US2414664A

US2414664A - Braided sling structure

Info

Publication number: US2414664A
Application number: US597645A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vincent C J Peterson
Original assignee: American Chain and Cable Co Inc
Current assignee: FKI Industries Inc
Priority date: 1945-06-05
Filing date: 1945-06-05
Publication date: 1947-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 1964-01-21

Description

Patented Jan. 211947 2,414,664 BRATDED sLING STRUCTURE Vincent C. J. Peterson, Forty Fort, Pa., assignor to American Chain & Cable Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of New York Application .l une 5, 1945, Serial No. 597,645

Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to fabrication of wire rope structures, and more particularly to Wire rope slings. It is also concerned with the production of an eye on the end of a braided structure.

The braided portion of a sling is so made primarily for flexibility. However, braided slings have eyes at the end which are provided with thimbles to prevent undue wear caused by engagement with the lifting hook. For this reason, the ideal eye would have a cable or rope laid eye passing around the thimble, and a braided or plaited body portion. The transition from braid to laid construction is, however, achieved in prior slings only with great diculty.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a braided sling body with a cable or rope laid eye.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sling with a novel type of braiding which can be utilized in continuation to form the eye portion.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel method of fastening the ends of the ropes forming the braid of a sling.

Further objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig, 1 is a fragmentary view showing the arrangement before starting the braiding or plaiting operation;

Fig. 2 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, showing the first step in the braiding operation;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing the second step in the braiding operation;

Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the third step in the braiding operation;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the opened braid;

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are successive steps in the formation of the eye;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary View showing a. completed sling;

Fig. 10 is a view of a modified form of sling in one stage of manufacture; and

Fig. 11 is a partly sectional View of the sling of Fig. 10 completed.

The construction shown involves a novel type of braid which has a flat cross-section, preferably made of wire ropes plaited together, although the invention is also applicable to plaited cables, strands or even wires. Ropes are preferred.

The method of forming the braid is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. As shown, an odd number of parts is employed. The illustrated form has seven parts, a convenient number for forming the eye as will appear.

Seven ropes of equal lengths are bunched together and seized, one of the ropes being utilized as a core and the others being arranged therearound. The ropes are shown in Fig. l as being separated into two groups, each rope being numbered. The operation' of forming the braid consists of taking the outside rope from the group having the larger number of ropes, passing it over the other ropes of its group, and laying it alongside the other group, between the two groups. Thus, rope l is passed over

ropes

2, 3, and 4, and laid alongside rope l, as shown in Fig. 2. This operation is repeated until the length of braid desired is formed. The repetition is shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4-i. e., outside rope 5 from the larger group is passed over ropes 6, 1, and I, and laid alongside rope 4; and outside rope 2 is then passed over 3, 4, and 5, and laid alongside rope l.

This method of braiding is convenient for attaining the braid contemplated. but the braid itself is novel in appearance and structure, regardless of the method of production. When the braid is completed and in use, it has the appearance of two parallel cables, one of left and the other of right lay, with each of the elements thereof leaving its cable and becoming part of the other cable for an interval.

In Fig. 5 is shown the braid in an opened condition, the parts being conventionally drawn in their correct relative positions. Part I has been shaded to more clearly illustrate the structure. As can be seen, from point a to point b. the part l passes over three other parts (2, 4, and 5) while from b to c it passes under three parts (1, 6, and 3) and from c to d it passes over` three parts (2, 4, and 5) at different places. This alternate passage over and under a group is the characteristic structure of the braid and is true of every other part of the braid. The number of ropes in a group, (three), is half of one less than the total number of parts. When live parts are used, the grouping will be over two, under two,

Further examination of the diagram referred to will disclose that from point b to point d the part l passes around six parts, so that when the braid is actually constructed, the two edges present a cable laid structure to the eye. The reversals, as, for example, point c in Fig. 5, are long and gradual, and not as shown in the diagram but rather as shown in Fig. 9.

At completion of braiding, the braid is secured by seizing and an eye formed at each end of the braiding. The process of forming the eye is i1- lustrated in Figs. 6 to 8. The ropes are laid parallel, one forming the core, and a suitable length is seized at l5 and I6, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The ropes are separated into two groups, and rope 4, whichis the core in the straight section ill, is bent around to form an eye, being out to a suitable length. The other ropes are then wrapped around the'core, to form a laid eye. This is done by wrapping half of them around the core from the point where it emerges fromy the seizings I 6, as illustrated in Fig. 6, and wrapping the remaining ropes from the end of theY `crushing or abrasion by the hooks in conjunction with which the sling is used. Y

vIn Figs. 10 and 11 a modified form of the pres- `ent'invention is shown.. In this form the braid is formed asY before Yand the straight section 22 .formed as described. However, the eye is simply laid up around a core, starting at the seizing s3,

and seizing 24 applied to keep the eye in cable form. The core, if any, is cut off at or near the seizing 24. The ropes are then disposed around the straight section 22 and secured. Preferably y this is done by passing some of the ropes through the straight portion, as shown in Fig. l0, and securing them to the outside of the straight section as shown in Fig. 11, by a pair of ferrules 25 or the like.

It is to be understood that the braiding method described is applicable to any odd number of lparts. Likewise, the method of forming the eye is applicableI to any' number of parts. It is also possible to make an eyel without a core or with an added or even built-up core, depending upon the adaptability of the number of parts in the |braid to laying up incable form.

While I have described certain particular constructions in which my invention is incorporated,

I do not desire to be limited to these particular fil embodiments since many changes and modifications may easily'be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forthy in the following claims.

1. A sling structure comprising a plurality of parts forming the body of the sling, a section in which said parts lie in cable formation to form an eye, and a section between said cable section and the body section wherein the parts lie in bunched formation and are overlaid by the ends of the cable parts, said ends lying in the Valleys between the bunched parts, and means embracing said ends securing them tothe bunched parts.

2. A sling structure comprising a plurality of parts forming the body of the sling, a section in which said parts lie in cable formation to form an eye, one of said parts forming a core and the other parts being disposed therearound in cable Y formation, and a section between said cable section and the body section wherein the parts lie in bunched formation and are overlaid by the ends of the cable parts, said ends lying in the Valleys between the bunched parts, the part forming the core ending short of said bunched section, and meansA embracing said ends securing them to the bunched parts.

3'. A sling structure comprising a plurality of parts forming the body of the sling, a section in which said parts lie in cable formation to form an eye, and a section between said cable section and the braided section wherein the parts lie in bunched formation and are overlaid by the ends of the cable parts, said. ends lying ,in the valleys between the bunched parts, and a plurality of spaced ferrules embracing said ends and securing them to the bunched parts.

4. A sling structure comprising a plurality of parts forming the body of the sling, a section at one end of the body in which the parts are bunched, an eye formedof the parts on the opposite end of said section, saidY eye comprising the parts separated into Atwo groups and laid around each other in opposite directions and terminating over the bunched section lying in the Valleys thereof, and a plurality of ferrules binding said parts to the bunched section.

5. A sling structure comprising a plurality of parts forming the body of the sling, a section at one end of the body in which said parts lie in cable formation, and a section between said cable section and the body wherein the parts lie in ybunched formation, the end sections of some of the parts passing between the bunched parts to the opposite side, said end sections lying along the bunched parts in the valleys thereof, and means embracing Said end sections and securing them to the bunched parts.

VINCENT C. J. PETERSON.