US2238496A - Apparatus for simultaneously closing core wires and rope strands into a finished rope - Google Patents

Description

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April 15, 1941.

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April 15, 1941. G. E. McnoNALD 2,238,496

APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CLOSING CORE WIRES AND ROPE STRANDS INTO A FINISHED ROPE 2 6 4L 131415 Z6 29 Z8 33 26 IN VEN TOR. 6201962' /VcoM/JLD Q Z ,l f ATTORNEYS.

April 15, 1941. G. E. McDoNALD APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CLOSING CORE WIRES AND ROPE STRANDS INTO A FINISHED ROPE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed DGO. 17, 1938 HW ON NIW QN O G d1' l:i

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April 15, 1941. G. E. McDoNALD '2,238,495

APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CLOSING CORE WIRES AND ROPE STRANDS INTO A FINISHED ROPE l Filed Dec. 17, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 1'5, i941 APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CLOS- ING CORE WIRES AND ROPE STRANDS INTO A FINISHED ROPE George E. McDonald, `San Francisco, Calif., assignor to E. H. Edwards Company, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California Application December 17, 1938, Serial No. 246,359

8 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in an apparatus for simultaneously closing core Wires and rope strands into a finished rope, and'it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

The standard procedure in manufacturing rope or is composed of a numberof individual Wires the rope is called a wire strand core rope. When a smaller wire rope is used as'the core, the rope is known as one with a wire rope center. The present invention deals with the manufacturing of a rope with a wire rope center.

It has been the practice to fabricate the Wire rope center in a separate machine and in exactly the same way as followed Ilnmaking the final rope. chines and two complete and separate operations of closing; one machine or one operation making the wire-core and the other machine or operation winding the strands around the core. When the rope is made in this manner, the core wires will not have the same lay as the rope strands and this will`prevent a uniform stress being applied on all the strands and core wires when the rope is subjected to a load.l The rope may therefore break under a less load than it iscapable of handling, should the coreA wires and rope 'strands be provided with the same lay.

The principal object of my invention is to pro-' vide a single machine for simultaneously winding core wires about a core and for winding rope strands about the completed core and concentric thereto. This will give the same lay to the core wires and rope strands because the same pitch or twist is given to the strands by the rotating cage that carries both the core wires and rope strand bobbins. There is also'no necessity of'using a separate core forming machine nor to fabricate the core in a separate operation. If desired, a twister head may be applied to the machine for preforming the core wires and rope strands just prior to their entrance into the closing dies.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

vMy invention is illustrated in the accompan This therefore entails' two separate ma r(ci. 57-9) ing drawings forming,r a part` of this application.

in whichv Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine;` i v Figure 2 is a planviewof the device; A Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional View of the core wire carrying bobbins, portions being omitted for clarity; f

Figure 4 is a section along the line 4-4 `ofy Fig. ure 3; v f

Figure 5 is an enlarged `side elevation of the twister head assembly; y Figure' 6 is a sectional view ofthe same assembly on a largerscale, parts being omittedv for clarity; f i

Figure '7 is a section along the line l--Iof Fig-- ure 5; n

Figure 8 is a section along ure'5; and y I l Figure 9 is an enlarged section along the line 9-9 of Figure 1. 5

In carrying out my invention, I will yfirst de-v scribe the planetary rope machine portion of thev device, then the core wire carrying bobbin `por-v the une 8,- 8 0f Figtion, and finally the twister head assembly.

Planetary rope machine portion 'I'his portion of the. machine is the-same'lin many respects as a standard planetary rope- Aforming machine and therefore only the parts bearing 3, see Figure 9.v The shaft l4 carries a cage 4a whichis formed of three discs 6, 'I'and 8,- all of which are `keyed to the shaft. yThe discs 1 .and 8 are rotatably supported by rollers l9 and I0. The discs' and 'I rotatably support a number t of cradles II and bobbins I2 and I haveshownthree such cradles in the drawings although the.

number may be changed at will. These three cradles I refer to as section A of the cage'la. `In like manner, the discs I and 8 rotatably support 1 three cradles I3 which in turn carry bobbins Ill.

' These three cradles and bobbins will be referred to as section B of the cage. I The cradles in sectionv A are staggered with respect to those in section B and this is clearly shown in Figure 2. The

j cradles II in section A have pipes I5 connected thereto and these extend through section B. In like manner, the cradles I3 in section B have pipes I6 connected thereto and extending through section A.

The planetary machine has a standard mechanism for causing the cradles Il and I3 to rotate on their axes or to remain stationary and this is shown by the large gear I1 in Figure 1, and an eccentric ring I8 for acting upon cranks I9 that are operatively connected to the cradles I I and the pipes I6. This mechanism may be termed a. back twist gearing for the cradles and is used for holding the cradles against rotation on their axes as the cage rotates or for causing the cradles to rotate at a desired speed about their own axes in order to take out the back twist from the rope strands being fed from the bobbins I2 and I4. The gear I1 is operatively connected to a gear 20 by gearing mechanism not shown, which rotates the cradles on their axes in the desired manner. struction is standard, no further description of it need be given.

'Ihe cage 4a. is rotated lby the shaft 4 and the shaft in turn is connected to a motor 2| through a gear-reduction mechanism indicated generally at 22 and a chain and sprocket connection indicated at 23. This latter mechanism has a large sprocket keyed to the shaft 4.

The disc 8 has six openings therein, three of these rotatably receiving the three pipes I and the other three constituting supports for the three cradles I3. The disc 8 is shown in detail in Figures 3 and 4. The three openings 24 in the disc, see Figure 4, receive the pipes I5 while the three openings 25 support the cradles I3. see Figure 3. Figure 1 shows rope strands 26 feeding from the bobbins I2 and I4 and these strands enter openings in the ends IIa and I3a, see Figure 2, of the cradles II and I3 in the usual manner. The strands from the bobbins I2 extend through the hollow pipes I5 and are shown centrally disposed in the pipes in Figure 4. The other rope strands 26, passing through the ends I3a of the cradles I3, are seen centrally disposed in pipes 30 that project through the openings 25 of Figure 4. It is best now to describe the core wire-carrying bobbins.

Core wire-carrying bobhz'n portion In Figures 1 and 2, I show a disc 21 spaced from the disc 8 and forming one end of the cage 4a. The disc 21 cooperates with the disc 3 and provides a lcage section C for carrying core wire-carrying bobbins 28 and cradles 29. The disc. `21 has six openings therein for receivingr the pipes I5 which extend from the cradles I3, see Figures 2 and 3. Figure 4 illustrates how the core cradles 29 are mounted between adjacent pipes I5 and 30. The trunnions rotatably supporting the Icore cradles 29 on the disc 8 extend through the disc, see Figure 3, and are provided with sprockets 3I on their outer ends. Each pipe I5 carries two sprockets and these are connected to the two adjacent core cradles 29 by sprocket chains 32 that extend to the sprockets 3I. In this way, the cradles 29 are rotated in the same manner as the cradles I I and I3. Figure 3 shows how a core wire 33 is fed from the core bobbin 28 through an opening in the disc 21. A sheave 34 is positioned adjacent to each opening in the disc 21 through which the core wire 33 passes. I provide additional sheaves 34 for the rope strands 26 that Since this conissue from pipes I5 or 39. fore carries twelve sheaves.

I mount a collar 35 on the shaft 4 adjacent to the disc 21 and this collar carries twelve sheaves 36. The rope strands 26 and core wires 33 are fed from the sheaves 34 to the sheaves 36. A gear 31 is mounted on the shaft 4 adjacent to the collar 35, see Figure 1, and this gear isused for the purpose of actuating a mechanism not shown, for pulling the completed rope from the machine. The gear 31 has openings, not shown, through which the rope strands and Icore wires 26 and 33 pass. The rope strands and core wires after passing through the openings in the gear 31 will pass through the aligned openings 5a in the collar 5, see Figure 9, before they reach a twister head now to be described.

Twister head assembly The twister head acts as a preformer for the rope strands and core wires and is shown in detail in Figure 5. A disc 38 is connected to the end of the shaft 4 that'projects through the bearing 3 and a second disc 39 is secured to the first disc by a plurality of bolts 48. Both discs 38 and 39 have twelve aligned openings therein and the openings in the disc 39 carry sleeves 4I that receive the rope strands and core wires. The sleeves 4I in the disc 39 are inclined for guiding the rope strands and core wires toward The disc 21 thereopenings in a plate 42 of a preforming head.

The preforming head comprises two plates 42 and 43 and the plate 42 is rotatably adjusted with respect to the disc 39 so that the strands 26 and wires 33 will extend at the proper angle between the two. The plates 42 and 43 are mounted upon a hollow stub shaft 44 that is carried by the disc 39. Set screws 45, see Figure 6, are used for holding the plate 42 in the desired angular position with respect to the disc 39. The shaft 44 is threaded at 46 for disposing the plate 43 the desired distance away from the plate 42. Six rods 41 (or as many rods as there are rope strands) are carried by the two plates and are designed to have the rope strands 26 Wrapped therearound to preform the strands in the desired manner. The rods receiving the core wires are shown at 48 and are spaced nearer the preformer head axis. The plate 42 carries -bushings 41a associated with the rods 41, see

Figures 5y and 7, and these bushings are inclined toward the axes of the rods and will guide the rope strands 26 to a position where they .may be wrapped around the rods. Bushings -41b, see Figures 5 and 8, extend through the plate 43 and are inclined at an angle to direct the lstrands 26 to an entrance opening 49 in a rope strand closing die 59. The plate 42 also carries bushings 48a and these bushings receive the core wires 33. The bushings are associated with the rods 48 and are inclined toward the rod axes so as to convey the core Wires toward the rods and permit them to be wrapped therearound. VAdditional bushings 48h are disposed in the plate 43 and receive the core wires 33 for vdirecting these wires toward a core wire closing die 5I threaded upon the end of the shaft 44. The die 5I has six slots 52 therein for receiving the core wires. Only one of earch of the bushings 41a, 41h, 46a and 48h are shown in Figure 5 for the purpose of clarity.

At this point it is well to mention that a core for the core rope is fed from a drum 53, see Figures 1 and 2 and a core 54 passes through the center of the hollow shaft 4 and-also through the hollow stub shaftl '44,.r 'Il'he'core wires 33 are The completed core rope indicated at 54a, see Figure 5, then pass-es from the lcore closing die I into the rope strand closing die 50. The rope' strands 26 are Wrapped around the core rope 54a and are pressed into place by the closing die 50. 'Ihe completed rope 26a then'issues from the die 50 and is pulled onto a rope storing mechanism, not shown, this mechanism being actuated by the gear 31. In Figure 1 I show the die 50 mounted on a support 56 which in turn is adjustable on a platform 51. v i

In Figure 7, I show how the bushings 41a and 48a. are arranged'with respect to the rods 41 and 48 'and in Figure 8 Ishow how the Ibushings 4117 and 48D in the plate 43 are associated with the same rods. 'Ihe plate 42 is adjusted' angularly with respect to the disc 39 and the wire strands will extend from the disc 39 at an ang-le whichsis substantially the same angle as .the bushings 41a and 48a. The strands 26 and wires 33 will therefore move onto the rods 41 4and 48 at the required angle and the strands :and Wires can be twisted -around the rods inthe manner shown in Figure 5. The bushings 41h and 48h are then inclined for directing the strandsand wires toward the die 50 and the die 5I respectively. I have found that in making a rope 5A; of an inch in diameter, the lay should be, four inches and this means that the plates 42 and 43 should be `disposed four inches apart. The rods 41. and 48 should be approximately 4of an inch in diameter. `If the rope is increased to of an inch, the plates42 and 43 are spaced 4.8 inches apart and 1/2 inch rods are used. The increasing of the rope to .78 inch inv diameter WilLrequire a spacing ofmthe plates 42 and 43, 5.6 inches .apart and the diameter of ythe rods 41 and 48 will be 7; of an inch, while a one inch rope will require a lay of six inches or a similar distance Abetween the plates 42 and 43 and the rods will be increased to 3A, of an inch in diameter.

Operation From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The wire rope strands 26 are placed on the bobbins and the bobbins in turn are mounted in the cradles. The core wires 33 are wound on the bobbins 28 and these -bobbins are placed in the cradles 29. The core 54 for the core rope is fed from the drum 53 and is passed through the hollow shafts 4 and 44 and also through the' dies 5I and 50. The strands 26 from the bobbins I2 are passed through the pipes I5 to the disc 21 and the strands from the .bobbins I4 are passed through the pipes 30 to the same disc. The core wires 33 extend through openings in the disc 21 and therefore the disc has vtwelve openings for the six rope strands and the six core Wires. The six rope strands and six core wires are passed over the sheaves 34 and then d-own .to sheaves 36 and finally are passed through openings in the gear 31 and the collar 5. The strands and wires then extend through the discs 38 and 39 of the twister head assembly and down to the plates v42 and 43. The plates are adjusted with respect to each other and with respect to the disc 39 for preformng the strands in the desired manner. It is obvious that the preforming feature may be dispensed with should it be desired to wind the f' oore wires and the rope strands for simultaneously forming the rope. f

'I'he machine is started 2I and the bobbins I2, I4 and 28 feed out the rope and core Wires as required. The cage carrying the bobbins 'is rotated during this operation and therefore the core wires 33 will be wrapped around the core 54 and the rope strands' will be wrapped around the vcompleted core 54a. The rope -260i is pulled from the die 50. Since the same rotation of the cage will wrap the core wires and then the rope strands to form the rope, both the strands and wires will have the same lay and lthe rope strands Will be concentric to the core wires. This results in a rope .that will provide .a more uniform distribution of the stress under a load and therefore a very much improved rope. 'Ihe simultaneous winding of the core Wires and the rope strands permits both operations to be performed in one machine at one time, thusmat-erially reducing the `cost of manufacturing the rope. The device can make use ofthe twister head when it is desired to preform the strands and core wires.

While I have shown only the preferred form `of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within .the scope of the appended claims Without departing from the spirit of the invention'.V

Iclaim: f.

1. A device of the type described comprising a rotatable cage, core wire and rope strand carrying bobbins suDpOrted bythe cage, means for feeding a core for the core wiresthrough the device, a twister head for preforming the core wires andthe rope strands, and means for rotating the cage` for wrapping the preformed core wires around the core, and for wrapping the preformed rope strands around the completed core, the rotating cage giving the same lay to both core wires and rope strands.

2. In a device of the type described, a twister head for simultaneously preforming core and.

rope ywires strands and comprising a plurality of members for receiving core wires, means for guiding core wires on to and away from the members for causing the wires to coil about the members to the desired extent, a second plurality of members for receiving rope strands, and means for guiding rope strands on to and away from the members in a manner to preform the rope strands.

3. A twister headjfcr simultaneously preforming core wires and rope strands and comprising, a pair of adjustable supports, two groups of coil forming members carried by the supports, means carried by the supports for leading core Wires on to and away from one group of members, the wires being wound around the members between the supports for imparting a preforming coil to the wires, and means for leading rope strands on to and away from the second group of members for causing the members to preform the vrope strands in a predetermined manner.

4. In a twister head for preforming core Wires and rope strands, a pair of supports, coil forming members carried by the supports, guides carried by one of the supports and being equal in number to the members, each guide being associated with a member and having its axis inclined ltoward the member axis, one group of members being adapted to have core wires coiled therearound and another group of members being adapted to have rope strands coiled therearound, and a second group of core wire and strand guides carried by by means of the :motor the other support and associated with the outlet ends of said members, said second group of guides receiving the preformed core Wires and rope strands from the members.

5. In a machine for simultaneously preforming and winding core wires and rope strands into a rope, a twister head for preforming both core wires and rope strands, coil forming members constituting a part of the head, means for leading the core wires and the rope str-ands onto the members, a core forming die carried by the head, means for moving a core through the die, means for leading core Wires from certain of said members to the die, means for rotating the head and die for wrapping the core strands around the core at a position immediately preceding the die, a

second die for receiving the completed core, and

means for leading rope strands from the remaining members to the second die, the rotation of the head causing the rope strands to wind around the completed core with the same lay as the core wires, said second die constituting a closing die for the rope strands.

6. A twister head assembly for preforming rope strands and core wires land comprising a rotatable member, rope strand and core wire guides carried by the member for receiving rope strands and core wires, a pair ofplates spaced from each other and from the member, a hollow shaft carried by the member and supporting the plates, said shaft receiving a core for a core rope, rods carried yby the plates and adapted to have rope strands and core wires therearound for preforming the strands and wires, a second group of rope strand and core wires guides carried by the plate nearest the member and equal in number to the number of rods, each of said last-named guides being inclined toward the rod axis associated therewith for guiding the rope strands and core wires onto the rods, the first group of guides being equal in number to the second group and being inclined for causing the rope strands and core wires toextend at such an angle between the member and adjacent plateas to form the proper lay between the plates, a core strand closing die carried by the hollow shaft, guides carried by the second plate for directing the rope strands and core wires toward the last-named die, whereby a rotation of the head will wrap preformed core Wires around the core and preformed rope strands around the completed core.

'7. In a rope forming machine, a rotatable cage including a hollow shaft, means for feeding a core for a core rope through the shaft, rope strand and core wire carrying bobbins, supported by the cage, means for rotating the cage for initially wrapping the core wires around the core and then for wrapping the rope strands around the completed core, and means for preforming both core wires Iand rope strands just prior to wrapping them to form the complete rope, said preforming means giving the same lay to both core wires and rope strands.

8. In a rope forming machine, a rotatable cage including a hollow shaft, means for feeding a core for a core rope through the shaft, rope strand and core wire carrying bobbins, supported by the cage, means for rotating the cage for initially wrapping the core wires around the core and .then for wrapping the lrope strands around the completed core, and means for preforming both the core wires and rope strands just prior to wrapping them to form the complete rope, said preforming means giving the same lay to both core Wires and rope strands, said core wire and rope strand preforming means including two plates adjustable toward and away from each other to provide the proper lay, and including rods around which the core wires and rope strands are Wrapped while the core wires and rope strands pass between the plates.

' GEORGE E. MCDONALD.

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