Assembly and articulated panel, for thermal insulation

#The present invention particularly relates to, for thermal insulation, an assembly comprising at least one first and at least one second thermally insulating material within a panel (of vacuum insulating panel construction; VIP).

#A phase change material (PCM) may also be contained in the structure under vacuum (VIP). For any purpose, it is specified that a PCM designates a material capable of changing physical state within a restricted temperature range. Heat transfer (or thermal transfer) can be achieved by using the Latent Heat (LH) thereof: the material can then store or transfer energy by a mere change of state, while maintaining a substantially constant temperature, that of the change of state.

#As for the VIPs, they are thermal insulators in which an insulating core, typically made of porous material, e.g. a silica gel/powder pressed into a plate, surrounded, under vacuum, by a gas-tight wrapping sheet, e.g. made of plastic and/or laminated aluminium. The vacuum obtained, typically with a residual pressure ranging from 10−3 to 104 Pa, may allow decreasing the thermal conductivity to 0.02, if not less than 0.01 W/(m·K) approximately in the conditions of use. A 3 to 10 times greater insulation efficiency than that of more conventional insulating materials can thus be achieved.

#If necessary, the invention will be better understood and other characteristics, details and advantages thereof will further appear upon reading the following description given by way of non-limiting example and in reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a diagram of a thermal energy store-exchanger unit, in an exploded view;

#FIG. 2 shows, in an exploded view, one of its modules surrounded by blocks having thermal insulation not yet wrapped;

#Although other applications may be considered (e.g. liquid-liquid exchanger, evaporator, or condenser), the diagrams in FIGS. 1, and 4 to 6 taken together show a thermal energy store-exchanger unit 1 that comprises the following: at least one, in this case several, structures 3, each provided with a peripheral wall 5 and a bottom 29 and having an interior volume 7, in which in this case a refrigerating or heat-transfer fluid 9 is present that is able to circulate in said volumes under the action of circulation means 11, and elements 13 for storing and releasing thermal energy, at least one layer 15 containing a PCM that can be arranged in the peripheral wall 5 (e.g. in at least one peripheral cavity 17 of this wall, as shown in FIG. 2 or 5) or around said peripheral wall, in particular in the enclosure(s) 37 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, elements 19 with thermally insulating material 23 and of VIP construction (under vacuum) arranged around the layer 15 and extending around the peripheral wall 5, protrusions forming retaining spacers 22, attached with the peripheral wall(s) 5, two protrusions delimiting between one another, laterally and around the peripheral wall, an open space 24 in which is arranged at least one of the thermally insulating elements 19 of VIP construction, and a sleeve or sheath 38 of mechanical protection open at both ends, for example made of hard plastic, that wraps the modules 3, the parts 32, 34, 36 and the pockets 19, which are thus interposed between the walls 5 and this sheath.

#The peripheral wall 5 thus separates from the external environment (EXT) the volume 7, which it surrounds laterally, i.e. transversely to the direction (here 27) according to which the modules 3 are aligned or stacked.

#Extending around the protrusions 22 and the thermally insulating elements of VIP construction 19, the sleeve 38 contributes to retaining the elements 19 in the spaces 24, as shown in FIG. 4.