Process belt for transporting a good through a process space, more preferably for forming a nonwoven and usage of such a process belt

Abstract

With a process belt, more preferably for the forming of a nonwoven, electrostatic charges can be safely prevented if a mixed fabric with a metal component and a plastic component is used as process belt. The metal and plastic components are interwoven with one another.

Description

In the following the invention is explained in more detail by means of exemplary embodiments making reference to the drawing. There it shows

FIG. 1 schematically a top view of a process belt and

FIG. 2 schematically a section through the process belt from FIG. 1 according to the marking II-II there.

The process belt 1 presented in a cutout in the FIGS. 1 and 2 is manufactured from a fabric. Accordingly it has a warp direction 2 and a weft direction 3.

As wefts the fabric predominantly has monofilament plastic wires (exemplarily marked with 4, 5). The warps are likewise at least predominantly formed of monofilament plastic threads.

In this fabric manufactured predominantly of plastic, conductive metal wires or metal strands are integrated, namely as wefts (exemplarily numbered with 6) in form of metal strands and as warps, likewise in form of metal wires or metal strands.

Both the warps and also the wefts and in fact both the conductive as well as the non-conductive ones in each case, can be designed as monofilament or multifilament depending on the utilization purpose. In this way a discharge capability of electric charges which fulfills the requirements for equipment group 2 can be easily achieved with suitable dimensioning. With prototypes of process belts very low electric resistances were often achieved.

A mixed fabric of polyester with woven-in bronze threads has proved itself as a cost-effective, robust and high-conductance mixture of the materials during tests of the inventors. The process belts more preferably can be manufactured as single-layer or two-layer, wherein a double-layer construction more preferably makes possible a smooth surface and a non-marking pin seam. In addition, metal conductors can also be present on the fabric underside with double-layer fabrics.

Plain-weave single-layer fabrics have proved themselves as linear screen especially in the drylaid method during experiments of the inventors. More preferably the twill-weave single-layer construction with non-marking pin seam has proved itself as a stable laydown belt.

The fabric design makes possible an air permeability which is adapted to the process. The inventors have successfully tested numerous prototypes with an air permeability of 500 cfm to 900 cfm.

The inventors see an ideal utilization possibility of the proposed process belt in the homogenous nonwoven formation and optimum nonwoven removal.

Depending on the requirements on the process belt some warps or wefts of plastic can be replaced in a regular fabric through such of metal. Alternatively it can be considered to add additional wires in the fabric loops to an evenly constructed fabric of plastic.

For special applications a fabric may be suitable where synthetic wires are provided in running direction as warps and weft wires of metal. Such a fabric construction combines transverse stability with flexibility.

Since the transport belts are often provided for thermal processes it is proposed that the belt can pass through temperatures of more than 80° C. up to more than 300° C. without damage. High mechanical stability can additionally be advantageous for subsequent cleaning of the transport belts for example through brushing or water jet cleaning plants.

Next to every approximately fifteenth warp of monofilament plastic wire a particularly preferred prototype has a bronze wire co-woven in as warp, while next to approximately every sixteenth monofilament plastic weft wire a bronze wire is likewise co-woven in. With an exemplary ratio of a process belt the metal warp wires are located at a distance of approximately 1 cm to each other while the metal wefts have a distance of approximately 2 cm to each other.

Claims

1. A process belt (1) for the transporting of a good to be subjected to a process through a process space, more preferably for forming a nonwoven, with a fabric structure (2, 3), comprising a formation of fabric as mixed fabric with a plastic component and with a metal component for preventing electrostatic charging.

2. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the metal component is led to a surface of the process belt.

3. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the metal component has a metal warp.

4. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the metal component has a metal weft.

5. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the metal component has metal warps and wefts so that a conductor net is formed in the fabric.

6. The process belt according to claim 5, wherein the conductor net has rectangular connections.

7. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the plastic component has polyester, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyphenylene sulphide and/or PEEK (polyether etherketon).

8. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the fabric has a double layer with a metal component on an upper side and an underside.

9. The process belt according to claim 1, wherein the metal component is visibly integrated in the fabric, more preferably through a surface color which is different from that of the plastic component.

10. Use of a process belt according to claim 1 for transporting a good to be subjected to a process through a process space, more preferably for the forming of a nonwoven.