US2197111A - Braiding machine - Google Patents

Description

Apnl 1910' J. A. MULLER BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ua/m/ 4. Amz 0? ATTORNEY April 16, 1940. J. MULLER 2,197,111

BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Jflfl/V ,4. Milli/f BY MAM ATTORNEYS l 16, 1940- J. A. MULLER BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. -MAW A. MZ/ZZf/f ATTORNEYS P 5, 1940- J. A. MULLER BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 16, 1940 BRAIDING MACHINE John A. Muller, Passaic, N. J., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 18, 1939, Serial No. 262,682

5 Claims. (Ci. 96-3) therethrough.

Most braiding machines can be divided into three general classes; the first class comprising machines which produce braids composed of two layers of individual strands running in helical paths in opposite directions progressively about and along the work, the second class comprising machines which produce braids composed of in-- dividual strands extending in adjacent parallel interlacing helical paths paralleling the work and forming a sheath thereabout, and the third class comprising machines which produce braids composed of two sets of individual strands extending in opposite interlacing helical paths about the work to form basket or maypole type woven sheaths thereabout.

The braiding machines of my invention fall into the last of these classes of braiding machines and serve to produce "basket" or "maypole type braids about the work passing through the machines.

work during operation of the machines.

Each

spool carrier extended perpendicularly from the fiat face of the guidemlate and a strand of braiding material extended from a spool on the carrier to the free end of the carrier and from the free end of the carrier inwardly to the center of braiding at the center of the machine. This arrangement placed an eccentric load upon each of the spool carriers and a binding between each carrier and its guideway which required extra operating power at all times while the machine was running.

This arrangement also caused the length of the strands between the free ends of the carriers and the braiding center to vary greatly as the carriers operated in and out along their sinuous paths to and from the innermost and outermost parts thereof.

A heavy and complicated slackabsorbing mechanism was necessary upon each carrier to care for the loose length of strand thus caused in order to maintain a more or less uniform tension therein at all times during opera-- tion of the machine. When the proper tension was not maintained during the braiding operation, twisting, kinking, and breaking of the strands was liable to result. These slack-absorbing mechanisms were expensive to make and maintain, increased the loading on the spool carriers and the amount of power needed for operating the machine, materially. decreased the size of spools that could be accommodated by the carriers and required extra power for overcoming the resistance offered by the heavy springs carried by each slack-absorbing device. While braiding machines of this class operated fairly well for some braiding purposes, with more specialized types of braiding, such as where wire or other relatively heavy or still? materials were used, these machines failed materially to give satisfactory results and failed to produce the uniformly braided sheaths desired.

The braiding machine of my invention has largely eliminated these and other objectionable features of the earlier braiding machines of this class by providing two or more braiding-heads and a work conveyor coupled with a source of power. Each braiding head comprises a cylindrical housing encircling and supporting a composite guide plate which is in the form of a zone or a portion of a hollow sphere or spheroid and by providing in this composite plate two similar, endless, sinuous, intersecting guideways extending generally circumferentially therealong. Two sets of equally spaced spool carriers are positioned within this hollow plate and are arranged to travel in opposite directions in the guideways therein. Each carrier extends inwardly and normally from the spherical or spheroidal surface of the composite plate at all times regardless of its particular location therein and accordingly directly toward the geometric center of the sphere or spheroid containing the plate. The center of the sphere or spheroid is also the braid-. ing center for the braiding head and the work upon which the sheath is to be formed extends through this central point and perpendicularly to the generally circumferential paths of the guideways.

Thus during braiding operations the spool carriers are always at a constant distance from the braiding center and the free length of strand therebetween always remains constant. The carriers oscillate back and forth as they travel along their respective endless guideways but the distance from an individual carrier to the braidin center does not vary. Only the amount of material necessary for forming the sheath or braid 8 is drawn from the spools on the carriers and accordingly no slack has to be absorbed. No heavy slackabsorbing mechanisms are necessary for the strands of braidingmaterial used in my machine. While a tension control device is used upon each carrier in my invention this is only for the purpose of supplying the desired tension to the individual strands according to the particular braiding material being used by the head and the degree of binding desired by the sheath upon the work. Because the spool carrier and strand therefrom both extend in a straight line toward the braiding center no eccentric loading is placed upon the carrier and accordingly no extra drag has to be overcome when the machine operates.

An endless train of power transmitting gears extends around the composite guide plate and is positioned between the plate and the outer cylindrical housing. This train is coupled with a source of power and serves to propel the spool carriers along the guideways during the operation of the braiding head. The outer housing forms a protective casing for this train of gears and also forms the main supporting structure for the entire assembly.

The compactness of each braiding head enables two or more to be placed in close proximity and in line, so that they may be operated together to form a plurality of sheaths upon the work at one time. These braiding heads are coupled to change speed gearing and a source of power so that they may be operated in synchronism or at relatively different speeds when desired.

An endless work conveyor is also coupled to the source of power by means of interchangeable gears, so that various speeds may be produced therein which are relative to the braiding speed of the braiding heador heads. This conveyor supports and carries the work passing 45 through the braiding head or heads and normally its speed is the same as the lineal braiding speed of the braiding head or heads so that uniformly close and tight sheath or sheaths are formed upon the work. However. said interchangeable gears are provided so that the conveyor speed may be increased and the conveyor made to pull the work through the head and thereby increase the lay angle of the strand and produce a more openly braided sheath when 'lesired.

This invention will be. more readily understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my invention showing a braiding machine comprising two braiding heads and a belt conveyor coupled to a source of power; one of the braiding heads being broken away along substantially the vertical longitudinal central plane thereof;

Fig. 2 is a transverse elevational view of one of the braiding heads taken substantially along the section line 22 of Fig. 1, but having a tape reel and support therefor removed;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of my braiding head taken substantially along the section line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a partial development of the sinuous guideway and carrier structure shown in Fig. 3 75 as viewed from within the braiding head;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of one of the spool carriers used in my braiding head;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the spool carrier, partly in section, taken substantially along section line 6-8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatical view showing the extreme lateral positions reached by the spool carriers and individual strands during braiding at the true braiding center of the head;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatical view, somewhat similar to Fig. '7, but showing how individual strands may be extended around a work guide for special braiding operations of the head; and

Fig. 9 is a modified form of-composite guide plate which may be used in my invention.

The braiding machine of a preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in Fig. 1 and employs a main frame generally indicated by the numeral I. This frame is arranged to support two longitudinally spaced braiding units or braiding heads 2 and 3, a source of power 4, and one end of an endless belt conveyor 5. The two braiding heads and the belt conveyor are connected to the source of power so that, the relative speeds of braiding of the heads and the lineal speed of the conveyor may be varied relative to each other. The braiding heads 2 and 3 are similar and accordingly details of construction and arrangement hereinafter described may be taken to apply equally to either unit. The two heads are shown together for the purpose of iilustrating how a double braid or sheath and an intermediate separating cover may be placed upon the work at one time.

The braiding heads 2 and 3 are supported upon brackets 6 rigidly attached to the main frame I whech serve to space and firmly position the braiding heads thereabove ,for clearance purposes. These brackets are rigidly attached to outer casings or cylindrical housings 'I of the braiding units 2 and 3. Each cylindrical housing I is of relatively heavy construction and serves to support and position the assembled parts of the braiding head.

A plurality of studs 8 are evenly spaced circumferentially about the housing I, are fixedly secured therein, and extend inwardly toward the braiding center of the unit. Guide plates 9 and III are rigidly attached to this cylindrical housing I by means of connecting bolts ll. These guide plates are in the form of zones or portions of a sphere or spheroid whose geometric center is also the braiding center I! of the head. Carried by the inner ends of the studs 8, in fixed relation therewith, are guide segments l3 which are rigidly keyed thereto as shown in Fig. 4 by the numeral ll. These guide segments are in the form of plates shaped as portions of the sphere or spheroid which includes the inner surfaces of the guide plates 9 and Ill. Sinuous intersecting or interlacing paths or guideways l5 and I 8 are formed between the guide plates 9 and III and the intermediately located segments l3 when assembled to guide the two similar sets of spool carriers I I and I8. Thus it will be seen that all points along the guideways l5 and I'B are equidistant from the braiding center I 2 regardless of the sinuous characteristics of the guideways so formed. The guide plates 9 and I0 and the guide segments I! combine to form a composite guide plate which is in the shape of a central ring portion or zone of a sphere or spheroid. The spool carriers l1 and I8 referred to above will be more completely hereinafter described.

These inwardly extending studs 8 are rigidly secured in place in the cylindrical housing I, in any desired manner, and mounted upon each stud 8 between the housing I and the guide segment I3 is an anti-friction bearing I9 clamped in place therebetween by the nut 2|. Carried by this bearing I9 is a rotatable hub 22 upon which are mounted by bolts 23 an angular notched gear 24 and an angular toothed gear 28 so that both gears rotate freely about the stud 8. The circumferentially spaced studs 8, bearings l9 and hubs 22 locate the gears 28 so that an endless intermeshing gear train is formed about the assembled plates 9 and I8 and segments I 3. A driven gear 21 is bolted to the bottom face of the angular gear 28 located upon the stud 8 at the bottom and center of the braiding head and is arranged to derive power from a driving gear 28 to actuate all of the gears 28 of the gear train in unison and thereby actuate notched gears 24. The notched gears 24 in turn propel the two sets of spool carriers l1 and I8 in opposite directions along the sinuous pathways l8 and I8, respectively, as indicated by arrows A and B, Fig. 4, while the head is in operation. Each notched gear 24 is provided with a pair of diametrically spaced peripherial notches 29 for receiving lugs or fingers 38 projecting outwardly from the base portions of the carriers l'l. Each gear 241s also provided with a second pair of diametrically spaced peripherial notches 3|, intermediate the notches 28, for receiving the lugs or fingers 32 projecting from the base portions of the carriers l8.

Thus it will be seen that these carriers I! and I8, moving in their respective guideways l8 and I8, travel along a surface which is a zone or portion of a sphere or spheroid whose center is the braiding center of the braiding head i ndicated by the numeral l2, Fig. 1. The free lengths of the strands 33 between the carriers I1 and I8 and the braiding center l2 always remain substantially constant regardless of the positions of the carriers during operation. The carriers oscillate laterally back and forth as they move along the guideways l8 and I8 during operation of the unit but only the amount of braiding material required for forming the sheath is pulled from the spools thereon during this operation; as distinguished from the alternate tensioning and slack that would exist if there were a variable distance between each carrier and thebraiding center.

A work guide 34 has been found desirable in actual practice and is shown in Fig. 1 located near the central transverse plane of the head which is also the plane containing the circumferentially spaced studs 8. This work guide insures braiding of the sheath at substantially the geometric center of the composite plate structure formed of guide plates 9 and I8 and guide segments l3. The work guide 34 is securely but adjustably and replaceably held in place by struts 38 attached to the forward edge of the plate 9.

The source of power 4 is composed of a driving motor 38 of conventional design and a change speed gear structure generally indicated by the numeral 31 for operating shafts 38 and 39 for the braiding heads 2 and 3, respectively. This gear structure is such that the shafts 38 and 39 may be operated at the same speed or at different relative speeds as the particular braid being formed may require. The power shafts 38 and 39' are supported in place beneath the units 2 and 3 by bearings 48 and are arranged to drive the gears 28. Also coupled to the shaft 38 is a flexible coupling 4| which is provided with circumferentially spaced holes 42 for the insertion of a lever 43 so that the head 2 may be turned by hand when it is desired to install, adjust or replace movable parts thereof. A similar hand operating means may be employed for the braiding head 3 for a similar purpose, if desired.

An additional shaft 44 extends from the coupling 4| to a worm gear 48 for operating the conveyor 8. The worm gear 48 meshes with a pinion gear 48 mounted upon a shaft 41. Also mounted upon the shaft 41, and a shaft 48 are a pair of gears 49 and 88, respectively, which may be replaced by another pair of similar gears but of different ratio when it is desired to change *the relative operating speed of the conveyor 8.

An endless conveyor belt 8| is arranged to run upon the sprockets 82, one of which is keyed to the shaft 48 for driving purposes. The remote end of the conveyor (not shown) is also provided with a similar sprocket for supporting the endless belt in place.

A tensioning device is used in conjunction with my conveyor 8 for properly adjusting the tension of the conveyor belt 8|. The belt passes over an idler sprocket 83 of the device'which may be moved by screw means 84 to adjust the tension thereof. The top run of the conveyor belt 8| is positioned so that the work 88 bein fed through the head 2, in the direction of the arrow 0, rests upon the belt and may be fastened thereto, if desired, and conveyed or pulled thereby depending upon the lay angle desired in the braid being produced by the head.

As shown in Fig. 7 the braiding head may be operated without a work guide by synchronizing the speed of braiding of the unit with the speed of travel of the work passing therethrough so that the braiding center 88 remains at the center of the head and the length of the individual strand is always the same; even in. the extreme lateral positions as indicated by numerals 81 and 88. However, in practice the work guide 34 (Fig. 1) is generally used and helps to insure the proper operation of the unit under all conditions.

It may be seen from Fig. 8 that when a work guide 89 is used the speed of the work 88 passing through the headmay be made greater than the speed of braiding of the head which will draw the strands 88 around the work guide 88 and increase the lay angle thereof and will draw the center of braiding 8| away from the center of the unit and thereby produce a sheath having a somewhat open mesh. Dotted lines 82 indicate how the strands and braiding center may be pulled laterally to increase the lay angle and produce an exceptionally open braid or sheath when desired by merely increasing somewhat more the lineal speed of the work. Braiding conditions can thus be controlled by the speed at which the conveyor with the work moves relative to the speed of the braiding head. It will be seen that under all such conditions of operation a substantially uniform length of strand passes from the carrier around the work guide and to the point of braiding regardless of the distance the braiding point may be pulled to one side of the center of the unit. Since the conveyor and braiding heads are geared together their predetermined relative speeds do not vary during operation of the units and accordingly a very uniformly braided sheath may be produced.

All of thespool carriers used in my braiding head are similar in construction to the spool carrier I1 shown in detail in Figs. and 6. The carrier I! has a base portion I8 composed of two circular flanges II and I2 which are interconnected by a bridge bar or guide bar I3. Projecting from the bottom of the flange I2 is a lug or finger 32, previously referred to. The bridge bar 13 is in the form of a thin but relatively wide and rigid connecting member between the flanges II- and I2, is arranged to travel in the guideway I5, and is narrowed at its opposite ends to fit or accommodate the curvature of the guideway as indicated at I4 (Fig. 4). The flanges II and 12 are provided with faces I5 and i8 which are bevelled to engage the opposite faces of the guide plates 9 and I8 and the guide segments I3. The portions l1 and I8 of the -fianges II and I2, between bevelled edges 18 and '76, are undercut to prevent binding between these flanges and parts of the plates 9, I8 and segments I3.

An upstanding inverted U-shaped frame 88 is rigidly carried upon the flange II of the carrier I I and is arranged to support a spool 8| for braiding material and a tension control device generally indicated by the numeral 82. The spool 8I is rotatably retained in place in the U- shaped frame 88 by a removable pin 83 which is arranged to fit in apertures 88 and 85 in said frame. A swinging lock bar 86 is attached to one side of the frame 88 and is provided with a notched portion 81 which straddles a narrowed portion of the pin 83 and serves to retain the pin in place during operation of the carrier. A spring 88 serves to bias this look bar and prevent accidental displacement ofthe pin 83.

The constant tension control device 82 is composed of a swinging bell-crank lever 89 having at its free end a brake shoe 98 arranged to engage the peripheral surface of the strand 33 of flexible material wound upon the spool 8| and thus tends to hold the spool against rotational movement until a predetermined pull is exerted upon the strand 33. The opposite end of the bell-crank lever 89 is pivoted upon a bar 9i carried in the U-shaped frame 88 and an intermediate portion of the lever is provided with a connecting pin 92 to which guide rods 93 are pivotally attached. The free ends of the guide rods 93 fit into apertures 94 in the bite portion of the U-shaped frame 88 and springs 95 fit around these rods and bear against the bite portion and thereby tend to force the bell-crank lever 89, and accordingly the brake shoe 98, into engagement with the peripheral portion of the strand of flexible material wound upon the spool 8i. A limiting rod 96 is provided across the frame 88 beneath the intermediate portion of the bell-crank lever 89 and merely serves as a stop member to limit the inward movement of the lever 89 when the spool 8| has been removed from the structure.

Also located in the bite portion of the U- shaped frame 88 is a replaceable guide eye 91 through which the strand 33 of flexible material passes when being drawn from the spool on the carrier to the point of braiding of the head The guide eye 91 is keyed or otherwise retained in place in the U-shaped frame'88.

Dotted lines are shown in Fig. 6 to indicate a position that may be assumed by the tension control device 82 when a comparatively full spool oi flexible material is being used upon the carrier. The arrangement of the parts of the control device is such that the braking action thereof places a substantially uniform tension upon the strand 33 being unreeled and fed from the carrier I! at all times regardless of the amount of material wound upon the spool.

I have shown in Fig. 1 a support 98 carried upon the housing I and arranged to locate a roll of tape 99 directly over the work 55 being passed through the head. Carried by this support is a spring pressed tensioning roller arm I88 for holding the tape in place against the work.

When it is desired to separate individual layers of braid being placed upon the work by separate braiding heads, the tape from the roll may be fed beneath the second layer as it is being formed about the work. The spring pressed roller arm I88 tends to hold this tape in a smooth condition and the braiding action of the second sheath automatically wraps the tape around the work while the braiding operation continues.

Fig. 9 of the drawings shows a modified form of a composite guide plate that may be used as a part of my invention. This composite guide plate is in the form of a zone or portion of a sphere or spheroid and comprises guide plates MI and I82 and guide segments I83 so positioned that two endless, sinuous, intersecting guideways I84 and I85 are formed therebetween for carriers I1 and I8. This composite guide plate is similar to the guide plates 9 and I8 and guide segments I3 of my preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 1, except that it is located at one side of the central plane of the sphere or spheroid instead of symmetrically of the central plane thereof, as is the case in my preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that this composite guide plate could be formed of any portion or zone of a sphere or spheroid and when so formed all portions of the guideways therein would be substantially equidistant from the geometric center" thereof. Accordingly strands of braiding material which extend from the carriers upon the inner face of such a composite guide plate would always be at a constant distance from the braiding center thereof and only the amount of material necessary to form the braid would be drawn from the spools thereon.

When it is desired to place my braiding head 2 in operation the carriers I1 and I8 are provided with spools M of flexible material and the strands 33 thereof are brought to a common braiding center I2 which is the spherical or spheroidal center of the guide plates 9 and I8 and segments I3 and are anchored to the work 55. As the source of power 4 starts to rotate the power shaft 38, the gears 21 and 28 are consequently rotated. Since the gear 21 is fixedly secured to the bottom angular toothed gear 26 its rotation actuates all of the intermeshing angular toothed gear 26 of. the gear train positioned circumferentially about the guide plates 9 and I8 and guide segments I3 and within the cylindrical casing I of the unit. The rotation of the successive gears 26 are in opposite direc-.

tions. Each gear'28 of the train of gears will in turn rotate its respective notched gear 24 in unison therewith. Notched portions 29 and 3| of each notched gear 28 will engage the extending lugs or fingers 38 and 32 upon the bases of the carriers I1 and I8 and thereby propel same about their respective guideways I5 and IS. The carriers I1 and I8 move in opposite directions and cross each others paths as they proceed along the guideways. When the individual carrier", or l8, (Fig. 4) has been moved along the guideway to the central transverse plane of the head 2 by the notched portion 28 or ii engaging the lug 3| or 32 the associated notched gear continues to rotate while the carrier disengages therefrom and continues in the direction of its guideway. At the time of this disengagement the notched-portions 28 or SI of the next successive notched gear moves 'into engagement with the projecting lug or finger 3|! or 32 and thereby continues to actuate the carrier along its sinuous path.

It will be seen that such an arrangement, moving every other carrier in one direction and the remaining carriers in the opposite direction, causes the carriers to successively cross each others paths and thereby produce a braiding action of the well known basket or maypole type. During operation the distance between each carrier and the center of braiding of the head remains constant and since the braking action or resistance offered by the tension control device also remains constant, a constant tension is always maintained upon each individual strand helping to form the braid. No complicated slack-absorbing mechanism is required for the strands being fed from the carrier to the work. The tension control devices are required only for givingthe correct tension to the strands according to the material being used to form the braid. This uniform tension placed in each individual strand is such that'a uniformly close and tight braid may be formed by each braiding head of my invention. The braid may be formed as tightly as desired about the work and this may be directly controlled by the tension control devices located upon the individual oarriers of the head.

The pull on each strand is always in a direct line with the carrier and thus no eccentric loading of the carrier, such as would cause binding in the parts thereof, is created and only a minimum of power for operating purposes is required.

The control of the relative speeds of two braiding heads 2 and 3 and the conveyor enables me to place uniformly braided sheaths of like characteristics upon the work at one time regardless of the difference in size of the individual superimposed sheaths and enables me at the same time to control the lay angle of each sheath.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with the specific details of preferred embodiments thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative to the invention except insofar as is set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A braiding head comprising a composite guide plate comprising a plurality of guide elements so shaped and positioned as to form a zone of a spheroid and a pair of endless, sinuous, intersecting guideways therebetween, and supporting means for said guide elements arranged to securely retain said elements in position in said braiding head, said supporting means comprising a load carrying housing encircling said guide plate and a plurality of spaced studs extending inwardly from the inner surface thereof, portions of said housing being relatively spaced outwardly of said guide plate whereby an endless enclosed circumferential gear chamber is formed therebetween.

2. A braiding machine comprising guiding plates having two endless, sinuous, intersecting guideways formed therein and having all portions thereof equidistantly spaced from a common center, sets of spool carriers positioned in said guideways and arranged to operate in opposite directions therealong, an endless series of intermeshing gears located outwardly of and adjacent said guide plates and operatively associated with the spool carriers for propelling the carriers of both sets simultaneously, and a generally circular load carrying frame positioned outwardly of said plates and gears and having means for securing said plates in relatively fixed relation, said frame and said guide plates jointly forming an endless enclosure for said gears and adjacent portions of said spool carriers.

3. A braiding machine comprising a load carrying main frame of substantially circular shape in transverse cross section and provided with continuous inwardly directed flanged portions at its opposite open ends, a composite guide plate having the shape of a zone of a spheroid positioned within the main frame, said guide plate having two endless sinuous intersecting guideways so formed in said plate as to divide the plate into two end sections and a plurality of intermediate sections, each end section having a flanged portion engageable with one of the flanged portions of the main frame, a plurality of relatively fixed studs extending radially from.the inner surface of said main frame, and adapted to removably secure said intermediate sections in fixed position, sets of spool carriers positioned in-said guideways, and power transmitting gears mounted upon said studs between said intermediate sections and the main frame and operatively associated with said sets of spool carriers for propelling said sets in opposite directions along said guideways, said main frame and said composite guide plate together forming an endless enclosure for said transmission gears and adjacent portions of said spool carriers.

4. A braiding machine comprising a hollow rigid annular supporting frame having the inner wall portion thereof conforming substantially to the shape of a section of a sphere, said inner wall portion being divided into two annular end sections and a plurality of intermediate segments spaced therefrom so as to define therebetween a pair of endless sinuous intersecting guideways having all parts thereof equidistantly spaced from a. common braiding center, two sets of spool carriers positioned in said guideways and arranged to travel in opposite directions therealong, a plurality of inwardly extending studs secured to the outer Wall portion of said frame and supporting at their inner free ends said segments in fixed positions relative to said end sections, and a set of operatively interconnected actuating gears for said spool carriers rotatably mounted upon said studs between the inner and outer wall portions of said frame.

5. A braiding machine comprising a rigid unitary annular housing having inwardly extending flanges formed at the opposite open ends thereof, a plurality of uniformly spaced studs projecting radially from the inner surface of the housing, a pair of flanged annular guide plates positioned within the housing and having the flanges thereof detachably secured to the inwardly extending flanges of said housing, a series of guide segments secured to the free ends of said studs and positioned between said guide plates so as to form therewith and with said housing an endless enclosed gear compartment, the adjacent edge portions or said plates and said segments being spaced relative to each other and being equidistantly spaced from a common braiding center so as to deflne a pair of endless sinuous intersecting guideways, a plurality of intermeshing gears located within said compartment and rotatably mounted upon said studs, and a set 0! spool carriers operatively associated with said gears and arranged to travel along said guideways, said spool carriers at all times during operation oi said machine remaining a constant 6 distance from said braiding center.

. JOHN A. MUILER.

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