MECHANIZED WELDING OF LAMINATED PVC FABRICS WITH HOT AIR.

Technical laminated fabrics, which are used for the manufacture of awnings and inflatable products for different purposes, are made with double-sided PVC coating. The most widespread practical method of manual and mechanical welding of laminated fabrics with PVC coating is hot air welding. In this work, the features of hot air welding of the overlap welds of laminated PVC fabric were investigated in the manufactured experimental set up. The geometric dimensions and shape of the produced experimental welds from laminated fabric Unisol 950 (specific weight of 950 g/m²) were established. In the course of the work, the mechanical strength of the welds produced by experimental welding was investigated, as well as tear test of the welds was carried out. The range of welding speed was set, within which welded joints of the laminated fabric are formed with tight penetration. It is shown that a tight penetration along the entire plane of the welded joint is achieved by forming a bead of molten PVC, uniform as to its diameter, under the pressure roller in the welding process. The nature of running of thermal processes in the welding zone was evaluated by the geometric parameters of the melt bead. The optimal parameters of the process of producing the butt welds of laminated fabrics, joined by a tape on both sides, and visual criteria for sound joint formation were determined, and the principles of manual control of the hot air welding process in real time were developed. 4 Ref., 10 Figures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]