Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With work feeding or handling means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-03
2001-01-09
Sells, James (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With work feeding or handling means
C156S574000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170550
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns an automatic welding machine for waterproof sheeting with a with a running gear with a welder mounted on it, guide rolls, a drive unit and pressing devices for the materials which are welded in a lap weld, said pressing devices having at least one press roll mounted on a shaft held by at least one lateral holder and having an elastic sheath on the periphery of the contact surface of the material as a pressure surface, compressing the fusion welding sheeting from above due to the weight of the automatic welding machine.
German Utility Model No. 9,110,488 U1 describes a device for lap welding of film edges, where the film is passed between two press rolls that are mounted so they can be pivoted about a pivot axis running horizontally and across the roll axis, to thereby equalize irregularities in levelness of the films. The required pressing pressure to be applied by the press rolls is generated by the press rolls themselves, not by the automatic welding machine.
To join and weld thermoplastic films, waterproof sheeting, tarpaulins and the like, the quality of the weld depends on the temperature, pressure and speed at which the welding operation is carried out. With the known automatic welding machines and their respective pressing devices, which generate the required pressing pressure on the weld from one side due to the weight of the automatic welding machine, one roll with a rigid shaft is used. If the substrate is uneven, the joining force of the automatic welding machine is transferred unevenly to the width of the weld and to the right and left of the test channel of the weld. There have been attempts to counteract this in practice by providing an additional soft elastic sheathing, e.g., made of rubber or silicone, around the metal press roll, to thereby compensate for such surface irregularities. Above a certain height of the irregularities, however, the press roll may still fail to exert pressure on the weld.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to propose a possibility with which a uniform pressing pressure of the press rolls is nevertheless guaranteed even when there area surface irregularities.
Accordingly, the shaft is mounted on the running gear at one end and the press roll is mounted by a pendulum bearing on the shaft which is centered with respect to the outside edges of the press surface and permits an additional pendulum movement of the press roll with respect to the shaft since it can be pivoted about a pivot axis running parallel to the end face of the shaft, intersecting the axis of rotation at the mid point of its rotation. This type of joint in the form of a pendulum bearing permits a pendulum movement to equalize irregularities beneath the fusion welding sheeting while nevertheless guaranteeing a uniform pressure beyond equalizing the elastic sheathing. To guarantee a uniform distribution of forces over the entire press surface, the pendulum mount is centrally arranged at the mid point of rotation. The press roll is thus capable of changing its position relative to the shaft and adjusting to irregularities in the substrate accordingly. If a pressing device is used as a hand unit, the weight is nevertheless applied to the press surface centrally and in parallel with an oblique application of pressure. This greatly improves the quality of the weld even with these machines. In addition, elastic centering means are arranged on both sides of the pendulum bearing, serving as an elastic buffer and stop in the pendulum motion of the press roll and limiting the movement to a certain pendulum range of approximately ±4 degrees out of normal position. In addition, stabilization devices are provided between the running gear and the end face of the press roll to guide the press roll in parallel with the running gear. These prevent the press roll from assuming a control function with an automatic welding machine and deflecting the automatic welding machine away from the weld. This can be accomplished, for example, by means of ball bearings or other suitable means, so that the roll can execute the desired pivoting movement according to the substrate or the local irregularities, but it always runs straight relative to the running gear.
The elastic centering means are advantageously mounted on one end face by a bolt that secures the spring washer on the shaft. Thus, a press roll can be exchanged easily for another press roll of another width, especially with an automatic welding machine for waterproof sheeting.
According to another embodiment of this invention, the shaft can be driven and has an entraining sleeve which is joined in a form-fitting manner to the shaft and holds an entraining unit with a pendulum rolling behavior on the circumference. This design permits especially simple assembly and dismantling of the pressing device by pushing the individual parts axially onto the drive shaft and then securing them on the end of the shaft by means of a spring washer and a bolt.
The entraining unit according to another embodiment has an internal crown gear connected to the shaft and an external crown gear connected to the press roll, with at least the teeth of a crown gear being designed in a curved shape. The rotationally fixed entraining unit establishes the form-fitting connection between the shaft and the press roll and guarantees the pendulum movement of the press roll.
By means of this invention, it is thus possible with both an automatic welding machine as well as a manual press roll to ensure that the weight will nevertheless be applied centrally and in parallel to the press surface of the press roll when pressure is applied obliquely. In addition, the press roll can be replaced easily by another press roll, for example, one with a different width.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4447288 (1984-05-01), Seaman
patent: 4504352 (1985-03-01), Meyer
patent: 4834828 (1989-05-01), Murphy
patent: 5051148 (1991-09-01), Resch
patent: 5234533 (1993-08-01), Neal
patent: 5865942 (1999-02-01), Sinclair
patent: 6050317 (2000-04-01), Weissfloch
Bachman & LaPointe P.C.
Leister Process Technologies
Sells James
LandOfFree
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