Securing and/or forming of coverings and the like of tetrafluorinated ethylene and fluorinated ethylene polymers

Abstract

Abstract THE INVENTION IS DIRECTED TO THE CONCEPT OF SECURING AND/OR FORMING OF COVERINGS AND THE LIKE, OF FLUORINATED ETHYLENE POLYMER (FEP) MATERIALS, WHICH MAKES ADVANTAGEOUS USE OF THE DIMENSIONAL CHANGE OCCURRING WHEN THE MATERIAL, OR CONTROLLED PORTIONS THEREOF, ARE HEATED TO MELTING TEMPERATURES. TYPICALLY, THE INVENTION IS MOST USEFUL IN APPLICATIONS IN WHICH THE THICKNESS OF THE COVER MATERIAL IS SMALL IN RELATION TO THE DIMENSIONS OF THE COVERED PART. IN ONE FORM OF THE INVENTION, BONDED ROLL COVERINGS ARE FORMED BY BRINGING TO FUSION TEMPERATURE THE BONDING SURFACE REGION ONLY OF A HEAT-SHRINKABLE FEP TUBE. IN ANOTHER FORM OF THE INVENTION, A COVERING OF TETRAFLUORINATED ETHYLENE (TFE) IS BONDED TO A PROCESS ROLLER BY USING AN INTERMEDIATE BONDING FILM OF FLUORINATED ETHYLENE POLYMER. THE TFE COVERING MAINTAINS THE FEP BONDING LAYER UNDER PRESSURE, IN A CONCENTRATION OF HEAT ENERGY AT THE INTERFACE OF THE FEP LAYER OF THE METAL PROCESS ROLLER AND SERVES TO MELT THE FEP AND EFFECT A BOND THEREOF TO THE TFE AND TO THE ROLLER SURFACE. THE INVENTION UTTILIZES A CONCENTRATION OF HEAT ENERGY AT THE INTERFACE OF AN FEP COVER-ELEMENT, COMBINED WITH A THERMALLY DERIVED OR ENHANCED INTERFACE PRESSURE, TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED EFFECT.

Inventors

• 👤 J Shoffner

Bibliographic Details