Heated cutting wheel
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorBruce Thomas Choate
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Abstract
A rotatable cutting wheel is used to heat a polymer substrate as it is being cut. The cutting wheel has a heater and a thermocouple associated therewith, which are used to heat and control the temperature of the cutting wheel. The heat softens the substrate, making it easier to cut and reducing distortion caused by cutting. A cleaner cut also makes it more likely that polymer will be retained on reinforcement when the substrate is a reinforced polymer. A method of the invention comprises the steps of heating the cutting wheel and traversing the substrate with the heated cutting wheel.
Claims12
An apparatus for cutting a substrate comprising a rotatable cutting wheel having heating means, temperature measuring means and temperature control means associated therewith.
A method for cutting a substrate comprising the steps of
- (a) placing a substrate on a hard surface wherein the substrate is disposed between said hard surface and a cutting wheel
- (b) heating said cutting wheel above room temperature to a temperature at or below the melting temperature of said substrate thereby obtaining a heated cutting wheel
- (c) traversing said substrate with said heated cutting wheel.
A method of making a butt splice comprising the steps of
- (a) heating a rotatable cutting wheel above room temperature to a temperature at or less than the melting temperature of a polymer substrate intended for use in making a butt splice
- (b) cutting said substrate with a heated cutting wheel and
- (c) laying the substrate up in a polymeric product where two cut ends of the substrate are butted against one another.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.