Edge insulation technology for vacuum insulation panels

摘要

The invention provides an edge insulation piece (1) comprising a thin sheet of material (2) which is manipulated by bending, rolling or other forming to effect a long conductive path within a small cross-sectional area. In a preferred embodiment, a thin layer of insulation material (3) is interleaved between two layers of the thin sheet of material (2), which is folded around the insulation layer (3) during forming of the edge piece (1). A further layer of insulation material (4) may be rolled within the edge piece (1) as it is. This interleaving of thin layers of insulation material (3, 4) prevents the surfaces of the thin sheet of material (2) from touching each other and also insulates the material (2) from the top and bottom panels (5, 6) of a vacuum insulation panel (7) when the edge piece (1) is inserted around the edge of the panel (7). The edge piece (1) may be further coated over part or all of its length with a low emissivity material (13) to minimise radiative losses. Alternatively or additionally the coating (13) may comprise a gas impermeable layer to form a gas impermeable barrier.