The present disclosure relates generally to expanded metals, and more specifically to expanded metals formed using rotary slitting blades.
Expanded metal laths are created by forming a plurality of slits through a metal sheet or metal strip in a defined pattern. Exposing the slitted metal sheet or strip to a tensile force causes the slits to separate and form openings in the lath. Depending on the slit pattern, the openings may have a number of shapes, such as diamond shapes. Expanded metal lath is an extremely efficient material since the lath is monolithic and does not require apparatus or extra operations to attach individual strands together such as welding or twisting. Extremely light meshes may be produced.
An expanded metal lath can achieve efficient material usage, with no waste or unnecessary material being required. Since the dimensions of the strands in the expanded metal lath are a function of the slit pattern, the expanded metal lath can be fabricated with different dimensions across the width of the lath. For example, the width of the strands in sections where fasteners will be used to couple the lath to other structures may be greater than the width of the webs or strands in sections where fasteners will not be used.
One method of fabricating expanded metal products uses rotary blades to slit the metal. Rotary slitting systems often include two shafts, each carrying a respective set of slitting blades and a respective set of spacer rings, the slitting blades and spacer rings alternating along the length of the respective shaft so that the slitting blades are spaced apart from one another by the spacer rings. The slitting blades of the two shafts often oppose and interlock with one another.
Each individual rotary slitting blade has a thickness, or a width, that affects a strand width of the resulting expanded metal. Each individual rotary slitting blade also has a series of notches formed in its outer surface that interrupt a slitting action of the blade to leave sections of the resulting expanded metal where two adjacent strands are bonded to one another, referred to as bond sections. Each individual rotary slitting blade can also have a series of features formed in its outer surface that push adjacent strands apart from one another between their bond sections to create the openings in the expanded metal product.
Using rotary blades to fabricate expanded metal products can provide advantages over other methods of fabricating expanded metal products. For example, such techniques can fabricate expanded metal products from sheet metal at a speed of about 200 feet per minute, can operate smoothly because they do not use reciprocating masses, and can operate with low maintenance costs.
An expanded metal product may be summarized as comprising: a plurality of openings, each of the openings delineated by a respective set of first, second, third, and fourth sheet metal strands monolithically joined to one another by a respective set of first, second, third, and fourth bond sections, each of the openings having a respective first dimension along a first axis of the opening extending from the first bond section to the third bond section and a respective second dimension along a second axis of the opening extending from the second bond section to the fourth bond section, the second axis of the opening perpendicular to the first axis of the opening; wherein fewer than 70% of the bond sections have optically detectable fractures.
The bond sections may be planar with respect to the rest of the expanded metal product. The expanded metal product may be a unitary piece of metal and the first, second, third, and fourth sheet metal strands of each set may be monolithically joined to one another. A thickness of the sheet metal strands may be between 0.015 inches and 0.030 inches.
A rotary blade may be summarized as comprising: a cylindrical body having a first end face, a second end face opposite the first end face, and an outer circumferential surface that extends from the first end face to the second end face; a first plurality of notches in the first end face that extend radially toward and that intersect the outer circumferential surface, wherein each of the first plurality of notches includes a respective curved surface having a convex curvature that smoothly transitions into the first end face; and a second plurality of notches in the second end face that extend radially toward and that intersect the outer circumferential surface, wherein each of the second plurality of notches includes a respective curved surface having a convex curvature that smoothly transitions into the second end face.
Each of the curved surfaces may have a radius of curvature of between 0.004 inches and 0.010 inches. Each of the curved surfaces may have a radius of curvature that is constant along an entire length of the curved surface.
A rotary blade may be summarized as comprising: a cylindrical body having a first end face, a second end face opposite the first end face, and an outer circumferential surface that extends from the first end face to the second end face; a first plurality of notches in the first end face that extend radially toward and that intersect the outer circumferential surface, wherein each of the first plurality of notches includes a respective curved surface having a convex curvature that smoothly transitions into the outer circumferential surface; and a second plurality of notches in the second end face that extend radially toward and that intersect the outer circumferential surface, wherein each of the second plurality of notches includes a respective curved surface having a convex curvature that smoothly transitions into the outer circumferential surface.
Each of the curved surfaces may have a constant curvature along an entire length of the curved surface. Each of the curved surfaces may have a radius of curvature of between 0.005 inches and 0.020 inches. Each of the curved surfaces may have a first radius of curvature at a first location adjacent to the outer circumferential surface and a second radius of curvature at a second location opposite the first location, wherein the first radius of curvature is smaller than the second radius of curvature. The first radius of curvature may be about 0.005 inches and the second radius of curvature may be about 0.020 inches. Each of the curved surfaces may have a first radius of curvature at a first location adjacent to the outer circumferential surface and a second radius of curvature at a second location opposite the first location, wherein the first radius of curvature is larger than the second radius of curvature. The first radius of curvature may be about 0.010 inches and the second radius of curvature may be about 0.000 inches. Each of the curved surfaces may have both a convex curvature and a concave curvature.
A method of making an expanded metal product may be summarized as comprising: rotating a first plurality of rotary blades in a first rotational direction and a second plurality of rotary blades in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction, each of the rotary blades including a plurality of notches, each of the notches including a curved surface having a convex curvature that smoothly transitions into an outer surface of the respective rotary blade; and passing a piece of sheet metal between the first and second pluralities of rotary blades so that the rotary blades form slits through the piece of sheet metal and bond sections at ends of the slits, wherein fewer than 70% of the bond sections have optically detectable fractures.
The method may further comprise applying tension to the piece of sheet metal in a direction transverse to the slits to expand the piece of sheet metal. The method may further comprise, after passing the piece of sheet metal between the first and second pluralities of rotary blades and applying tension to the piece of sheet metal in a direction transverse to the slits, flattening the piece of sheet metal.
In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements or acts. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some of these elements may be arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility. Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn are not necessarily intended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of the particular elements, and may have been solely selected for ease of recognition in the drawings.
In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed implementations. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that implementations may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures associated with the technology have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the implementations.
Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims that follow, the word “comprising” is synonymous with “including,” and is inclusive or open-ended (i.e., does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method acts).
Reference throughout this specification to “one implementation” or “an implementation” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the implementation is included in at least one implementation. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one implementation” or “in an implementation” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same implementation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or” is generally employed in its broadest sense, that is, as meaning “and/or” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are for convenience only and do not limit the scope or meaning of the implementations.
The rotary slitting system 100 also includes a first plurality of spacer rings 110 mounted on the first rotor 102 such that the first plurality of rotary slitting blades 106 alternates with the first plurality of spacer rings 110 along a length of the first rotor 102. The rotary slitting system 100 also includes a second plurality of spacer rings 112 mounted on the second rotor 104 such that the second plurality of rotary slitting blades 108 alternates with the second plurality of spacer rings 112 along a length of the second rotor 104. Each of the first plurality of spacer rings 110 and each of the second plurality of spacer rings 112 comprises a disk having an outer diameter smaller than an outer diameter of the adjacent rotary slitting blades 106 or 108, respectively.
As also shown in
Each of the notches 114 and 116 extends into and along and in a radial direction through the respective end surface of the respective rotary slitting blade 106 or 108, to the outer circumferential surface thereof. All of the blades 106 and 108 have the same number of notches 114 in their first end surfaces as one another and the same number of notches 116 in their second end surfaces as one another. Further, each blade 106, 108 has the same number of notches 114 in its first end surface as it has notches 116 in its second end surface.
The notches 114 of each of the rotary slitting blades 106, 108 are equally spaced apart from one another around the respective end surfaces of the blades 106, 108. Similarly, the notches 116 of each of the rotary slitting blades 106, 108 are equally spaced apart from one another around the respective end surfaces of the blades 106, 108. Further, in each of the blades 106, 108, the circumferential locations of each of the notches 114 in the first end of the blade 106 or 108 are angularly offset from the circumferential locations of each of the notches 116 in the second end of the blade 106 or 108. Specifically, each of the notches 114 in the first end of a blade 106 or 108 is equally spaced angularly apart from two of the notches 116 in the second end of the blade 106 or 108, and each of the notches 116 in the second end of a blade 106 or 108 is equally spaced angularly apart from two of the notches 114 in the first end of the blade 106 or 108.
Each of the notches 114 and 116 terminates at the outer circumferential surface of the respective blade 106 or 108, such that the notches 114 and 116 form a plurality of crescent-shaped or semi-circular indentations in the blades 106 and 108 when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the central longitudinal axes of the rotors 102, 104 and of the blades 106, 108, as illustrated in
In operation, the rotor 102 and the blades 106 mounted thereon rotate about a central longitudinal axis of the rotor 102 in a first direction and the rotor 104 and the blades 108 mounted thereon rotate about a central longitudinal axis of the rotor 104 in a second direction opposite to the first direction. The blades 106, 108, and the notches 114, 116 thereof are arranged so that when one of the notches 114 of each of the blades 106 reach a position closest to the rotor 104, a corresponding one of the notches 116 of each of the blades 108 reach a position closest to the rotor 102, and so that when one of the notches 116 of each of the blades 106 reach a position closest to the rotor 104, a corresponding one of the notches 114 of each of the blades 108 reach a position closest to the rotor 102. Similarly, when one of the notches 116 of each of the blades 108 reach a position closest to the rotor 102, a corresponding one of the notches 114 of each of the blades 106 reach a position closest to the rotor 104, and when one of the notches 114 of each of the blades 108 reach a position closest to the rotor 102, a corresponding one of the notches 116 of each of the blades 106 reach a position closest to the rotor 104.
As the rotors 102, 104 and blades 106, 108 continue to rotate, the alternation of the notches 114 with the notches 116 on the outer surfaces of the blades 106 and 108 alternately interrupt the slits 120a and 120c to create bond sections 122a and 122c, and interrupt the slits 120b and 120d to create bond sections 122b and 122d. Once the piece of sheet metal 118 has completely passed through the rotary slitting system 100, the piece of sheet metal 118 is fed through a spreading system that pulls the piece of sheet metal 118 in a direction transverse to the slits 120 to pull the adjacent strands 118a, 118b, 118c, 118d, and 118e apart from one another between their bond sections 122.
If the rotary slitting system 100 is not configured according to the present disclosure, such processes can create relatively weak transition zones where the slits 120 meet the bond sections 122. In particular, the specific contours of the notches 114 and 116, if not configured as described herein, can lead to the ends of the slits 120 adjacent to the bond sections 122 being improperly or inadequately sheared, creating micro-cracks, stress risers, or other weaknesses. For example, the clearances between the blades 106, 108, including clearance C, affect the quality of the resulting shearing action of the blades 106, 108, with larger than desired clearances resulting in tearing of the piece of sheet metal 118 rather than proper shearing of the piece of sheet metal 118.
Such weaknesses can be compounded or exacerbated by any misalignment of the blades 106 with the blades 108, which can result, as examples, from errors or even accepted tolerances in the installation of the blades 106 and 108 as well as in the timing of the rotation of the blades 106 and 108. Such weaknesses can also become magnified and enlarged by the spreading and flattening processes, thereby creating larger cracks or tears. Additionally, in some rotary slitting systems, the rotary slitting blades include a series of features (often protrusions) that push adjacent strands apart from one another between the bond sections to create the openings in the expanded metal product. Such applications have been found to further magnify or enlarge weaknesses introduced by a slitting process.
Thus, the specific contours of the outer surfaces of the blades 106, 108, and of the notches 114, 116 formed in the blades 106, 108, is important to the overall strength and expected lifetime of resulting expanded metal products. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides rotary slitting blades 106, 108 having notches with advantageous contours and circumferential outer surfaces without protrusions for expanding the piece of sheet metal. Thus, the present disclosure describes rotary slitting blades 106, 108 that slit a piece of sheet metal that is thereafter fed into an expansion system and a flattening system.
The blade 200 has an overall diameter, indicated as ‘D2’ in
Further, the notches 214 are equally spaced apart from one another around the end surface 210 of the blade 200 and the notches 216 are equally spaced apart from one another around the end surface 212 of the blade 200. Additionally, each of the notches 214 in the first end surface 210 is equally spaced angularly apart from two of the notches 216 in the second end surface 212, and each of the notches 216 in the second end surface 212 is equally spaced angularly apart from two of the notches 214 in the first end surface 210.
The notch 214 also has a bottom surface that extends linearly along the length L of the notch 214 and linearly parallel to and along a radial axis of the blade 200. The notch 214 also has a first radial edge 218 and a second radial edge 220 opposite the first radial edge 218, wherein both of the first and second radial edges 218, 220 extend linearly along axes parallel to a central radial axis 224 of the notch 214, inward from the outer surface 202 of the blade 200 toward the center of the blade 200. The notch 214 also has an overall depth, indicated as ‘D3’ in
As illustrated in
The radius of curvature r1 can be greater than 0.004″, 0.005″, 0.006″, 0.007″, 0.008″, or 0.009″, and/or less than 0.005″, 0.006″, 0.007″, 0.008″, 0.009″, or 0.010″. The curved portion 222 has a circular curvature, although in other implementations the curved portion 222 can have a parabolic, elliptical, or other curved profile. Further, r1 is constant along the entire curvature of the curved portion 222, although in other implementations, r1 can be variable along the curvature of the curved portion 222.
As illustrated in
It has been found that providing rotary slitting blades with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
It has also been found that providing a rotary slitting blade 200 with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In some cases, a curvature of the curved portion 322 is constant along the entire curvature of the curved portion 322, such that the first radius of curvature r2 is the same as the second radius of curvature r3. In such implementations, the constant radius of curvature can be greater than 0.005″, 0.006″, 0.007″, 0.008″, 0.009″, 0.010″, 0.011″, 0.012″, 0.013″, 0.014″, 0.015″, 0.016″, 0.017″, 0.018″, or 0.019″, and/or less than 0.006″, 0.007″, 0.008″, 0.009″, 0.010″, 0.011″, 0.012″, 0.013″, 0.014″, 0.015″, 0.016″, 0.017″, 0.018″, 0.019″, or 0.020″.
In other implementations, the curvature of the curved portion 322 is variable along the entire curvature of the curved portion 322, such that the first radius of curvature r2 is different than the second radius of curvature r3. For example, the radius of curvature of the curved portion 322 can decrease or taper as it extends from bottom of the notch 314 outward toward the end surface 310 of the blade 300, such as from a radius of curvature of about 0.020″ at the bottom of the notch 314, linearly or non-linearly with respect to a location's depth within the notch 314, to about 0.005″ at the end surface 310 of the blade 300. The curved portion 322 has circular curvature(s), although in other implementations the curved portion 322 can have parabolic, elliptical, or other curved profile(s).
As illustrated in
It has been found that providing rotary slitting blades with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
To sharpen the outer surface 302 of a rotary slitting blade 300 with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In some implementations, the curved portion 422 has a first radius of curvature at a first location adjacent to the outer surface 402, indicated as ‘cr4’ in
The curved portion 422 thus includes two distinct forms of curvature. First, the curved portion has a convex curvature that curves with the first radius of curvature r4 and the second radius of curvature r5 from the outer surface 402 to the notch 414. In some implementations, this first curvature is constant along the entire curvature of the curved portion 422, such that the first radius of curvature r4 is the same as the second radius of curvature r5. In other implementations, this first curvature is variable along the entire curvature of the curved portion 422, such that the first radius of curvature r4 is different than the second radius of curvature r5. For example, the radius of curvature of the curved portion 422 can increase as it extends from bottom of the notch 414 outward toward the end surface 410 of the blade 400, such as from a radius of curvature of about 0.000″ at the bottom of the notch 414, linearly or non-linearly with respect to a location's depth within the notch 414, to about 0.010″ at the end surface 410 of the blade 400. The curved portion 422 has circular curvature(s), although in other implementations the curved portion 422 can have parabolic, elliptical, or other curved profile(s).
Second, the curved portion 422 has a concave curvature that curves from the location of the first radius of curvature r4 at the end surface 410 of the blade 400 to the location of the second radius of curvature r5 at the bottom of the notch 414. Thus the curved portion 422 has a third radius of curvature, indicated as ‘cr6’ in
As illustrated in
Applicant has found that providing rotary slitting blades with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
To sharpen the outer surface 402 of a rotary slitting blade 400 with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Applicant has found that providing rotary slitting blades with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
To sharpen the outer surface 502 of a rotary slitting blade 500 with notches having curved transition portions, as illustrated in
While
The various implementations described above can be combined to provide further implementations. All of the commonly assigned US patent application publications, US patent applications, foreign patents, and foreign patent applications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety, including but not limited to U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/731,613, filed Sep. 14, 2018.
These and other changes can be made to the implementations in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific implementations disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible implementations along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
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