Morgan Adhesives Company

Judith A Roth

Gerald H Knittel

George R Simmons

Kasper J Niemira

Paula J Butcher

Pipe insulation sleeve and adhesive construction therefor, having a reduced amount of stress applied to the adhesive. A flexible foamed elastomeric tubular pipe insulation sleeve has a longitudinally extending slit which enables the sleeve or jacket to be placed around a pipe or portion thereof. An adhesive is applied to opposite walls of the slit, forming an adhesive joint, in order to hold the construction together after the insulation sleeve has been placed around a section of pipe. Stress on the adhesive joint is minimized or reduced in either of two ways. First, the tubular sleeve is formed with a V-shaped slit in which the opposite faces or walls of the slits intersect at an acute angle. In a preferred embodiment, the V is inverted (i.e., the open end of the V faces inwardly) and formed essentially along the minor axis of the elliptical shape which the sleeve assumes over time. In a completed construction in which the tubular sleeve encircles a portion of pipe, the walls of the slit are in facing engagement with each other, and held in engagement by adhesive. In a second construction for reducing stress, adhesive is applied both to the opposite walls of the silt as well as to longitudinally extending portions of the inner surface of the sleeve which are immediately adjacent to the slit, so that the sleeve can be adhered to itself along the slit and to the pipe which it encircles. These two constructions can be combined.

Pipe insulation sleeve

The present invention relates to an adhesive closure system. More specifically, this invention relates to an adhesive closure system with an abridged release liner. Initially, the abridged release liner allows partial exposure of the single adhesive layer to achieve a temporary bond. When desired, the release liner can be removed exposing the remainder of the adhesive to achieve a permanent bond. This type of closure system has numerous applications including the closure system for pipe insulation sleeves.

Adhesive closure system with an abridged release liner

The present invention relates to a combination of an A and B adhesive reacting together through a scrim material in a laminated combination, and wherein the B adhesive has great adherence characteristics to a vinyl nitrile foam, and the A adhesive has great adherence characteristics to itself. Thus a laminate of the A adhesive/scrim/B adhesive to each side of a slit in a vinyl nitrile foam tubular insulation, with appropriate release liners covering the outside A adhesive, has been found to be particularly effective. When the release liners are removed and the A adhesives pressed together, a very strong bond is created closing the slit in the vinyl nitrile foam insulation holding the tubular vinyl nitrile foam in place on the tubular member to be insulated. Normally, this is utilized in an air conditioning application with the piping or tubes running from the compressor to the air conditioning unit, and wherein vinyl nitrile foam insulation has proven to be the best insulating material for this application.

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Akron, OH, United States of America

Judith A Roth