GB937344A - Improvements in and relating to machinery for and method of making wire cords - Google Patents

Abstract

937,344. Machines for making wire ropes. COURTAULDS Ltd. Jan. 4, 1961 [Jan. 5, 1960], No. 312/60. Class 109. A machine for making wire strands and stranded wire cords comprises a rotatably mounted die 8, a capstan wheel 22 having an axial bore and mounted for rotation coaxially with said die 8, the capstan wheel and the die being capable of rotation at different relative angular velocities, a lead-on guide 12, 16 rotating with the die 8 to determine a cord path from the die 8 to the periphery of the capstan wheel 22 so that the cord can be wrapped around the capstan wheel, and lead-off guides 19, 15, Fig. 2 (not shown), to determine a cord path from the periphery of the capstan wheel to the bore of the capstan wheel so that the cord may travel along said bore away from the die 8. In a particular example, seven wires 32, each spinning right-handedly about its axis at 12,000 r.p.m., are drawn through a lay plate 7 to enter the die 8 rotating at 12,000 r.p.m. in the same sense as the wires 32 so that the die 8 twists the wires 32 about each other to form a cord 33. The cord 33 is thus formed without twisting any individual wire 32 about its own axis. The cord 33 passes through a trumpet guide 9 and thence over guides 12 and 16 on a capstan chamber 20 to the capstan wheel 22, the chamber 20 rotating with the die 8 so that there is no tendency for the cord 33 to roll or untwist when in contact with said guides. The cord 33 is wrapped two or three times around the surface of the capstan wheel 22 so that, with the capstan wheel rotating at 12,375 r.p.m. in the same sense as the die 8 and chamber 20, a tractive force is applied to the cord 33. The difference in speed, namely 375 r.p.m., is a measure of the linear speed of the cord 33 through the machine. The cord leaves the capstan wheel over further guides on the capstan chamber 20 to pass by way of a radial guide 15 into a channel 26 leading to a bore in the spindle 27 of the capstan wheel and from which the cord 33 is collected. By running the capstan 22 at a slower speed than that of the die 8 a cord of opposite twist, to that in the above example, is formed. As the cord 33 leaves the machine it is still spinning on its axis at 12,000 r.p.m. and this spinning can be neutralized by collecting the cord in a double twisting device which sets up an equal and opposite rotation. Specifications 287,202 and 434,435 are referred to.