Title of Invention

FLAP DISC WITH A BACKING PLATE

Abstract

Flap disc with a backing plate to whose peripheral zone laminae overlapping like a fan or roof tiles are attached, characterized in that the lamellae (10) consist of first lamellae (12), comprising a backing (14), a base bonding coat (15) applied to the backing, a layer of abrasive grain (16) deposited over the base bonding coat, and a size coat (18) over the layer of deposited abrasive grain (16), and second lamellae (20), consisting of a backing (22) and a layer (24) with active abrasive materials applied to the backing.

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT 1970 [39 OF 1970] COMPLETE SPECIFICATION [See Section 10 and Rule 13] "FLAP DISC WITH A BACKING PLATE" VEREINIGTE SCHMIRGEL-UND MASCHINEN - FABRIKEN AG, of Siegmundstrasse 17, D-30165 Hannover, Germany, The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:- The invention concerns a flap disc according to the preamble of claim 1. A flap disc is known from DE 35 25 620 in which abrasive lamellae are arranged overlapping like roof tiles and permanently fixed in radial slits around the peripheral zone of a flexible backing pad in the form of a circular disc. In order to achieve a lighter and simpler backing pad which nevertheless still fixes the abrasive lamellae securely at higher rotational speeds, the backing pad is formed as a part disc containing radial slits in its peripheral zone which are extended to form gill-like openings in order to clamp the abrasive lamellae into place. A flap disc is known from DE 35 41 347 in which abrasive lamellae are arranged overlapping like roof tiles around the peripheral zone of a flexible backing pad in the form of a circular disc, whereby said lamellae are inserted through radial slits and firmly clamped on the back by a clamping plate. The backing pad and the clamping plate are in the form of metal discs and are connected along their circumference positively or non-positively. The intention of this arrangement is to enable the flap disc to be transported and used as a one-piece tool after manufacture. DE-GM 88 04 148.4 describes a flap disc which consists of a metal support plate onto which abrasive lamellae are bonded in a fan-type arrangement to form an outer ring. The part of the support plate supporting the abrasive lamellae is bent like a truncated cone. The intention of this is to create a favourable ergonomic shape and increase the strength with respect to centrifugal forces. DE 38 39 238 describes a flap disc with a backing pad onto which abrasive lamellae are bonded overlapping like roof tiles fan-like on an outer ring. The backing pad is preferably formed as a metal disc containing openings which are preferably round. These holes allow the adhesive to flow through to the back. A depression on the back of the pad enhances the adhesion of the adhesive. At the same time, the pad has several notches in the region of the clamping which guarantee a self-locking effect against loosening of the nut upon clamping tightly. This arrangement is intended to create a backing pad which guarantees high operational reliability and is simple to manufacture. A flap tool is known from DE 40 20 461 which has a support plate provided with a means of fixing which allows it to be mounted on a drive machine, as well as an abrasive disc comprising a backing in the form of a circular disc detachable from the support plate and an abrasive attached to this. The backing consists of a flexible cloth. The connection between the backing and the support plate is formed by a self-adhesive, detachable, Velcro fastening across the entire area. Abrasive lamellae overlapping like a fan and arranged radially are bonded to the backing. The outside diameter of the backing and the abrasive lamellae attached to it is larger than the outside diameter of a support plate chosen depending on the progressive degree of wear of the abrasive lamellae and with a diameter matched to the respective degree of wear; said support plate is provided with a pin in the centre on the abrasive disc side for a central hole in the backing. Through this arrangement it is intended that as much as possible of the abrasive should be used when grinding in corners. A flap disc for hand-held grinders is known from DE 195 43 597 which comprises a round backing disc with a central fixing device for attaching it to a hand-held grinder and abrasive lamellae overlapping like a fan fixed to the backing disc and extending to or beyond the outer edge of the backing disc. The surfaces of the abrasive lamellae serve as an abrasive surface. The radial outer narrow sides of the abrasive lamellae form the perimeter of the flap disc. At least the narrow sides of the abrasive lamellae are provided with a curing bonding agent which removes material from the object to be machined and extends to the abrasive surface. This arrangement is intended to create a flap disc which exhibits a long service life even when frequently used in areas like angles, corners or similar not easily accessible places. With the acknowledged flap discs it is known to use abrasive lamellae having a backing covered with a base bonding coat, thereupon a layer of abrasive grain and on the layer of abrasive grain a first size coat and then - applied by way of a very elaborate process - a second size coat over the first size coat. The first size coat is intended to ensure the strength of the abrasive grain layer and can also include KBF4, cryolite or similar active abrasive materials. The second size coat contains active abrasive materials important for the abrasive action of the flap disc. The task of the present invention is to devise a flap disc of the aforementioned type in such a way that the abrasive action is improved but with a reduced demand on materials and production. This task is solved by the invention according to claim 1. Advantageous and material further developments are specified in the subclaims. The invention proposes the use of two different types of lamellae for the lamellae of the flap disc: on the one hand, first lamellae consisting of a backing, a base bonding coat over this, a deposited layer of abrasive grain on the base bonding coat and a size coat over the deposited layer of abrasive grain; and on the other hand, second lamellae consisting of a backing and only one layer of active abrasive materials attached to the backing. So, for example, every second, third, fourth, etc. lamella can be formed like the first lamella or like the second lamella, and the other lamellae formed like the second lamella or the first lamella. Another possibility is alternating groups of first lamellae and groups of second lamellae, whereby the number of lamellae in the groups may be equal or different. The arrangement according to the invention has the advantage that the lamellae, on the whole, are simpler and less costly to produce, which in turn makes the flap disc less expensive in the end. By providing the active abrasive materials on separate lamellae with only one bonding layer on the backing, which carries the active abrasive materials, this results in a saving of abrasive grain and it is not necessary to apply the active abrasive materials in a second size coat. Apart from that, there are possibilities for improving the degradation behaviour of the active abrasive materials compared to an arrangement in a second size coat according to the state of the art. In doing so, it is also possible to increase the amount of the active abrasive materials which are applied without reducing the cutting ability of the flap disc. At the same time, it has been unexpectedly shown that the abrasive action of the flap disc according to the invention has been improved. The invention shall be explained in more detail in the following by means of the accompanying drawing which shows an embodiment example. The drawing shows Fig. 1 a plan view of a flap disc, Fig. 2 a section through a first lamella used in the flap disc according to fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a section through a second lamella used in the flap disc according to fig. 1. Identical components in the figures of the drawing are identified with the same reference numbers. Fig. 1 shows a flap disc 2 with a backing plate 4 which has a central through-hole 6 for fixing the flap disc to a machine. Lamellae 10 overlapping like a fan or roof tiles are fixed, preferably bonded, to the peripheral zone 8 of the backing plate 4 which is arranged perpendicular or at an angle to the axis of rotation. The lamellae 10 have radial outer sides 11 which end at the edge of the backing plate or project beyond this and may be formed straight or curved. The lamellae 10 consist of two types of lamellae: first lamellae 12, comprising a backing 14, a base bonding coat 15 on this, a layer of abrasive grain 16 deposited over the base bonding coat 15, and a size coat 18 over the deposited layer of abrasive grain 16; and second lamellae 20, consisting of a backing 22 and on this backing a layer 24 with active abrasive materials, see figs 2 and 3. The abrasive grain 16 is in this case partly embedded in the base bonding coat 15 and the thickness of the size coat 18 is chosen so that the peaks of the abrasive grain protrude from the size coat, see fig. 2. The first and second lamellae 12 and 20 alternate in fig. 1. However, it is also possible to form every (n+1)th lamella (n = 2, 3, 4...) as a first or second lamella 12 or 20. Groups of several first and groups of several second lamellae may also alternate, whereby the number of lamellae per group may be different. The size coat 18 of the first lamella 12 can, additionally, still be provided with active abrasive materials. The active abrasive materials which are employed are, for example, potassium fluoroborate, cryolite, calcium fluoride and chiolite. A number of examples are outlined below to explain the invention further. Example 1: Abrasive lamellae were bonded overlapping like a fan in the known way to a backing disc of 115 mm diameter. Sixty lamellae measuring 18 x 25 mm were employed. The abrasive lamellae consisted of a backing of finished polyester cloth with a base bonding coat in which the abrasive grain was zirconia alumina of grit 40 deposited at a rate of 700 g/m2, a first size coat applied at a rate of 300 g/m2 over the layer of deposited abrasive grain, ensuring the strength of the layer of abrasive grain, and a second size coat with an active abrasive material (potassium fluoroborate), which promotes the grinding process, applied with a bonding agent at a rate of 380 g/m . This flap disc was tested on a machine at a speed of 4200 rpm, corresponding to a cutting speed of 25 m/s. Circular tubes of V2A 4301 material with an outside diameter of 90 mm and a wall thickness of 10 mm were ground. Over 10 periods each lasting 5 minutes, 153 g of material was removed. Example 2: Abrasive lamellae according to example 1 were bonded to the backing disc, whereby an alternating sequence of lamellae was employed. The 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc. consisted of material as in example 1, but without a second size coat. The 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc. lamellae consisted of a backing onto which only one layer was attached, which contained potassium fluoroborate as the active abrasive materials and was applied with a bonding agent at a rate of 480 g/m2. With the same conditions as in example 1, 373 g of material was removed. Example 3: A flap disc was fabricated according to example 2 which had abrasive lamellae according to example 1 but without a second size coat and contained lamella made from a backing with just one active abrasive coat in the ratio of 1:2, i.e. the disc had only 1/3 of the amount of abrasive grain in example 1. With the same conditions as in example 1, this disc removed 353 g of material. Example 4: A flap disc was fabricated according to example 2 but with the potassium fluoroborate active abrasive material replaced by cryolite. With the same conditions as in example 1, this disc removed 394 g of material. In the examples 1-4 the loss in weight of the discs after grinding was approximately equal. Example 5: A flap disc was fabricated according to example 1, whereby sintered aluminium oxide of the same grit was used instead of zirconia alumina. Using this disc under the same conditions as in example 1, 201 g of material was removed. Example 6: A flap disc was fabricated according to example 4 but with sintered aluminium oxide instead of zirconia alumina. Using this disc under the same conditions as in example 1, 370 g of material was removed. Example 7: A flap disc was fabricated according to example 6 but with lamellae which contained calcium carbonate instead of cryolite as the active abrasive material. Using this disc under the same conditions as in example 1, 203 g of material was removed. In the examples 5-7 the loss in weight of the discs after grinding was approximately equal. WE CLAIM:- 1. Flap disc with a backing plate to whose peripheral zone laminae overlapping like a fan or roof tiles are attached, characterized in that the lamellae (10) consist of first lamellae (12), comprising a backing (14), a base bonding coat (15) applied to the backing, a layer of abrasive grain (16) deposited over the base bonding coat, and a size coat (18) over the layer of deposited abrasive grain (16), and second lamellae (20), consisting of a backing (22) and a layer (24) with active abrasive materials applied to the backing. 2. Flap disc as claimed in claim 1, wherein every (n+l)th lamella (10) (n=2, 3, 4...) is formed as a first or second lamella (12 or 20). 3. Flap disc as claimed in claim 1, wherein alternating groups of first lamellae (12) and groups of second lamellae (20) are provided. 4. Flap disc as claimed in claim 3, wherein the number of lamellae per group is equal or different. 5. Flap disc as claimed in claim 1, wherein the size coat (18) of the first lamellae (12) is provided with active abrasive materials. 6. Flap disc as claimed in claim 1 or 5, wherein the active abrasive materials consist of potassium fluoroborate, cryolite, calcium fluoride or chiolite. 7. Flap disc as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the abrasive grain of the flap disc consists of zirconia alumina or sintered aluminium oxide or a mixture of the two. Dated this 28th day of May, 2001. [JAYANTA PAL] OF REMFRY & SAGAR ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANTS

Documents:

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in-pct-2001-00603-mum-cancelled pages(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-claims(granted)-(12-09-2005).doc

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-claims(granted)-(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-corrsepondence(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-corrsepondence(ipo)-(24-09-2004).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 1(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 1(28-05-2001).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 19(27-04-2004).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 2(granted)-(12-09-2005).doc

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 2(granted)-(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 3(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 3(28-05-2001).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form 5(28-05-2001).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form-pct-ipea-409(28-05-2001).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-form-pct-isa-210(28-05-2001).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-petition under rule 137(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-power of authority(12-09-2005).pdf

in-pct-2001-00603-mum-power of authority(23-05-2001).pdf