REINFORCED HOSES
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
THIS invention relates to reinforced hoses
Three methods are currently used to manufacture reinforced hose In the spiral lapping method, the hose is extruded longitudinally on a mandrel through two rotating discs or carriages which carry bobbins of twine The discs rotate in opposite directions for the bobbins to dispense opposed spirals of twine, at a critical angle of 54 to the axis on the extruded hose This method is widely used for small bore hoses, i e hoses with a bore typically less than 40mm
Small bore hoses are also manufactured by the braiding method in which twine is laid, at the critical angle, in braided, waviform configurations While this method can create a particularly strong hose structure, the machinery which is required is complicated and expensive
Reinforced large bore hoses, i e hoses having a bore diameter of 40mm or more, are traditionally manufactured in discrete sections by the wrapped or hand-built construction method In this method rubber or some other polymer is laid in the form of a spiral strip on a rotating mandrel which may have a length of about 30m, to form an underply Alternatively the rubber of other polymer may be wrapped longitudinally about the mandrel Reinforcement is then laid over the underply This is achieved by laying a spiral strip of reinforcing fabric, typically of woven construction on the
rotating underply Typically an operator moves up and down the length of the rotating mandrel to lay the reinforcing strip at the critical angle, on the underply
Although it is possible in some cases for a single operator to lay two or more spirals of reinforcement simultaneously, the method is labour intensive and the reinforcing material is expensive
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for laying reinforcement on an underply or liner on a rotating mandrel, the apparatus comprising a non-rotating twine dispenser which is located in use about the mandrel and which is movable along the length of the mandrel, while the mandrel rotates, to dispense twines onto the underply in a spiral format
In the preferred embodiment the twine dispenser comprises a non-rotating bobbin carriage for carrying a plurality of twine-dispensing bobbins spaced circumferentially apart from one another and a guide which is attached to the bobbin carriage so as to move along the mandrel with the bobbin carriage in use and which is located in use about the mandrel to guide individual twines dispensed by the bobbins from circumferentially spaced positions onto the underply or liner In some cases, the twine dispenser further comprises drive means operable to move the bobbin carriage along the length of the mandrel In these cases, the drive means is preferably operable to move the bobbin carriage along the length of the mandrel at a linear speed which is correlated to the rotational speed of the mandrel so that the twines are laid spirally on the underply or liner at a predetermined lay angle, typically 54° The drive means may be operable to move the bobbin carriage firstly in one
direction along the length of the mandrel and thereafter to move it in the opposite direction along the length of the mandrel, whereby in use twines are laid in superimposed, opposing spirals on the underply
In the preferred embodiment, the bobbin carriage comprises an annular disc on which the bobbins are mounted and the guide, which is of annular shape is spaced from and attached to the disc and is formed with equiangularly spaced openings through which twines dispensed by the bobbins pass The guide may be spaced from and attached to the disc by a tubular member member, the mandrel passing in use through the guide tubular member and disc
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of laying reinforcement on an underply or liner in the manufacture of a large bore reinforced hose, the underply or liner being supported on a rotating mandrel and the method comprising the step of moving a non-rotating twine dispenser along the length of the mandrel with the twine dispenser dispensing twines spirally onto the underply
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic side view of an apparatus according to this invention prior to laying of the reinforcement,
Figure 2 shows a similar view of the apparatus during the laying of the reinforcement, and
Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the bobbin carriage
DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 shows a rotary drive 10 for a mandrel 12 which is chucked to the drive and which extends to a tailstock 14 where it is supported by a bearing In practice, the mandrel may have a length of 20m to 30m In the manufacture of large bore hoses, the diameter of the mandrel will typically exceed 40mm and may be as much as 1 m
Figure 1 also shows an underply 16 of rubber or other polymer The underply is formed by a strip of rubber material which is dispensed manually onto the rotating mandrel by an operator who walks along the length of the mandrel, laying the rubber strip as he goes
The strip is typically shaped to produce a lay angle 18 of 54 , although other lay angles may also be used depending on the hose performance which is required
After the underply 16 has been laid reinforcement is applied to it As described previously conventional practice would be for an operator to lay a reinforcing strip, typically of woven construction, manually over the underply He would achieve this by walking up and down the length of the mandrel, paying out the reinforcing strip as he goes, to lay the strip spirally onto the underply at the predetermined lay angle
According to the present invention twine reinforcement is laid spirally on the underply by a twine dispenser illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 The illustrated twine dispenser comprises a bobbin carriage 22 which includes an annular
disc 24 and an annular guide 26 connected to the disc by a tubular member 28 The mandrel passes through the bobbin carriage as illustrated
The disc 24 supports a large number of circumferentially spaced rotatable bobbins 30 each wound with twine 32 In a typical application the twine will be of nylon or rayon, but it will be understood that the choice of twine material will be dictated in each application by the level of reinforcement with which the eventual hose is to be provided
Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the term "twine" is used in this specification to refer generally to an elongate flexible reinforcing element of single or multi-strand construction and of suitable material Apart from nylon or rayon as mentioned above the reinforcing twine may be of polyester or be provided by steel wire
The twines 32 extend from their respective bobbins through equiangularly spaced openings 34 at the periphery of the guide 26
The numeral 36 generally indicates a drive arrangement for the twine dispenser 20 which is operable to drive the twine dispenser along the length of the mandrel 12 Although any suitable drive could be used the drive 36 shown by way of example in Figure 2 includes a support structure 38 which supports the bobbin carriage in a non-rotatable manner and which is fixed to a chain 40 passing around sprockets 42 and 44 The sprocket 42 is driven by a reversible motor 46
In use, with the mandrel 12 and underply 16 rotating the drive 36 is actuated to drive the bobbin carriage in one direction along the length of the mandrel as shown in Figure 2 The ends of the twines are initially secured to the underply 16 at one end of the mandrel Then, as the bobbin carriage moves
the twines are withdrawn from their respective bobbins and pass through the openings 34 in the guide 26 to be laid in spiral fashion on the underply 16
The linear speed of the bobbin carriage is carefully correlated to the rotational speed of the mandrel to ensure that the twines are each laid spirally on the underply at the predetermined lay angle, typically 54°
When the bobbin carriage reaches the end of the mandrel, the motor 44 is reversed for the bobbin carriage to move back along the length of the mandrel in the opposite direction, so that the twines 32 are again laid in the correct spiral format at the correct lay angle, the spirals in this case being opposite to those laid on the first pass
As an alternative to the second layer of spiral reinforcement being laid by the same bobbin carriage, it is possible for the twine dispenser to have two similar bobbin carriages arranged back to back, one for laying reinforcement in one direction and the other for laying reinforcement in the other direction As yet another alternative, there may be two totally separate twine dispensers, possibly each with its own drive for laying reinforcing twines in opposite directions
After the necessary reinforcement has been laid, the normal further steps in the construction of the hose are carried out Depending on the design of the hose there may, for instance be further layers of rubber or other polymer, one or more layers of steel mesh or steel wire reinforcement and so on There may also be a requirement for one or more further layers of spirally laid twine reinforcement, in which case the twine-laying procedure described above is repeated as often as necessary Once the various layers of the hose have been fully constructed, the mandrel 12 is detached from the rotary drive 10 and tailstock 14 and is transported, with the multi-layer hose
construction thereon, to an autoclave where vulcanisation of the rubber is carried out to form the final product
In practice, the sections of large bore hose which are produced will generally be designed to be connected in situ to similar hose sections at flanged joints For this reason, flanges may be incorporated in the hose construction at the ends of each section during the laying of the various layers as described above
A major advantage of the invention as exemplified above is the fact that it makes possible the reinforcing of large bore hoses using twine reinforcement The use of a longitudinally moving, non-rotating twine dispenser to lay twines spirally relative to a rotating mandrel will, it is believed, improve the economics of large bore hose manufacture compared to the labour intensive wrapped or hand built construction method currently used
Although mention has been made of a mechanised drive for the twine dispenser, it will be understood that the bobbin carriage 22 could be moved manually along the length of the mandrel, possibly on suitable guides
Although specific mention has been made of laying the twine reinforcement spirally on an underply of rubber or other material it is within the scope of the invention for the twine reinforcement to be laid on a liner on the mandrel