Coated Double-Weave Bellows Fabric for Stiffness Without Glue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current intercommunication bellows for public transport vehicles have manufacturing complexities and high costs due to the use of glued textile supports, with limited adhesion leading to potential detachment and failure to meet stringent European Standards for mechanical, fire, and aging requirements.
Innovation Solution
A double-weave fabric coated with an elastomeric material on both sides, providing increased stiffness and adhesion without the need for additional glue or elastomer-based coatings, ensuring mechanical integrity and compliance with European Standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If two textile supports are connected together with glue or elastomeric-based coating, then the beam effect ensuring stiffness is achieved, but the manufacturing process becomes complicated and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the function of connecting two textile supports with the function of providing stiffness into a single integrated structure. The elastomeric material serves dual purposes: it bonds the two fabric layers together and simultaneously provides the beam effect for stiffness, eliminating the need for separate glue applications and reducing manufacturing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite structure consisting of two textile supports bonded with elastomeric material. This composite construction inherently provides both adhesion between layers and structural stiffness, combining multiple functions into a single material system that simplifies manufacturing while maintaining performance.
2Strength
If two textile supports are connected with glue or elastomeric-based coating, then the beam effect ensuring stiffness is achieved, but the adhesion between textile supports is limited and aging is affected
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric material is used to simultaneously achieve adhesion between textile supports and provide structural stiffness. By merging these two functions into a single material system, the patent ensures that the bonding agent itself has inherent aging resistance and flexibility, preventing detachment during repeated bending while maintaining the beam effect for stiffness.
3Strength
If glued textile supports are used for bellows manufacture, then the beam effect is achieved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the adhesion function and stiffness-providing function into a single elastomeric coating step. This eliminates the need for separate glue application and drying processes, reducing manufacturing steps, energy consumption, and overall production costs while maintaining the necessary beam effect for stiffness.
4Strength
If complicated manufacturing methods are used to achieve stiffness, then the beam effect is ensured, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple manufacturing operations into a single integrated process. The elastomeric coating is applied in one step that simultaneously bonds the fabric layers and creates the stiffness structure, eliminating sequential steps and significantly improving manufacturing efficiency and productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment relates to an intercommunication bellows for compartments of a public transport vehicle or for a removable aircraft-access ramp, formed from a coated textile support, comprising a double-weave fabric both faces of which are coated with an elastomeric material, and to a method of connecting two compartments of a public transport vehicle comprising the attachment of an intercommunication bellows between two compartments of the vehicle that are hitched together. An embodiment also relates to a public transport vehicle comprising compartments connected together by an intercommunication bellows. According to an embodiment, the double-weave fabric coated with an elastomeric material has one or more of the following properties: stiffness; delamination resistance; tear resistance.