The invention generally relates to the field of conveying, and more specifically to a modular conveyor belt, a conveyor belt module, a method of manufacturing a conveyor belt module, and use of a material to manufacture a conveyor belt module.

Modular conveyor belts are generally known, and are for example used for conveying discrete products, for example packages or bottles. Modular conveyor belts are built up of conveyor belt modules. Due to the modularity, the length of the modular conveyor belt can be varied by placing conveyor modules in a row in a conveying direction, and coupling successive modules in the row. The width of the belt can be varied by placing several modules next to each other transverse to the conveying direction. Modules that are placed in successive rows may be staggered relatively to each other transverse to the conveying direction so as to form a conveyor mat having a brick laid pattern. A modular conveyor belt having a single row of modules is typically called a conveyor chain.

Modular conveyor belts are usually of endless design, so that a top run of the modular conveyor belt can circulate over a conveying track that extends in a conveying direction between return elements. A bottom run of the modular conveyor belt can circulate over a return track that extends in opposite direction between the return elements. The return elements may be formed by return guides or return wheels, usually a set of sprocket wheels. Sprocket wheels may be provided with teeth that engage the bottom of the modular belt, e.g. at a drive pocket provided in a bottom surface of the conveyor belt module, and may be used to drive the modular conveyor belt.

Conveyor belt modules for modular conveyor belts typically have a module body with a top surface for supporting products to be transported, and a bottom surface for sliding over a conveying track. The module bodies are typically provided with link elements (also called coupling elements herein) at the front and rear with which successive module bodies may be coupled so that top surfaces of conveyor belt modules in the top run can jointly form a conveying plane. Consecutive modules may be hingedly coupled about an axis in or parallel to the conveying plane transversely to the conveying direction so that the modules can rotate relative to each other to pass along the return element. The link elements may extend outward from a central portion of the body, in conveying direction at the front, and in opposite direction at the rear. For modular conveyor chains, the link elements may be located below the central portion. The link elements may interspaced transversely to the conveying direction, such that link elements of successive modules may interdigitate. The link elements may be provided with aligned hinge openings in the link elements, so that successive modules may be coupled with hinge pins that extend transversely to the conveying direction through the hinge openings. Consecutive modules may further be hingedly coupled about an axis perpendicular to the conveying plane so that the modules can rotate relative to each other to pass along a bend in the conveying track.

Conveyor belt modules are usually manufactured by molding, and are often manufactured from a plastics material. The conveyor belt modules are typically made out of thermoplastic material, and are typically integrally formed in one piece in a mold by injection molding. Conveyor belt modules are in practice made of semi crystalline engineering plastics having a relatively high speed of crystallization, such as PA, PBT, POM, PE or PP. The use of these engineering plastics allows the modular conveyor belts to be of relatively light weight, of relatively high strength and of relatively high resistance to wear. Depending on the desired material characteristics of the conveyor belt module to be formed, any of the above listed materials may be selected to injection mold conveyor belt modules from the same cavity of the same injection molding tool.

Although very satisfactory in many regards, a disadvantage of the present conveyor belts is that conveyor belt modules are typically molded at least substantially from virgin material and use of recycled material is limited. Recycled material of the above mentioned plastics typically has material characteristics that have degraded significantly compared to virgin material, e.g. molecular chains that have shortened due to previous thermal processing of the material. In addition, the grade and purity of the recycled material often varies, which may cause a significant disturbance of the processing parameters, and hence disturbance of process control. This is in particular the case when use is made of so called postconsumer recycled material, which -compared to recycled industrial scrap material- is more readily available and less expensive. In practice, the use of a significant amount of recycled material may e.g. lead to fluctuation in viscosity of the material in its molten state and hence fluctuation in mold flow, cycle time and/or distortions in the molded products, such as sink marked or warped product surfaces. Molding modules from mostly virgin material has negative environmental impact, and is relatively costly.

An object of the invention therefore is to mitigate the above mentioned drawback, preferably while at least substantially maintaining or improving the advantages. In particular, the invention aims to provide a modular conveyor belt, a conveyor belt module, a method of manufacturing a conveyor belt module, and a material to manufacture a conveyor belt module with which the use of virgin material may be reduced, and in which the use of recycled material is increased. In addition, the invention aims to provide such increased use of recycled material while lowering environmental impact.

Thereto the invention provides for a conveyor belt module having an injection molded body that includes recycled PET (rPET). It has been found that conveyor belt modules may be successfully molded at least substantially from rPET, in particular at least 30 or 40 weight % of rPET, specifically more than 50 weight % of rPET and in particular more than 60 weight % of rPET. Molding the conveyor belt modules may be done without significant loss of mechanical properties compared to virgin PET, and while obtaining suitable mechanical characteristics for a conveyor belt module. In particular, a conveyor belt module for a modular conveyor belt is provided, comprising an injection molded body with a top surface for supporting products to be transported, a bottom surface for sliding over a conveying track, and link elements at a front and rear of the body for coupling to a consecutive conveyor belt module, wherein the injection molded body includes recycled PET (rPET). These advantages in practice offset the disadvantages of the use of a dedicated mold.

It is observed that (virgin) PET is in practice not used for molding conveyor belt modules as its shrinkage and cooling characteristics require the use of dedicated molds. In view of the modular character of modular conveyor belts, PET can thus not be used to injection mold conveyor belt modules interchangeably from the same cavity of the same injection molding tool as engineering plastics commonly used for molding conveyor belt modules such as PA, PBT, POM, PE or PP. Rather the size of the mold cavity and the configuration of the cooling system needs to be adapted for PET.

Further, process control for injection molding with PET is relatively complex as it has a relatively low speed of crystallization, while the advantages of its transparent amorphous phase that normally offset these disadvantages for other products are not relevant for conveyor belt modules. In addition, the relatively high brittleness of the crystalline phase present a challenge for use in a conveyor belt module.

However, it has been found that the relatively low speed of crystallization of PET provides more flexibility to adapt the process control parameter to disturbances caused by the variations of grade and purity that are inherent to the use of a recycled material, in particular a postconsumer recycled material. In addition, it has been found that rPET is available with relative constant grade and purity at relatively low costs, which in itself reduces the variation in process control.

The semi crystalline PET material of the conveyor belt module can be molded to present a varying degree of crystallinity across its body, The body of the conveyor belt module is preferably a solid body in the sense of having a material structure that is free of voids such as in a foam. In particular the body can comprise a core having a relatively high average degree of crystallization, and an outer cover layer of a relatively low average degree of crystallization. The material of the core can then have a relatively high average degree of crystallization and can be less amorphous, while the material of the cover layer can form a skin having a relatively low average degree of crystallization and can be more amorphous. Preferably, the outer cover layer is substantially amorphous, e.g. having an average degree of crystallinity of less than 20 or 10%, in particular 2-5% and/or the core is substantially crystalline, e.g. having an average degree of crystallinity of at least 20%, e.g. 30-40%. Between the outer cover layer and the core typically a transient zone may be present in which the crystallinity gradually increases radially inward from the outer surface of the module body towards the core.

As a result, the core of the body can be relatively hard and brittle, while the outer layer can be relatively ductile and tough. Compared to conventional conveyor belt modules of fast crystallizing semi crystalline engineering plastics such as PA, PBT, POM, PE or PP, the layer forms a skin can be relatively thick, and may e.g. have a minimum thickness of at least 1 mm, preferably 2 mm, and/or an average thickness of e.g. at least 1.5mm. The outer layer may be formed by providing enhanced cooling in the molding tool, e.g. additional cooling channels. When the coupling elements (also called link elements herein) are molded to be substantially amorphous and/or have a relatively low average degree of crystallization, e.g. less than 30 or 10%, they can be made to be relatively tough and ductile so as to increase their capacity to withstand impact loads imparted during conveying or during assembly. Such coupling elements may be obtained by providing local further enhanced cooling in the molding tool, e.g. additional dedicated cooling channels near the areas of the mold cavity in which the coupling elements are formed, and/or by cooling core elements that form hinge openings in the coupling elements.

When the core, at least one or more sections thereof, extends between the link elements in a front-rear direction corresponding to a conveying direction, an advantageous stiffening of the module can be realized, in particular so as to inhibit undesired stretching of the module along the conveying direction.

The rPET material used for molding may originate from recycled PET bottles, in particular postconsumer recycled bottles. The rPET material may be rPET flakes, obtained from shredded recycled PET postconsumer bottles. Since the PET bottles are typically molded from a same type of PET, the re-use of postconsumer bottles yield rPET which is relatively uniform in its molecular weight, i.e. length of the polymer molecule. It is therefore relatively uniform in its viscosity when it is in its molten state during injection molding. In addition, due to the transparency of bottles, rPET from recycled bottles have a relatively low crystallinity. This means that the material requires relatively little heat to melt compared to relatively amorphous rPET material, e.g. regranulated rPET material. The flakes of postconsumer rPET bottles may be fed into the feed screw of an injection molding machine, i.e. without need of regranulation. This allows the use of recycled material for the conveyor belt modules with relatively small environmental impact. Regarding the use of rPET, it is observed that thorough drying of the rPET material before injection molding facilitates processing, and is especially recommended for rPET flakes.

It is observed that (postconsumer) rPET material of very low grade and low purity may need addition of relatively high percentage of virgin (PET) material to stabilize processing and safeguard mechanical properties of the conveyor belt modules, e.g. 10-20 weight% of rPET material and 80- 90 weight % of virgin PET material. However, as such postconsumer rPET material has little use and is very inexpensive, it may from both a commercial and environmental perspective still be attractive to use it for molding conveyor belt modules even in such low proportions.

The conveyor belt modules may be molded from multicolor flakes, which are available at relatively low cost. A pigment may be added to the rPET flakes, e.g. a dark pigment to make the body of the conveyor belt module uniform in color and/or substantially opaque. In particular, the pigment used to color the body may e.g. include white, green, yellow, brown, blue, red, purple or black.

The recycled PET bottle material may be processed without need for adding nucleating agent. If desired, the mechanical properties of rPET may be enhanced, e.g. by adding fibers and/or copolymers.

The invention further relates to a modular conveyor belt comprising a row of modules extending in conveying direction, wherein successive modules are hingedly coupled about an axis in or parallel to a conveying plane transversely to the conveying direction so that the modules can rotate relative to each other, said row of modules comprising one or more modules as discussed above.

The invention further relates to a conveyor belt system including a modular conveyor belt as discussed above in which the conveyor belt modules are coupled to form an endless loop, and wherein a top run of the modular conveyor belt is arranged to circulate over a conveying track that extends in a conveying direction between return elements, and wherein a bottom run of the modular conveyor belt is arranged to circulate over a return track that extends in opposite direction between the return elements.

The invention further relates to the use of recycled PET (rPET) for molding a conveyor belt module for a modular conveyor belt, in particular a conveyor belt module as discussed above.

The invention further relates to method of manufacturing a conveyor belt module for a modular conveyor belt, in particular a conveyor belt module as discussed above, in which recycled PET (rPET) is injected in a mold cavity to form a body of the module.

It should be noted that within the context of the invention, the features disclosed above may each be isolated from their context, and/or may be combined.

Further embodiments of the invention are set out in the appended claims.

The invention will be further elucidated on the basis of a nonlimiting exemplary embodiment, which is represented in the drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective top view of a conveyor belt module for a modular conveyor mat according to a first embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic bottom view of the module of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3a, 3b and 3c each show a longitudinal cross section of the module of Fig. 1 at different locations across the width of the module;

Fig. 4a, 4b and 4c each show a transversal cross section of the module of Fig. 1 at different locations across the length the module;

Fig. 5 a planar cross section of the module of Fig. 1 below a top surface of the module, and

Fig. 6 a planar cross section of the module depicted in Fig. 2 above a bottom portion of the module. It is noted that the drawings are only schematic representations of an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In the drawings, identical or corresponding parts are represented with the same reference numerals.

Figures 1 through 6 show a conveyor belt module 1 for a modular conveyor belt. In this example, the modular conveyor belt is configured for a conveyor chain. The conveyor belt module 1 comprises a module body 2 with a top surface 3 for supporting products to be transported, and a bottom surface 4 for sliding over a conveying track. Link elements 5 extend outward from a central portion 6 of the body 2, in a conveying direction P at the front 7, and in opposite direction at the rear 8. The link elements are located below the central portion 6. The link elements 5 at the rear 8 are interspaced transversely to the conveying direction, such that link elements 5 of successive modules 1 may interdigitate. The link elements 5 have been provided with axially aligned hinge openings 9, so that successive modules 1 may be coupled with hinge pins (not shown) that extend transversely to the conveying direction P through the hinge openings 9. Successive module 1 bodies may be coupled so that top surfaces 3 of conveyor belt modules 1 can jointly form a conveying plane. The successive modules 1 may then hinge about an axis parallel to the conveying plane transversely to the conveying direction.

The injection molded body 2 includes recycled PET (rPET). In this example, the body 2 is wholly made of rPET. The rPET material of the body 2 is molded from rPET flakes that originate from shredded recycled post consumer PET bottles. The rPET material of the body 2 includes a black pigment to make the conveyor belt modules 1 uniform in color and opaque.

The rPET material of the conveyor belt module 1 has been injection molded in a mold cavity of an injection molding to present a varying degree of crystallinity across the body 2 of the module 1. In particular the body 2 comprises a core 10 having a relatively high average degree of crystallization, and an outer cover layer 11 of a relatively low average degree of crystallization. The material of the core 10 has a relatively high average degree of crystallization and is less amorphous, while the material of the cover layer 11 forms a skin having a relatively low average degree of crystallization and is more amorphous. The core 10, at least one or more sections thereof, here extends between the link elements 5 in a frontrear direction corresponding to the conveying direction P, see for example Figs. 5, 3b and 3c. In the Figures, for purposes of illustration the core 10 has been drawn in schematically and is not drawn to scale. In practice, the core may vary in thickness, and the core may be built up of several portions that may or may not interconnect. In this example, the outer cover layer 11 is substantially amorphous, and has an average degree of crystallinity of 3%. The core 10 is substantially crystalline, and has an average degree of crystallinity of 30%. Between the outer cover layer 11 and the core 10 a transient zone is present in which the crystallinity gradually increases (not shown in the schematic drawings).

The core 10 of the body 2 is relatively hard and brittle, while the outer layer 11 is relatively ductile and tough. In the example, the outer layer 11 forms a skin that has a minimum thickness of 1 mm and an average thickness of 1.5 mm. The outer layer 11 may be formed by providing enhanced cooling in the molding tool, e.g. additional cooling channels.

The link elements 5 have been molded to be substantially amorphous and have a relatively low average degree of crystallization compared to the central portion 6 of the body 2 , e.g. less 10%, and have been made relatively tough and ductile so as to increase their capacity to withstand impact loads imparted during conveying or during assembly. This has been achieved by providing additional dedicated cooling channels near the areas of the mold cavity in which the link elements 5 were formed, and by cooling the core elements that form the hinge openings 9 in the link elements 5.

The invention is not limited to any specific example given in this description. In this respect, it is observed that within this context, a modular conveyor belt having a single row of modules is meant to comprise a modular conveyor chain. In addition, it is observed that the conveyor belt module, modular conveyor and conveyor belt system may include any of the features set out in relation to the prior art in the introductory portion of the description. Further it is observed that the body of a conveyor belt module in accordance with the invention may in addition to rPET thus include virgin PET and/or other materials, e.g. fibres and/or other plastics - e.g. (thermoplastic) copolymers rubberized PCV. The belt module can present a material structure that is solid, as e.g. shown in the example above. In such a solid structure, the density of the conveyor module can be the same as the density of the polymeric material it is made of. In particular, the density of the conveyor module can thus be the density of the type of PET polymer material it is made of. The material of the body of the conveyor module can then be free of unoccupied volume, in contrast to when the module presents a material structure that is (micro)cellular. The plastics material used for molding can then be free of foaming agent, and the molded material can be unfoamed. The conveyor module body can then have a material structure that is closed and can be free of voids, in contrast to e.g. a conveyor module body having a material structure that is open, such as a (micro)cellular structure. Many variations will be apparent to the person skilled in the art.

Such variations are understood to be comprised within the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims. List of reference signs

1. Conveyor belt mo dule

2. Module body 3. Top surface

4. Bottom surface

5. Link elements

6. Central portion

7. Front 8. Rear

9. Hinge openings

10. Core

11. Outer cover layer P Conveying direction