Patent Grant
8511053
The present invention relates to rope structures, systems, and methods and, more particularly, to combinations of fibers to obtain rope structures, systems, and methods providing improved performance.
The basic element of a typical rope structure is a fiber. The fibers are typically combined into a rope subcomponent referred to as a yarn. The yarns may further be combined to form rope subcomponents such as bundles or strands. The rope subcomponents are then combined using techniques such as braiding, twisting, and weaving to form the rope structure.
Different types of fibers typically exhibit different characteristics such as tensile strength, density, flexibility, and abrasion resistance. Additionally, for a variety of reasons, the costs of different types of fibers can vary significantly.
A rope structure designed for a particular application may comprise different types of fibers. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,134,267 and 7,367,176 assigned to the assignee of the present application describe rope subcomponents comprising fibers combined to provide desirable strength and surface characteristics to the rope structure.
The need exists for rope structures that optimize a given operating characteristic or set of characteristics of a rope structure while also minimizing the cost of materials used to form the rope structure.
The present invention may be embodied as a rope structure comprising a plurality of rope subcomponents, a plurality of bundles, a plurality of first yarns, and a plurality of second yarns. The rope subcomponents are combined to form the rope structure. The bundles are combined to form the rope subcomponents. The first yarns are formed of at least one material selected from the group of materials comprising HMPE, LCP, Aramids, and PBO and have a breaking elongation of approximately 2%-5%. The plurality of second yarns are formed of at least one material selected from the group of materials comprising polyolefin, polyethylene, polypropylene, and blends or copolymers of the two and have a breaking elongation of approximately 2%-12%. The first and second yarns are combined to form the bundles.
The present invention may also be embodied as a method of forming a rope structure comprising the following steps. A plurality of first yarns are formed of at least one material selected from the group of materials comprising HMPE, LCP, Aramids, and PBO and have a breaking elongation of approximately 2%-5%. A plurality of second yarns are formed of at least one material selected from the group of materials comprising polyolefin, polyethylene, polypropylene, and blends or copolymers of the two and have a breaking elongation of approximately 2%-12%. The plurality of first yarns and the plurality of second yarns are combined to form a plurality of bundles. The plurality of bundles are combined to form a plurality of rope subcomponents. The plurality of rope subcomponents are combined to form the rope structure.
The present invention may also be embodied as a rope structure comprising a plurality of rope subcomponents, a plurality of bundles, a plurality of first yarns, and a plurality of second yarns. The rope subcomponents are combined to form the rope structure. The bundles are combined to form the rope subcomponents. The first yarns have a tenacity of approximately 25-45 gpd and have a breaking elongation of approximately 2%-5%. The second yarns have a tenacity of approximately 6-22 gpd and have a breaking elongation of approximately 2%-12%. The first and second yarns are combined to form the bundles.
The present invention relates to rope structures comprising blended fibers and methods of making rope structures comprising blended fibers. In the following discussion, a first, more general example will be described in Section I with reference to
Referring initially to
In the example rope structure 20, the first yarns 30 are arranged to define the cover portion 44 of the bundles 40 and the second yarns are arranged to define the center portion 42. Alternatively, the first yarn could form the center portion and the second yarn could form the cover portion of the bundle. In yet another example, the first and second yarns could be evenly distributed throughout the bundles 40 and thus the substantially evenly throughout the rope subcomponents 50 and the rope structure 20. As still another example, the rope structure could be formed by a combination of the various forms of yarns described herein.
The example first yarns 30 are formed of a material such as High Modulus PolyEthylene (HMPE). Alternatively, the first yarns 30 may be formed by any high modulus (i.e., high tenacity with low elongation) fiber such as LCP, Aramids, and PBO. The example first yarns 30 have a tenacity of approximately 40 gpd and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. The tenacity of the first yarns 30 should be within a first range of approximately 30-40 gpd and in any event should be within a second range of approximately 25-45 gpd. The breaking elongation of the first yarns 30 should be in a first range of approximately 3.0-4.0% and in any event should be within a second range of approximately 2%-5%.
The example second yarns 32 are formed of a material such as high modulus polypropylene (HMPP). As one example, the second yarns 32 may be formed of high modulus polyolefin fiber such as high modulus fibers made from resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, blends, or copolymers of the two. Typically, such fibers are fabricated using the melt-spinning process, but the second yarns 32 may be fabricated using processes instead of or in addition to melt-spinning process. Alternative materials include any material having characteristics similar to High Modulus PolyproPylene (HMPP) or PEN. Examples of commercially available materials (identified by tradenames) that may be used to form the second yarns include Ultra Blue, Innegra, and Tsunooga.
In a first example, the fibers forming the example second yarns 32 have a tenacity of approximately 10 gpd and a breaking elongation of approximately 8%. In this first example, the tenacity of the fibers forming the second yarns 32 should be within a first range of approximately 9-12 gpd and in any event should be within a second range of approximately 7.0-20.0 gpd. The breaking elongation of the fibers forming the example second yarns 32 should be in a first range of approximately 5.0-10.0% and in any event should be within a second range of approximately 3.5%-12.0%.
In a second example, the fibers forming the example second yarns 32 have a tenacity of approximately 8.5 gpd and a breaking elongation of approximately 7%. In this second example, the tenacity of the fibers forming the first yarns 30 should be within a first range of approximately 7-12 gpd and in any event should be within a second range of approximately 6.0-22.0 gpd. The breaking elongation of the fibers forming the example second yarns 32 should be in a first range of approximately 5.0%-10.0% and in any event should be within a second range of approximately 2.0%-12.0%.
The example bundles 40 comprise approximately 35-45% by weight of the first yarns 30. The percent by weight of the example first yarns 30 should be within a first range of approximately 40-60% by weight and, in any event, should be within a second range of approximately 20-80% by weight. In any of the situations described above, the balance of the bundles 40 may be formed by the second yarns 32 or a combination of the second yarns 32 and other materials.
The example rope structure 20 comprises a plurality of the bundles 40, so the example rope structure 20 comprises the same percentages by weight of the first and second yarns 30 and 32 as the bundles 40.
The exact number of strands in the first yarns 30 and the second yarns 32 is based on the yarn size (i.e., diameter) and is pre-determined with the ratio of the first and second yarns.
Referring now for a moment back to
In an optional fourth step represented by bracket 66, the bundles 40 are twisted to form the rope subcomponents 50. The example rope subcomponent 50 is thus a twisted blend fiber bundle. Alternatively, a plurality of the bundles 40 may be twisted in second, third, or more twisting steps to form a larger rope subcomponent 50 as required by the dimensions and operating conditions of the rope structure 20.
One or more of the rope subcomponents 50 are then combined in a fifth step represented by bracket 68 to form the rope structure 20. The example fifth step 68 is a braiding or twisting step, and the resulting rope structure 20 is thus a braided or twisted blend fiber rope.
Optionally, after the fifth step 68, the rope structure 20 may be coated with water based polyurethane or other chemistry or blends to provide enhanced performance under certain operating conditions. Examples of appropriate coatings include one or more materials such as polyurethane (e.g., Permuthane, Sancure, Witcobond, Eternitex, Icothane), wax (e.g., Recco, MA-series emulsions), and lubricants (e.g., E22 Silicone, XPT260, PTFE 30).
Referring now to
The example first yarns 130 are formed of HMPE and have a size of approximately 1600 denier, a tenacity of approximately 40 gpd, a modulus of approximately 1280 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. The example second yarns 132 are formed of HMPP and have a size of approximately 2800 denier, a tenacity of approximately 8.5 or 10.0 gpd, a modulus of approximately 190 gpd or 225 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 7.0% or 8.0%. The following tables A and B describe first and second ranges of fiber characteristics for the first and second yarns 130 and 132, respectively:
The example rope structure 120 comprises approximately 43% of HMPE by weight and had an average breaking strength of approximately 4656 lbs. In comparison, a rope structure comprising twelve strands of HMPE fibers (100% HMPE by weight) has an average breaking strength of approximately 8600 lbs. The example rope structure 120 thus comprises less than half of HMPE fibers but has a breaking strength of more than half of that of a rope structure of pure HMPE fibers.
Additionally, the rope structure 120 has a calculated tenacity of greater than approximately 17 gpd (before accounting for strength loss due to manufacturing processes) (medium tenacity) and a specific gravity of less than 1 and thus floats in water. In the manufacturing process, there is an efficiency loss due to twisting, braiding and processing of the fibers. The more a fiber is twisted or distorted from being parallel, the higher the efficiency loss will be. In a typical rope manufacturing operation, the actual rope strength is only about 50% of the initial fiber strength when expressed as tenacity in gpd.
Accordingly, a rope structure comprising 12 strands of HMPE fiber (100% HMPE by weight) has an average breaking strength of 8600 lbs which equates to 22.5 gpd, or 56% of the original fiber tenacity of 40 gpd. The blended rope comprising 43% HMPE and 57% HMPP has a tenacity of 12.0 gpd (based on fiber tenacity and the same 56% strength efficiency). The rope structure 120 can thus be used as a floating rope having a medium level tenacity (12.0 gpd rope tenacity) and relatively low cost in comparison to a rope comprising only HMPE fibers (22.5 gpd rope tenacity).
Referring now for a moment back to
In a fourth step represented by bracket 166, the bundle 140 is twisted to form the strands 150. The example rope strand 150 is thus a twisted blend fiber bundle. As discussed above, a plurality of the bundles 140 may be twisted in second, third, or more twisting steps to form a larger strand as required by the dimensions and operating conditions of the rope structure 120.
Twelve of the yarns 150 formed from the bundles 140 are then combined in a fifth step represented by bracket 168 to form the rope structure 120. The example fifth step 168 is a braiding step, and the resulting rope structure 120 is thus a ¼″ diameter braided blend fiber rope. Optionally, after the fifth step, the rope structure 120 may be coated with water based polyurethane or other chemistry or blends to provide enhanced performance under certain operating conditions.
Referring now to
The example first yarns 230 are formed of HMPE and have a size of 1600 denier, a tenacity of approximately 40 gpd, a modulus of approximately 1280 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. The example second yarns 232 are formed of HMPP and have a size of approximately 2800 denier, a tenacity of approximately 8.5 gpd or 10.0 gpd, a modulus of approximately 190 gpd or 225 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 7.0% or 8.0%. The following tables C and D describe first and second ranges of fiber characteristics for the first and second yarns 230 and 232, respectively:
The example rope structure 220 comprises approximately 42% of HMPE by weight and had an average breaking strength of approximately 37,000 lbs. In comparison, a similar rope structure comprising HMPE fibers (100% HMPE by weight) has an average breaking strength of approximately 64,400 lbs. The example rope structure 220 thus comprises less than half of HMPE fibers but has a breaking strength of more than half of that of a rope structure of pure HMPE fibers.
Additionally, the rope structure 220 has a calculated tenacity of greater than approximately 27 gpd (before accounting for strength loss due to manufacturing processes) (medium tenacity) and a specific gravity of less than 1 and thus floats in water. In the manufacturing process, there is an efficiency loss due to twisting, braiding and processing of the fibers. In a typical rope manufacturing operation, the actual rope strength is only about 50% of the initial fiber strength when expressed as tenacity in gpd. A rope structure comprising 12 strands of HMPE fiber (100% HMPE by weight) has an average breaking strength of 64400 lbs which equates to 20.0 gpd, or 50% of the original fiber tenacity of 40 gpd. The blended rope comprising 42% HMPE and 58% HMPP has a tenacity of 10.8 gpd (based on fiber tenacity and the same 50% strength efficiency). The rope structure 220 can thus be used as a floating rope having a medium level tenacity (10.8 gpd rope tenacity) and relatively low cost in comparison to a rope comprising only HMPE fibers (20.0 gpd rope tenacity).
Referring now for a moment back to
In a fourth step represented by bracket 276, the bundles 240 are twisted to form the strands 250. The example rope strand 250 is thus a twisted blend fiber bundle. In a fifth step 278, seven of the strands 250 may be twisted together to form the larger strand 260.
Twelve of the larger strands 260 are then combined in a fifth step represented by bracket 280 to form the rope structure 220. The example fifth step 280 is a braiding step, and the resulting rope structure 220 is thus a ¾″ diameter braided blend fiber rope. Optionally, after the fifth step, the rope structure 220 may be coated with water based polyurethane or other chemistry or blends to provide enhanced performance under certain operating conditions.
Referring now to
The first bundles 340 are further processed to obtain sub-strands 350. The second bundles 342 are processed to obtain sub-strands 352. The first and second subcomponents or strands 350 and 352 are combined to form the rope structure 320.
The example first yarns 330 are formed of HMPE and have a size of 1600 denier, a tenacity of approximately 40 gpd, a modulus of approximately 1280 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. The example second yarns 332 are formed of HMPP and have a size of approximately 2800 denier, a tenacity of approximately 8.5 gpd, a modulus of approximately 190 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 7.0%. Like the first yarns 330, the example third yarns 334 are also formed of HMPE and have a size of approximately 1600 denier, a tenacity of approximately 40.0 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. However, the first and third yarns 330 and 334 may be different. The example fourth yarns 336 are formed of Polyester sliver and have a size of approximately 52 grain. However the fourth yarn may be of one or more of the following materials: polyester, nylon, Aramid, LCP, and HMPE fibers.
The following tables E, F, G, and H describe first and second ranges of fiber characteristics for the first, second, and third yarns 330, 332, 334 respectively:
The example rope structure 320 comprises approximately 42% of HMPE by weight and 6% Polyester Sliver by weight and had an average breaking strength of approximately 302,000 lbs. In comparison, a similar rope structure comprising HMPE fibers (94% HMPE by weight) and Polyester Sliver (6% Polyester by weight) has an average breaking strength of approximately 550,000 lbs. The example rope structure 320 thus comprises less than half of HMPE fibers but has a breaking strength of more than half of that of a rope structure of HMPE and Polyester sliver fibers.
Additionally, the rope structure 320 has a specific gravity of less than 1 and thus floats in water. The rope structure 320 can thus be used as a floating rope having a medium level of strength and tenacity and relatively low cost in comparison to a rope comprising only HMPE fibers.
Referring now for a moment back to
In a step represented by bracket 370, the first yarns 330 and the second yarns 332 are twisted into the bundles 340 such that the second yarns 332 form a center portion 340a and the first yarns 330 form a cover portion 340b of the bundle 340. In a step represented by bracket 372, the bundles 340 are twisted to form the strands 350. The example rope strands 350 are thus twisted blend fiber bundles.
In a step represented by bracket 374, the third yarns 334 and the fourth yarns 336 are false twisted into the bundles 342 such that the third yarns 334 form a center portion 342a and the fourth yarns 336 form a cover portion 342b of the bundle 342. In step represented by bracket 376, the bundles 342 are false-twisted together to form the strands 352. The example rope strand 352 is thus a false-twisted blend fiber bundle.
At a final step represented by bracket 380, the first and second strands 350 and 352 are combined by any appropriate method such as twisting or braiding to form the rope structure 320. As an additional optional step, the rope structure 320 may be coated as generally described above.
Referring now to
The third yarns 434 are combined, preferably using a false-twisting process, with the first bundles 440 to form rope subcomponents or strands 450. The first and second yarns 430 and 432 are arranged to define a core portion of the strands 450. The third yarns 434 are arranged to define at least a portion of the cover portion of the strands 450.
The example first yarns 430 are formed of HMPE and have a size of 1600 denier, a tenacity of approximately 40 gpd, a modulus of approximately 1280 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. The example second yarns 432 are formed of HMPP and have a size of approximately 2800 denier, a tenacity of approximately 8.5 gpd, a modulus of approximately 190 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 7.0%. The example third yarns 434 are formed of Polyester sliver and have a size of approximately 52 grain.
The following tables H and I describe first and second ranges of fiber characteristics for the first and second, yarns 430 and 432, respectively:
The example rope structure 420 comprises less than half of HMPE fibers but has a breaking strength of more than half of that of a rope structure of pure HMPE fibers.
Additionally, the rope structure 420 has a specific gravity of less than 1 and thus floats in water. The rope structure 420 can thus be used as a floating rope having a medium level of strength and tenacity and relatively low cost in comparison to a rope comprising only HMPE fibers.
Referring now for a moment back to
In a step 470, the third yarns 434 are provided. In a step represented by bracket 472, the third yarns 434 are false twisted with the bundles 440 to form the strands 450 such that the third yarns 434 form the cover portion of the bundle 450. At a final step represented by bracket 480, the strands 450 are combined by any appropriate method, such as twisting or braiding, to form the rope structure 420.
As an additional optional step, the rope structure 420 may be coated as generally described above.
Referring now to
The bundles of first yarns 530 are combined with the second bundles 540 to form rope subcomponents or strands 550. The second and third yarns 532 and 534 are arranged to define a core portion of the strands 550. The bundles of first yarns 530 are arranged to define at least a portion of a cover portion of the strands 550.
The example first yarns 530 are formed of HMPE and have a size of 1600 denier, a tenacity of approximately 40 gpd, a modulus of approximately 1280 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 3.5%. The example second yarns 532 are formed of HMPP and have a size of approximately 2800 denier, a tenacity of approximately 8.5 gpd, a modulus of approximately 190 gpd, and a breaking elongation of approximately 7.0%. The example third yarns 534 are formed of Polyester sliver and have a size of approximately 52 grain.
The following tables J and K describe first and second ranges of fiber characteristics for the first and second yarns 530 and 532 respectively:
The example rope structure 520 comprises less than half of HMPE fibers but has a breaking strength of more than half of that of a rope structure of pure HMPE fibers. Additionally, the rope structure 520 has a specific gravity of less than 1 and thus floats in water. The rope structure 520 can thus be used as a floating rope having a medium level of strength and tenacity and relatively low cost in comparison to a rope comprising only HMPE fibers.
Referring now for a moment back to
In a step represented by bracket 576, the first yarns 530 (or bundles formed therefrom) are twisted with the bundles 540 to form the strands 550. At a final step represented by bracket 580, the strands 550 are combined by any appropriate method, such as twisting or braiding, to form the rope structure 520.
As an additional optional step, the rope structure 520 may be coated as generally described above.
As described above, a bundle of first fibers (e.g., yarns) may be combined with a bundle of second fibers (e.g., yarns) using a false twisting process to form rope subcomponents which are in turn combined to form other rope subcomponents and/or rope structures. The false twisting process is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,134,267 and 7,367,176, the specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/367,215 filed Feb. 6, 2012, is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/463,284 filed May 8, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,109,072, which issued on Feb. 7, 2012. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/463,284 claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/130,986 filed Jun. 4, 2008. The contents of all related applications identified above are incorporated herein by reference.
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| 20120131895 A1 | May 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 12463284 | May 2009 | US |
| Child | 13367215 | US |
