The present invention relates to the technical field of fire safe penetration seals for services, i.e. service installations, such as e.g. pipes, cables or the like. Such fire safe penetration seals are intended to act as a firestopping and airseal barrier to reinstate the fire resistance and acoustic performances of concrete floors or ceilings, masonry walls and dry wall systems when apertures have been created for the passage of services. In certain areas, in particular within floors and ceilings the fire safe penetration seal is combined or acts together with a concrete layer to be poured on top of the penetration seal in order to achieve best possible fire protection and smoke seal for the full area of the floor or ceiling.

Main subject of the invention is a system consisting of a fire safe sealing and an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building through which at least a pipe, a cable or the like is guided; the ceiling or the floor having an upper and a lower surface, whereby the fire safe sealing consists of at least one non-combustible insulation element, preferably made of mineral wool, respectively bound mineral fibers and being bendable with respect to at least its longitudinal axis. Furthermore the invention relates to a non-combustible insulation element, preferably made of bound mineral fibers, for such a system.

A further subject of the invention is a method for sealing an aperture through which at least a pipe, a cable or the like is guided through, in a floor or a ceiling of a building having an upper and a lower surface by using at least one such non-combustible insulation element, preferably made of bound mineral fibers and being bendable with respect to at least its longitudinal axis, as a fire safe sealing.

Finally the invention relates to a construction kit for a fire safe sealing to be installed in an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building through which at least a pipe, a cable or the like is guided, such kit containing at least one non-combustible insulation element, preferably made of bound mineral fibers and being bendable with respect to at least its longitudinal axis.

Systems for providing a fire safe sealing in an aperture of a building element, especially in a wai!, a ceiling or in a floor are well-known from the prior art.

For example GB 2 507 016 A1 discloses an insulation for sealing passages through walls comprising a sealing plug for sealing a space between an internal edge of a wall and a through-part, and on at least one lateral of the wall a thermal insulation sleeve surrounding the through-part over a portion of a length thereof starting from the sealing plug. In this prior art the through-part is a pipe and the wall is a horizontal concrete slab. The pipe passes through the slab and is disposed lateral in an orifice defined in the slab so as to pass through a shell being made of mineral wool. The shell has a certain length and a certain thickness and is cut and installed around the pipe. This shell is clamped with stainless iron (steel) wire. Shuttering is placed under the slab and around the pipe through the wall under the shell so as to define with the shell and the walls a mould for receiving mortar. In a specific embodiment the wall being a slab, the shuttering being such that the sealing plug reaches a thickness of 150 millimeters and so that the lower face of the shuttering panel, made of polystyrene, for example, is flush with the lower face of the concrete slab. The shuttering is removed when the mortar achieves an adequate consistency. A further embodiment of a fire protected penetration is disclosed in WO 00/52278. This fire-protected penetration is used for a conduit passing through a hole in a wall. The conduit has a through-going insulation, preferably of pipe insulation section type, made of mineral wool, which may be glass wool. The space between the hole in the wall and the conduit insulation is filled with packed, radially compressed fire-retardant mineral wool, preferably stone wool. The system of this fire-protected penetration consists of two plaster boards, being inserted into an aperture in a wall. The plaster boards are placed on wall studs which keep the two inner plaster boards at a fixed stud distance from each other. The through-hole has a quadrangular cross-section and is made in the wall. A metallic pipe is passed axially and centrally through the aperture in the wall. On the pipe, a pipe insulation extending through the aperture is arranged in the form of a conventional pipe insulation section made of glass wool. The space between abutments and the corresponding part of the pipe insulation section is filled with packed stone wool. The stone wool is packed around the pipe insulation section such that it is radially very much compressed, so as to be able to expand. If needed, radially inwards towards the pipe insulation section and the pipe to compensate, for instance, for a collapse of the pipe insulation section, if the latter is exposed to such a high temperature that the glass wool softens and“settles”. The two lateral openings of the aperture in the wall are filled with after-filling or after-repairing material, which suitably contributes to the fire protection. The material is advantageously mortar or plaster or the like. Therefore, such a system consists of an insulation element which is clamped between abutments, for example parts of the wall and the outer surface of a pipe being insulated with a conventional pipe insulation section. Furthermore, at both laterals of the insulation element the aperture is closed by a material like mortar or plaster or the like.

A further system for providing a sealing in art aperture in a waif, a ceiling or a floor of a building is known from DE 35 04 742 A1 disclosing a cable bulkhead which, in the region of a wall through-opening, seals the cable which is passed through there with respect to the opening. This system consists of several insulation boards being stacked in an aperture supplemented with a layer of loose mineral fibers being arranged between two insulation boards and surrounding a set of cables in a cable tray, thus forming an insert into the aperture in the wail. On both laterals of the wall the insert is covered with nonflammable sealing boards consisting of two layers of which one layer is an aluminum-clad ceramic laminate and the other being a non-combustible coating layer.

Each of the before described systems have the disadvantage that it is very difficult to install the elements of the system into the aperture of a building. Furthermore these systems are only partly suitable for apertures in a ceiling or a floor as it will be necessary to use further construction elements to fix the system in the aperture as it is described in the following prior art:

For example, DE 100 08 100 A1 describes a method of sealing an aperture in a ceiling through which pipes or the like are guided. For this purpose a permanent shuttering in which holes are cut conforming to the shape and size of the pipes or the like is laid. Said shuttering is fixed into the aperture by at least two angled holding elements which are connected to the ceiling and on which a layer of a casting compound for example made of mortar or concrete is arranged. An alternative embodiment of this fire safe sealing is disclosed in DE 101 08 316 A1. According to this prior art the holding elements are replaced and a shuttering board which is connected to the lower outer surface of the ceiling, e.g. by gluing and thereby carrying the casting compound.

Furthermore a comparable embodiment of such a fire safe sealing is disclosed in DE 201 11 127 U1. Finally JP 01243810 A and JP 03284112 A disclose a constructing method for cable penetrating sections or a fire proof construction each containing metal fittings of a steel wire or the like to carry for example an inorganic fiber plate onto which a fire-proof filler is arranged.

According to the before described prior art, tremendous efforts and several elements such as holding devices for fixing and carrying a shuttering are necessary to finally seal an aperture and to define a cavity into which a filling material, e.g. of mortar or concrete is placed. These embodiments are expensive; moreover they are complex to install which increases the risk of possible mistakes and inaccuracy which will cause problems with respect to the fire resistancy of such sealings.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system consisting of a fire safe sealing and an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building which is easy to handle, easy to install and which makes it possible to use only a minimum number of elements to be handled giving excellent fire resistance and which provides increased sound and/or thermal insulation characteristics.

Furthermore it is an object of the invention to provide a non-combustible insulation element which can be used in a system of a fire safe sealing and an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building and which may be part of a construction kit which allows the user to adapt the insulation element to the aperture in a very flexible manner. Therefore, a further object of the invention is to provide such a construction kit for a fire safe sealing to be installed in an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building which can be used for different sizes of apertures and which gives the producer of such fire safe sealings the possibility to provide only a minimum of different construction kits to his customers which may be used for different sizes of apertures.

Finally it is a further object of the invention to provide a method for closing an aperture with which it is very easy to close an aperture thereby allowing pipes, cables or the like running through the aperture and being sealed in a fire-resistant way. A system according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a non-combustible insulation element having a length and/or a width being larger than a length and/or a width of the aperture, whereby the difference(s) of the length of the insulation element relative to the length of the aperture and/or the width of the insulation element relative to the width of the aperture is adjusted so that the insulation element inserted into the aperture does not extend beyond two planes defined by the upper and lower surface of the ceiling or the floor. The main aspect of the invention with respect to the system is that a non-combustible insulation element is used which size at least in one dimension, length or width, is larger than the dimension of the aperture into which the insulation element has to be inserted. Because of a larger length and/or width and the bendability of the insulation element it may be fixed to the aperture in a bow-shaped course thereby not extending beyond the upper and lower surface of the ceiling or the floor. The insulation element is therefore force clamped into the aperture and depending on the elasticity the insulation element is fixed into the aperture so that the covering layer of mortar or concrete can be arranged on top of the insulation element without the need for additional supporting elements from the below, like e.g. a formwork or shuttering. This layer of mortar or concrete closes the aperture on the upper part of the ceiling or the floor and gives an unbroken surface of the ceiling or the floor. Most of the layer of the concrete or mortar is arranged in crotches provided by the boards of the insulation element on both sides of the insulation element in longitudinal direction or cross-wise to the longitudinal direction. Preferably the insulation element has a size being larger than the aperture in one dimension. Of course the insulation element will also be provided with a slightly larger dimension in the opposite direction but not in a specified or controlled manner as to form a certain bow-shaped course than for the one dimension. As mentioned above, the insulation element will be arranged arc-shaped in the aperture which means that the insulation element has a larger dimension compared to the one of the aperture.

According to a further aspect of the invention the non-combustible insulation element consists of at least two, preferable several strip-shaped firestop elements, each having two main surfaces being arranged parallel to each other and having different lengths (a, b), whereby the two surfaces are connected to each other via lateral faces. It has been discovered that it is easier to handle two or more such firestop elements of the insulation element during the installment of the insulation element into the aperture. Preferably the insulation element contains two parts being connected to the lateral faces of the aperture in the ceiling or the floor which have a right trapezoid cross section. These parts may be starter elements being in contact with opposite lateral faces of the aperture. Two side faces of these elements are arranged with respect to the upper and lower surface of the insulation element under an angle being not 90°. These parts have two parallel surfaces of different lengths (a, b) which means one surface is longer than the other. The longer surface is arranged downwardly and the shorter surface of these parts is arranged upwardly in the aperture of the ceiling or the floor. Connected to the lateral surfaces several additional firestop elements of isosceles trapezoidal cross section of the non- combustible insulation element are subsequently arranged arc-shaped between these two starter elements being in contact to lateral faces of the aperture. Therefore, the insulation element contains for example two starter elements of right trapezoid cross section and several intermediate elements of isosceles trapezoidal cross section. Preferably, the starter elements being connected to the lateral faces of the aperture are connected by connecting elements being fixed to the lateral faces of the aperture, each having a base plate to be fixed on the lateral face of the aperture and at least one pin like element to penetrate into the starter element. Depending on the length or width of the aperture and the weight of the insulation element several connecting elements have to be used. Preferably the pin like element is provided with at least one, preferably several barbs penetrating into the insulation element and thereby fixing the insulation element.

According to a further aspect of the invention the non-combustible insulation element itself respectively the strip-shaped firestop elements forming it have a trapezoidal cross section which allows the insulation element to be in a ho!ohedral contact with the lateral faces of the aperture and to arrange the insulation element in a bow-shaped arrangement within the aperture. Using several strip-shaped firestop elements forming the insulation element and each having a trapezoidal cross section allows an easy installment of the firestop elements thereby achieving the arc-shaped arrangement within the aperture. Preferably the non-combustible insulation element is made of mineral wool, respectively bound mineral fibers according to European Standard EN 13162:2012. The insulation element has a bulk density of 70 to 200 kg/m ³ and more preferably between 120 to 160 kg/m ³ . It has been found that insulation elements made of bound mineral fibers having these bulk densities are in particular suitable for a fire safe sealing being installed in a bow-shaped arrangement within the aperture thereby giving a suitable compressibility and elasticity on the one hand and stability on the other hand to carry an additional layer of mortar or concrete. Such fire safe sealing is in particular suitable to achieve a high fire resistance for penetration seals according to the dedicated standard EN 1366-3:2009. Tests have proven the capability of a single layer 100 mm thick mineral wool insulation element to provide up to 1 ,5 hours fire resistance integrity.

All firestop elements of the insulation element are of identical shape. This feature has the advantage that the firestop elements of the insulation elements can be used for different apertures and therefore be easily combined into a construction kit for a fire safe sealing to be installed in an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building which will be described later on. A customer can use the firestop elements of the insulation element and has not to decide which part has to be installed in which position as the use of identical parts has the advantage that each part fits in each place.

A further feature of the system according to the invention is given by a non-combustib!e insulation element having a lamellar like fiber orientation, e.g. a fiber orientation which is substantially perpendicular to its main surfaces. This fiber orientation has the advantage that the lamellar like firestop element of the insulation element or the insulation element itself is compressible in a direction parallel to the main surfaces of the insulation element and therefore parallel to the horizontal direction of the ceiling or the floor in the built-in state. The compressibility of the insulation element or the firestop elements of the insulation element caused by this fiber orientation has the effect that the clamping forces within the insulation element or between the insulation element and the lateral faces of the aperture can be increased by using the insulation element or a part of the insulation element in a compressed manner before inserting the insulation element or a part of the insulation element into the aperture. The insulation element or the part of the insulation element will then expand inside the aperture and built-up high clamping forces. On the other hand the fiber orientation of the insulation element perpendicular to its main surfaces has the advantage that it gives the insulation element a high compressive strength orthogonal to said main surfaces of the insulation element. According to a further aspect of the invention the insulation element is divided into firestop elements in lengthwise direction and/or perpendicular to its lengthwise direction which means that the insulation element can be adapted to an aperture in which pipes, cables or the like are already installed. Furthermore it is of advantage if the insulation element comprises areas or firestop elements being arranged in direct contact to the lateral faces of the aperture and having an increased compressibility, preferably provided by a fiber orientation substantially perpendicular to the main surfaces of the insulation element Preferably the insulation element has a thickness of 40 to 90%, preferably of 50 to 70% of the thickness of the ceiling or the floor. It has been detected that such a relation between the thickness of the insulation element and the ceiling or the floor effects in increased thermal and/or sound insulation characteristics together with increased stability of the fire safe sealing allowing to carry a layer of mortar or concrete on top of the insulation element. According to a further aspect of the invention the insulation element is arranged in a distance from the lower surface of the ceiling or the floor of approximately 5 to 25% of the thickness of the ceiling or the floor, whereby the maximum distance is preferably arranged in the middle of the aperture so that the insulation element is arranged in a bow-shaped form within the aperture.

As already pointed out the insulation element is covered by a layer of concrete or mortar, which layer is in horizontal alignment with the upper surface of the ceiling or the floor. In case a pipe or a cable is already installed in the aperture the layer of concrete or mortar can be brought in direct contact with the outer surface of the pipe or the cable or the like. However, preferably the pipe, cable or the like in the plane of the layer of concrete or mortar is surrounded by a pipe shell, preferably made of mineral wool and having at least a length equal to the thickness of the insulation element, advantageously equal to the thickness of the ceiling or the floor. Such an embodiment has the advantage that the thermal and/or sound insulation characteristics and especially the fire resistancy are increased.

According to a further development of the invention the pipe, cable or the like is surrounded by a pipe shell, preferably made of mineral wool, being arranged underneath the insulation element and having a diameter being larger than a diameter of a hole in the insulation element through which the pipe, cable or the like is guided, whereby the pipe shell is preferably in contact with the surface of the insulation element. The additional pipe shell can on the one hand be used as a bearing for the insulation element and increases on the other hand the sealing between the outer surface of the pipe, cable or the like and the insulation element which increases fire resistancy and of course thermal and/or sound insulation characteristics of the fire safe sealing in the aperture.

With respect to the system according to the invention it has been found as of advantage to use lamellas made of mineral wool as insulation element, preferably covered and/or connected by a foil, e. g. made of aluminum, metal, especially alloy, being arranged on at least one surface of the insulation element. Such a foil has the advantage that several lamellas made of mineral wool can be put together to provide the insulation element. Furthermore, such an embodiment provides improved smoke tightness. On the other hand the foil can be used as a detent which avoids that the layer of concrete or mortar diffuses into the insulation element thereby closing pores between the fibers and reducing the thermal and/or sound insulation characteristics of the insulation element. Furthermore, concrete or mortar diffusing into the insulation element increases the weight of the insulation element which results in a need for higher clamping forces between individual parts of the insulation element and/or between the insulation element and lateral faces of the aperture.

The before mentioned object is achieved with respect to a non-combustible insulation element according to the invention in that the insulation element is bendable with respect to at least its longitudinal axis whereby the insulation element has a length and/or a width being longer than a length and/or a width of an aperture in a floor or a ceiling of a building, preferably through which a pipe, a cable or the like is guided, whereby the difference (s) of the length of the insulation element relative to the length of the aperture and/or the width of the insulation element relative to the width of the aperture is adjusted so that the insulation element inserted into the aperture does not extend beyond two planes defined by upper and lower surfaces of the ceiling or the floor.

The insulation element according to the invention is therefore equipped with a certain bendability which allows the installment of the insulation element in an aperture in a bow- shaped arrangement which is necessary because the dimensions of the insulation element in length and/or width are larger than the dimension of the aperture into which the insulation element is to be installed. Such an insulation element can be easily installed into an aperture thereby ensuring that the insulation element is fixed in the aperture in a way that on the one hand pipes, cables or the like are easily surrounded by the insulation element and on the other hand the insulation element is fixed into the aperture without any other fixing elements like brackets or the like and is able to carry a layer of concrete or mortar which layer is in horizontal alignment with the upper surface of the ceiling or the floor and which layer is provided in the aperture after fixing the insulation element in the aperture.

Preferably the insulation element according to the invention consists of at least two, preferably several strip-shaped firestop elements, each having two surfaces being arranged parallel to each other and having different lengths, whereby the two surfaces are connected to each other via lateral faces. According to a further feature the insulation element is characterized by a trapezoidal cross section or in that the firestop elements forming the insulation element have a trapezoidal cross section allowing to built-up an insulation element within the aperture having a bow-shaped arrangement.

Preferably the insulation element is characterized by a bulk density of 70 to 200 kg/m ³ , preferably between 120 to 160 kg/m ³ and/or by areas or firestop elements being provided for a direct contact to lateral faces of the aperture having an increased compressibility, preferably provided by a fiber orientation perpendicular to the main surface of the insulation element. The parts of the insulation element can for example be made of lamellas made from mineral wool, preferably covered and/or connected by a foil, e. g. made of metal, especially alloy, being arranged on at least one surface of the insulation element. All advantages of these features are already explained before and are of course fulfilled by an insulation element according to the invention.

With respect to the before mentioned object a method for closing an aperture, preferably an aperture through which a pipe, a cable or the like is guided through, in a floor or a ceiling of a building is characterized in that the insulation element, having a length and/or a width being longer than a length and/or a width of the aperture is inserted into the aperture in a bow-shaped arrangement, whereby the difference(s) of the length of the insulation element relative to the length of the aperture and/or the width of the insulation element relative to the width of the aperture is adjusted so that the insulation element inserted into the aperture does not extend beyond two planes defined by the upper and lower surface of the ceiling or the floor. According to the invention the aperture in the ceiling or in the floor has certain dimensions, namely length and width. Into the aperture an insulation element being bendable with respect to at least its longitudinal axis is inserted as a fire safe sealing. The insulation element has a length being larger than the length of the aperture so that the insulation element can only be inserted into the aperture by bending the insulation element so that the longitudinal length of the insulation element is shortened to a length which is shorter than the length of the aperture. In this bended arrangement the insulation element can be inserted into the aperture and because of its elasticity the insulation element tends to get back into its not bended arrangement thereby building up friction forces between the insulation element and the lateral faces of the aperture. Because the length of the aperture is shorter than the length of the insulation element the insulation element is arranged bowshaped in the aperture whereby the length of the insulation element has to be adjusted in a way that the insulation element inserted into the aperture does not extend beyond at least the upper surface of the ceiling or the floor. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention connecting elements are fixed to lateral faces of the aperture, each having a base plate to be fixed on a lateral face of the aperture and at least one pin like element penetrating into the insulation element. The pin like element can be equipped with barbs which additionally secure the insulation element inside the aperture.

Furthermore it is of advantage that the insulation element is arranged in a manner that the height being defined as the distance from the center of the arc to the center of its base is in a range between 2,0 and 5,0 cm, whereby the maximum distance is preferably arranged in the middle of the aperture. In other words the difference between distance di and d ₂ as will be further explained later on in relation to a specific embodiment respectively figure 9. The arrangement of the insulation element in the aperture is bow-shaped and can be dome-like if the insulation element has not only a larger length than the aperture but additionally a larger width compared to the aperture.

On top of the insulation element a layer of concrete or mortar is arranged in a way that the layer of concrete or mortar after it is hardened is in horizontal alignment with the upper surface of the ceiling or the floor. The mortar or the concrete is brought in in a liquid or semi liquid state and can therefore be distributed very easily on top of further insulation element. It has been found of advantage to insert a barrier first on top of the insulation layer to avoid that the concrete or mortar diffuses into the insulation element made of mineral wool. Such a barrier can be a foil made of alloy or resin whereby alloy is preferred with respect to fire resistancy. If a pipe, a cable or the like is present running through the aperture this pipe or cable or the like is surrounded by a pipe shell, preferably made of mineral wool before the insulation element is inserted into the aperture, which pipe shell has at least a length equal to the thickness of the insulation element, preferably equal to the thickness of the ceiling or the floor. The additional pipe shell surrounding the pipe or the cable has the advantage that it is more easily to seal the insulation element with respect to the pipe by using an additional pipe shell, especially made of mineral wool as this material is compressible and expands after it is inserted into a hole in a compressed way.

According to a further embodiment of the invention a pipe, a cable or the like running through the aperture is surrounded by a pipe shell, preferably made of mineral wool after the insulation element is inserted into the aperture, which pipe shell is arranged underneath the insulation element and having a diameter being larger than a diameter of a hole in the insulation element through which the pipe, cable or the like is guided, whereby the pipe shell is preferably in contact with the surface of the insulation element. This additional pipe shell has additional sealing effects and increases the fire resistancy of the Are safe sealing even in case the hole in the insulation element through which the pipe, cable or the like is running has a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the pipe, cable or the like or a pipe shell surrounding the pipe, cable or the like and running through the hole. According to a first possibility of the method according to the invention in a first step the pipe, cable or the like is inserted into the aperture. In a second step a respective hole for the pipe, cable or the like is provided in the insulation element. In a third step the insulation element is arranged in the aperture thereby surrounding the pipe, cable or the like already inserted into the aperture and finally in a forth step a layer of concrete or mortar is arranged on the upper surface of the insulation element which layer is preferably in horizontal alignment with the upper surface of the ceiling or the floor. In an embodiment of the first possibility of the method wherein the non-combustible insulation element consists of at least two, preferably several strip-shaped firestop elements, in a third step said firestop elements are subsequently arranged one by one within the aperture in order to seal the space between the service installations and the lateral faces of the aperture. In yet another embodiment additional connecting elements might be used between individual firestop elements.

Alternatively, according to a second possibility the method according to the invention is characterized in that in a first step the insulation element is arranged in the aperture. In a second step a hole for the pipe, cable or the like is provided in the insulation element and in a third step the pipe, cable or the like is inserted into the hole of the insulation element followed by a forth step in which a layer of concrete or mortar is arranged on the upper surface of the insulation element which layer is preferably in horizontal alignment with the upper surface of the ceiling or the floor Finally with respect to the construction kit according to the invention the before mentioned object is solved in that the non-combustible insulation element has a length and/or a width being longer than a length and/or a width of the aperture, whereby the difference(s) of the length of the insulation element relative to the length of the aperture and/or the width of the insulation element relative to the width of the aperture is adjusted so that the insulation element inserted into the aperture does not extend beyond two planes defined by the upper and lower surface of the ceiling or the floor.

The construction kit according to the invention contains therefore at least one non combustible insulation element. This insulation element can be divided into strip-shaped Firestop elements being part of the construction kit. Additionally the construction kit can contain connecting elements, each having a base plate to be fixed on a lateral face of the aperture and at least one pin like element to penetrate into the insulation element, whereby the pin like element is preferably provided with at least one, preferably several barbs These additional contained connecting elements can be fixed to lateral faces of the aperture first before the insulation element is arranged in the aperture whereby the insulation element is arranged in a bow-shaped arrangement as the insulation element has a length or a width being larger than the length or the width of the aperture. The construction kit can be completed by additionally contained components for a layer of concrete or mortar to be arranged on top of one surface of the insulation element. Such a mortar or concrete can be a mixture in an airtight container which is liquid or semi liquid so that the concrete or mortar can be arranged above the insulation element and hardens by getting in contact with air. On the other hand the mixture can be a dry mixture which can be mixed with water and/or other liquids to produce a semi liquid mixture which can be poured into the area of the aperture above the insulation element.

Preferably the construction kit additionally contains pipe shells, preferably made of mineral wool for an arrangement at the pipe, cable or the like.

The invention will now be described in more detail by means of exemplifying embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which identical or corresponding components have been given the same reference numerals. Figure 1 ; shows a first embodiment of a system consisting of a fire safe sealing and an aperture in a floor of a building in a partly sectional view;

Figure 2: shows a second embodiment of a system consisting of a fire safe sealing and an aperture in a ceiling of a building in a partly sectional view;

Figure 3; a first embodiment of a connecting element in a plan view;

Figure 4: the connecting element according to figure 3 in a side view; Figure 5; a second embodiment of a connecting element in a plan view;

Figure 6: a part of an insulation element in a prospective view;

5 Figure 7: a system according to figure 1 in a top view;

Figure 8: a part of the system according to figure 7 in a partly sectional view according to Vlll-VIll in figure 7 and lo Figure 9: a further embodiment of a part of the system according to figure 1 in side view.

Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a system consisting of a fire safe sealing 1 in an aperture 2 in a floor 3 through which a pipe 4 is guided. The floor 3 having a thickness D is (compare Figure 2) has an upper surface 5 and a lower surface 6. Furthermore the floor 3 has lateral faces 7 of the aperture 2 running perpendicular to the lower surface 6 and the upper surface 5.

The fire safe sealing 1 consists of a non-combustible insulation element 8 made of mineral 2o wool and having a thickness d (compare Figure 2). The insulation element 8 consists of two strip-shaped firestop elements, namely starter elements 9 being in direct contact with the lateral faces 7 of the aperture 2 and several firestop elements, namely intermediate elements 10 being arranged between the two starter elements 9 and being arranged bow- shaped in the aperture 2. Each starter element 9 has a right trapezoidal cross section and 25 each intermediate element 10 has an isosceles trapezoidal cross section. The insulation element 8 is bendable and has a length I (compare figure 2) which is larger than the length L (compare figure 2) of the aperture 2. Therefore, the insulation element 8 is hold clamp fitted in the aperture 2 and provides the bow-shaped arrangement. The thickness d of the insulation element 8 is smaller than the thickness D of the floor 3 and therefore the BO aperture 2. As can be seen from figures 1 and 2 the insulation element 8 is arranged flush with the lower surface 8 of the floor 3 and erects in the middle of the aperture 2 in the direction to the plane of the upper surface 5 of the floor 3. The insulation element 8 is adjusted with its length so that the insulation element 8 inserted into the aperture 2 does not extend beyond two planes defined by the upper surface 5 and the lower surface 6 of the floor 3

As can be seen in figure 1 connecting elements 11 are fixed to the lateral faces 7 of the aperture 2 _» each having a base plate 12 to be fixed on the lateral face 7 of the aperture 2 and at least a pin like element 13 to penetrate into the insulation e!ement 8 The pin like element 13 is equipped with barbs 14 erecting from the pin like element 13 in a more or less radial direction whereby the barbs 14 are deviated into the direction to the base plate 12 The free end of the pin like element 13 is accumulated to simplify the procrastination of the insulation element 8 onto the connecting element 1 1.

As can be seen from figures 3 to 5 the connecting elements 11 can have different designs. Figures 3 and 4 show a first embodiment of the connecting element 11 having a round base plate 12 and only one pin like element 13. Several of these connecting elements 11 can be fixed to the lateral faces 7 of the aperture 2 whereby it is of advantage to fix these connecting elements 11 on at least two opposing lateral faces 7 in equal distances to each other.

A second embodiment is shown in figure 5. This embodiment of the connecting element 11 has a base plate 12 of rectangular shape. The base plate 12 is equipped with five pin like elements 13. Of course, the base plate 12 can have a length which allows to have more pin like elements 13 being arranged in equal distances to each other on the base plate 12.

The base plate 12 shown in figure 5 can have predetermined breaking points which allow to shorten the base plate 12 in accordance with the length or the width of the aperture 2. The connecting elements 11 can be fixed to the lateral faces 7 of the aperture 2 by using glue and/or by using screws.

The pipe 4 shown in figure 1 is surrounded by a not shown pipe shell and underneath the insulation element 8 the pipe 4 with the pipe shell is surrounded by a further pipe shell 15 having a diameter being larger than the diameter of the not shown hole in the insulation element 8 through which the pipe 4 runs. The pipe shell 15 therefore additionally seals the fire safe sealing 1 underneath the insulation element 8 which is of advantage in case of a fire in a room below floor 3. It additionally seals the fire safe sealing 1 against smoke. Furthermore it can be seen from figure 1 that on top of the insulation element 8 a layer 16 is arranged made of concrete. The layer 16 is in horizontal alignment with the upper surface 5 of the floor 3 and covers the whole surface of the insulation element thereby joining at the outer surface of the pipe 4.

5

Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the system which differs from the first embodiment according to figure 1 in that the insulation element 8 is not divided in starter elements 9 and intermediate elements 10 being arranged in alignment to each other between the two opposing lateral faces 7 of the aperture. Nevertheless, as will be lo described later with respect to figures 7 and 8 the insulation element 8 can be divided into two or more strip-shaped fi restop elements running parallel to each other between the two lateral faces 7 of the aperture 2.

Figure 6 shows such strip-shaped firestop element 17 as an example of a starter element is 9 or an intermediate element 10 of the insulation element 8. It can be seen that this barlike element 17 has a trapezoidal cross section. On a top or main surface 18 two lines 19 are present which define reference lines for a cutting process. By using these lines 19 the firestop element 17 can be cut into a starter element 9 as shown in figure 1. On the other hand these firestop elements 17 can be used as intermediate elements 10 of the insulation 2o element 8 shown in figure 1. The two starter elements 9 are produced in cutting the element 17 along one line 19. By cuting the element 17 a new face is provided which is fixed to the lateral face 7 of the aperture 2 whereby the top surface 18 is oriented in the direction to the upper surface 5 of the floor 3. The intermediate elements 10 of the insulation element 8 according to figure 1 are elements 17 which are not cut along the line as 19 and which are arranged in the aperture 2 with the top surface 18 oriented towards the lower surface 6 of the floor 3. Furthermore, figure 6 shows a predominant fibre orientation (lines 24) which is substantially perpendicular to the top or main surface 18 of the element 9, 10. so Figures 7 and 8 show details of the system according to figure 1. As can be seen from figure 7 too pipes 4 are running through the aperture 2 each being surrounded by a pipe shell 20. The pipe 4 in the upper right comer of the aperture 2 is running between two ends of the intermediate element 10 which means that only one intermediate element 10 is cut into two parts and one part is installed on the one side of the pipe 4 and the other part is installed on the opposing side of the pipe 4 thereby leaving an opening 21 of quadratic shape open through which the pipe 4 with the pipe shell 20 runs.

Crotches 22 can be filled with mineral fibers and a binding agent to seal the opening 21 totally.

The second pipe 4 with a pipe shell 20 is arranged between two intermediate elements 10 running parallel to each other. In each intermediate element 10 a semicircular opening is cut to receive one half of the pipe 14 with the pipe shell 20. The opening 21 can have a diameter being a little bit smaller than the outer diameter of the pipe shell 20. Because of the elasticity of the pipe shell 20 made of mineral wool and/or the elasticity of the insulation element 8 the pipe shell 20 and/or the insulation element 8 can be compressed in the area of the opening so that the insulation element 8 is in tight contact to the outer surface of the pipe shell 20 On the other hand it is possible to have an opening 21 with a diameter being larger than the outer diameter of the pipe shell 20 In this case an annular space 23 is provided between the outer surface of the pipe shell 20 and the inner faces of the opening

21. This annular space 23 can be filled up with mineral fibers and a binding agent

Finally, figure 9 shows a further embodiment of a fire safe sealing 1 which is illustrated partly. As can be seen from figure 9 the firestop element 10 has a smaller thickness d than the thickness D of the floor 3. The firestop element 10 is in contact with lateral faces 7 of the floor 3 whereby the lower surface of the firestop element 10 is arranged in a certain distance from the lower surface 5 of the floor of approximately 5% of the thickness of the floor 3 in the area of the contact to the lateral face 7 of the floor 3, illustrated as arrow di in figure 9, and of approximately 20% of the thickness D of the floor 3 in the area of the width of the aperture 2, illustrated as arrow cfe in figure 9.

List of Reference Numbers

1 fire safe sealing

2 aperture

3 floor

4 pipe

5 upper surface

6 lower surface

7 lateral face

8 (non-combustible) insulation element

9 firestop element / starter element

10 firestop element / intermediate element

1 1 connecting element

12 base plate

13 pin like element

14 barb

15 pipe shell

16 layer

17 firestop element

18 top surface

19 line

20 pipe shell

21 opening

22 crotch

23 annular space

24 fibre orientation

L length aperture

I length insulation element

D thickness floor

d thickness insulation element di arrow

d ₂ arrow