Endless brush belts and methods of making same

Abstract

An endless brush belt and methods of making the same are disclosed. The endless brush belt includes a belt body comprising a tension section having a plurality of laterally extending brush segments adhered thereto by a cyanoacrylate adhesive, a compression section, and a load-carrying section disposed between the tension section and the compression section. Each brush segment includes a plurality of bristles having free ends extending away from the belt body, and neighboring brush segments are disposed proximate to one another to define a continuous density of the free ends about the length of the endless brush belt.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An endless brush belt comprising:
 a belt body comprising a tension section having a plurality of laterally extending brush segments adhered thereto by a cyanoacrylate adhesive, a compression section, and a load-carrying section disposed between the tension section and the compression section;   wherein each brush segment includes a plurality of bristles having free ends extending away from the belt body, and neighboring brush segments are disposed proximate to one another to define a continuous density of the free ends about the length of the endless brush belt.   
     
     
         2 . The endless brush belt of  claim 1 , wherein the belt body is a vulcanized belt body. 
     
     
         3 . The endless brush belt of  claim 1 , wherein the load carrying section comprises one or more longitudinally extending load carrying cords. 
     
     
         4 . The endless brush belt of  claim 2 , wherein the vulcanized belt body comprises one or more of a natural rubber and a synthetic rubber. 
     
     
         5 . The endless brush belt of  claim 1 , wherein a second major surface opposite the first major surface comprises a plurality of raised features for engaging a driven member and/or a drive member. 
     
     
         6 . The endless brush belt of  claim 1 , wherein the width of the belt body is about 0.12 inch to about 2 inches. 
     
     
         7 . The endless brush belt of  claim 1 , wherein the belt body is about 50 mils to about 100 mils thick. 
     
     
         8 . The endless brush belt of  claim 1 , wherein the cyanoacrylate adhesive is a medium viscosity adhesive. 
     
     
         9 . The endless brush belt of  claim 8 , wherein the cyanoacrylate adhesive comprises an ethyl cyanoacrylate and one or more of a poly methyl methacrylate and a hydroquinone. 
     
     
         10 . A method for manufacturing an endless brush belt, the method comprising:
 providing a belt body comprising a tension section, a compression section, and a load-carrying section disposed between the tension section and the compression section;   adhering, with a cyanoacrylate adhesive, a plurality of brush segments to a first major surface of the belt body defined by the tension section, wherein the plurality of brush segments are oriented transverse to the length of the endless brush belt and are disposed generally parallel and proximate to one another to define a continuous density of the free ends about the length of the endless brush belt.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising molding the belt body using a vulcanization process. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the belt body comprises one or more of a natural rubber and a synthetic rubber. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising roughening the first major surface of the belt body before adhering the plurality of brush segments thereto. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the brush segments include a brush base opposite the free ends and the method further comprises roughening the brush base before adhering the plurality of brush segments to the belt body. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein each brush segment includes a brush base opposite the free ends and the brush base comprises one or more exterior surface features thereby increasing the adhesive between each brush segment and the belt body.