GB2335209A

GB2335209A - Growing mussels on pinned rope : inserting pins through rope

Info

Publication number: GB2335209A
Application number: GB9905554A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-03-11
Filing date: 1999-03-11
Publication date: 1999-09-15
Also published as: GB9805042D0; GB9905554D0

Abstract

To form a pinned rope to which mussels will attach themselves and grow, a rope is passed through a device where it is clamped at 60 and clamped and rotated at 140 to untwist rope strands between the clamps, allowing for a pin to be inserted through the rope, whereupon the strands are allowed to re-twist to secure the pin. This process is repeated along the rope. The clamping and rotation are carried out-by the rotation of one lever.

Description

1 IMPROVENENTS IN OR RELATING TO ROPES, 2335209 The present invention

relates to a device for, and a method of, separating the strands in a rope.

Particular applications for the device are in mussel (shellfish) farming where several ropes are suspended from floats in the sea and it is to these ropes that the mussels attach themselves and grow.

To increase the mussel yield of each rope, short plastic pins are inserted through the rope at intervals along its length, to which the mussels attach themselves thus greatly increasing the area available to the shellfish that is suitable for growth.

To hold these plastic pins securely in the rope, the strands must be very stiff and tightly twisted around one another in the direction opposite to that of the yarns.

This makes it very difficult to open the rope by hand and insert the pins. The rope has to be compressed in order to separate the individual strands as it cannot be opened under tension given that the direction of the strands is opposite to that of the yarns.

This requires the use of two.hands to squeeze and twist the rope until the individual strands become separated; a third hand is required to insert the pin whilst the strands are held apart thus making it a very time consuming and labour-inten-sive act, as well as an unpleasant process for those involved.

It becomes more unpleasant when consideration is given to the coarse texture of the material from which the rope is made. Due to the environment in which the rope is used, it needs to be made from materials that 2 have the strength and toughness properties required to enable it to resist any abrasion and general wear and tear. The combination of these properties gives rise to a rope that is uncomfortable to handle and in some events 5 painful to use for those inserting the pins.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigat e one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for facilitating the insertion of pins into a rope comprising means to grip the rope at at least two points along its length so as to-isolate a section of the rope therebetween, and means to separate the individual strands of the isolated section of rope thus enabling pins to be inserted between said strands.

Preferably, first means is provided to rotate one end of the isolated section of rope and second means is provided t o compress said section of rope along its length.

In one embodiment of the invention the first and second means comprise a clamping assembly and a compression assembly.

Both of said assemblies may be supported on a common frame or other suitable structure or surface.

The clamping assembly may comprise a rigid handle assembly pivoted at a fixed point and a lever arrangement, which may be connected together by means of a shaft. Said shaft may be supported by at least one bearing. This pivoted handle assembly allows the user the mechanical advantage of being able to apply minimal 3 effort in order to produce a significantly greater force, in this case the force required to grip and rotate the rope to separate the strands.

The lever arrangement may comprise a plurality of levers which may be arranged in such a manner as to connect said shaft to a clamp. Said lever arrangement may be tensioned by a spring. This arrangement enables the lever assembly, and hence the clamp attached thereto, to be displaced by rotation of the pivoted handle assembly.

The pivoted handle assembly may comprise of a rigid arm attached to a sprocket wheel at a fixed point wherein rotating said sprocket wheel via movement of the rigid arm may rotate a further sprocket wheel by means of a chain passing around the two wheels. This has the advantage of distributing the force produced by rotation of the pivoted handle assembly thus enabling it to be applied in more than one application.

In addition, said further sprocket wheel may be attached to the compression assembly whereby the rotation from the pivoted handle assembly may be transmitted to the compression assembly as described above. Thus, operation of both the clamping assembly and the compression assembly is simultaneously controlled by a single movement of the pivoted handle assembly.

Also, said further sprocket wheel may be of a generally smaller diameter than said sprocket wheel and the number of teeth on the further sprocket wheel may be in ratio to the number of teeth on the sprocket wheel.

This ratio will allow the user greater control of the compression assembly without having to exert great deals of effort rotating the pivoted handle.

4 The compression assembly may comprise a plurality of tubular shafts connected to each other in a generally concentric nature having said further sprocket wheel fixably attached at one end thereof and a clamping head fixably attached to the opposite end thereof. The bore of these shafts may be altered to suit the diameter of the rope. The length of rope not being worked on can rest inside these tubular shafts preventing it from being snagged or damaged during operation of the apparatus.

The said further sprocket wheel may be connected to a sliding coupling by means of at least one shaft in order to transmit the rotation generated by the pivoted handle assembly. Lateral movement of said shaft(s) is prevented by the provision of at least one bearing. This prevents any lateral slippage of the sliding coupling during rotation caused by said shaft(s).

Furthermore, said sliding coupling communicates with said clamping head by means of a pin arrangement secured onto at least one of said shafts. This arrangement transmits the direction of rotation from the sliding coupling to the clamping head and then continues to transmit this driving force during operation until direction of rotation is reversed.

The said pin arrangement may be located within an aperture in said coupling thus allowing at least one shaft, and hence said pin arrangement attached thereto, to move in a lateral direction whilst also being rotated by means of said coupling.

The clamping head may be supported by a bearing having an inclined surface. Said clamping head may have at least one pin attached thereto which bears on said inclined surface during rotation and so imparts a forward motion to the clamping head while simultaneously compressing a return spring mounted on the shaft of the clamping head. Hence, the force transmitted from the rotation of the sliding coupling via the pinarrangement is applied to said pin forcing it to travel laterally whilst simultaneously rotating.

This combination of lateral and rotational displacement produces the resultant compressive action required to separate the rope into its individual strands. The rope must be clamped on at least two points of its length to allow separation of the strands.

Movement of said lever arrangement may be synchronised with the movement and rotation of said compression assembly via said pivoted handle assembly, said sprocket wheel and further sprocket wheel, and said chain. If there is no synchronisation, one end of the rope may not be clamped whilst it is being gripped and rotated at the other, and vice versa.

Also, said clamp is tensioned by said spring thus enabling the rope to be held firmly between said clamp and a beam.

Furthermore, said clamping head may be rotatable inside a cam ring attached onto said bearing wherein rotation of the clamping head closes down a clamp by bringing a cam attached thereto into contact with a raised surface of the cam ring. Said cam and clamp may be rotatably attached to said clamping head by means of a pin. This movement results in the rope being gripped firmly on a point on its length by the rotatable clamp as the cam co ntinues to rotate inside the cam ring whilst continuing its lateral movement.

6 As the rope is now being simultaneously rotated and compressed by the clamping head at one end, another end of the rope is being held by a fixed clamp. When the clamping head has rotated 270' from its original starting position the rope strands are open sufficiently wide enough to allow a plastic pin to be inserted.

Accordingly the present invention further provides a method of inserting pins into a rope, the method comprising:

positioning at least one rope inside a compression assembly whereupon it is gripped at at least two points, rotated and compressed simultaneously between these said points; gripping a rope at at least two points along its length so as to isolate a section of the rope; separating the strands of the isolated section of the rope and inserting a pin between the separated strands of the rope; releasing the isolated section of the rope to hold the pin firmly in position between the strands of the rope.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig 1: is a schematic showing the general arrangement of the apparatus according to the present invention; Fig 2: is a cross-sectional view of means for gripping and compressing the rope in the apparatus shown in Fig 1; 7 Fig 3: is an end elevation of the means of Fig 2; and Fig 4: is a partial schematic view of the apparatus of Fig 1 showing a pin ready to be inserted.

Referring to Figs 1 to 4, there is shown an apparatus 5 for inserting pins into a rope, said apparatus comprising a clamping assembly 10 and a compression assembly 15 both of which are supported on frame 20.

The clamping assembly 10 comprises a rigid handle assembly 25 pivoted at a fixed point and a lever arrangement 30 which are connected to each other by means of a shaft 35, said shaft 35 being supported at either end by bearings 40.

The lever arrangement 30 comprises a linkage 45 which has one end connected to shaft 35 and its other end contacts an inclined plate 50 which in turn is rigidly attached to arm 55. This arm 55, pivoted on shaft 35, is attached to clamp 60 and is tensioned by a spring 65. This mechanism enables the lever arrangement 30, and hence the clamp 60 attached thereto, to be displaced by movement of the pivoted handle assembly 25.

The pivoted handle assembly 25 comprises of a rigid arm 70 attached to a sprocket wheel 75 which is in turn linked to a further sprocket wheel 80 by means of a chain 85. The sprocket wheel 80 is attached to the compression assembly 15. Thus, operation of both the clamping assembly 10 and the compression assembly 15 is controlled by a single movement of the pivoted handle assembly 25.

The compression assembly 15 comprises a series of concentric tubular shafts 90, 135, 105, through which the 8 rope is fed. Shafts 90 and 135 are connected by means of a ""pin-in-slot" coupling arrangement whereby the coupling is attached to shaft 90 and the pin arrangement 150 is attache.d.to shaft 135. The pin arrangement 150 is located within an aperture in the coupling 100 thus allowing shaft 135, and hence the pin arrangement 150 attached thereto, to move in a lateral direction whilst also being rotated by means of the coupling 100.

This combination of lateral and rotational displacement produces the resultant compressive action required to separate the rope clamped at two points into its individual strands.

In use, the angular displacement of the rigid arm 70 is relayed to the sprocket wheel 75 which in turn controls the movement of the lever arrangement 30 via the shaft 35 to synchronise it with the movement and rotation of the compression assembly 15 via the sprocket wheel 80 and chain 85.

The first incremental rotational movement of the rigid arm 70 operates linkage 45 by the rotation of shaft 35. This displacement of linkage 45 lowers-inclined plate 50 which in turn lowers arm 55, and hence lowers the clamp 60 attached thereto.

The clamp 60 is tensioned by the spring 65 thus enabling the rope to be held firmly between the clamp 60 and a beam 175.

Rotating the sprocket 75 by 90' achieved via movement of the rigid arm 70 rotates sprocket 80 by 360' by means of the chain 85 - a 4-1 ratio.

9 Fig 2 shows the compression assembly 15 which comprises a sprocket wheel 80 connected to a sliding coupling 100 by means of a shaft 90. A bearing 95 prevents any lateral movement of the shaft 90.

The sliding coupling 100 communicates with a clamping head 105 by means of a pin arrangement 150 secured onto a shaft 135. The clamping head 105 is supported by a bearing 110. As the clamping head 105 rotates, a pin 120 attached thereto bears on an inclined surface 125 of the bearing 110 and so imparts a forward motion to the clamping head 105 while simultaneously compressing a return spring 130 mounted on the shaft 135 of the clamping head 105.

Concurrent with this lateral motion, the clamping head 105 rotates inside a cam ring 115 attached onto the bearing 110. Rotation of the clamping head 105 brings a cam 140 into contact with an inclined surface 155 thus pushing down a clamp 145 which is pivoted about-a pin 160. This movement results in the rope being held down firmly as the cam 140 continues to rotate inside the cam ring 115.

As the rope is now being simultaneously rotated and compressed by the clamping head 105 at one end, another end of the rope is being held by a fixed clamp 60. When the clamping head 105 has rotated 270' from its original starting position the rope strands are open sufficiently wide enough to allow a plastic pin to be inserted as shown in Fig 4.

The rigid arm 70 can now be returned to its original position and by doing so the cam 140 is allowed to rise as shown in Fig 3., thus releasing the rope. The spring returns the clamping head 105 to its original position as shown in Fig 2.

As the rigid arm 70 almost reaches its original position, linkage 45 raises inclined plate 50 and arm 55 so releasing clamp 60. The rope is now fully free from compression and the strands bind tightly around the inserted plastic pin, thus securing the pin within the rope.

It will be appreciated that apparatus in accordance with this invention will permit pins to be inserted into ropes with greater ease.

The present invention seeks to eliminate discomfort experienced by those performing such a task by hand and the very time- consuming nature of the task itself. Benefit is gained from the fact that the apparatus can be operated by one hand leaving the other hand free to position the rope and insert the pins. By utilising an apparatus in accordance with the present invention, the operation can be made less labour-intensive, more pleasant for those who produce such ropes, and therefore a more efficient process all round.

The embodiment of the invention hereinbefore described is given by way of example only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

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Claims

CLAIM

1. Apparatus for facilitating the insertion of pins into a rope comprising means to grip the rope at at least two points along its length so as to isolate a section of the rope therebetween, and means to separate the individual strands of the isolated section of rope thus enabling pins to be inserted between said strands.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising first means to rotate one end of the isolated section of rope and second means to compress said section of rope along its length.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first and second means comprise a clamping assembly and a compression assembly.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein both of 20 said assemblies are supported on a common frame.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the clamping assembly comprises a rigid handle assembly pivoted at a fixed point and a lever arrangement, which are connected together by means of a shaft.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said shaft is supported by at least one bearing.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the lever arrangement comprises a plurality of levers which may be arranged in such a manner as to connect said shaft to a clamp.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said lever arrangement is tensioned by a spring.

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9. An apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the pivoted handle assembly comprises a rigid arm attached to a sprocket wheel at a fixed point wherein rotating said sprocket wheel via movement of the rigid arm rotates a further sprocket wheel by means of a chain passing around the two wheels.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said further sprocket wheel is attached to the compression assembly whereby the rotation from the pivoted handle assembly is transmitted to the compression assembly.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said further sprocket wheel is of a generally smaller diameter than said sprocket wheel and the number of teeth on the further sprocket wheel is in ratio to the number of teeth on the sprocket wheel.

12. An apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the compression assembly comprises a plurality of tubular shafts connected to each other in a generally concentric nature having said further sprocket wheel fixably attached at one end thereof and a clamping head fixably attached to the opposite end thereof.

13. An apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 12, wherein the said further sprocket wheel is connected to a sliding coupling by means of at least one shaft in order to transmit the rotation generated by the pivoted handle assembly.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said sliding coupling communicates with said clamping head by means of a pin arrangement secured onto at least one of said shafts.

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15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the said pin arrangement is located within an aperture in said coupling thus allowing at least one shaft, and hence said pin arrangement attached thereto, to move in a lateral direction whilst also being rotated by means of said coupling.

16. An apparatus according to any one of claims 12, 14 or 15, or 13 when dependent upon claim 12, wherein the clamping head is supported by a bearing having an inclined surface.

17. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said clamping head has at least one pin attached thereto which bears on said inclined surface during rotation and so imparts a forward motion to the clamping head while simultaneously compressing a return spring mounted on the shaft of the clamping head.

18. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein-movement of said lever arrangement is synchronised with the movement and rotation of said compression assembly via said pivoted handle assembly, said sprocket wheel and further sprocket wheel, and said chain.

19. An apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 18, wherein said clamping assembly is rotatable inside a cam ring attached onto said bearing.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said cam and clamp are rotatably attached to said clamping assembly by means of a pin.

21. A method of inserting pins into a rope, the method 35 comprising:

14 positioning at least one rope inside a compression assembly whereupon it is gripped at at least two points, rotated and compressed simultaneously between these said points; gripping a rope at at least two points along its length so as to isolate a section of the rope; separating the strands of the isolated section of the rope and inserting a pin between the separated strands of the rope; releasing the isolated section of the rope to hold the pin firmly in position between the strands of the rope.