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EP-4365474-B1 - THERMAL INSULATION BOARD AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR AND REFRIGERATOR USING THERMAL INSULATION BOARD

EP4365474B1EP 4365474 B1EP4365474 B1EP 4365474B1EP-4365474-B1

Inventors

  • LIU, Zhanzhan
  • WANG, Haijuan
  • CHENG, Xueli

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220623

Claims (9)

  1. An insulating panel (3), comprising a vacuum insulation panel (31) and insulating material (33); the vacuum insulation panel (31) comprises a core material (311) and a coating material (313), wherein the core material (311) provides an annular groove (315) on one side, the coating material (313) envelops the core material (311), and a vacuum is formed between the core material (311) and the coating material (313); the insulating material (33) is arranged in the annular groove (315) enveloped by the coating material (313), the insulating material (33) is located on the same plane as the vacuum insulation panel (31), and the thermal resistance of the insulating material (33) is higher than the thermal resistance of the coating material (313); the surface of the insulating material (33) is used to attach to a refrigerator shell (11); wherein one side end surface of the annular groove (315) is flush with the side end surface of the core material (311), so that the adhered end surface of the insulating material (33) and the vacuum insulation panel (31) are in the same plane.
  2. The insulating panel (3) according to claim 1, wherein the coating material (313) is configured as aluminum foil or aluminum vapor deposition.
  3. The insulating panel (3) according to claim 1, wherein the core material (311) comprises at least one of glass fiber, glass wool, and fumed silica.
  4. The insulating panel (3) according to claim 1, wherein the insulating material (33) comprises at least one of expanded polystyrene, foamed polyurethane, expanded polyethylene, and expanded polypropylene.
  5. The insulating panel (3) according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the annular groove (315) is 1/2-2/3 of the thickness of the core material (311).
  6. The insulating panel (3) according to claim 1, wherein an adsorbent (317) is provided inside the core material (311).
  7. A refrigerator (1), comprising a shell (11) and a liner (13), wherein an insulating panel (3) according to any of claims 1 to 6 and foamed polyurethane (5) are provided between the refrigerator shell (11) and liner (13), with the surface of the insulating material (33) being attached to the refrigerator shell (11).
  8. A method for preparing an insulating panel (3), wherein the method comprises the following steps: forming an annular groove (315) on one side of the prepared core material (311); inserting the core material (311) with the annular groove (315) into a pre-fabricated coating material bag; vacuum extraction and heat sealing of the core material (311) and coating material bag, obtaining a vacuum insulation panel (31) with the annular groove (315); molding an insulating material (33) according to the size of the annular groove (315), the thermal resistance of the insulating material (33) is higher than the thermal resistance of the coating material (313); adhering the cut insulating material (33) into the annular groove (315) of the vacuum insulation panel (31), wherein the insulating material (33) is in the same plane as the vacuum insulation panel (31); the surface of the insulating material (33) is used to attach to a refrigerator shell; wherein one side end surface of the annular groove (315) is flush with the side end surface of the core material (311), so that the adhered end surface of the insulating material (33) and the vacuum insulation panel (31) are in the same plane.
  9. The method for preparing an insulating panel (3) according to claim 8, wherein the core material (311) of the insulating panel is configured as an integrally formed, or configured as laminated after made into unit sizes.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to the field of refrigeration appliances, and in particular, to an insulating panel, preparation method, as well as a refrigerator with the insulating panel. BACKGROUND Vacuum insulation panels, a type of vacuum insulation material, are composed of a core material and a vacuum protective layer. They effectively prevent heat transfer caused by air convection. Currently, the application of vacuum insulation panels in refrigerators involves directly affixing flat vacuum insulation panels to the relatively flat surface of the refrigerator's shell, followed by foam filling. However, to maintain the internal vacuum, vacuum insulation panels often use materials like aluminum foil or aluminum vapor deposition for the overlay material. Due to aluminum's high thermal conductivity, heat transfers directly from one side to the other through the overlay material, leading to the "thermal bridging effect" at the edges of the vacuum insulation panel, resulting in poor energy efficiency at the edges. The existing technical solution involves adding a thin layer of insulation material between the vacuum insulation panel and the refrigerator shell during application. Since the size of the insulation material is smaller than that of the vacuum insulation panel, the edges of the vacuum insulation panel are suspended. During the foaming of polyurethane, the disorderliness of the foam material and the small thickness of the suspended space can lead to polyurethane not filling properly, resulting in voids and surface defects. US 2020/355424 A1 relates to a vacuum adiabatic body and refrigerator, wherein the refrigerator provides a vacuum adiabatic body with a sealing part, a supporting unit, a heat resistance unit, and an exhaust port to improve adiabatic performance. CN 102 401 216 B relates to a vacuum insulation material comprising a core material and an exterior cover material. The core material has a plurality of laminates, wherein a first laminate deforms and forms a concave portion to accommodate a heat sink tube. US 10 603 865 B2 relates to an insulating panel, comprising a vacuum insulation panel and insulating material; the vacuum insulation panel comprises a core material and a coating material, the coating material envelops the core material, and a vacuum is formed between the core material and the coating material; the insulating material is arranged to the sealing part, the insulating material is located on the same plane as the vacuum insulation panel, and the surface of the insulating material is used to attach to a refrigerator shell; wherein the adhered end surface of the insulating material and the vacuum insulation panel are in the same plane. SUMMARY An object of the present invention is to provide an insulating panel and its preparation method, as well as a refrigerator with the insulating panel. The invention is defined by the appended set of claims. Compared to existing technologies, the disclosed insulating panel, preparation method, and a refrigerator with the insulating panel, reduce the heat transfer to the edges and inside of the vacuum insulation panel through the insulating material. This reduction lowers the "thermal bridging effect" at the edges of the vacuum insulation panel, thereby achieving effective thermal insulation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator in an embodiment of the invention;FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the insulating panel in an embodiment of the invention;FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the vacuum insulation panel in an embodiment of the invention;FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the preparation method for the insulating panel in an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention will be described in detail in conjunction with embodiments shown in the figures. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. Structural, methodological or function variations made by those having ordinary skill in the art according to the embodiments are all included in the protection scope of the appended set of claims. It should be appreciated that terms indicating spatial relative positions such as "up", "down", "in" and "out" used in the text herein are intended to describe a relationship of one unit or feature shown in figures relative to another unit or feature for an easy description purpose. The terms indicating spatial relative positions may be intended to include different orientations besides the orientations shown in the figures in use or operation of the device. As shown in Figure 1, an embodiment of the invention provides a refrigerator 1, comprising a shell 11 and a liner 13, with an insulating panel 3 and foamed polyurethane 5 set between the shell 11 and the liner 13, and the surface of the insulating material 3 being attached to the shell 11. As shown in Figure 2, an embodiment of the invention provides an insulating panel 3, comprising a vacuum insu