A belt containing steel cords, the steel cords containing strands made of steel filaments wherein the largest diameter filaments are at least intermittently positioned at the radially outer side of the steel cord. Such a configuration can be obtained by using steel cord constructions wherein the thickest filaments are positioned outside of the steel cord which is contrary to the current practice. In a further embodiment the largest diameter filaments fill up some or all of the valleys of the strands at their radially outer side. These monofilaments thus have the same lay length and direction as the strands in the steel cord. The advantage of putting the largest filaments at the outside is that they will break first and thus will be readily detectable by electrical, magnetic or visual means. In this way a belt is provided that can be monitored easier and more conveniently than prior art belts.

A steel cord for the reinforcement of elastomer products such as elevator belts, conveyor belts, synchronous or timing belts or hoses or tyres is presented. The steel cord comprises strands and monofilaments made of steel filaments. The strands themselves are also made of steel filaments twisted together. The strands form the outer layer of the steel cord. The monofilaments are twisted into the cord with the same lay length and direction as the strands and are positioned in the valleys between the strands on the radial outer side of the steel cord. The steel cord has the advantage that it has a better fill factor and a rounder aspect. Furthermore the monofilaments may act as an early wear indicator of the elastomer product.

Rope having an eye. The rope comprises a first rope portion and a second rope portion. The first rope portion and the second rope portion are spliced into each other for forming a spliced connection for obtaining the eye. The first rope portion and the second rope portion are formed from an end portion of the rope.

An apparatus for indicating overstress in an electro-mechanical cable. The apparatus includes an overstress an overstress indicator cable including at least one non-twisted conductor disposed within a section of the electro-mechanical cable, where the non-twisted conductor is adapted to break when tension in the non-twisted conductor is greater than an allowable working load for the electro-mechanical cable.

A rope system for system level recoil control and method for providing a rope system for system level recoil control are provided. The rope system includes a first rope component and a second component, and the second rope component is connected in series to the first rope component. The first rope component includes a first rope subcomponent and a second rope subcomponent, the first rope subcomponent has predetermined failure strength and is designed and configured to be a controlled failure point for the system, and the second rope subcomponent has a predetermined elongation capability. Upon failure of the first rope subcomponent, the second rope subcomponent is configured to elongate to absorb a predetermined amount of a predetermined operational strain energy of the rope system and to stretch over a predetermined distance and/or predetermined period of time before the second rope subcomponent fails.

A steel wire rope is presented for use in elevators and lifting applications. The steel wire rope contains a core surrounded by multiple strands. The outer filaments of the core and the outer filaments of the strands are likely to contact one another during use. The outer steel filaments of the core have an average Vickers hardness that is at least 50 Vickers hardness numbers lower than that of the outer filaments of the strands. As the hardness of the outer filaments of the core is substantially lower than that of the outer filaments of the strands, those softer filaments will preferentially abrade away during use. In this way the core is sacrificed while preserving the integrity of the outer filaments of the strands. The use of this sacrificial core results in a higher residual breaking load after use.

A belt for an elevator system includes a plurality of tension members arranged along a belt width and extending longitudinally along a length of the belt. Each tension member includes a core member formed from a plurality of load carrying fibers, and a plurality of overwrap members surrounding the core member. A jacket material at least partially encapsulates the plurality of tension members. An elevator system includes a hoistway, an elevator car positioned in the hoistway and movable therein, and a belt operably connected to the elevator car to suspend and/or drive the elevator car along the hoistway. The belt includes a plurality of tension members arranged along a belt width and extending longitudinally along a length of the belt. Each tension member includes a core member formed from a plurality of load carrying fibers, and a plurality of overwrap members surrounding the core member.

The present invention relates to a high-strength fibre rope for hoisting equipment like cranes having a rope core (11) comprising high-strength synthetic fibres or strands (4) as well as a sheathing (2) surrounding the rope core (11) and indicating wear, wherein the sheathing (2) has at least a sheath layer, in which the synthetic fibres having different wear resistance and/or tensile strength and/or bending fatigue are interwoven with each other.

A high-strength fibre rope (1) comprising a rope core as well as a sheathing indicating optical wear, wherein the sheathing comprises a sheath layer (2) made up of textile subunits (3, 4) of a first hierarchy level. An outermost sheath layer (2) is provided, wherein textile subunits (3, 4) of said outermost sheath layer of the first hierarchy level differ from each other in terms of their textile structure, and/or an outermost sheath layer and a further sheath layer underneath said outermost sheath layer are provided, and wherein the textile subunits of the first hierarchy level of said outermost sheath layer differ in their textile structure from that of said further sheath layer. The textile subunits of a lowermost hierarchy level of the rope are neither dispersed in a resin matrix in the outermost sheath layer nor in the further sheath layer arranged underneath the outermost sheath layer.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for recognizing the replacement state of a high-strength fiber rope for lifting gear such as cranes as well as to a lifting gear such as a crane in which such a high-strength fiber rope is installed. It is the underlying object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for determining the replacement state of a high-strength fiber rope and to provide improved lifting gear having such a fiber rope that avoid the disadvantages of the prior art and further develop the latter in an advantageous manner. To be able to more easily determine the respective degree of damage of the jacket and thus the closeness to the imminent replacement state of the rope, the apparatus is provided with a reference damage memory in which reference representations of the rope with different degrees of damage to the jacket of the rope are contained to allow for an optical comparison of an actual image of the rope with the stored reference representations and thus, determination of the replacement state.