Coiling process and apparatus by radially winding a filament
AssigneeCommissariat a l'Energie Atomique
InventorJacques Polge
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention discloses a process and an apparatus for coiling a member by radially winding a continuous filament on to a mandrel. It also discloses the member obtained by this process. The apparatus for coiling the filament or thread (36) consists of a fixed frame (1), a shaft (4) rotating about an axis A which is fixed with respect to the frame (1), a device for rotating shaft (4) and a rotary assembly (2) integral with shaft (4). The rotary assembly (2) consists of a chassis (8) fixed to shaft (4) and supporting structure for rotating the mandrel (10) about an axis B attached to assembly (2) and orthogonal to axis A. The shaft of axis A rotates at a higher speed compared with mandrel (10) about axis B.
Claims5
An apparatus for coiling a filament on a sector shaped mandrel, said apparatus comprising:
- a fixed frame;
- a shaft having a first fixed longitudinal axis and rotatably held by said frame;
- means for rotating said shaft about said first axis at a first rotational speed;
- a chassis supported by said shaft for rotation about said first axis;
- a circular arc-shaped supporting arm guided by said chassis for rotation about a second axis orthogonal to said first axis;
- drive means for rotating said supporting arm about said second axis at a rotational speed less than said first rotational speed, said drive means including a driven worm screw meshing with a toothed sector of said supporting arm;
- means for supporting said mandrel on one end of said supporting arm;
- and
- means for supplying said filament to said mandrel in a coiling plane,
- whereby said mandrel rotates about said first and second axes.
A process for radially coiling a filament on a sector shaped mandrel by use of an apparatus including a fixed frame, a shaft held by said frame and rotatably driven about a first fixed longitudinal axis at a first rotational speed, a chassis supported by said shaft for rotation therewith, a circular arc-shaped supporting arm guided by said chassis for rotation about a second axis orthogonal to said longitudinal axis, drive means for rotating said supporting arm about said second axis at a rotational speed less than said first rotational speed, said drive means including a reversably driven worm screw meshing with a toothed sector of said supporting arm, said mandrel being held by said supporting arm, and means for supplying said filament at a coiling plane, said process comprising the steps of:
- positioning one end of said mandrel and said filament in said coiling plane;
- rotating said chassis about said first axis to tension said filament on said one end of said mandrel;
- rotating said chassis about said first axis and rotating said supporting arm in a first direction about said second axis, whereby at least one turn is coiled on said mandrel in a first direction as said mandrel passes through said coiling plane;
- when a second end of said mandrel reaches said coiling plane, the step of reversing said first direction of rotation about said second axis while rotating said chassis about said first axis, whereby at least one turn is coiled on said mandrel in a second direction;
- and
- repeating said coiling steps until a coiled layer of desired thickness is obtained.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.