity whereby the duct will withstand a certain amount of external loads such as when it is being transported and when it is suspended in use.

The internal diameter and wall thickness by be varied according to the end use for which it is intended. Obviously the wall thickness controls the level of insulation performance to be achieved by the duct and may be varied accordingly.

It should be evident to persons skilled in the art that the duct according to the present invention and the method of manufacture thereof provides considerable :..improvements over known products. The duct has good insulating properties and :therefore there is no need to add insulation as is the case with many known constructions such as metal ducts. Of course the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described hereinbefore as many variations may be readily effected by persons skilled in thb art. It is conceivable for example that the duct need not be of circular section but colAd be of rectangular section. Furthermore the diameter and wall thickness may be varied as previously mentioned. Also, the type of plastic foam material used to construct the duct may be varied considerably provided it has the necessary characteristics of insulating properties and ability to be extruded. The wire reinforcing element may be of plastic coated wire or could even be of totally plastic material. In the case where the reinforcing wire is electrically non-conducting material, an alternative embodiment avoids the necessity to pass electric current through the wire and adjacent foam. In this alternative embodiment, the amount of contraction of the duct over the reinforcing wire is sufficient to cause the wire to be compressed into the inner surface of the duct and thereby be retained in position. The diameter of the helical wire should be slightly greater than the contracted inner diameter of the duct to ensure proper positive location of the reinforcing wire.

MGE:L:6166 3 May 1994 -6- It should also be evident that the duct according to the invention has many uses such as transporting mechanically or naturally motivated movement of air or gases. In some applications and sized the duct may be suitable for transporting low pressure liquids.

0 e et a ae *oo MGB:L1D:6166 3 May 1994

Claims (11)

1. A duct construction comprising a tubular casing of foam plastics having a continuous wire-like reinforcing element extending around the inside of the casing and progressively along the length of the duct, said reinforcing element being recessed into the inner surface of the casing so as to remain fixed relative thereto whilst allowing bending of the duct to follow differing paths.

2. A duct construction according to Claim I wherein said tubular casing is cylindrical and said reinforcing element is of helical configuration.

3. A duct construction according to Claim I or 2 wherein said tubular casing is extruded and said reinforcing element is formed of wire.

4. A method of manufiteturing a duct comprising the steps of extruding a tubular casing of foam plastics, fori-ning a continuous length of a wire-like reinforcing element around a mandrel in a manner whereby the element extends along the mandrel, said mandrel having dimensions and shape substantially equivalent to the internal dimensions and shape of said casing, mechanically expanding said casing over the mandrel, allowing said casing to contract so as to contract said element, removing said mandrel and heating said reinforcing element to cause the element to melt said foam in the vicinity of said element whereby said element is caused to form a continuous groove in the inner surface of said casing, in which groove said element is located.

A method according to Claim 4 wherein said heating is achieved by passing an electric current through said element.

6. A method according to Claim 4 or 5 wherein said duct is of circular cross- section and said reinforcing element is helical.

7. For producing a duct, a process comprising the steps of. extruding a substantially tubular casing composed of a polymeric foam; coiling a continuous elongated reinforcing element composed of an electrically conductive metal helically about a split mandrel, said split mandrel having parts that are operable to contract to a normal mandrel diameter and expand to a slightly greater diameter, said parts having been expanded to said slightly JRG:IA:96166 9 Decembcr 1996 8 greater than normal diameter; inserting said expanded mandrel with said helically coiled element and said tubuiar casing; contracting said split mandrel and removing it from within said helically coiled element and said tubular casing; and passing an electrical current through said elongated reinforcing element in order to heat said elongated reinforcing element above the softening point of said tubular casing and to embed said reinforcing element into the inner surface of said tubular casing.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein said polymeric foam comprises an elastomer.

9. The process of claim 7 wherein said polymeric foam comprises polyurethane.

A duct construction substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.

11. A method of process of manufacturing a duct substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED: 9 December 1996 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: WILLIAM JAMES DONNELLY 0 GJA:116166 9 Deamber 1996 I ABSTRACT Manufacturing of ducting (10) comprises: extruding a tubular casing of polymeric foam material, coiling a reinforcing wire (13) made of electrically conductive metal around a split mandrel (11) which has been expanded to a diameter slightly greater than normal, inserting the mandrel (11) and wire (13) into the tubular casing, contracting the split mandrel and removing it from within the coiled wire (13) and the tubular casing, and passing an electric current through the wire (13) to heat it sufficiently to embed it within the tubular casing. O* a *S MGB:LD;6166 3 Mny 1994