The invention relates to a method for providing a tire with an informative label. The method comprises supporting a tire, supplying a banding material to the tire and wrapping it in a loop around a part of the tire, holding the banding material at the neck of said loop, and connecting opposed areas of the banding material at said neck to form a label wrap. The invention further relates to an apparatus for carrying out the method and to a tire provided with the label. The informative label is easily removed by a mechanic and shows an improved processability and printability. The informative label further does not leave any adhesive or other residuals on a tire.

A portable conveyor belt splicing apparatus is provided that includes an upper press assembly and a lower press assembly which include, respectively, upper and lower platen assemblies. The upper and lower press assemblies may each include a forced air cooling system for rapidly cooling platens of the platen assemblies. The upper and lower press assemblies may include insulating assemblies with resilient members that support the upper and lower press assemblies. The resilient members provide structural support and insulate the platens from the frame which reduces the power required to heat the platens. In one form, the apparatus includes a power supply circuit that can alternate between providing power to upper and lower heaters in response to the apparatus being connected to different types of standard power supplies. Further, the power supply circuit permits the use of a single recipe for a particular belt irrespective of the type of power supply.

A feedback control system for use with ultrasonic welding. A weld energy set point and/or a reference power curve are used by a controller to provide a power supply voltage set point and a power supply frequency set point for the power that is to be drawn by an ultrasonic weld generator. Information regarding the actual voltage and/or frequency of the drawn electrical power, and/or the frequency and magnitude of an ultrasonic wave transmitted from the generator to an applicator tool used to weld an object can be utilized by an estimator to estimate the weld energy dissipated at the weld site and/or generate a power curve for the welding operation. Using information from the estimator, the controller can determine adjustments for variables for the current and/or future welding operations. Further, welding may not commence until a clamping force exerted on the object satisfies a clamping force set point.

An endless conveyor belt loop includes a conveyor belt that has an elongated body and a substantially uniform width. The ends of the conveyor belt each include a splice formation extending across the width of the conveyor belt that are each configured to mate with the other. A thermoplastic connector is thermally engaged between exposed surfaces formed by the splice formation at the ends of the conveyor belt. When the splice formations are aligned, the thermoplastic connector is thermally engaged and continuously interconnected between the ends for conveyor belt to form a seamless end connection. The thermoplastic connector comprises a thermoplastic copolyester elastomer.

A belt splicer for splicing butt ends of thermoplastic belts together. The splicer uses a plurality of cranks in conjunction with heavy springs to close and rapidly open jaws holding butt ends of a belt in place against a heating wand for melting and against each other for welding the melted ends together. The rapid opening of the jaw also lowers the wand, which is locked in place by a wand lock during the melting of the butt ends.

A belt splicer includes a pair of decks, each configured to hold a belt end. At least one of the decks is movable along a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the belt ends to impart a shearing force at the at least partially molten interface between the belt ends. The movement of at least one of the at least partially molten mating edges generally parallel to the interface facilitates formation of an improved joint between the belt ends.

An endless fabric belt for use in a paper, cardboard or tissue machine has machine-direction threads and cross-machine-direction threads. At least part of the threads are yarns composed substantially of a thermoplastic polymer material which is transparent for light of a wavelength. The fabric belt is a flat-weave with two front-side ends that are subsequently connected by bringing together end sections of the machine-direction threads in pairs with the formation of junction points and are woven with cross-machine-direction threads, forming a seam region. A material-to-material bond is formed in the seam region by absorbing light at the wavelength at yarn contact points. In the seam region, a plurality of spaced-apart, strip-shaped fabric sections are formed, in which the junction points and the yarn contact points which are connected to one another are arranged, and one strip-shaped fabric section without junction points is formed between two immediately adjacent fabric sections having the junction points.

An endless conveyor belt loop includes a conveyor belt that has an elongated body and a substantially uniform width. The ends of the conveyor belt each include a splice formation extending across the width of the conveyor belt that are each configured to mate with the other. A thermoplastic connector is thermally engaged between exposed surfaces formed by the splice formation at the ends of the conveyor belt. When the splice formations are aligned, the thermoplastic connector is thermally engaged and continuously interconnected between the ends for conveyor belt to form a seamless end connection. The thermoplastic connector comprises a thermoplastic copolyester elastomer.

Cool-down time is menimized by the use of a cooler having integral fins of high surface area, and the use of high-efficiency fans. Heat-up time is minimized by the low mass of the cooler, and the prevention of transmission of heat to the housing.

A portable conveyor belt splicing apparatus is provided that includes an upper press assembly and a lower press assembly which include, respectively, upper and lower platen assemblies. The upper and lower press assemblies may each include a forced air cooling system for rapidly cooling platens of the platen assemblies. The upper and lower press assemblies may include insulating assemblies with resilient members that support the upper and lower press assemblies. The resilient members provide structural support and insulate the platens from the frame which reduces the power required to heat the platens. In one form, the apparatus includes a power supply circuit that can alternate between providing power to upper and lower heaters in response to the apparatus being connected to different types of standard power supplies. Further, the power supply circuit permits the use of a single recipe for a particular belt irrespective of the type of power supply.