Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to fabrics such as woven or knitted tapes or textiles that are made from or comprising metal fibers or yarns and which are used for shaping objects e.g. via a heat treatment, such as glass shaping in car glass manufacturing. Such applications require both thermal resistance and flexibility. Moreover, the fabric must be such that no irregularities are left on the surface of the object during the thermoshaping.

Background Art

[0002] Thermal treatment of objects such as e.g. in glass shaping, like e.g. car glass manufacturing, generally comprises the use of shaping members to produce the objects, e.g. glass units, that require precisely defined curvatures dictated by the shape and outline of the frame. These frames or supports or shaping members are applied to support objects, e.g. in a furnace and are generally made of heat resistant material, such as e.g. metal. The shaping members may be provided with a covering to protect the objects, such as e.g. glass sheet, from the shaping member pressing surface. In particular, the surface of the hot object, such as e.g. a glass sheet, may get a "burn" mark if it contacts a bare metal pressing surface. Damage to the object may equally occur due to a deformation of the object relative to the support when the object undergoes a thermal treatment. In order to avoid or mitigate such damage to the object, it is known to cover the support with a stretchable fiber glass and/or metal fiber or metal wire fabric, e.g. woven or knitted tape that is made from or comprises stainless steel fibers, wires or yarns. Examples of fabrics used are e.g. described in US4753669 or WO94/01372.

[0003] Due to the flexibility of the fabrics, provided e.g. by the weaving or knitting process, the tape will adjust its shape to the object and thus reduce the risk of damaging the object. By applying the appropriate fibers or yarns for manufacturing the tape (e.g. stainless steel fibers or yarns) the tape can equally resist to the thermal treatment the object needs to undergo.

[0004] In order to mount the fabric, e.g. knitted or woven tape, to the support, several methods are proposed and known in the art. As an example, it has [0004] In order to mount the fabric, e.g. knitted or woven tape, to the support, several methods are proposed and known in the art. As an example, it has been proposed to weld or solder the fabric to the support. Also, it is known to sew (e.g. by using a stainless steel wire) the fabric to the support.

[0005] Such methods as known in the art are found to suffer from the problem that the mounting of the fabric, e.g. a tape, to the support is labor-intensive and thus expensive. It has further been observed that an appropriate mounting is not guaranteed by the methods as known in the art, i.e. posing a problem with respect to the quality level of the mounting. Improper mounting of the fabric leads to a wavy fabric with high tensions in some zones of the fabric and lower tensions in other zones. E.g. in car glass manufacturing this may lead to optic distortions or optical defects in the glass. Locally the amount of tape or fabric material may be thinner as a result of the higher tensions, which may lead to quicker and unacceptable wear.

Summary of the invention

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to facilitate the mounting of a metal fabric to a support. In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides in a metal fabric having a periphery or sides, characterized in that the fabric is provided with at least one elongated element along at least part of the periphery or sides. The elongated element(s) is(are) arranged to, in use, provide a plurality of loops along this at least part of the periphery or sides for mounting the fabric to a support.

[0007] In accordance with the present invention, a metal fabric is understood to be a fabric that is made from or comprises metal fibers, wires or yarns. The fibers, wires or yarns can e.g. comprise stainless steel. The metal fabric may further comprise other non-metallic fibers, wires or yarns comprising glass, (para)-aramide or PBO or mixed yarns such as aramid/stainless steel yarns or PBO/stainless steel yarns or stainless steel/polyketone yarns.

[0008] Metal fabrics according to the present invention include, but are not limited to, woven, knitted, braided or needle felted fabrics.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the metal fabric has a substantially elongated shape. In another preferred embodiment, the metal fabric has a shape wherein the length and width are more or less of the same size, such as e.g. a round, oval or square shape. [0010] In accordance with the present invention, the fabric is provided with at least one elongated element along at least part of its periphery or sides. Preferably, such an elongated element is made from or can comprise metal fibers, wire(s) or yarns or can be just one wire. In another preferred embodiment, the fibers, wire(s) or yarns can e.g. comprise stainless steel or other non-metallic fibers, wires or yarns comprising glass, (para)-aramide or PBO or mixed yarns such as aramid/stainless steel yarns or PBO/stainless steel yarns or stainless steel/polyketone yarns. In an even more preferred embodiment, the elongated element is chosen to avoid corrosion problems between the elongated element and the metal fabric, as this would deteriorate more quickly. To avoid these corrosion problems, the elongated element is preferably manufactured of the same materials or metals as the metal fabric. In another preferred embodiment, the elongated element is manufactured from materials which are not prone to corrosion or which are non-reactive with the metal fabric.

[001 1 ] In accordance with the present invention, the at least one elongated element is arranged to, in use, provide a plurality of loops along the at least part of the periphery or sides, such as e.g. the longitudinal sides, of the fabric. The loops as provided by the elongated element(s) can facilitate the mounting of the metal fabric to the support. As an example, a further elongated element (e.g. made from stainless steel) can easily be applied through the loops and used to secure the fabric to the support. As an alternative, in case the support is provided with a plurality of pins, the loops as provided by the elongated element along the longitudinal sides of the metal fabric can be configured to receive the pins thereby facilitating the mounting of the support.

[0012] In one embodiment of a fabric, the loops are provided by undulations of the elongated element, at least one elongated element being mounted along at least part of the periphery or sides of the fabric. Such at least one elongated element can e.g. be sewn to the longitudinal sides of the metal fabric to provide the loops. The loops provided can be used directly to mount the fabric to a support, e.g. by applying the loops to pins provided on the support.

[0013] In another embodiment of a fabric, the metal fabric comprises a tubular part arranged along at least part of the periphery or sides, the tubular part comprising a plurality of holes for, in use, receiving at least one elongated element. This embodiment provides the advantage that the metal fabric and the tubular part can be manufactured (e.g. by a weaving process) simultaneously. Preferably, the elongated element(s) for the metal fabric according to the invention is provided inside the tubular part during the manufacturing. The elongated element(s) can subsequently be applied to facilitate the mounting of the fabric to a support. As an example, when an elongated element is mounted inside the tubular part, it can, in use, be pulled out of the tubular part through the plurality of holes, thereby forming the plurality of loops along the sides of the fabric. The loops can be applied as described above to facilitate the mounting of the fabric to the support. As an elongated element can be provided inside the tubular parts during the manufacturing of the tubular parts, no separate step of introducing an elongated element inside the tubular part is required. As such, the embodiment of the metal fabric comprising an elongated element inside the tubular parts of the fabric can be manufactured in a time efficient way.

[0014] In a further embodiment, at least one elongated element can be mounted along the complete periphery of the fabric or all, e.g. four, sides.

[0015] Steel fibers suitable for being incorporated in a fabric according to the invention can be manufactured utilizing a bundled drawing method, such as is known, for example, from US-A-2050289 or US-A-3379000. Subsequently, the fibers can be spun into multifilament or staple fiber yarns, e.g. with a metric number between 5 and 60, in view of the later knitting, braiding or weaving process.

[0016] These and other aspects of the invention will be more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols designate like parts.

Brief description of Figures in the drawings

[0017] Figure 1 a and Figure 1 b schematically depict a support and a metal fabric mounted to the support by methods known in the art. [0018] Figure 2 schematically depicts a first embodiment of a metal fabric according to the present invention. [0019] Figures 3a-3b schematically depict two ways of mounting the first embodiment according to the present invention to a support. [0020] Figure 4 schematically depicts a second embodiment of a metal fabric according to the present invention. [0021 ] Figure 5a and Figure 5b schematically depict more details of the holes as provided on the tubular part of the second embodiment. [0022] Figure 6a and Figure 6b schematically depict different ways of providing a metal elongated element to the second embodiment of the metal fabric according to the invention. [0023] Figure 7 schematically depicts a non-elongated fabric according to the invention.

Modes for carrying out the invention

[0024] A metal fabric, such as a metal woven tape is often applied to, at least partly, a support, such as a support for supporting car glass when the car glass undergoes a thermal treatment. The metal fabric is applied to avoid or mitigate damaging the object (e.g. car glass) when supported. Figures 1 schematically illustrate two known methods of mounting a metal fabric to a support. Figure 1 a schematically depicts an XZ-view and Figure 1 b an YZ- view of a support 100 and a metal fabric 110 mounted to the support. The support 100 as shown has a substantially l-shaped cross-section and is provided with openings 120. As can be seen, an upper part of the support is, at least partly, covered by the metal fabric 1 10. As a result, when an object (not shown) is supported by the support, the metal fabric can prohibit any direct contact between the object and the support, thereby avoiding the support to damage the object.

[0025] Figure 1 b schematically depicts two known ways of mounting the metal fabric to the support. A first way to secure the metal fabric to the support is to apply spot-welding (schematically indicated by the spots 130) either directly to the support (130.1 ) or by welding both sides of the fabric together through the openings of the support (130.2). An alternative to the application of spot-welding is to sew the metal fabric to the support, e.g. by applying a (metal) wire or yarn 140 through the fabric and the openings 120 provided in the support.

[0026] The methods of securing as known in the art and illustrated in Figures 1a and 1 b are found to suffer from the drawback that the mounting of the fabric is labor-intensive and thus expensive. It has further been observed that an appropriate mounting is not guaranteed by the known methods, i.e. posing a problem with respect to the quality of the mounting and posing problems with regard to the quality of the glass thermoformed with the help of the fabric.

[0027] Figure 2 schematically depicts a first exemplary embodiment of a metal fabric according to the present invention. The embodiment as shown comprises a central part 200 having a substantially rectangular shape and a plurality of loops 210 provided along two opposing, longitudinal sides of the fabric. In the embodiment as shown, the loops 210 are obtained by securing (or mounting) an elongated element 220 on the opposing sides of the central part 200 in an undulated manner such that holes (or loops) 210 are formed by the undulations of the elongated element. The elongated element (e.g. made from or comprising stainless steel fibers or yarns) can e.g. be sewn to the central part 200 of the metal fabric.

[0028] The application of the plurality of loops along the opposing, longitudinal sides of the fabric facilitates the securing or mounting of the fabric to a support, as illustrated in Figures 3a-3b.

[0029] Figure 3a schematically depicts the mounting of a metal fabric as shown in

Figure 2 to a support. In the arrangement as shown, the metal fabric 300 is applied to a support 310 having a triangular cross-section. The metal fabric comprises a plurality of loops 330 along the side 340 of the fabric, the loops being provided by mounting (e.g. sewing) an elongated element 350 to the side 340. In order to secure the fabric 300 to the support, a second elongated element 320 can be provided through the loops 330 provided along the sides of the fabric, as schematically indicated in Figure 3a. The second elongated element 320 can be inserted through a loop on one side of the fabric, subsequently, via the bottom of the support, through a hole on the opposite side of the fabric. This second elongated element 320 can subsequently be used to pull the fabric downward onto the support, thereby securing the fabric to the support.

[0030] The metal fabric 300 according to the first embodiment of the present invention may also be secured to a support as illustrated in Figure 3b. The loops 350 as provided to the metal fabric according to the invention may advantageously be applied to mount the fabric directly to a support when the support is provided with a plurality of pins 360 arranged to, in use, being inserted in the loops 350. [0031 ] Figure 4 schematically depicts a 3D view of an example of the second embodiment of a metal fabric 400 according to the present invention. The metal fabric 400 comprises a tubular part 410 mounted along the opposing, longitudinal sides of the fabric. Inside the tubular part, an elongated element 420 is provided. The tubular part 400 is provided with a plurality of holes (not shown) through which the elongated element can be pulled thereby forming loops. Such loops can e.g. facilitate in securing the metal fabric to a support.

[0032] Figure 5a and Figure 5b provide more details on the tubular parts of the second embodiment of the metal fabric according to the present invention. Figures 5 schematically depict two exemplary metal fabrics 500 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The metal fabrics 500 comprise tubular parts 520 comprising a plurality of holes 530, the tubular parts 520 being arranged along longitudinal sides 540 of a central part 550 of fabric 500. As illustrated by the two metal fabrics as shown, the holes can be provided on different positions along the circumference of the tubular part. In the exemplary embodiment as shown on the right, i.e. on Figure 5b, the holes 530 are substantially coplanar to a central part 550 of the fabric. In the exemplary embodiment on the left, i.e. on Figure 5a, the holes 530 are arranged along the tubular parts in a position substantially opposing the longitudinal sides 540 (i.e. where the tubular parts 520 are attached to the central part 550). The elongated element of the metal fabric according to the invention that is arranged to, in use, provide a plurality of loops along the longitudinal sides, is not shown in Figure 5. Different ways of mounting the metal elongated element are illustrated in Figures 6a and 6b.

[0033] Figures 6a and 6b schematically depict the metal fabrics 500 according to the second embodiment of the invention as shown in Figures 5a and 5b including the tubular parts 520. Figure 6 further schematically depicts a elongated element 600 arranged to provide a plurality of loops along a longitudinal side of the fabric. As illustrated, the loops can be realized in different ways: As shown in embodiment Figure 6a, the elongated element 600 can be provided inside the tubular part (situation as depicted on the left of embodiment (a), and pulled out through the holes 530 to obtain a situation as depicted on Figure 6a. As can be seen, by pulling out the elongated element 600, loops 610 are formed by parts of the elongated element 600 that are pulled out through the holes in the tubular part 520. Providing a plurality of loops in this manner can be done irrespective of the position of the holes along the circumference of the tubular tape and can thus be realized in the same manner in case the holes are arranged as shown on Figure 6b.

[0034] An alternative way of providing the loops is schematically depicted on Figure 6b: By weaving the elongated element 600 through the holes of the tubular part, loops 620 may equally be realized along a longitudinal side of the fabric. For a given number of holes, the latter method of providing the loops may result in only half the number of loops compared to the method as shown in Figure 6a. It may be noted that a larger number of loops may enable a more homogeneous tension distribution when the metal fabric is secured to a support.

[0035] Figure 7 shows a non-elongated fabric 700 according to the present invention. A tubular part 720 is attached along all sides of the central part 710 of the fabric 700. The tubular part 720 is provided with a plurality of holes 730 to receive an elongated element (not shown).

[0036] With respect to the mounting of the metal fabric to a support, it can be mentioned that the second embodiment of the metal fabric according to the invention can be mounted or secured to a support in substantially the same way as the first embodiment. Both methods as illustrated in Figures 3a and 3b can be applied for mounting a metal fabric according to the second embodiment of the invention to a support. The second embodiment as schematically indicated in Figures 5 and 6 enables a more evenly distributed tension on the fabric when secured to a support. Such an evenly distributed tension is important to avoid undulations to the fabric when mounted to the support as this could result in damaging (e.g. scratching) the object that is supported, e.g. causing optical defects on carglass.

[0037] Comparing the first and second embodiment of the metal fabric according to the invention, it is worth mentioning that the second embodiment provides the advantage that the metal fabric and the tubular part can be manufactured (e.g. by a weaving process) simultaneously. Additionally, the metal elongated element of the metal fabric according to the invention may be provided inside the tubular part (as e.g. illustrated on the left of embodiments (a) and (b) of Figure 6) during the manufacturing and subsequently pulled outward through the holes of the tubular part to obtain a plurality of loops. As the elongated element can be provided inside the tubular parts during the manufacturing of the tubular parts, no separate step of introducing the elongated element inside the tubular part, or weaving the elongated element through the holes as illustrated on the right of embodiment (b) of Figure 6, is required. As such, the embodiment of the metal fabric comprising an elongated element inside the tubular parts of the fabric can be manufactured in a time efficient way.

[0038] It is further worth mentioning that the process of manufacturing the metal fabric according to the second embodiment substantially as a single piece (e.g. by weaving the central part 540 and tubular part 520 together during the manufacturing), a secure connection is obtained. As such, the metal fabric can withstand an important tensile stress applied to the fabric, e.g. when the fabric is secured to a support.

[0039] Various manufacturing processes are suitable for obtaining a metal fabric according to the present invention. As an example, the metal fabric according to the present invention can e.g. be a woven, knitted, braided or needle felted fabric.

[0040] The embodiments of the metal fabric and the application of the metal fabric to cover a support are merely illustrative. Other embodiments or applications of the metal fabric may further be devised and are included in the scope of the invention, the scope of the invention being only limited as set forth in the following claims.