ARTICLE, PARTICULARLY DRIVE BELT, HAVING A TEXTILE LAYER AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DRIVE BELT

• US 20110269588A1
• Filed: 05/18/2011
• Published: 11/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Contitech Antriebssysteme GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Contitech Antriebssysteme GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Fleck, Andreas, Baltes, Thomas, Ishak, Antoine, Moses, Reinhold, Mahnken, Claus-Lüder, Teves, Reinhard, Schleicher, Marko, Kanzow, Henning, Gebhardt, Siegmar
• Granted Patent: US 9,709,128 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 474/205
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/022 Non-woven fabric
• CPC Class Codes: F16G 1/10 with textile reinforcement
• CPC Class Codes: F16G 5/08 with textile reinforcement
• CPC Class Codes: F16G 5/20 with a contact surface of special shape, e.g. toothed
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/20 Coated or impregnated woven, knit, or nonwoven fabric which is not [a] associated with another preformed layer or fiber layer or, [b] with respect to woven and knit, characterized, respectively, by a particular or differential weave or knit, wherein the coating or impregnation is neither a foamed material nor a free metal or alloy layer

Abstract

The invention relates to an article including an elastic main body on the basis of a vulcanized rubber (17) having an article surface that is susceptible to wear, which is provided with a textile layer. The textile layer, particularly a woven fabric (16) or knitted fabric, has a mesh design that allows the vulcanized rubber (17) to penetrate to the textile surface to form a textile-vulcanized rubber hybrid system (15), wherein the vulcanized rubber portion on the textile surface can be controlled by means of the stitch number, stitch width and the thread design of the textile layer. The article is in particular a drive belt and in connection with the primary intended use, a method for making a drive belt is provided.

Claims

1. An article having an elastic foundational body based on a vulcanizate having a wear-susceptible article surface which is provided with a textile cover ply, wherein the textile cover ply includes a mesh construction, which permits the passage of the vulcanizate to the textile surface to form a textile-vulcanizate hybrid system, and wherein the vulcanizate fraction at the textile surface is controllable via the mesh count, mesh size and thread construction of the textile cover ply.

2. The article according to claim 1, wherein the article is a band, belt, hose, air spring lobe, compensator or multilayered web.

5. The article according to claim 1, wherein the textile cover ply is a woven fabric, a formed-loop knit fabric or a drawn-loop knit fabric.

6. The article according to claim 5, wherein the textile cover ply is a stretchable woven fabric, a stretchable formed-loop knit fabric or a stretchable drawn-loop knit fabric.

7. The article according to claim 1, wherein the controlling of the vulcanizate fraction is based on adjusting the mesh count, mesh size and thread construction of the textile structure used having regard to the extension which the textile cover ply experiences in the course of the forming operation.

8. The article according to claim 1, wherein between the foundational body and the textile cover ply there is embedded a coating mass which together with the vulcanizate appears at the textile surface to form a textile-vulcanizate-coating hybrid system.

9. The article according to claim 8, wherein the coating mass is a chemical- and/or oil-resistant polymer.

10. The article according to claim 9, wherein the coating mass is a fluoropolymer and/or a polyurethane (PU).

11. The article according to claim 10, wherein the fluoropolymer is selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or a mixture thereof.

12. The article according to claim 11, wherein the fluoropolymer is PTFE.

13. The article according to claim 1, wherein the elastic foundational body is a vulcanizate based on a vulcanized mixture of rubber containing at least one rubber component and mixture ingredients.

14. The article according to claim 13, wherein the rubber component is selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-propylene copolymer (EPM), an ethylene-propylene-diene monomer copolymer (EPDM), (partly) hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), chloroprene rubber (CR), fluoro rubber (FKM), natural rubber (NR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR), which are used uncut or cut with at least one further rubber component.

15. The article according to claim 14, wherein the rubber component is EPM or EPDM or an EPM-EPDM blend.

28. The article according to claim 14, wherein the at least one further rubber component is selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-propylene copolymer (EPM), an ethylene-propylene-diene monomer copolymer (EPDM), (partly) hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), chloroprene rubber (CR), fluoro rubber (FKM), natural rubber (NR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR).

3. An article in the form of a drive belt having an elastic foundational body based on a vulcanizate, comprising a top ply as belt backing and a substructure with a force transmission zone, wherein the top ply and/or the particularly wear-susceptible force transition zone is/are provided with a textile cover ply, characterized in that the textile cover ply includes a mesh construction, which permits the passage of the vulcanizate to the textile surface to form a textile-vulcanizate hybrid system, and wherein the vulcanizate fraction at the textile surface is controllable via the mesh count, mesh size and thread construction of the textile cover ply.

4. The article according to claim 3, wherein the drive belt is configured as a flat belt, a V belt, a V ribbed belt, a toothed belt, a clutch belt or an elevator belt.

16. A process for producing a drive belt having an elastic foundational body based on a vulcanizable mixture of an elastomer forming a vulcanizate, comprising a top ply as belt backing and a substructure with a force transmission zone, wherein the top ply and/or the particularly wear-susceptible force transition zone is/are provided with a textile cover ply, comprising:

providing the unvulcanized belt blank with a textile cover ply, which includes a mesh construction enabling the vulcanizable mixture of elastomer to pass to the textile surface; and

,

finally vulcanizing the belt blank provided with the textile cover ply to form a textile-vulcanizate hybrid system, wherein the vulcanizate fraction at the textile surface is controlled via the mesh count, mesh size and thread construction of the textile cover ply.

17. The process according to claim 16, wherein the textile cover ply is selected from the group consisting of a woven fabric, a formed-loop knit fabric and a drawn-loop knit fabric.

18. The process according to claim 17, wherein the textile cover ply is selected from the group consisting of a stretchable woven fabric, a stretchable formed-loop knit fabric and a stretchable drawn-loop knit fabric.

19. The process according to claim 16, where the controlling of the vulcanizate fraction of the textile cover ply is based on adjusting the mesh count, mesh size and thread construction of the textile construction used before the vulcanization having regard to the extension which the textile cover ply experiences in the course of the forming operation.

20. The process according to claim 16, wherein a coating mass used is disposed between the foundational body and the textile cover ply and appears together with the vulcanizate at the textile surface to form a textile-vulcanizate-coating hybrid system.

21. The process according to claim 20, wherein a chemical- and/or oil-resistant polymer is/are used as the coating mass.

22. The process according to claim 21, wherein a fluoropolymer and/or a polyurethane (PU) is/are used as the coating mass.

23. The process according to claim 22, wherein polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and/or polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and/or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is/are used as fluoropolymer.

24. The process according to claim 23, wherein PTFE is used.

25. The process according to claim 16, wherein the elastic foundational body used is a vulcanizable mixture of rubber containing at least one rubber component and mixture ingredients.

26. The process according to claim 25, wherein the rubber component used is an ethylene-propylene copolymer (EPM), an ethylene-propylene-diene monomer copolymer (EPDM), (partly) hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), chloroprene rubber (CR), fluoro rubber (FKM), natural rubber (NR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) or butadiene rubber (BR), which are used uncut or cut with at least one further rubber component.

27. The process according to claim 26, wherein the rubber component used is EPM or EPDM or an EPM EPDM blend.

29. The process according to claim 26, wherein the at least one further rubber component is selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-propylene copolymer (EPM), an ethylene-propylene-diene monomer copolymer (EPDM), (partly) hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), chloroprene rubber (CR), fluoro rubber (FKM), natural rubber (NR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR).