Seaming element for industrial textiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for bonding nonwoven seaming elements to textiles face challenges in achieving consistent and reliable bond strength due to irregularities in the textile edges and surface profiles, which can result in weaker welds and require time-consuming inspection processes.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a ridge with transitional shoulder areas on the seaming element, formed through a progressive roll forming process, ensures intimate contact with the textile during the welding process, allowing for improved pressure distribution and alignment, thereby enhancing bond quality and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a flat seaming element is used to bond to textile edges, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the bond strength is inconsistent due to irregularities in textile edges and yarn surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The seaming element incorporates protrusions at its ends that create localized contact points with the textile edges. These protrusions concentrate the bonding pressure at specific locations, ensuring reliable contact even when the textile edge has irregularities. The protrusions are strategically positioned to engage with the yarns or film edges, creating intimate contact for consistent laser welding while the rest of the element body remains relatively simple in structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The seaming element is pre-formed with a specific profile including protrusions and coplanar surfaces before the bonding process. This preliminary shaping ensures that when the element is placed against the textile edge, the protrusions automatically align to provide optimal contact points, and the coplanar surfaces are already positioned at the correct height to engage with the textile surface, eliminating the need for complex adjustment mechanisms during bonding.
2Reliability
If pressure is applied during laser welding to ensure bond quality, then weld strength improves, but applying consistent pressure is difficult and time-consuming to inspect
Solution Approach 1:
The seaming element's structure with protrusions and coplanar surfaces enables it to self-align and self-position during the bonding process. The protrusions naturally engage with the textile edge irregularities, and the coplanar surfaces automatically establish the correct bonding interface height. This self-adjusting mechanism ensures consistent pressure distribution and intimate contact without requiring external pressure application devices or complex inspection systems, making the process both reliable and efficient.
3Reliability
If the seaming element surface is flat, then manufacturing is easier, but irregularities in textile edges prevent intimate contact and reduce bond strength
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than making the entire seaming element surface complex, the invention introduces protrusions only at the critical end regions where contact with the textile edge is required. The coplanar surfaces are provided only at the bonding interface areas. This localized structuring provides the necessary intimate contact capability while keeping the majority of the element body simple and easy to manufacture using standard extrusion or molding processes.
4Reliability
If manual inspection of welds is performed to ensure seam strength, then bond quality can be verified, but the process becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The seaming element's designed structure with protrusions and coplanar surfaces creates a self-verifying bonding interface. The protrusions ensure consistent engagement with textile irregularities, and the coplanar surfaces provide a uniform bonding plane that naturally indicates proper positioning. This self-adjusting and self-verifying mechanism eliminates the need for separate manual inspection steps, as the element's structure itself ensures weld quality, thereby maintaining high productivity while guaranteeing seam 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
This solution provides a consistent high-strength bond between the seaming element and the textile, reduces the need for manual inspection, and automates the bonding process, ensuring efficient and reliable seam formation.
Implementation Method 1
A through-transmission laser welding process is used which allows the radiant energy of the laser to pass through the seaming element, for example, to the interface at which the radiant energy absorbing material is located. This material warms to the melting point of the yarns and seaming element and creates a weld between the two materials at their interface.
Implementation Method 2
provide to the seaming element a ridge including transitional shoulder areas which, when installed, are coplanar with the yarns or textile components to which the seaming element is to be attached
Data Source
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AI summary
A seaming element for an industrial textile and a method of manufacture. The seaming element comprises an elongate body folded along its length at a folded connection region comprising a plurality of channelled protrusions securable to corresponding channelled protrusions of a complementary seaming element affixed to an opposing seamable edge. First and second body members extend from respective edges of the folded connection region, each body member being directly securable to the first seamable edge. At least one of the body members comprises a longitudinal profiled region proximate and substantially parallel to a free edge of the respective member. The method includes providing an array of apertures to form the channelled protrusions, and the profiled region is formed in a progressive roll forming process. The seaming element enables improved consistency and reliability of bonding of the element to the textile by laser welding, adhesives or other methods.