Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2067683
This invention is directed toward an improved insulated building
used for sport or recreation that employs an ice surface on the floor
of the building. The invention is particularly directed toward an
improved, insulated building used for playing hockey.
The invention is also directed toward a method for use in
insulating the building: particularly a building used for playing
hockey.
Buildings that enclose an ice surface have specific problems to
overcome during their operation. The ice surface leads to high
humidity conditions in the building, and high humidity conditions can
lead to condensation problems. Condensation occurs because the
building, particularly the roof, is normally constructed of high
emissivity material such as steel. As the interior of the roof
radiates heat it cools down and if its temperature drops below the
dewpoint temperature of the air within the building, condensation
forms on the interior of the roof. Condensation in the building can
result in the formation of rust giving the interior of the building an
unsightly appearance. More maintenance is thus required to keep up
the appearance of the building in high humidity conditions.
Condensation can also drip onto the ice surface forming bumps thereon
which adversely affect performance on the ice. Removal of the bumps
involves further maintenance costs. The humidity conditions can be
controlled by humidifiers, but to reduce humidity to where
condensation problems are minimized is very expensive.
Formation and maintenance of the ice surface also requires high
refrigerant loads. Radiation of heat from the roof and walls of the
building creates a high heat load to maintain the ice surface. The
radiation of heat from the roof and walls also lowers their
temperature, making them cooler and leading to the aforementioned
condensation problems.
2067683
It is known to use aluminum foil in building construction to
reduce radiation of heat from the walls and roof of a building.
Aluminum foil has a very low coefficient of emissivity. The aluminum
foil both reflects heat and minimi~es radiation making a building
warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The aluminum foil is usually
employed in conjunction with a layer of fibrous insulation, the foil
being adhesively adhered to at least one and usually both sides of the
insulation layer. The insulation layer with the foil is applied to
the interior surfaces of the walls and roof with the foil, if it is
only on one side, facing inwardly.
The use of aluminum foil insulation in a building housing an ice
surface would be ideal since the use of the aluminum foil would reduce
radiation thus lowering the refrigerant load, and would also minimize
condensation problems. However to apply the aluminum layered
insulation over all the interior surfaces of the walls and roof of an
ice rink, while also covering it to protect it from damage within the
rink, would be very, very expensive. G ~ ~ ~
Canadian Patent 1,061,584~'shows that it is known to use aluminum
foil in specific locations in ice rinks. In this patent, a layer of
foil is supported above the ice surface and below the roof. The foil
layer can comprise the surface of aluminum trays or it can be
adhesively attached to lightweight, rigid, support panels made of
other material. In either case the foil layer supporting structure
makes the installation very expensive. Also, with the foil attached
to the rigid support panels by adhesive it was found, under high
humidity conditions, that the adhesive failed causing the foil to peel
away thus creating appearance and maintenance problems.
It is also known to provide the foil aluminum layer in flexible sheet
form without the supporting structure with the sheets hung over the
ice surface to provide a ceiling to the ice surface. However in this
form, the foil layer can be unsightly and can tear easily. Also,
installation is difficult.
20~7683
With or without the supporting structure the aluminum foil layer
is presently only used in, or as, the ceiling of the building. The
foil layer in flexible sheet form without the supporting structure
cannot be used on the walls of the building because it would be too
easily damaged, particularly from impact by hockey pucks when used in
a hockey rink. Using the foil on the walls with a rigid supporting
structure again makes the installation very expensive since insulation
must be installed separately. The adhesively attached foil can also
separate from the rigid supporting structure when struck with hockey
pucks.
It is known to use a flexible insulation material in buildings
made from one or two layers of heavy duty, polyethylene, air-bubble
cushioning material sandwiched between outer layers of aluminum foil
which outer layers have been extruded onto the air-bubble material.
This material is sold under the trademark "Astro-Foil". This
insulating material has good insulation properties, and good
reflective and emissivity properties to reduce heat loss and energy
requirements in buildings. The material is also easily installed.
However the material was never considered suitable for arenas,
particularly hockey rinks, because it was thought that the material
would be easily damaged by hockey pucks. In small arenas where the
end boards of the hockey rink are close to the walls of the building,
hockey pucks are often shot and/or deflected over the end boards and
the protective glass on the end boards and hit the walls of the
building often with considerable force. It was thought that the air-
bubble insulating material would be easily torn when hit by the pucks
and would eventually present a tattered, unsightly appearance. For
this reason the insulating material has not been employed on the walls
of hockey rinks.
It has been discovered however that the insulation material
employing the air-bubble cushioning material is particularly suited
for use in hockey arenas, particularly on the interior surfaces of
2o67683
walls of hockey arenas, because the material has been unexpectedly
found to stand up to puck impact with little or no damage. It is
thought that the material stands up well to impact because the air-
bubble cushioning layers dissipate the impact energy. It is also
believed that the material stan~s up to impact because the foil layers
are extruded onto the cushioning layers producing much better
adherence of the foil and minimizing tearing. The extruded foil
la~ers also resist separation from the cushioning layers in high
humidity conditions. Thus the air-bubble insulating material is
particularly well suited for use in hockey rinks to insulate both the
ceiling and walls of the rink while at the same time, through the use
of the aluminum foil layers, reducing radiation and condensation
problems.
The insulation material comes in rolled up strips and is easily
installed on the roof and walls of buildings. The air-bubble
cushioning layers provide sufficient support for the aluminum foil so
that it is not easily damaged during installation. The strips of
insulating material are installed on wood or preferably plastic
s furring strips. The plastic furring strips stand up well in the high
humidity conditions maintaining the integrity of the insulation
installation for longer periods. The aluminum foil interior facing
surface of the insulation makes the interior of the building much
brighter. Thus illumination costs can be reduced further reducing the
heat load on the ice surface. The aluminum foil interlor facing
- surface in the ceiling reduces heat radiation and the ceilingtherefore stays relatively warm. Thus condensation is reduced and the
supporting structure for the insulation is less affected by moisture.
The aluminum foil exterior facing surface reduces heat input into the
building from outside, particularly during the summer, thereby keeping
the building cooler in the summer and reducing the refrigerant load.
The invention is particular~y directed toward a building having
a floor, means for making and maintaining an ice sheet on at least a
2067683
portion of the floor, a roof and side wal]s for enclosing the f]Gor,
and flexible insulation means installed on the inner side of the roof
and side walls. The insulation means is composed of a central section
consisting of one or more layers of cushioning material and a layer of
aluminum foil laminated onto at least the interior facing surface of
the central section. The insulation means has the ability to
withstand, with little or no damage, the impact of a hockey puck shot
off the ice.
The invention is also directed toward a method of insulating a
building that has means for making and maintaining a sheet of ice on
the floor of the building comprising: fastening plastic stringers to
' the interior surfaces of the side walls and roof of the building;
providing a flexible insulating material composed of a central section
consisting of one or more layers of air bubble cushioning material and
a layer of aluminum foil extruded onto at least one surface of the
central section; and fastening the insulating material onto the
stringers with the layer of aluminum foil facing into the interior of
the building.
The invention will now be described in detail having reference to
the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ice arena for hockey with
the insulation installed;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional detail view of the insulation;
Fig. 3 is a partial plan view showing the insulation being
installed; and
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional detail view of the insulation
installation taken along line 4-4 in Fig. 3.
The invention is directed to an ice rink building used for hockey
although the rink can also be used for skating or other ice sports and
recreation when not employed for hockey. The ice rink building 1 as
shown in Fig. 1 has a floor 3 on which a sheet of ice 5 can be built.
The building 1 contains equipment 7 such as a compressor and
20fi76~3
refrigerant pump to build and maintain the ice sheet 5. The ice sheet
5 can have boards 8 surrounding it to define a hockey playing surface.
The building 1 has side walls 9 and a roof 11 to enclose the ice sheet
5.
Insulation 15 is installed on the interior of the side walls 9
and the roof 13. The insulation 15, as shown in Fig. 2, is of the
type having a central section 17 which consists of at least one, and
preferably two, layers 19, 21 of air-bubble cushioning material. Each
cushioning layer lg, 21 is made from heavy duty polyethylene and has
air-filled spaces or bubbles 23 between inner and outer skins 25, 27.
The inner skins 25 of the two cushioning layers are integrally joined
to each other. The insulation has an outer skin of aluminum foil 29
on both sides that is laminated onto the outer skins 27 of the
cushioning layers 19, 21. Preferably, the aluminum foil is extruded
onto the outer skins 27. The extrusion step provides good adhesion of
the aluminum foil to the cushioning layers. The insulation layer 15,
with two layers of air-bubble cushioning material, is about five-
sixteenths of an inch thick. If desired the outer surface of the
aluminum foil layers 29 on the insulation could be coated with a clear
plastic finish so that the foil will retain its brightness.
The insulation 15 is installed in adjacent strips 33 on the walls
and roof. As shown in Fig. 3 the insulation 15 is stapled or
otherwise fastened to spaced-apart, parallel stringers 35 that are
fastened transverse to the wall studs or roof joists 37. The joints
39 between the insulation strips 33 are covered with ducting tape 41
or the like to make an airtight seal. Preferably, the ducting tape 41
is a low emissivity, pressure sensitive aluminum tape. The stringers
35 are preferably made from plastic material so that they do not rot
in the high humidity environment. The method of installing the
insulation 15 on the plastic stringer strips 35 is called "The Astro-
~ink Process".
2067683
The insulation 15 can be installed on top of regular insulation
already installed in the ceiling of the rink. If there is no regular
insulation in the ceiling of the rink, forced air circulation may be
needed in some installations to move air between the insulation 15 and
the roof 13 so as to prevent condensation from forming in the space
between the insulation and the roof. The possibility of this
happening in cool hockey arenas is remote but in some areas where the
hockey rinks are operated in hot weather, forced air circulation may
be needed.
The insulation 15 installed on the side walls can have aluminum
foil on its interior facing surface only if desired. However for the
roof the insulation must have aluminum foil on both surfaces. This
will minimize the formation of any fog over the rink in hot weather
conditions.
Throughout the application, reference has been made to installing
the insulation to the roof of the building. However, the building may
have a structural ceiling spaced below the roof. In this case the
,
insulation material can be installed to the ceiling facing the ice
surface. Alternatively, a false or non-structural ceiling can be
employed in the building, spaced below the roof, to support the
insulation in a position facing the ice surface. Therefore the term
"roof" in this application is meant to cover that structure covering
the ice surface whether it is the natural roof of the building or a
ceiling.
