Method of Providing a Mat Containing Aerogel and Apparatus for Implementing Such Method

Abstract

A method for providing a mat containing aerogel, comprising the steps of immersing a ribbon ( 11 ) of fabric or non-woven fabric, unwound from a reel ( 12 ), in a solution ( 13 ) containing aerogel in suspension, drying the ribbon impregnated with aerogel solution ( 14 ), winding the dried ribbon ( 15 ) containing aerogel onto a rewinding reel ( 16 ).

1 . A method for providing a mat containing aerogel, comprising the steps of:
 immersing a ribbon of fabric or non-woven fabric, unwound from a reel, in a solution containing aerogel in suspension,   drying said ribbon impregnated with aerogel solution,   winding said dried ribbon containing aerogel onto a rewinding reel.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises a final step of rewinding onto a reel, in which the rewinding is accompanied by the covering of the dried ribbon with a film which acts as a separator or has other functionalities before winding onto the rewinding reel. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said solution containing aerogel in suspension comprises water and an alcohol-based solvent. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said ribbon is made of pile fabric. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that between the step of immersion in the solution and the drying step there is a step of wringing the impregnated ribbon to recover the excess solution absorbed by the ribbon. 
     
     
         6 . An apparatus for providing a method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the apparatus comprises a vat containing said solution, for the immersion of said ribbon, a climate chamber for drying, and a system for separating the windings of ribbon with aerogel. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , characterized in that said climate chamber has inner walls, which form, in cooperation with corresponding redirection rollers, a sinusoidal path that extends predominantly downward from above and upward from below. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , characterized in that said vat for the solution contains on the inside redirection rollers which are adapted to define a path for the immersed ribbon which is longer than the length of the vat. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , characterized in that a bonding agent dispenser is interposed between a reel of a separator film and a rewinding reel for the ribbon with aerogel.