The invention relates to a process for the production, in a plurality of substeps, of a traction or carrying means built up from a plurality of components or assemblies and consisting of elastomeric material, in particular for the production of an elevator belt, in which the elastomeric material is preferably extruded, wherein, in a first substep, a first component/assembly, provided with reinforcing members or cables, of the traction or carrying means is produced and, in further substeps, a traction or carrying means, which is connected to further components or provided with further layers of elastomeric material, fabric layers or reinforcing-member layers, is successively completed, and optionally said traction or carrying means is shaped or profiled on one or more sides, wherein the connection of the individual components of the traction or carrying means and its shaping and completion by further layers in the individual substeps are achieved by means of optionally profiled shaping wheels to which the individual components or layers are fed and, with the aid of press-on rollers or roller-guided press-on belts acting on a circumferential sector of the shaping wheels, are brought together and connected to one another.

Processes and devices for the multi-stage production of traction or carrying means, which are built up from a plurality of components or assemblies, with the aid of shaping rollers on which the individual components are shaped and connected to one another, are known essentially as two-stage processes in the prior art.

DE 102 22 015 A1 discloses in this respect a device having two stations for the production of a belt from plasticizable plastic material, in which first of all a partial belt provided with reinforcing members is produced and then a second partial belt is produced and connected to the first partial belt. Here, the first station is provided with an endless shaping belt which, with the aid of an upper and a lower pressure roller and a tensioning roller, forms a shaping cavity with a shaping wheel into which the reinforcing members also run. By contrast, the second station is provided only with a press-on roller which acts against a further shaping roller, with the result that a fed-in further material is connected to the first component. There is no discussion of a profiling here.

DE 35 27 640 C2 discloses a device for the production of belts consisting of plasticizable material having a first station for the production of a first partial belt and a second station for the production and shaping of a second partial belt onto the first partial belt. Both stations are assigned an extruder which delivers the material for the respective partial belt to be produced. Both stations each also have an endless shaping belt and a rotatable shaping wheel which is brought together with the shaping wheel along a partial circumference, to be precise in such a way that a shaping cavity arises between them both. Here, the shaping wheel of the second station is designed such that a toothed profile is shaped into a further layer of the belt.

CH 430 171 A discloses a process for the production of webs or sheets consisting of thermoplastics, in which a reinforcing layer runs in between two webs or sheets (components) guided by rollers during the production, and the webs then fuse with one another under the action of temperature and under pressure by means of positioned rollers.

More recent demands on traction or carrying means consisting of elastomeric material require the use of further layers or applied layers, for example layers which provide increased fire protection, layers/fabrics which, in the case of an automatic start-stop mechanism in motor vehicles, reduce the friction wear of toothed belts, or profiles which, in the case of elevator belts, allow better guidance. For the production of traction or carrying means for all these applications, the previously known devices and processes are suitable only to a limited extent.

With the previous two-stage processes, further layers can only be realized by the belts being guided multiple times through a one- or two-stage process. This applies in particular also to those belts which are intended to have a cover layer shaped on both sides. In the case of some of these belts for high loading, high value is placed on the fact that the shaped cover layer is not to be created by subsequent abrasive mechanical processing. Accordingly, a shaping can occur only by virtue of the fact that these belts are “moved through the system” multiple times.

This results not only in extra costs but there is also an increased risk that the cover layers are not sufficiently connected to one another. Polyurethane (PU) for example is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture from the surroundings, which can then lead to processing problems in belts consisting of this material (problems such as bubble formation between the cover layers and resultant poor connection of the layers).

The moisture absorption of such materials is highly dependent on the ambient moisture and the duration of action. Saturation can already be reached even after a few hours. If then, for example, the second cover layer is applied only on the following day, the product to be coated must possibly already be thoroughly predried.

The risk of contamination also increases with multiple handling. This contamination can lead, for example, also to bonding disturbances between the cover layers.

The object for the invention thus consisted in providing an improved, reliable production process for traction or carrying means which consist of a plurality of functional parts or functional layers and can be adapted for particular applications, and in which the stated disadvantages through moisture or contamination no longer arise.

This object is achieved by the features of the main claim. Further advantageous configurations are disclosed in the dependent claims.

Here, the individual substeps in the production process follow one another such that a component processed or completed in the respectively preceding substep is fed at room temperature (Rt), after a time period of 1 to a maximum of 10 minutes, preferably 2 to 5 minutes, to the subsequent substep for further processing or completion, and such that the temperature of the component does not drop below 30° C., preferably 40°, between a respectively preceding substep and the subsequent substep. By setting up the process in such a way, an excessive moisture absorption and a contamination are avoided and there occurs a secure connection of all the individual layers applied in the different substeps.

In an advantageous development, the individual substeps in the process follow one another such that a component processed or completed in the respectively preceding substep is fed to the subsequent substep for further processing or completion at the latest after expiry of a time period which, starting from 10 minutes at room temperature (Rt), is extended by a maximum of 10 minutes per 10° C. temperature increase, and such that the temperature of the component does not exceed an upper limit of 100° C., preferably 80° C. It is thus possible to achieve a certain flexibility in the production with respect to the moisture absorption, with the result that the process, depending on the required production speed, can also be reliably carried out at higher temperatures and problems in the connection of the individual layers can be eliminated.

In a further configuration of the process, the traction or carrying means is designed as a V-ribbed belt, is built up from at least three components or assemblies and is produced in at least three substeps, wherein, in the first substep, a first component in the form of a back layer, provided with reinforcing members, of the V-ribbed belt is produced on a first shaping wheel having a smooth surface, and, in the second substep, the back layer is provided with the profiled substructure of the V-ribbed belt, wherein the substructure is profiled on a second shaping wheel during the second substep, and, in the third substep, a further coating, elastomer layer or fabric layer is applied to the profiled substructure on a further shaping wheel. By contrast, the application of such further coatings, be it as a further layer on the shaped substructure or as a further layer on the generally smooth back, is relatively complicated by means of the processes known previously in the prior art, since the belts had to be moved through the system multiple times. The production is substantially simplified with the process according to the invention.

This applies to an increased degree to a further advantageous configuration of the process, in which the traction or carrying means is designed as a double-profiled elevator belt, is built up from at least three components or assemblies and is produced in at least three substeps, wherein, in the first substep, a first component in the form of a layer of the elevator belt that is provided with partially sheathed carrying cables is produced by means of a profile provided on a first shaping wheel, and, in the second substep, the partially sheathed carrying cables are completely sheathed, wherein the sheathing is further shaped during the second substep by means of a profile provided on a second shaping wheel, and then, in a third substep, after the elevator belt has been twisted through 180°, the component runs onto a third shaping wheel and is provided there with a profiled back layer consisting of elastomeric material, wherein the back layer is applied between component and third shaping wheel and profiled by the latter.

A further advantageous configuration of the process consists in the fact that, in the individual substeps, the elastomeric material used for the components is polyurethane which is applied in extruded form to the respective shaping wheel, wherein the extruded polyurethane melt is fed to the respective shaping wheel at a temperature of 180° C. to 220° C., preferably 210° C., wherein the shaping wheel is cooled and the cooling of the shaping wheel and its production speed are set such that, upon running off the shaping wheel, the respective component has a temperature of 60° C. to 100° C., and in which, in the following substeps, directly prior to the feeding of further extruded material, the preceding, already finished component is heated, on its surface to be connected to the further components, to a temperature of 160° C. to 200° C. Such process management ensures excellent shapeability in the individual substeps and sufficient recrystallization and stabilization of the shaping between the individual shaping steps/substeps. The heating prior to the feeding of further material or further components optimizes the adhesion between the individual assemblies/components.

The process can also be used in an equally advantageous manner for the production of multi-layer transport belts.

