The present disclosure relates to a device to be used with materials testing of fabrics or similar materials, wherein the materials testing apparatus includes grips with opposing jaw faces to exert a tensile force on the fabric sample.
This application is National Phase application of PCT International Application PCT/US2017/021063, filed on Mar. 7, 2017, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/316,805 filed on Apr. 1, 2016, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.
In the prior art of materials testing of fabrics using grips with opposing jaw faces, it is known to wrap fabrics around a drum of a capstan grip to prevent jaw breaks or jaw slippage. Similarly, it is known to wrap cord or yarn around a smooth curved surface of a cord or yarn grip.
However, prior art grip design may be incapable of gripping some materials to required loads, which may result in specimen slippage and failed tests. Moreover, prior art devices may require two or more distinct sets of grips for different materials, one set for typical specimens such as metal or plastic, and a second set (cord or yarn grips or capstan grips) to allow for testing of fabric.
Additionally, in the prior art, alignment may be based on the mounting and assembly quality of the fabric grips. Misalignment frequently cannot be accounted for without permanent modification to the grips.
The disclosure relates to a device for materials testing, including a bracket and a wedge, around which a strip of fabric or similar sample material can be wrapped. After installation in the grip, the wedge and the material are held between the jaw faces of the grip. The wedge is used to increase the surface area of the material against the jaw faces, which increases the grips' ability to securely hold the sample/specimen/material during the test. The wedge can slide in the bracket thereby allowing it to self-center itself in the grip body. The self-centering allows the upper and lower jaws of the grip to be offset to allow an āSā wrap of a fabric, which may be required for some testing protocols.
Further objects and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views, one sees that
As shown in more detail in
The wedge mount 20 further includes an offset U-shaped portion 36, typically made from stainless steel or a similar material, between the first and second lateral flanges 22, 24. The offset U-shaped portion 36 includes first and second sidewalls 38, 40 which are generally perpendicular to (with rounded transition areas) the respective first and second lateral flanges 22, 24 and further includes central offset mounting plate 42 which extends between first and second sidewalls 38, 40. Central offset mounting plate 42 is typically perpendicular to (with rounded transition areas) first and second sidewalls 38, 40 and is parallel to, and offset from, first and lateral flanges 22, 24. The central offset mounting plate 42 includes upper and lower horizontal mounting slots 44, 46 which are parallel to each other. The upper edge of central mounting plate 42 may have an upwardly extending sloped portion 48 in order to provide structural reinforcement, particularly with respect to upper horizontal mounting slot 44.
As shown in
In order to mount the wedge 12 on wedge mount 10, as shown in
Before commencing testing, the wedge mount 20 is mounted on the grip 200 and the position of the wedge 12 is adjusted so as to be properly positioned for wrapping a fabric material sample 100 therearound. Once installed in the grip 200, the wedge 12 and material 100 are held between the jaw faces of the grip 200 (see
It is envisioned that many embodiments of the present disclosure will have such advantages as: the mounting to existing grips to expand testing capability; the use of a passive device to double the surface area of contact between the jaw faces and the test specimen (fabric sample); the slotted mounting bracket allows self-centering of the test specimen (fabric sample) to prevent or minimize off-centered loading of the device; allowing expanded capability of standard opposing jaw face grips to include testing of fabrics and other materials that are typically problematic for these types of grips; and modular and quick change capabilities, in that it can use different combinations of wedges (which may include various surface finishes) and custom jaw faces that can be quickly changed out.
Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2017/021063 | 3/7/2017 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2017/172292 | 10/5/2017 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2327139 | Scott | Aug 1943 | A |
5224386 | Curtis | Jul 1993 | A |
5297441 | Smith | Mar 1994 | A |
6176142 | Ericson | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6860156 | Cavallaro et al. | Mar 2005 | B1 |
8448522 | Martin | May 2013 | B2 |
8459623 | Tsai | Jun 2013 | B2 |
8757004 | Martin | Jun 2014 | B2 |
9021889 | Gaddum | May 2015 | B2 |
20140331782 | Keranen | Nov 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1232989 | May 1986 | SU |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report issued in PCT/US2017/021063 dated May 29, 2017. |
XP-002770089 SU 1 232 989 A; Cotton Ind. Res. Inst., Database WPI Clarivate Analytics, Thomson Scientific, London, GB, 1987-013690; May 23, 1986 Abstract. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20190107473 A1 | Apr 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62316805 | Apr 2016 | US |