Low friction flat-top article carrying chain
AssigneeRexnord Inc.
InventorsWasyly G. Hodlewsky, William H. Bloedorn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article carrying conveyor chain includes a series of links having parts which slide on flat, spaced supporting rails which also provide the chain with lateral guidance. The link parts engaging the rails are an injection molded thermoplastic having dispersed throughout small particles of a low-friction material such that the exposed portions of the particles provide a dry film lubricant which, as the chain is used, becomes distributed over all of the several surfaces having frictional engagement with the supported articles and with rails. Where the entire link is of integral molded construction, the bearing surface of the link with the connecting pin is thus also provided with the dry film lubricant.
Claims6
A chain comprising links interconnected by pins for articulation and having a tensile strength, wear resistance and low coefficient of friction for operation on rigid supporting guide ways of a dissimilar material, the improvement wherein each such link comprises an injection molded thermoplastic unitary monolithic acetal resin with a uniform dispersion of random oriented tetraflouroethylene monofilamentous fibers in a selected proportion embedded therein, said proportion being less than that which would measurably reduce the tensile strength of the link, the comparison being with similarly connected links molded under the same conditions entirely of the same acetal resin alone and using the same accepted measurement procedure, and said proportion being greater than 1.3% by weight and such that the number of fibers exposed to the guide ways are sufficient to reduce the coefficient of friction of the link with the guide ways to 0.2, said coefficient being well below that indicated by accepted test procedures using test specimens of the same resin with the same fibers in said proportion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.