| WO1992011139A1 | 1992-07-09 |
| US5137787A | 1992-08-11 | |||
| GB2231054A | 1990-11-07 | |||
| DE19738388A1 | 1998-02-26 |
CLAIMS
1. An abrasion resistant panel, which includes: a wear layer manufactured from polymeric material, which provide a wear surface, in use; and a second, backing layer manufactured from a non-deformable fibre reinforced polymeric material.
2. A panel as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the polymeric material of the wear layer is a resiliently deformable material selected from synthetic polymers.
3. A panel as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the polymeric material of the wear layer is a resiliently deformable material selected from poly urethane modified with ester or ether groups.
4. A panel as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the selection of, or ratio of, ester and/or ether groups is selected to provide required tribology characteristics of a panel for a specific application.
5. A panel as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein the non-deformable backing material include glass fibre or carbon fibre reinforced resins.
6. A panel as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5, wherein the wear layer is coloured selected from a colour selected to indicate a specific property or tribology characteristic of the layer such as hardness.
7. A panel as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein the wear layer includes formations selected from walls transverse to the backing layer and reinforced ribs.
8. A method of manufacturing an abrasion resistant panel, which method includes the steps of: casting a polymeric material into a mould and allowing it to harden to form a wear layer; and attaching a fibre reinforced backing layer to the wear layer.
9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the hardened wear layer is removed from the mould before the backing layer is attached.
10. A method as claimed in claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the mould is manufactured from marble, granite or the like material.
11. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the polymeric material is poly urethane and its components are mixed and cast above room temperature.
12. A method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the mixed components are cast at about 100 0 C.
13. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12, which method includes the step of colouring the polymeric material with a colour selected to indicate a specific property or tribology characteristic of the layer.
14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the fibre reinforced backing layer is of a resin reinforced by fibre which is attached to the wear layer by applying a layer of the resin to one side of the wear layer followed by applying a layer of the fibre in the form of a mat.
15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein several layers, as dictated by the required stiffness of the panel, may be applied in this way and allowed to harden.
16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the hardness of the polymeric material is selected to be between 50 A-Shore and 100 A-Shore and having a thickness between 10 and 50 mm.
17. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 16, which includes the step of shaping the mould to form the negative formations for the wear layer selected from walls transverse to the backing layer and reinforced ribs.
18. A method of installing an abrasion resistant panel to abrasive material moving equipment, which method includes the step of: nailing a panel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 to a wall or part of the equipment exposed to abrasion with a nail gun.
19. A method as claimed in Claim 18, wherein the nail gun is selected from the projectile type.
20. A method as claimed in Claim 18 or Claim 19, wherein the panel is cut to a required size and/ or shape by using a removed used panel to provide a template with an industrial single serrated blade to prevent heating.
21. A method as claimed in any one of claim 18 to 20, which method includes the step of removing a previously mounted by wedging the panel of the nails and grinding the old nails flush with the wall.
22. A method as claimed in any one of claim 18 to 21 , which method includes the step of selecting a panel with the colour indicating the required property or tribology characteristic of the wear layer.
23. An abrasion resistant panel, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
24. A method of manufacturing an abrasion resistant panel, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
25. A method of installing an abrasion resistant panel to abrasive material moving equipment, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. |
Title: Abrasion Resistant Panel
Technical field of the invention
This invention relates to an abrasion resistant panel for use in abrasive materials handling such as a chute deflector liner panel for chutes. The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing of an abrasion resistant panel, use thereof and a method of installing an abrasion resistant panel.
Background to the invention
Abrasion resistant panels are used to protect exposed surfaces against wear and abrasion during movement, conveying and/ or deflection of abrasive materials such as ores, coal and the like. The exposed surfaces of conveying equipment are typically manufactured from steel and its working or wear surface is lined with steel abrasion resistant panels. The panels need regular replacement and/ or maintenance. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved wear resistant panel that is less time consuming to install than steel panels.
General description of the invention
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an abrasion resistant panel, which includes: a wear layer manufactured from polymeric material, which provide a wear surface, in use; and a second, backing layer manufactured from a non-deformable fibre reinforced polymeric material.
It will . be appreciated that the phrase "non deformable" is used in the relative sense and does not mean absolute non deformability.
The polymeric material of the wear layer may be resiliently deformable material selected from synthetic polymers such as poly urethane modified with
ester or ether groups. The selection of, or ratio of, ester and/or ether groups is selected to provide the required tribology characteristics of a panel for a specific application.
The non-deformable backing material may include glass fibre or carbon fibre reinforced resins such as epoxy resins or polyester resin.
The wear layer may be coloured selected from a colour selected to indicate a specific property or tribology characteristic of the layer such as hardness.
The wear layer may include formations such as walls transverse to the backing layer or reinforced ribs. The formations may be in the form of walls or ribs arranged to form abrasion material collection areas, in use, to give a dead-box effect.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an abrasion resistant panel, which method includes the steps of: casting a polymeric material into a mould and allowing it to harden to form a wear layer; and attaching a fibre reinforced backing layer to the wear layer.
The hardened wear layer may be removed from the mould before the backing layer is attached.
Harden will be understood to include solidifying, curing, setting, cross- polymerising and the like ways in which polymers change from a liquid to a solid state.
The mould may be manufactured from marble, granite or the like material.
The polymeric material may be poly urethane and its components may be mixed and may be cast above room temperature. It may preferably cast at about 100 0 C.
The method may include the step of colouring the polymeric material with a colour selected to indicate a specific property or tribology characteristic of the layer such as hardness.
The method may include shaping a mould. The mould may be shaped to include the negative formations of the wear layer. The may be shaped to include negative formations for formations such as walls transverse to the backing layer or reinforced ribs. The formations may be in the form of walls or ribs arranged to form abrasion material collection areas, in use, to give a dead-box effect.
The fibre reinforced backing layer may be of a resin reinforced by fibre which may be attached to the wear layer by applying a layer of the resin to one side of the wear layer followed by applying a layer of the fibre in the form of a mat. Several layers, as dictated by the required stiffness of the panel, may be applied in this way and allowed to harden. It will be appreciated that using a non steel backing layer reduces weight and cost. It also allows the panel to be cut without delaminating and to be mounted to a wall with a nail gun.
It will be appreciated that the panel in accordance with the invention will not corrode and due to its non metallic nature it also reduces noise levels in the equipment where used.
The hardness of the polymeric material may be selected to be between 50
A-Shore and 100 A-Shore scale as measured by an appropriate durometer and the thickness may vary between 10 and 50 mm.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of installing an abrasion resistant panel to abrasive material moving equipment, which method includes the step of: nailing a panel as described above to a wall or part of the equipment exposed to abrasion with a nail gun.
Although other methods may be used to attach the panel to a wall, the characteristics of the panel allow the use of a nail gun which speed and efficiency makes it the preferred method of attaching the panels in accordance with the invention. The use of a nail gun is also safe and low cost.
The nail gun may be of the non projectile type such as the HILTI ® gas or powder powered nail guns. It will be appreciated that the nails when driven into a steel wall, the nails fuse with the steel to form a sealed strong bond. The use of the nail gun also does not leave unwanted drilled holes and the relatively small size of the nails does not cause undue stresses in the steel wall.
The panel may be cut to a required size and/ or shape by using a removed used panel to provide a template. The panel may be cut with an industrial single serrated blade HILTI ® saw with a sufficiently slow blade speed which will not change the characteristics of the polymeric material of the wear layer by heating.
The method may include the step of removing a previously mounted panel according to the invention, by wedging the panel of the nails and grinding the old nails flush with the wall.
The method may also include the step of selecting a panel with the colour indicating the required property or tribology characteristic of the wear layer.
Alternative methods may be used to attach the backing plate of the liners to the wall such as preinstalled studs and nuts, nuts and bolts (with predrilled holes in the wall and liner), self tapping steel screws (with predrilled holes in the wall and liner), and by means of an adhesive, preferably a single component polyurethane based adhesive such as the adhesive marketed by Sika ®, called: Sikaflex®-221.
Detailed description of the invention
The invention is now described by way of example with reference to the following drawings wherein:
Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a side view of an abrasion resistant panel, in accordance with the invention, and various means of attaching the panel to abrasive material moving equipment.
Figure 2 shows diagrammatically a side view of an abrasion resistant panel being applied in a dead-box application.
In one example, an abrasion resistant panel includes a red resiliently deformable material wear layer 2 manufactured from poly urethane with a hardness of 90 A-Shore, which provide a wear surface, in use. The thickness of the wear layer 2 is 20mm. The composition of the wear layer 2 comprises Polyester polyol and iso-cyanide, which is pre mixed and then mixed together before moulding the panel and allowed to set. The panel further includes a second, backing layer 4 manufactured from a non-deformable four layer glass fibre reinforced epoxy.
The above described abrasion resistant panel is manufactured by casting heated to 100°C, coloured and mixed poly urethane components material into a granite mould and allowing it to cool and harden to form the wear layer. The wear layer is then removed from the granite mould and a glass fibre reinforced epoxy backing layer is applied to a flat side of the wear layer. A layer of epoxy is painted onto the side of the wear panel and a layer of glass fibre adhered thereto. This procedure is repeated until four layers are applied.
Prior to installation of the above described abrasion resistant panel to a steel wall 6 of abrasive material moving equipment, the old worn panels are removed from the steel wall, if the same as described panel, with a crowbar. The nails from a nail gun that remain in the steel wall are grinded flush with the wall.
The abrasion resistant panel is cut with an industrial single serrated blade HILTI ® saw Model Number WSR400PE to the shape and size of the removed panel with a and then installed by nailing the panel as described above to the steel wall exposed to abrasion with a HILTI ® powder powered nail gun Model Number
DX460MX.
As shown in Figure 2, in another example, the wear layer 2 includes formations in the form of walls 8 transverse to the backing layer 4. The formations are in the form of walls 8 arranged to form abrasion material 10 collection areas, in use, to give a dead-box effect, in other words, the abrasion material 10 itself forms a wear surface..
It shall be understood that the examples are provided for illustrating the invention further and to assist a person skilled in the art with understanding the invention and are not meant to be construed as unduly limiting the reasonable scope of the invention.