Manufacturing process for a reinforced conveyor belt and product thereby obtained

Abstract

The invention relates to a manufacturing process for a reinforced conveyor belt and product thereby obtained comprising a plurality of plastic modules wherein each module comprises at least one opening that houses a roller and is configured to rotate with respect to a shaft, which consists of a metal tube able to be filled with plastic material; and which comprises the stages of (i) inserting the shaft in an injection mold for a plastic module in the region corresponding to the opening; and (ii) a single stage of injecting the plastic module such that said injected plastic fills the inside of the shafts forming a single assembly or structure with the body of the module.

Claims

1. A reinforced conveyor belt comprising a plurality of plastic modules, wherein each plastic module further comprises a circular roller which rotates freely with respect to a shaft; wherein the circular roller is embedded in a hole, such that the outer surface of the roller is substantially tangent to a conveyor surface of the reinforced conveyor belt; and wherein the shaft is a metal tube filled with the same molded plastic injected to mold the plastic module and therefore forming a single assembly.

2. The reinforced conveyor belt of claim 1, wherein: the arrangement or orientation of the rollers is variable, always being diametral, but able to be arranged with a degree of inclination comprised between 0° and 360° with respect to the axis of movement of the reinforced conveyor belt.

3. The reinforced conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein the roller is solid and monobloc or made of independent parts assembled.

4. A manufacturing process for a reinforced conveyor belt made of a plurality of plastic modules, each plastic module further comprises a roller configured to rotate with respect to a shaft that consists of a metal tube able to be filled with plastic material; the process comprising the steps of: inserting the shaft and roller assembly in an injection mold; and a single injection step of the plastic module, such that injected plastic fills the inside of the tubular shaft forming a single assembly or structure with the body of the plastic module that forms the conveyor belt.

5. The manufacturing process according to claim 4, wherein the roller and the shaft are mounted independently and prior to the insertion thereof in the injection mold.

6. The manufacturing process according to claim 4, wherein the shaft is a tube made of steel and is wider at the central part thereof than at the ends thereof.

7. The manufacturing process according to claim 4, wherein the roller is injected on the shaft prior to the insertion thereof in the injection mold.

8. The manufacturing process according to claim 4, wherein the shaft is a tube made of steel that essentially has the same diameter throughout the entire length thereof except at the ends, where the diameter is greater than at the center.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) To complement the description provided herein, and for the purpose of helping to make the characteristics of the invention more readily understandable, said description is accompanied by a set of drawings constituting an integral part of the same, which by way of illustration and not limitation represents the following:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a front plan view of a portion of the reinforced conveyor belt (100) according to the manufacturing process described in the present invention.

(3) FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of a module (10) according to a first practical embodiment of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the module (10) shown in FIG. 2.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a view of the roller (11) and shaft (13) assembly according to the first practical embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4a shows a detail of the shaft (13) or shaft-tube (13).

(6) FIG. 5 shows a view of the mold (200) assembly for manufacturing the module (10) shown in FIG. 2.

(7) FIG. 6 shows an isometric view of a module (10′) according to a second practical embodiment of the present invention.

(8) FIG. 7 shows a cross section of the module (10′) shown in FIG. 6.

(9) FIG. 8 shows a view of the roller (11′) and shaft (13′) assembly according to the second practical embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8a shows a detailed view of the shaft (13′) or shaft-tube (13′).

(10) FIG. 9 shows a view of the mold (200′) assembly for manufacturing the module (10′) shown in FIG. 6.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

(11) FIG. 1 shows a conveyor belt 100 that comprises a plurality of modules 10, 10′. In the image shown in FIG. 1, the conveyor belt 100 comprises four rows with four modules 10, 10′ per row. As such, each row is integrated with the contiguous row thereof by means of an articulated shaft 101 transverse to the advance direction of the belt 100, wherein the advance direction is illustrated by an arrow, while each module 10, 10′ is associated with the lateral contiguous module thereof by means of a male-female joint 102. A person skilled in the art easily understands that this conveyor belt 100 is a modular conveyor belt, but it can be used in any other type of conveyor belt made of plastic.

(12) Each module 10, 10′ further comprises a circular roller 11, 11′ embedded in a hole 12, 12′ such that the outer surface or rolling surface of the roller 11, 11′ is substantially tangent to the conveyor surface T of the conveyor belt 100, and therefore the rollers 11, 11′ reduce the friction between the conveyor surface T and the product being conveyed. It is understood that said outer tangent surface is a parallel plane that makes it so the product rests on the rollers. Thanks to the reduction in friction or abrasion, a change in direction of the products, the accumulation thereof at a specific point and their acceleration or slowing is facilitated. Furthermore, the hole 12, 12′ has two lateral areas that are configured as a structural reinforcement area or region 14, 14′, making the assembly more rigid.

(13) A detailed and isolated view of each module 10, 10′ is shown in FIGS. 2 and 6. More specifically, as will be explained in further detail below, a first practical embodiment of the invention is defined in FIGS. 2 to 5 while a second practical embodiment of the invention is defined in FIGS. 6 to 9.

(14) First Practical Embodiment

(15) As can be seen in FIGS. 2 to 5, the module 10 is an essentially rectangular body, the longer sides of which are articulated 101 to allow them to be joined to other adjacent modules by means of a through shaft and the shorter sides of which have a male-female joint 102. The module 10 has a roller 11 embedded in a hole 12, which rotates freely with respect to a shaft 13. This shaft 13 has the particular feature that it is configured as an essentially metal tube that is wider at its central part than at the ends thereof. FIG. 4a, in an isolated fashion, shows this configuration in detail.

(16) The manufacturing process of the module 10 in this first practical embodiment consists of a single stage of plastic injection in the mold 200, wherein the shaft 13 is previously arranged, the shaft being previously mounted in the roller 11 before being placed in the mold 200. With the roller 11 and shaft 13 assembly in the mold 200, as can be more easily seen in FIG. 5, the plastic will be injected to form the module 10, such that the plastic will fill the inside of the shaft 13, forming a solid assembly which, without preventing the movement of the roller 11, prevents the removal thereof, unless the connections of the shaft 13 to the module 10 assembly are broken or sawed.

(17) Second Practical Embodiment

(18) In a second practical embodiment, as can be seen in FIGS. 6 to 9, the module 10′ is an essentially rectangular body, the longer sides of which are articulated 101 to allow them to be joined to other adjacent modules by means of a through shaft, and the shorter sides of which have a male-female joint 102. The module 10′ has a roller 11′ embedded in a hole 12′ which rotates freely with respect to a shaft 13′. This shaft 13′ has the particular feature of being configured as an essentially metal tube, however, unlike the first embodiment, it essentially has the same diameter throughout the entire length thereof, with the ends thereof for joining to the body of the module 10′ having a greater diameter than those shown in the first embodiment. This configuration of the shaft (13′) is shown in detail in FIG. 8a.

(19) The manufacturing process of the module 10′ in the second practical embodiment differs with regard to the stages prior to the single injection of the module 10′. In other words, the shaft 13′ is first mounted on the mold, on which the roller will later be injected 11′. Then the roller 11′ and shaft 13 assembly will be placed in the injection mold 200′ of the module 10′. With the roller 11′ and shaft 13′ configuration in the mold 200′, better seen in FIG. 9, the plastic will be injected to form the module 10′, such that the plastic will fill the inside of the shaft 13′ forming a solid assembly which, without impeding the movement of the roller 11′, prevents the removal thereof, unless the connections of the shaft 13′ to the module 10′ assembly are broken or sawed.

(20) With respect to the state of the art, this second practical embodiment, using the shaft-tube 13′, has a small diametral enlargement at the ends, without having to do so by injection, rather in a simple conformer. In the state of the art, shafts are made of plastic precisely to achieve this special form at the ends, and then are later embedded in the module, which is complicated to do, given that the tubes would have to be machined one by one, something that is not economical or operationally practical. This is the difference and the advantage, not only due to the fact that it is a fillable tube 13′, which is the most important aspect, but that it allows us to “mold” the tube in a more reasonable way without having to make it out of plastic and inject it.

(21) In both embodiments, the shafts 13, 13′ are configured as reinforcement pins which are in turn, hollow metal tubes. Thus, this tube will not be filled initially, rather it will be filled at the same time as the rest of the plastic modules 10, 10′ of the conveyor belt 100 are filled, in the plastic injection process or stage. This way, plastic is injected at the same time inside the pin—which is tubular—joining it to the rest of the module, creating a new resistant brace in addition to the existing braces 14 and 14′ in the module 10, 10′, configured as an additional reinforcement in the weakest area of the module.