Bristle brush and conveyor belt formed by a plurality of said bristle brushes

Abstract

The bristle brush comprises a support plate (1), a plurality of flexible bristles (2) emerging from one of the surfaces thereof, the ends of the bristles (2) furthest from the support plate (1) defining a support surface intended to receive a part to be transported and/or cut, wherein said support plate (1) comprises a leading edge (11) and a trailing edge (12), said leading (11) and trailing (12) edges comprising complementary shapes. It enables a conveyor belt formed by said brushes to achieve very small turning radii.

Claims

1. A bristle brush, comprising: a support plate (1), a plurality of flexible bristles (2) emerging from one of the surfaces thereof, the ends of the bristles (2) furthest from the support plate (1) defining a support surface intended to receive a part to be transported and/or cut, characterised in that said support plate (1) comprises a leading edge (11) and a trailing edge (12), said leading (11) and trailing (12) edges defining complementary shapes.

2. The bristle brush according to claim 1, wherein said support plate (1) comprises coupling elements (3, 4).

3. The bristle brush according to claim 2, wherein said coupling elements are anchors (3) provided with a longitudinal hole or flanges (4) that fit in complementary housings (5).

4. The bristle brush according to claim 3, wherein said anchors (3) are associated in pairs, the longitudinal holes of the anchors defining two longitudinal shafts on the leading edge (11) and two longitudinal shafts on the trailing edge (12).

5. The bristle brush according to claim 1, wherein said support plate (1) comprises a plurality of notches (14) on the surface opposite the flexible bristles (2).

6. The bristle brush according to claim 1, wherein said flanges (4) are placed in the projections of the support plate (1) and said housings (5) are placed in the recesses of the support plate (1).

7. The bristle brush according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the plurality of flexible bristles (2) is a hemispherical or conical surface.

8. The bristle brush according to claim 1, wherein said support plate (1) is smooth on its surface opposite the flexible bristles (2).

9. The bristle brush according to claim 8, wherein said support plate (1) is smooth on its surface opposite the flexible bristles (2), said opposite surface comprising an adhesive substrate (15).

10. The bristle brush according to claim 9, wherein said adhesive substrate (15) is coated with a protective sheet (16) before its first use.

11. The bristle brush according to claim 1, which is made up of a single piece.

12. The bristle brush according to claim 1, which is made of a polymer.

13. The bristle brush according to claim 3, wherein said anchors (3) are made of a material that is harder than the material of the support plate (1) and the flexible bristles (2).

14. The bristle brush according to claim 1, wherein each projection of the leading edge (11) and trailing edge (12) of the support plate (1) is formed by a straight central portion and two straight side portions, at an oblique angle.

15. A conveyor belt formed by a plurality of bristle brushes according to claim 1, said brushes being joined in a staggered manner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] To better understand what has been set forth, several drawings are attached in which a practical embodiment is schematically depicted merely by way of non-limiting example.

[0036] FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of a bristle brush according to the present invention, according to a first embodiment;

[0037] FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the bristle brush shown in FIG. 1;

[0038] FIG. 3 is a plan view of three bristle brushes shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 joined to each other;

[0039] FIG. 4 is a lower perspective view of the bristle brush shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

[0040] FIG. 5 is an upper perspective view of the bristle brush according to the present invention in a second embodiment;

[0041] FIG. 6 is a lower perspective view of the bristle brush shown in FIG. 5;

[0042] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conveyor belt formed by bristle brushes according to the present invention;

[0043] FIG. 8 is an upper perspective view of a bristle brush according to the present invention, according to an alternative embodiment;

[0044] FIG. 9 is a plan view of a plurality of bristle brushes shown in FIG. 8 joined to each other; and

[0045] FIG. 10 is an upper detailed view of the bristle brush according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0046] In FIGS. 1 to 4 a first embodiment of a bristle brush according to the present invention is shown, comprising a support plate 1 from which a plurality of flexible bristles 2 extends, in particular, extending from an upper surface of said support plate 1.

[0047] Said support plate 1 defines four edges, a leading edge 11, a trailing edge 12 and two side edges 13. Said leading 11 and trailing 12 edges comprise complementary recesses and projections, said projections having, for example, a trapezoidal shape, defining a straight central portion and two side portions also straight, at an oblique angle.

[0048] Said support plate 1 further comprises coupling elements, which in this embodiment are anchors 3, each of which comprises a longitudinal hole for placing a traction rod.

[0049] Said anchors 3 are associated in pairs, so that they define two longitudinal shafts for corresponding traction rods. Two of these traction rods, which are not shown in the figures, are placed on the leading edge 11 and two traction rods are placed on the trailing edge 12.

[0050] Said anchors 3 are preferably, but not necessarily, made of a material that is harder than the support plate 1 and the flexible bristles 2, for example, of a harder polymer. This feature is intended to be shown in FIG. 4 by making the anchors 3 darker than the support plate 1 and the flexible bristles 2.

[0051] Said supporting plate 1 comprises a plurality of notches 14 on the lower surface thereof to enable traction thereof by means of gears (not shown), when a plurality of brushes according to the present invention is used as a conveyor belt.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows how several brushes are assembled according to the present invention by means of the complementary recesses and projections, the brushes being assembled in an interspersed or staggered manner.

[0053] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the bristle brush according to the present invention.

[0054] For reasons of simplicity, in this second embodiment the features in common with the first embodiment are not described, and the same reference numbers are used to indicate the same or similar elements.

[0055] This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the support plate is smooth on the lower surface thereof and comprises an adhesive substrate 15, which before being fixed to a surface is coated by a protective sheet 16.

[0056] Furthermore, in this second embodiment, the coupling elements are flanges 4 which are housed in complementary housings 5. As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, said flanges 4 are preferably placed in the projections, while the housings 5 are preferably placed in the recesses.

[0057] FIG. 7 shows a part of a conveyor belt according to a present invention formed by a plurality of bristle brushes, where it is shown that small turning radii can be achieved thanks to the flexibility of the brush material, in particular, of the support plate 1.

[0058] In FIGS. 8 and 9, a third embodiment of the bristle brush according to the present invention is shown.

[0059] In this third embodiment, said support plate 1 has a hexagonal shape, a plurality of staggered brushes being mounted (FIG. 9), for example, by an anchor 3 on the leading edge 11 thereof and two anchors 3 on the trailing edge 12 thereof.

[0060] Despite the fact that reference has been made to a specific embodiment of the invention, it is evident for the person skilled in the art that numerous variations and changes may be made to the bristle brush described, and that all the aforementioned details may be substituted by other technically equivalent ones, without detracting from the scope of protection defined by the attached claims.