Flexible abrasive belts

• US 6,390,906 B1
• Filed: 07/06/1998
• Issued: 05/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Norton Company (Compagnie De Saint-Gobain S.A.)
• Original Assignee: Saint-Gobain Abrasives Technology Company (Compagnie De Saint-Gobain S.A.)
• Inventors: Subramanian, Krishnamoorthy
• Primary Examiner(s): Hail, III, Joseph J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): OJINI, EZIAMARA ANTHONY
• Application Number:
  US09/110,824
• Time in Patent Office: 1,415 Days
• Field of Search: 451/296, 451/449, 451/489, 451/527
• US Class Current: 451/296
• CPC Class Codes: B24D 11/008 Finishing manufactured abrasive sheets, e.g. cutting, deforming
• CPC Class Codes: B24D 2203/00 Tool surfaces formed with a pattern

Abstract

Providing an abrasive belt with a pattern of holes through the abrasive-containing layer greatly increases the flexibility of the belt and reducing the need for flexing to generate a pattern of potentially destructive cracks in the abrasive surface.

Claims

1. An abrasive belt comprising a backing material and, adhered to a major surface thereof, an abrasive bearing layer, said belt having a pattern of holes therein which pass through at least the abrasive-bearing layer of the belt, in locations and in numbers sufficient to provide improved flexibility to the belt.

2. An abrasive belt according to claim 1 wherein the holes are arranged in a plurality of rows across the width of the belt with adjacent rows staggered with respect to adjacent rows such that a line parallel to an edge of the belt and passing through the center of a first hole in a first row of holes will intersect a hole in a row of holes that is from two to four rows removed from the first row.

3. An abrasive belt according to claim 2 in which, in any row of holes across the width of the belt, a line drawn through the centers of the holes intersects one of the holes in said row over from 25 to 50% of its length.

4. An abrasive belt according to claim 2 in which adjacent holes in a first row across the width of the belt are separated by a distance that is shorter than the distance between a hole in the first row and the nearest hole in any adjacent row.

5. An abrasive belt according to claim 1 in which the holes are round.

6. An abrasive belt according to claim 1 in which the holes also penetrate through the backing material.