US1849035A - Bar splice for woven-wire fabrics - Google Patents

Description

March 8,1932.V f H, L, ESTMAN 1,849,035

y Fi 11111111111 s1 Patented Mar. 8, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAROLD L. EASTMAN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HARTFORD-EMPIRE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE BAR SPLICE FOR WOVEN-WIRE FABRICS Application filed February 7,` 1931. Serial No. 514,101;

This invention relates to sectional wovenwire fabrics and its object is to provide'a novel and effective means for connecting the panels. or sections of conveyor belts formed of sections composed of interwoven helical wires of right-hand twist alternating with sections composed of interwoven helical wires of left-hand twist.

My invention is designed as an improvement in the type of connection shown in the U. S. Patent 1,675,276 issued to Karl E. Peiler, June 26, 1928 (Reissue Patent 17,774, reissued August 19, 1930). Among the objects of my invention is to improve the belt fabric by eliminating the relatively large spaces which occur between the wires of adjacent sections at the point of connection, and thus make a belt which will be adapted to support articles at the point of connection equally as well as upon the belt sections proper, while maintaining all of the advantages which are obtained by the use of the structure disclosed in the Peiler patent.1y

Other objectsv of my invention will be apparent from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a connecting member constructed in accordance with my invention showing portions of adjacent woven wire sections which are connected thereby; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Conveyor belts of the character above referred to are now in general use in commercial glass-annealing leers, for example, those of the type shown in the patent to Mulholland 1,560,481, granted November l3, 1925. It is desirable in many, if not all,types of Vglass-annealing leers, that the glass articles be placed quite close to, but slightly spaced from, each other on the belt. Furthermore, in the case where relatively small articles are being annealed, for example, prescription bottles having uneven contours in horizontal section, and especially those having small bottoms, it is essential that a belt be employed having all portions of such character that the smallest ware to be annealed may be placed thereon without danger of toppling and there- .der of the belt. With my present invent-ion, however, the belt has substantially the same ware-supporting characteristics of surface at the joint as throughout the remainder thereof, with the result that any articles which may be placed upon the belt surface intermediate the joints may also be placed-at 0r over the joints without danger of toppling. This results in permitting the use of a relatively larger gage wire or winding,` of the belt with resultant greater mechanical strength and longer life for the annealing of ware of a given size, or conversely with a given belt, it permits the annealing of smaller or less stable glass articles.

In the drawings, a section of woven-wire fabric composed of wires having right-hand twists is indicated by the numeral 3 and a section composed of wires having a left-hand twist is indicated by the numeral 4. The

wires may be true helixesor may be somewhat flattened, and wherever I refer to helical wires such a construction is to be understood. A connecting bar 5 contains two series of perforations 6 and 7, the series being spaced transversely of the bar 5 and each perforation of the series being spaced longitudinally ofthe bar and hence transversely of the belt.` The perforations are so located that a single line will be tangential to all. The perforations, as indicated, are spaced according to the pitch of the helixes and optionally may be oval in form instead of circular, as shown, with their greater axes extending longitudinally of the bar in the manner disclosed in the Peiler patent.

Connecting the section 3 to the bar 5, a helical wire 8, of similar twist and pitch to that composing the section 3, is interwoven between the fabric and perforations 6 in the bar most distant from the fabric through which the strand is woven, and similarly in connecting the section 4 to the bar a strand 9, of twist and pitch similar to that of the strands composing the fabric 4, is interwoven between that fabric and the perforations 7 of the bar most distant from the section 4.

By so weaving the strands 8 and 9 through the bar, it will be obvious that the ware-bearing surface of the fabric offers no less supporting surface at the point of connection than at any portion of the fabric, thus the joint of the belt may be said to have the same effective ware-bearing surface as the remain'- der of the belt. The conveyor thus formed also retains the desirable features of that of the aforesaid Peiler patent.

Various modiiications may be made from the above-described embodiment of my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the following claims.

I claim 1. A woven wire fabric comprising adjacent sections composed of intermeshing helical wires of opposite twist, and means for connecting said sections including a perforated bar, connecting helical wires of twist similar to that of the respective sections woven through perforations in said bar, there being two series of perforations in the bar, and each of said connecting wires beingr woven through the series more distant from its respective belt section, whereby the convolutions of said connecting wires overlap.

2. A conveyor belt of woven-wire fabric, comprising alternate sections of interwoven helical wires extending transversely of the belt, and a transversely arranged connector between said sections, said connector including a fiat bar provided with two series of .openings spaced longitudinally thereofl and each series tangent to the median line of the bar, the end Wire of each of the adjacent belt sections being interwoven through the series of openings in the bar distant from its respective section, whereby the ware-bearing surface of the belt across the connection so formed has substantially the same ware-supporting characteristics as the remainder of the belt.

3. A woven-wire fabric comprising alternate sections of interwoven hel-ical wires having right and left-hand wound twists respectively, and means for connecting two adjacent sections including a fiat integral bar pierced with a plurality of rows of openings spaced longitudinally of said bar, each opening being tangent to the median line of said bar, a helical wire having con volutions passing through the turns ofthe end member of one of said sections and the row of openings distant from said section, and a second helical wire having convolutions passing through the turns of the end member of the other of said sections and the other row of openings in said bar, the second hel-ical wire having its convolutions arranged between the convolutions of said firstnamed helical wire.

Signed at'Hartford, Connecticut, this 5th day of February, 1931.

HAROLD L. EASTMAN.

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