Expandable Coating for Steel Cord Conveyor Belt Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyor belts with steel cords face challenges in achieving complete rubber coating, leading to open cavities that allow liquid migration and corrosion, especially with larger rope diameters, which reduces service life and increases maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The use of an expandable coating that undergoes significant volume increase during vulcanization, creating a sealing pore structure that fills inner cavities and adheres to wire surfaces, combined with polymeric cover plates and an adhesive rubber mixture for enhanced adhesion and sealing, ensures complete rubber coating and corrosion protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the rope diameter is increased to achieve higher load capacity, then the conveying capacity is improved, but the complete rubber coating becomes difficult to achieve, leading to open cavities and corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The steel rope is pre-coated with adhesive mixture before being integrated into the conveyor belt. This preliminary coating ensures that the rope surface is already protected and ready for the subsequent vulcanization process, preventing liquid penetration from the outset
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive mixture undergoes parameter changes during vulcanization - it flows in a liquid state during the process to penetrate and coat the rope surface, then hardens into a solid protective layer. This phase change enables complete coating even on large diameter ropes
2Strength
If adhesive rubber mixture is used to improve adhesion and flow into steel cables, then adhesion is optimized, but complete penetration of large diameter ropes is still difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive mixture is designed to change its physical parameters during vulcanization - remaining liquid and flowable during the heating process to ensure complete penetration, then transforming into a solid state to provide strong adhesion and sealing
Solution Approach 2:
The vulcanization process maintains continuous heating and pressure throughout the rope structure, ensuring the adhesive mixture continuously flows and penetrates all cavities and spaces within the rope, achieving complete coating without interruption
3Device complexity
If open cavities remain in the rope construction, then the rope structure is simpler, but liquid migration and corrosion occur, reducing service life
Solution Approach 1:
A continuous rubber coating forms a flexible protective shell around the steel rope, sealing all cavities and preventing liquid penetration. This thin film barrier maintains the rope's structural integrity while protecting against corrosion
Solution Approach 2:
The rubber coating transitions from a liquid state during application to a solid sealed structure after vulcanization, transforming the rope construction from open cavities to a completely sealed system that prevents liquid migration
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
This solution effectively prevents liquid migration and corrosion, extending the service life and maintaining adhesion between steel and rubber, even with larger rope diameters, by forming a honeycomb system of elastic hollow chambers within the rope.
Implementation Method 1
the coating undergoes an increase in volume during vulcanization, which exceeds the increase in volume usually present during vulcanization
Implementation Method 2
adhesive mixtures are often used, also as adhesive rubber mixtures referred to, used, which, in addition to optimizing adhesion as such, should also flow into the steel cables during the vulcanization process in order to enable better sealing
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
A conveyor belt includes a first outer sheet disposed on a loadbearing side of the conveyor belt, a second outer sheet disposed on a drive side of the conveyor belt, and an embedded tension-member system disposed between the two sides, which is in the form of cords running parallel in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt. The tension-member system includes steel and, prior to vulcanization of the conveyor belt, an expandable coating which, after vulcanization of the conveyor belt, has a pore structure provided to at least portions of the tension-member system. The sheets are formed from a polymeric material with resilient properties. In some aspects, the volume of the coating after vulcanization is from 30 to 5000% higher than prior to vulcanization. The coating may contain at least one of a blowing agent and/or microbeads.