Butt-weldable conveyor belt

• US 7,267,219 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2003
• Issued: 09/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Habasit AG
• Original Assignee: Habasit AG
• Inventors: Vogt, Ju
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford; Gene O.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NICHOLSON III, LESLIE AUGUST
• Application Number:
  US10/528,098
• Publication Number:
  US 20060163042A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,461 Days
• Field of Search: 198/844.1, 198/846, 198/847
• US Class Current: 198/847
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 15/34 with reinforcing layers, e.g. of fabric
• CPC Class Codes: F16G 3/10 Joining belts by sewing, sticking, vulcanising, or the like; Constructional adaptations of the belt ends for this purpose

Abstract

The invention relates to conveyor belts, which have a laminate consisting of: i) a textile ply (1) with a first ply surface (11) and with a second ply surface (12); ii) a first synthetic material ply (2), which adheres to the first ply surface (11), is made of a thermoplastic material having a creep resistance v_k of no greater than 0.005 at 30° C., and which contains at least 70% by weight of a thermoplastic having a creep resistance v_k of no greater than 0.005 at 30° C.; and iii) a second synthetic material ply (3), which adheres to the second ply surface (12), is made of a thermoplastic material having a creep resistance v_k of no greater than 0.005 at 30° C., and which contains at least 70% by weight of a thermoplastic having a creep resistance v_k of no greater than 0.005 at 30° C., with the provision that the quotient r_v of formula (I):

$r_v=\frac{V_B{\rho }_T}{G_T}-1,$
wherein V_B represents the surface volume of the laminate, ρ_T represents the density, and G_T represents the weight per unit area of the textile ply (1), results in a value ranging from 5 to 25. These conveyor belts can be joined to form endless conveyor belts via butt end connections.

Claims

1. Conveyor belt comprising a layered composite of:

i) a textile ply (1) with a first ply surface (11) and a second ply surface (12);

ii) a first plastic layer (2), which adheres to the first ply surface (11), of a thermoplastic plastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C., which contains at least 70 percent by weight of a non-crosslinked thermoplastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C.; and

iii) a second plastic layer (3), which adheres to the second ply surface (12), of a thermoplastic plastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C., which contains at least 70 percent by weight of a non-crosslinked thermoplastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C.;

with the proviso that the quotient r_v gives a value in the range of 5 to 25 according to the following Formula (I);

$\begin{array}{cc}{r}_V=\frac{V_B<br><br>{\mathrm{\rho <br><br>}}_T}{G_T}-1,& \left(I\right)\end{array}$

wherein V_B denotes the volume per unit area of the said layered composite and ρ

_T denotes the density of the textile ply (1), and G_T denotes the weight per unit area of the textile ply (1).

2. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, characterised in that the thermoplastic plastics of the plastic layers (2) and (3) each contain at least 95 percent by weight of a thermoplastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C.

3. Conveyor belt according to claim 2, characterised in that the thermoplastics are selected from the group consisting of TPE-A, TPE-E, TPE-U, and the ethylene-α

-olefin-copolymers with ratio of weight average molecular weight M_w to number average molecular weight M_n of 5.0;

1 to 1.5;

1.

4. Conveyor belt according to claim 3, characterised in that TPE-A is selected from the group consisting of poly(poly{tetramethylene ethylene glycol}-b-poly{ω

-laurinlactam}), poly(poly{tetramethylene ethylene glycol}-b-poly {ε

-caprolactam}), poly(polyethylene oxide-b-poly{ω

-laurinlactam}) and poly(polyethylene oxide-b-poly {ε

-caprolactam }), in that TPE-E is poly(poly{tetradecakis[oxytetramethylene]oxyterephthaloyl}-b-poly {oxytetramethylene oxyterephthaloyl}), or TPE-U is TPE-U produced from polyesterdiols and diisocyanates.

5. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, characterised in that the two layers (2) and (3) consist of the same thermoplastic plastic.

6. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, characterised in that the textile ply (1) is non-woven.

7. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, characterised in that the separation resistance between layer (2) and textile ply (1) and between layer (3) and textile ply (1) is in each case at least 2.5 N/mm, measured according to the standard DIN 53530.

8. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, comprising a top coating.

9. Conveyor belt according to claim 8, containing anti-bacterial means in the top coating.

10. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, containing anti-bacterial means in the layer (2) and/or the layer (3).

11. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, characterised in that it has a symmetrical layer construction around the textile ply (1).

12. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, with a width of 50 to 5000 mm.

13. Endless conveyor belt according to claim 1, comprising a butt end-to-end joint.

14. Conveyor belt according to claim 1, comprising two butt ends.

15. Method for making a conveyor belt endless, wherein the belt comprises a layered composite of:

i) a textile ply (1) with a first ply surface (11) and a second ply surface (12);

ii) a first plastic layer (2), which adheres to the first ply surface (11), of a thermoplastic plastic with a creeping strength V_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C., which contains at least 70 percent by weight of a non-crosslinked thermoplastic with a creeping strength V_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C.; and

iii) a second plastic layer (3), which adheres to the second ply surface (12), of a thermoplastic plastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C., which contains at least 70 percent by weight of a non-crosslinked thermoplastic with a creeping strength v_k of at the most 0.005 at 30°

C.;

with the proviso that the quotient r_v gives a value in the range of 5 to 25 according to the following Formula (I);

$\begin{array}{cc}{r}_v=\frac{V_B<br><br>{\mathrm{\rho <br><br>}}_T}{G_T}-1,& \left(I\right)\end{array}$

wherein V_B denotes the volume per unit area of the said layered composite and ρ

_T denotes the density of the textile ply (1), and G_T denotes the weight per unit area of the textile ply (1);

wherein the method comprises;

i) providing the conveyor belt with butt ends, and

ii) welding together of the butt ends.