Structural support, manufacturing process
AssigneeGuarniflon S.p.A.
InventorMassimo VILLANO
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Structural support (1) including a first support portion (2) delimiting at least one containment compartment (4, 4′); a second support portion (6) at least partly in front of the containment compartment (4, 4′); and a sliding element (4), housed in the containment compartment (4, 4′) and interposed between the first (2) and the second (6) support portion. The sliding element (8) substantially consists of a thermo-processable fluoro-polymer with a melt-mass flow rate—according to the ISO 1133-1:2011 standard—of less than 5.0 grams/10 minutes, for example under 3.0 grams/10 minutes.
Claims16
Structural support (1) including:
- a first support portion (2) delimiting at least one containment compartment (4, 4′);
- a second support portion (6) at least partly in front of the containment compartment (4, 4′);
- at least one sliding element (8), partly housed in the containment compartment (4, 4′) and interposed between the first (2) and the second (6) support portion;
- wherein the sliding element (8) substantially consists of a thermo-processable fluoro-polymer with a melt-mass flow rate (MFR)—according to the ISO 1133-1:2011 standard—of less than 5.0 grams/10 minutes, for example under 3.0 grams/10 minutes.
Structural support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thermo-processable fluoro-polymer consists of one or more tetrafluoroethylene copolymers (TFE), where the percentage by weight of TFE in said fluoro-polymer is smaller than or equal to 98% wt.
Structural support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thermo-processable fluoro-polymer is selected from the group consisting of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE)-perfluoroalkylvinyl ether (FVE) copolymers, in which the number of carbon atoms of FVE is between 1-5;
- TFE-hexafluoropropylene copolymers (HPF)-FVE;
- TFE-HPF copolymers;
- TFE-ethylene copolymers and TFE-ethylene-propylene copolymers;
- chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) homopolymers;
- CTFE-ethylene copolymers;
- vinylidene fluoride (VdF) homopolymers;
- VdF-TFE copolymers;
- VdF-hexafluoroisobutene (FHIB) copolymers, and mixtures thereof, the percentage by weight of TFE in said TFE copolymers being lower than 98% wt, preferably in the range of 75-98% wt, in particular 85-98% wt.
Structural support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one element surface (10) facing towards or in abutment with the first (2) and/or second (6) support portion defines a plurality of recesses (12), which partly develop towards the interior of the thickness (S) of said element (8), said recesses (12) having a perimeter (24) substantially circular with a diameter (D) of 7-9 mm, a maximum depth (P) of 2 mm, and wherein the distance between centres (I1) between said recesses in a first direction (X) is 13-14 mm and their distance between centres (I2) in a second direction (Y), orthogonal to the first direction (X), is 14.5-15.5 mm.
Structural support according to the preceding claim, wherein the second support portion (6) delimits an abutment surface (22) with the sliding element (8), said surface substantially consisting of polished stainless steel, such as stainless steel 316L.
Structural support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sliding element (8) is in the shape of a plate (S) with a maximum, substantially constant thickness of 8.0 mm, at the beginning of its usage life, for example smaller than or equal to 6.0 mm, and wherein the portion (14) of the sliding element (8) projecting outside the containment compartment (4, 4′) has a maximum height—with respect to a free edge (16) of the first support portion (2)—of at least 2.0 mm.
Structural support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first (2) and/or the second (6) support portion are at least partially made of a composite material, such as carbon fibre.
Process for the production of a structural support, for example a structural support (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the steps of:
- i) providing a first support portion (2) delimiting at least one containment compartment (4, 4′);
- ii) providing a sliding element (8) substantially consisting of a thermo-processable fluoro-polymer with a melt-mass flow rate (MFR)—according to the ISO 1133-1:2011 standard—of less than 5 grams/10 min, for example under 3.0 grams/10 minutes;
- iii) partly housing the sliding element (8) in the containment compartment (4, 4′);
- iv) placing at least part of a second support portion (6) in front of the containment compartment (4, 4′), so that the sliding element (8) is interposed between said support portions (2, 6).
Process according to the preceding claim, wherein in sub-step g), the movement occurs at a constant speed, so as to laminate a sliding element (8) with a substantially constant thickness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.