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US 2016/0348288 A1Published application
Braiding machine with non-circular geometry
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorEun Kyung Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A braiding machine in which spools wound with tensile elements are mounted on carriages that are disposed on a rotor track around the perimeter of the braiding machine. The perimeter of the braiding machine is non-circular, such that the area enclosed by the perimeter of the non-circular braiding machine is substantially less than the area enclosed by a circular braiding machine having a perimeter of the same length as the perimeter of the non-circular braiding machine.
Claims27
A braiding machine, comprising:
- a plurality of rotor metals arranged along a rotor track;
- a plurality of carriages disposed between the rotor metals along the rotor track;
- wherein a rotor metal of the plurality of rotor metals has a first concave side for receiving a first carriage and a second concave side for receiving a second carriage, and wherein as the rotor metal rotates a position of the first carriage along the rotor track is changed and wherein as the rotor metal rotates a position of the second carriage along the rotor track is changed;
- wherein the rotor track comprises a first portion and a second portion, and
- wherein a radius of curvature of the second portion of the rotor track is substantially greater than a radius of curvature of the first portion of the rotor track.
2 more elements
A braiding machine comprising:
- a rotor track;
- a plurality of rotor metals disposed on the rotor track;
- and
- a plurality of carriages disposed on the rotor track between the rotor metals;
- wherein the rotor track has an outer perimeter and the outer perimeter forms a simple closed curve that encloses an area;
- and
- wherein the area enclosed by the outer perimeter of the rotor track is substantially less than an area enclosed by a circle whose circumference is equal to a length of the outer perimeter of the simple closed curve.
4 more elements
A braiding machine comprising:
- a rotor track that has an inner perimeter that forms a simple closed curve;
- a plurality of rotor metals arranged along the rotor track;
- a plurality of carriages disposed on the rotor track adjoining the rotor metals;
- a plurality of spools mounted on the carriages;
- a plurality of tensile elements, wherein each tensile element extends from one of the plurality of spools to a braid point within the simple closed curve formed by the inner perimeter of the rotor track;
- wherein a longest distance from each of the plurality of spools to the braid point is substantially greater than a shortest distance from each of the plurality of spools to the braid point.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.