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US 6,385,953 B2Granted
Apparatus for helically assembling at least two filaments
AssigneeLefebvre Frères Limitée
InventorMichel Brazeau
Life of this patent
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AssigneeLefebvre Frères Limitée
InventorMichel Brazeau
Estimating the term…
An apparatus (310) for manufacturing stranded cables comprises a supply spool assembly (320, 322) having filaments wound thereon, and a flyer (316) mounted for rotation about a central axis for imparting a rotational movement to the filaments, while guiding them axially through the apparatus (310). The filaments are wound together as they pass a gathering point centrally disposed to the central axis and downstream of the flyer (316). A filament advancing assembly (16) is provided downstream of the gathering point to impart an advancing speed to the filaments. A control system allows for the control of the number of revolutions of the flyer (316) per unit length of filaments advancing through the gathering point to ensure that a constant helical pitch is obtained. The tension in the filaments is controlled by creating an adjustable opposition to the pulling action of the filament advancing assembly (16) on the filaments thereby ensuring the production of a high quality stranded cable.
A system for controlling the amount of tension in a filament being drawn off from a supply spooling means, comprising braking means for exerting an adjustable opposition to a rotation of said supply spooling means, clutch means adapted to generate a coupling torque for coupling said supply spooling means to driving means, and control means for adjusting the opposition of said braking means to the rotation of said supply spooling means so as to maintain a desired amount of tension in said filament, whereby when said coupling torque of said clutch means is less than said opposition exerted on said supply spooling means by said braking means, said clutch means slips thereby preventing said supply spooling means from being driven by said driving means, and when said opposition of said braking means becomes less than said coupling torque of said clutch means, said supply spooling means is driven by said driving means via said clutch means.
An apparatus for helically assembling individual elongated flexible elements about a common axis to form a product, comprising at least two independent supply spooling means mounted for rotation about an axis, each said supply spooling means having a single elongated flexible element wound thereon, flyer means mounted for rotation about said axis and around said supply spooling means, means for rotating said flyer means about said axis, said elongated flexible elements being directed from said supply spooling means to said flyer means and then to a gathering point wherein said elongated flexible elements are helically assembled about said axis according to a rotational movement of said flyer means, advancing means for advancing said elongated flexible elements through said apparatus, and a tension adjusting means adapted to independently act on said supply spooling means to maintain a desired amount of tension in each said elongated flexible element.
An apparatus for helically assembling filament means about a common axis to form a product, comprising at least two supply spooling means mounted for rotation about an axis, each said supply spooling means having filament means wound thereon, flyer means mounted for rotation about said axis and outwardly of said supply spooling means, means for rotating said flyer means about said axis, said filament means being directed form said supply spooling means to said flyer means and then to a gathering point wherein said filament means are helically assembled about said axis according to the rotational movement of said flyer means, advancing means for pulling said filament means off said supply spooling means and for imparting an advancing speed to said filaments means through said apparatus, and means for controlling and adjusting the speed ratio between the advancing speed of said filament means and a rotational speed of said flyer means to achieve a substantially uniform number of rotations of said flyer means per unit of length of said product.
An apparatus for assembling filament means about a common axis, comprising a plurality of supply spool and flyer assemblies disposed in series, each said supply spool and flyer assembly including at least one supply spooling means mounted for rotation about an axis and a flyer means also mounted for rotation about said axis and outwardly of said supply spooling means, said at least one spooling means having filament means wound thereon, said filament means being directed from said supply spooling means to said flyer means, said flyer means of said plurality of supply spool and flyer assemblies being rotated substantially at a same speed and in a same direction, a gathering point for receiving said filament means from a downstream end of said plurality of supply spool and flyer assemblies, said filament means being assembled about said axis at said gathering point according to a rotational movement of said flyer means, advancing means for displacing forward said filament means through said plurality of supply spool and flyer assemblies and through said gathering point.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.