US 6,948,304 B2Granted

Compact universal concentric strander with take-off sheaves mounted on strander shaft

AssigneeRoteq Machinery Inc.

InventorsAndrew Blackmore, Michael Marshall

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Abstract

A concentric strander has an elongate concentric shaft that defines a shaft axis and supports for rotatably supporting the concentric shaft. A number of wire bobbins are spaced at substantially equal intervals along the shaft to form spaces between the bobbins. Each bobbin has an axis substantially coextensive with the shaft axis for rotation about the shaft, and each bobbin has a maximum radial diameter. The strander has take-off sheaves, mounted on the shaft, that are associated with a wire bobbin and that take the wires from the bobbins and guide them to a point radially outwardly beyond the maximum predetermined radial bobbin diameter. The take-off sheaves subsequently guide the wires in a direction substantially parallel to the shaft axis and define, on rotation of the concentric shaft, a cylindrical envelope. At a downstream end of the shaft, the strander has a closing device that receives the wires from the bobbins and applies them on a core. A drive rotates the shaft, and the wire take-off sheaves are rotated by the interaction between the sheaves and the paid-off advancing wires. The interbobbin spaces needed to support the wire take-off sheaves have axial dimension substantially independent of the diameters of the wires to be processed by the strander.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A concentric strander comprising an elongate concentric shaft defining a shaft axis;

bearing support means for rotatably supporting said concentric shaft;
a plurality of wire bobbins substantially equally spaced from one another along said shaft to form inter-bobbin spaces and each having a bobbin axis substantially coextensive with said shaft axis for rotation about said shaft, said bobbins each having maximum radial diameter;
closing means at a downstream end of said shaft for receiving the wires from each of said bobbins and applying them on a core;
take-off means mounted on said shaft and associated with a wire bobbin for taking off a wire wound on a bobbin and guiding it from said bobbin to a point radially outward beyond said maximum predetermined radial diameter and subsequently guiding the wire axially to a point substantially proximate to said closing means along a direction substantially parallel to said shaft axis and at a radial distance substantially corresponding to said radially outward point to define, upon rotation of said concentric shaft, a cylindrical envelope;
first drive means for rotating said shaft;
and second drive means for driving said wire take-off means, said inter-bobbin spaces required to support said wire take-off means having axial dimensions substantially independently of the diameters of the wires that need to be processed by the strander.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.