DE20018846U1 - Slideway protectors with folded bellows material and plate-shaped stiffening elements - Google Patents

Description

PATENT ATTORNEYS

DIPL-ING. BODO THIELKING telephone. (0521) 96 7820

DIPL.-ING. OTTO ELBERTZHAGEN e ^E m^l ^X: t ⁰ hielb«t-onune.de

ATTORNEY'S FILE: -]_ g 4 63a

date: 03.11.2000 /ba

Applicant: Möller Werke GmbH

Kupferhammer, 33649 Bielefeld

Slideway protectors with folded bellows material and plate-shaped stiffening elements

The invention relates to a slideway protector with a folded bellows material and plate-shaped stiffening elements made of plastic attached to the bellows material in outer folds.

In such known slideway protectors, the plate-shaped stiffening elements usually have a thickness of 1 to 2 mm. This also applies if the plate-shaped stiffening elements are designed as frame elements. The use of such thermoplastic plate materials has the great advantage that the bellows material can be easily and reliably connected to the material of the stiffening elements by welding.

The disadvantage of such conventional stiffening elements is the fact that their dimensional stability is not guaranteed in all

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In order to increase the dimensional stability and rigidity of such stiffening elements, it is not possible to use thicker material, since the machine manufacturers who use such slideway protectors require that the weight and the space required be kept as low as possible.

In order to meet the currently increased requirements for the dimensional stability of relevant slideway protectors, several non-reinforced stiffening elements are arranged after others that are reinforced with steel or aluminum sheet frames. Such a solution is complex, expensive and heavy.

Based on this state of the art, the invention is based on the object of designing a slideway protector of the type assumed to be known in such a way that it has the advantages of known slideway protectors without reinforcement and has increased dimensional stability compared to such slideway protectors.

This problem is solved in a slideway protector of the type assumed to be known in that the stiffening elements have beads extending transversely to their longitudinal center plane, which have at least substantially the same material thickness as the unbeaded adjacent areas.

It has proven to be useful that the beads all extend in the same direction over the adjacent unbeaded

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surface areas protrude.

It is particularly advantageous if the beads bulge from two opposite, parallel side lines to a common central area. It is also particularly advantageous if such beads have a trapezoidal cross-section.

The slideway protectors according to the invention can be made particularly dimensionally stable without the addition of any complex reinforcement elements. The rigidity of the stiffening elements is thereby significantly improved without changing their initial thickness and without the addition of reinforcement material. In this way, slideway protectors are created that are lightweight and highly rigid.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention emerge from the further subclaims.

The beads can be created using standard cold forming processes, for example by embossing or endlessly using opposing profile rollers. Heating the thermoplastic plate areas is unnecessary in most cases and with standard thicknesses of the starting material.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawing.

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Figure 1 - a partial perspective view of a

Slideway protector area with stiffening elements designed as plates,

Figure 2 - a representation of a slideway protector according to
Figure 1 with one-sided machine-fixed
holding areas,

Figure 3 - a perspective view of a slideway protector,
which is a bellows with U-shaped
frame elements.

In the drawings, identical or corresponding parts are provided with the same reference symbols. They are only distinguished from one another by primes where necessary.

First, Figures 1 and 2:

The slideway protector shown has stiffening elements 1 designed as plates, which have lateral notches Id in Figure 2. Each plate-shaped stiffening element 1 is welded on its upper side to an external fold tip 4 of folded bellows material 2. The inner folds are designated 3.

In the embodiment according to Figure 2, the slideway protector is guided via the notches Id, the horizontal legs of which rest on a horizontal leg 5b of an angle profile 5, the vertical leg of which is designated 5a.

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The plate-shaped stiffening elements 1 have beads la extending over the entire width. All beads la protrude in the same direction over the adjacent non-beaded surface areas. The non-beaded areas of the stiffening elements 1 are designated Ib and Ic.

If the stiffening elements are moved very close together, i.e. "on a block", adjacent Sikken la interlock with each other.

The embodiment according to Figure 3 shows a slideway protector which is designed as a bellows, the stiffening elements 1' of which are U-shaped frame elements. The stiffening elements 1' have beads la arranged on the horizontal legs as well as beads Id on the vertical legs of the frame.

The uncorrugated areas of the U-shaped frame elements are designated Ic' and Ib' respectively.

The arrangement of the beads la' and Id' in this embodiment is also such that the beads of adjacent stiffening elements 1' at least partially interlock in the block position.

Claims (9)

1. Slideway protector with a folded bellows material ( 2 ; 2 ') and plate-shaped stiffening elements ( 1 ; 1 ') made of plastic fastened to the bellows material in outer folds ( 4 ; 4 '), characterized in that the stiffening elements ( 1 ; 1 ') have beads ( 1a ; 1a '; 1d ) extending transversely to their longitudinal center plane, which have at least substantially the same material thickness as the unbeaded adjacent regions ( 1b ; 1c ; 1b '; 1c '). 2. Slideway protector according to claim 1, characterized in that the beads ( 1 a; 1 a'; 1 d) all protrude in the same direction over the adjacent non-beaded surface areas. 3. Slideway protector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the beads ( 1 a; 1 a'; 1 d) bulge from two mutually opposite, parallel side lines to a common central region. 4. Slideway protector according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the beads ( 1 a; 1 a'; 1 d) have a trapezoidal cross-section. 5. Slideway protector according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the beads ( 1 a; 1 a'; 1 d) of mutually adjacent stiffening elements ( 1 ; 1 ') at least partially interlock in a closely adjacent arrangement. 6. Slideway protector according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the stiffening elements ( 1 ; 1 ') consist of thermoplastic material. 7. Slideway protector according to one or more of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the stiffening elements ( 1 ; 1 ') are made of PVC plates. 8. Slideway protector according to one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the beads ( 1 a; 1 a'; 1 d) are cold-formed. 9. Slideway protector according to one or more of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the height or depth of the beads ( 1 a; 1 a'; 1 d) corresponds approximately to twice the material thickness of the plate-shaped stiffening elements ( 1 ; 1 ').