Method for fabricating honeycomb insulating material

A method of producing one or more individual stacks of flat, expandable tubular strips forming an expandable honeycomb panel, each stack to comprise N secured-together such strips of a length L the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a continuous flexible sheet of material;
• forming a flat, expandable tubular web from said continuous flexible material from which said strips are to be cut, stacked and secured together, said web having a number of major sections along its length, each major section having a portion comprising N-1 to-be-stacked segments each having a length L, a first to be stacked segment of a length L preceding said N-1 segments, and a not-to-be stacked portion between first to-be stacked segment and said N-1 segments, said not-to-be stacked portion having a not-to-be stacked front margin, said N-1 to-be-stacked segments including a last segment having an end margin, and said first to be stacked segment having a first to-be-stacked front margin;
• moving said web first to an adhesive-applying station having at least one adhesive applying unit which is adapted to discharge adhesive down upon the top of said web and which is to be turned on and off to initiate adhesive flow and adhesive flow interruption periods respectively;
• turning said at least one adhesive applying unit on when the not-to-be stacked front margin of each major web section passes thereby so that the consistency of the adhesive reaches a desired level by the time said N-1 segments of each web section passes thereby;
• initiating the turn-off of said at least one adhesive applying unit at a point in time so that it is turned off completely at least when the first to-be-stacked front margin of said first-to-be stacked segment of the web passes thereby and after the end margin of the last segment of said N-1 segments of the web passes thereby;
• moving the adhesive coated web to a cutting station where the first to-be-stacked segment and N-1 to-be-stacked segments of the web are transversely and sequentially cut into N individual flat, expandable tubular cut strips each of a length L, and where the not-to-be stacked portions of the web are transversely and sequentially cut into at least a single not-to-be stacked strip;
• delivering said strips cut from said first to-be-stacked segments and N-1 to-be-stacked segments of the web to a stacking station where the strips are stacked and pushed against each other to adhere the strips together forming an expandable honeycomb panel;
• and
• delivering the strips cut from said not-to-be-stacked portions of the web to a delivery point where these strips are not stacked.