Drive belt with surface texture for minimizing vibrations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11976708-B2
Application number	US-202017764171-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2020
Priority date	Oct 18, 2019
Publication date	May 7, 2024
Grant date	May 7, 2024

Abstract

A pulley belt ( 100 ) for transmitting force from a first pulley ( 12 ) to a second pulley ( 14 ) includes a belt member ( 110 ) having a contact surface ( 120 ) configured to be in contact with the first pulley ( 12 ) and the second pulley ( 14 ). A plurality of projections ( 122 ) extends from the contact surface ( 120 ). The projections have a predetermined height/diameter aspect ratio. In a method of making a pulley belt, an uncured elastomer ( 316 ) is placed in a mold ( 310 ) having a shape of a belt member ( 320 ) with an inner surface from which patterned projections ( 312 ) extend inwardly. The uncured elastomer is cured to form a cured belt member ( 320 ), which is removed from the mold ( 310 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A pulley belt for transmitting force from a first pulley to a second pulley, comprising:
(a) a belt member having a contact surface configured to be in contact with the first pulley and the second pulley;
(b) a plurality of projections extending from the contact surface, the projections having a predetermined height/diameter aspect ratio in a range of from 0.01 to 1.0,
wherein the predetermined height/diameter aspect ratio is defined as a height of one of the plurality of projections divided by a diameter of the one of the plurality of projections, wherein the diameter is a shortest distance across the one of the plurality of projections.

2. The pulley belt of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined height/diameter aspect ratio is 0.2.

3. The pulley belt of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of projections has a regular pattern.

4. The pulley belt of claim 3 , wherein the regular pattern has an area density of about at least 70%.

5. The pulley belt of claim 3 , wherein the regular pattern comprises selected from a list of patterns consisting of: a hexagonal pattern; a rectangular pattern; and combinations thereof.

6. The pulley belt of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of projections comprises a random pattern.

7. The pulley belt of claim 1 , wherein the belt member and the plurality of projections comprises an elastomer.

8. The pulley belt of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of cords embedded lengthwise through the belt member.

9. The pulley belt of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of cords comprises cotton cords.

10. The pulley belt of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of cords comprises metal cords.

11. A pulley belt for transmitting force from a first pulley to a second pulley, comprising:
(a) a belt member having a contact surface configured to be in contact with the first pulley and the second pulley;
(b) a regularly patterned plurality of projections extending from the contact surface and having an area density of at least 70% and a 0.2 height/diameter aspect ratio; and
(c) a plurality of cords embedded lengthwise through the belt member,
wherein the predetermined height/diameter aspect ratio is defined as a height of one of the plurality of projections divided by a diameter of the one of the plurality of projections, wherein the diameter is a shortest distance across the one of the plurality of projections.

12. The belt of claim 11 , wherein the regular pattern comprises selected from a list of patterns consisting of: a hexagonal pattern; a rectangular pattern; and combinations thereof.

13. The belt of claim 11 , wherein the belt member and the plurality of projections comprise an elastomer.

14. The belt of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of cords comprises tension cords that are subjected to a pretention of substantially 0.1 N during curing of the belt member.

15. A method of making a pulley belt, comprising the steps of:
(a) placing an uncured elastomer in a mold, the mold having a shape of a belt member having an inner contact surface from which a regularly patterned plurality of projections extend inwardly from the contact surface so that the plurality of projections have an area density of at least about 70% and a height/diameter aspect ratio in a range of from 0.01 to 1.0;
(b) curing the uncured elastomer so as to form a cured belt member with an inner surface pattern of projections; and
(c) removing the cured belt member from the mold,
wherein the predetermined height/diameter aspect ratio is defined as a height of one of the plurality of projections divided by a diameter of the one of the plurality of projections, wherein the diameter is a shortest distance across the one of the plurality of projections.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of placing a plurality of cords lengthwise in the elastomer and in the mold prior to the curing step.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising the step of pre-tensioning the plurality of cords prior to the curing step.

Assignees

• Georgia Tech Res Inst

Inventors

• Varenberg Michael
• Leamy Michael
• Wu Yingdan

Classifications

• F16G1/28 Primary

  with a contact surface of special shape, e.g. toothed · CPC title

• F16G1/10 Primary

  with textile reinforcement · CPC title

• F16G1/12

  with metal reinforcement · CPC title

• B29D29/00

  Producing belts or bands · CPC title