| US 7,455,802 B2 | ||
| Stress release method and apparatus | ||
| Robert C. U. Yu, Webster, N.Y. (US); John J. Darcy, Webster, N.Y. (US); Michael S. Roetker, Webster, N.Y. (US); Scott Griffin, Webster, N.Y. (US); Felix J. Santana, Webster, N.Y. (US); and Satchidanand Mishra, Webster, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, Conn. (US) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 23, 2003, as Appl. No. 10/743,179. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2005/0133965 A1, Jun. 23, 2005 | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. B29C 53/00 (2006.01); B29C 53/84 (2006.01); B29C 35/00 (2006.01); G03G 15/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 264—285 [264/493; 264/346; 264/348] | 24 Claims |
| 1. A stress/strain relief process for a flexible, multilayered web stock comprising:
providing a multilayered web stock including at least one layer to be treated, the at least one layer to be treated having
a coefficient of thermal expansion significantly differing from a coefficient of thermal expansion of another layer;
passing the multilayered web stock at a continuous speed over and in contact with a first concave or reversed-crown wrinkle-reducing
roller that spontaneously creates transverse tension stress in the at least one layer to be treated;
passing the multilayered web stock at a continuous speed over and in contact with a processing tube, wherein at least one
heat source heats the at least one layer to be treated above a glass transition temperature T g of the at least one layer to be treated to thereby create a heated portion of the at least one layer to be treated, a portion
of the web stock in proximity to the heated portion of the at least one layer to be treated thereby becoming a heated portion
of the web stock;
inducing curvature in the heated portion of the web stock; and
cooling the heated portion of the web stock at said curvature by directing a cooling stream at the heated portion of the web
stock,
wherein the first wrinkle-reducing roller has a center diameter from about 1 to about 4 inches and a differential diameter
between ends of the roller and a center of the roller of from about 0.002 to about 0.1 inch,
wherein the first wrinkle-reducing roller offsets and suppresses web stock micro ripple formation induced by the processing
tube.
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