Compliant Slit Seaming Element for Strong Textile Bonding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seaming elements face challenges in achieving intimate contact and forming high-strength bonds with woven and nonwoven industrial fabrics, particularly due to the irregular surfaces and discontinuities of polymeric monofilament yarns and nonplanar structures, which complicates the bonding process and reduces bond strength.
Innovation Solution
The seaming element features a design with protruding seaming loops and planar upper and lower members, incorporating slits that extend towards the forward portion, allowing for flexible attachment and bonding methods like through transmission laser welding, ensuring intimate contact and enhanced bond strength with industrial textiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a relatively large, solid seaming element is bonded to smaller discrete polymeric monofilament yarns, then bonding strength should be high, but intimate contact is difficult to achieve due to crimped yarn surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The seaming element is divided into multiple discrete bonding zones or contact points along its length, allowing each segment to independently conform to the crimped yarn surface. This segmentation enables intimate contact at multiple locations while maintaining overall structural integrity and bonding strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The seaming element incorporates flexible or compliant sections that can dynamically adapt their shape during the bonding process. These dynamic sections allow the element to conform to the irregular crimped yarn surface, ensuring intimate contact while maintaining bonding strength through controlled deformation.
2Productivity
If through transmission laser welding is used to bond the seaming element, then bonding speed and automation are improved, but reliable bonding requires intimate contact that is difficult to achieve with irregular fabric surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The seaming element is pre-formed with compliance features or flexible sections before the bonding process. This preliminary preparation allows the element to automatically conform to irregular fabric surfaces during bonding, ensuring intimate contact is achieved before the laser welding begins, thereby maintaining both high bonding speed and reliable contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The seaming element incorporates materials or structural features that change their physical parameters (such as flexibility or conformability) under the conditions of the bonding process. This parameter change allows the element to achieve intimate contact with irregular surfaces while maintaining the high bonding speed required for automated laser welding processes.
3Strength
If traditional seam constructions are used requiring yarn preparation and interlacing, then seam strength can be achieved, but the process is costly and time-consuming requiring specialized personnel and machinery
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the complex yarn preparation and interlacing steps from the traditional seam construction process. By using a pre-formed seaming element that can be directly bonded to fabric edges, the patent removes the need for specialized machinery and personnel required for traditional seam construction, while maintaining seam strength through direct bonding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical yarn interlacing system with a direct bonding system. Instead of using complex mechanical processes to interlace yarns, the invention uses a seaming element that can be bonded directly to fabric edges through simplified processes such as laser welding, adhesive bonding, or ultrasonic welding, thereby reducing device complexity and personnel requirements while maintaining 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 design enables reliable and high-strength bonding between the seaming element and industrial textiles, improving the attachment and durability of the seam, especially for nonwoven fabrics by ensuring intimate contact and distributing stress effectively.
Implementation Method 1
The bonding method may include through transmission laser welding (TTLW)
Implementation Method 2
TTLW requires intimate contact between the joining components in order to form a high strength bond
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
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AI summary
Disclosed herein is a seaming element for attachment to an industrial textile. The industrial textile has opposed first and second seamable edge regions, while the seaming element has: i) a first lateral edge; ii) a second lateral edge; iii) a trailing edge; iv) a forward portion comprising a plurality of protruding seaming with successive loops spaced apart by an aperture, and v) a rearward portion continuous with the forward portion, with the rearward portion comprising an upper member and a lower member. The upper and lower members are substantially planar and have mutually opposed inner surfaces, with a portion of each inner surface bonded to the industrial textile at a selected one of the first and second seamable edge regions. At least one of the upper and lower member comprises one or more slits between the first lateral edge and the second lateral edge, with the one or more slits extending from the respective trailing edge in a direction towards the forward portion of the seaming element.