July 25, 2007
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and Furukawa Techno Material Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa-ken; President: Nobuyuki Nakamura; Capital: 300 million yen, 100% funded by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.) have acquired the approval of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, for a fire prevention and noise insulation component (as a noncombustible material) to be attached to the steel boxes inside the hollow partition walls that are often employed in hotel and other buildings.
Accordingly, the companies are releasing the Heatmel Noncombustible and Noise Insulation Kit on August 1, a fire prevention and noise insulation material that is easy to install and environmentally friendly. The companies target annual sales of at least 150 million yen by fiscal 2009.
The product is also effective as a noise insulation material for openings with a synthetic resin box is attached. The scope of application of the product will be expanded to include private houses where privacy is an important factor. (for example, for the partition walls of bedrooms, toilet and bathrooms) The product will also be marketed to housing manufacturers, purely as a noise insulating material.
Background
Today, the dry partition walls of gypsum board are often used as they are effective for reducing the weight of hotel and other buildings and for facilitating layout changes. However, it has been noted that when an opening is made through these walls to attach the box necessary for steel switches and plugs to be connected with telephones and home appliances, the walls lose some of their fire prevention and noise insulation efficiency.
To solve the problem, we released Heatmel Box Noise Insulation Kit in 2001, the first product in Japan to ensure that walls retain their fire prevention and noise insulation efficiency, simply by wrapping the boxes with a flexible sheet and covering the periphery with aluminum tape. The product has since found nationwide application.
Subsequently, the 2002 version of the “Design Guidelines for Structures of Wood Frame Construction Method (Wooden Houses Promotion Office, Construction Guidance Division, Housing Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)” stated that “steel boxes shall be covered for fire prevention with nonflammable insulating materials (such as rock wool or glass wool) measuring 30mm or more in thickness.” However, this construction method is difficult to employ in practice. This prompted considerable anticipation for approval of a user-friendly product as a noncombustible material.
We obtained the approval of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (NM-1684, 1685) for the product as one that falls under the category of item 9, Article 2 of the Building Standards Law (noncombustible material), which has equivalent qualifications as a fire prevention covering (noncombustible insulating material). This is the first time the material has received approval in Japan for this purpose. The product will be released as the Heatmel Box Noncombustible Fire Proof Kit.
Approval was granted for a structure in which the base metal plate, the material that constitutes the steel box, is attached with Heatmel and then covered entirely with aluminum foil tape of 50µm in thickness, which together form the components of the product.
Heatmel Box Noncombustible and Noise Insulation Kit
Expanded application
For private houses that do not need a fireproof compartment, synthetic resin boxes are attached as wiring boxes for telephone lines and home appliance power lines. As with hotels and other buildings, demand has grown to prevent a loss of the noise insulation efficiency of the opening. We conducted a comparative test on noise insulation efficiency using the product, and confirmed that that a synthetic resin box using this product has the same noise insulation efficiency as a wall without any opening. Consequently, it is now possible to use the product with private houses also.
Features of Heatmel Box Noncombustible Noise Insulation Kit
- Has obtained approval NM-1684, 1685 of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
- Fire resistance efficiency lasting one hour (confirmed in the in-house test by our company)
- Almost equal noise insulation efficiency as a wall without opening
- Attachment is easy --- just cover the box and others with flexible sheet and aluminum tape
- Attachment can be done prior to installing the boxes onto the wall
- Convenient as all necessary materials are included in the kit
- Environmentally friendly materials are used
- Noise insulation efficiency is almost equivalent to that of a wall without any opening, even with use of a synthetic resin box (fire prevention efficiency not considered)
Remarks
- [Product name]
- Heatmel Box Noncombustible Noise Insulation Kit
- [Product No.]
- Total of six types in accordance with the box size (1SB-10, 2SB-10, 3SB-10, 4SB-10, OB-10 and OB-40)
- [Prices]
-
Product No. Applicable box size Contents (sets) Standard price (yen/box) 1SB-10 Box for one switch Contains 10 sets 11,800 2SB-10 Box for two switches Contains 10 sets 14,900 3SB-10 Box for three switches Contains 10 sets 18,100 4SB-10 Box for four switches Contains 10 sets 21,100 OB -10 Medium-sized rectangular shallow outlet box Contains 10 sets 12,800 OB -40 Contains 40 sets 42,400 - [Date of release]
- August 1, 2007