Coated Strip Joining with Refilled Recesses for Endless Belts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Processing coated strips, such as coated belts, is challenging due to the risk of damaging the coating during welding or repair, and existing methods often result in localized changes to the strip material's properties, making it difficult to create endless belts without damaging the coating.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the creation of a coating-free section on the belt body to form a recess, allowing for welding of free ends without damaging the coating, and applying a non-metallic coating with a graded thickness to ensure uniform coverage and prevent material transfer to adjacent areas, facilitating the production of continuously coated endless belts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If welding is performed on the coated side of the strip, then joining can be achieved, but the coating is damaged and the strip material properties are locally changed
Solution Approach 1:
The coating is selectively removed from the welding area to create a coating-free zone, allowing welding to be performed without damaging the coating. This extraction of the coating from the critical welding region enables the welding process to proceed while preserving the coating integrity in the surrounding areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The strip surface is segmented into coated and uncoated regions, with the uncoated region specifically prepared for welding. This segmentation allows different surface treatments in different areas - the coated areas maintain their protective function while the uncoated area facilitates welding without coating damage.
2Ease of manufacture
If the coating is removed completely to enable processing, then processing becomes easier, but the protective function of the coating is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The coating is applied selectively - present in areas where protection is needed and removed only in the specific processing area. This local quality approach ensures that the coating provides its protective function where required while allowing easy processing in the designated area, thus balancing protection and manufacturability.
3Quantity of substance
If coating material is applied generously to ensure coverage, then coating coverage is improved, but material transfers to adjacent areas causing unwanted buildup
Solution Approach 1:
The coating is applied in advance to the recessed area before the final assembly or processing step. This preliminary application allows the coating material to settle properly within the recess boundaries, preventing transfer to adjacent areas while ensuring complete coverage of the target surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating is applied within a three-dimensional recess structure rather than on a flat surface. This dimensional approach creates physical boundaries that contain the coating material, allowing generous application for complete coverage while preventing lateral transfer to adjacent areas through the recess walls.
4Strength
If welding is performed on coated strips, then joining can be achieved, but the coating alloys with the strip material changing local properties
Solution Approach 1:
The coating is removed from the welding zone to eliminate the source of alloying elements. By extracting the coating material from the area where welding occurs, the welding process can proceed without contamination, preserving the original material composition stability while still achieving the required joining strength.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easy processing and repair of coated strips without damaging the coating, ensuring a uniform coating thickness and preventing unwanted material transfer, thus simplifying the production of endless belts while maintaining the integrity of the coating and strip material.
Implementation Method 1
When using a spraying process for applying the material of the coating in step ii)
Implementation Method 2
the two free ends are welded together to form a weld seam
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for processing a strip (1) with a strip body (2), the strip body (2) having a first surface (3) and a second surface (4), the first surface (3) and the second surface (4) being connected to one another by side faces (5), with each of the side faces (5) being smaller than each of the surfaces (4), and at least one of the surfaces (3, 4) of the strip (1) being coated with a coating having at least one layer (6, 7). In a step i), in a region of the strip to be processed, the coating is interrupted or omitted, and in the region that is to be processed an indentation (9) interrupting the coating, in particular a gap-like or hole-like indentation (9), is produced, which is at least partially delimited by mutually opposed portions of the at least one coating. In a step ii) following directly or after further intermediate steps, the indentation (8) is at least partly filled with at least one material identical to that of the at least one layer (6, 7) of the coating.