A metal cord has an M+N construction with two concentric layers. An internal first layer or core includes M wire(s) of diameter d.sub.1, M having a value from 1 to 4. An external second layer includes N wires of diameter d.sub.2 and is positioned around the core, the N wires being wound in a helix. Between the wires of the two layers are gaps, some or all of which include a filling rubber based on an unsaturated thermoplastic elastomer. The filling rubber may be, for example, based on an SBS or an SIS block copolymer. When used in a molten state, the thermoplastic elastomer presents no problem due to unwanted stickiness if the filling rubber overspills outside the cord after manufacture. The unsaturated and therefore (co)vulcanizable nature of the thermoplastic elastomer makes it compatible with diene rubber matrices used as calendering rubber in metal fabrics intended for reinforcing tires.

A steel cord for reinforcing a breaker or belt ply in a rubber tire having a core group and a sheath group. The core group consists of two to four core steel filaments with a first diameter dc and the sheath group consists of one to six sheath steel filaments with a second diameter ds. The ratio dc/ds of the first diameter dc to the second diameter ds ranges from 1.10 to 1.70. The two core steel filaments are untwisted or have a twisting step greater than 300 mm. The sheath group is twisted around the core group with a cord twisting step in a cord twisting direction. The ratio of the difference in residual torsions of the core group and the sheath group to the difference in saturation level between the core group and the sheath group ranges from 0.10 to 0.65, preferably from 0.10 to 0.60.

A steel cord with a construction of m+n having a first group of core filaments having a number of m and a second group of sheath filaments having a number of n, the second group and the first group are twisted around each other with the same twist pitch and same twist direction, wherein the core filaments are not twisted with each other, the core filaments are parallel or have a twist pitch being more than 300 mm, and the sheath filaments have a twist pitch being less than or equal to 30 mm, the core filaments have an average tensile strength Tc in MPa when being un-ravelled from said steel cord, the sheath filaments have an average tensile strength Ts in MPa when being un-ravelled from said steel cord, Tc and Ts satisfy: 5<(TcTs)<200. The steel cord has high breaking load and high production efficiency without cost increase.

The invention provides a steel cord with a construction of n1, n is the number of the steel filaments of the steel cord, the steel cord has an elongation at 2.5N-50N of less than 1.2% and a twist pitch of greater than 16 mm, each of the steel filaments has a form of helical wave with a wave length L expressed in mm and a wave height H expressed in mm when being unravelled from said steel cord, L is greater than 16 mm, each of the steel filaments has a space volume Vs satisfying that, Vs=LH.sup.2/4, and Vs>20 mm.sup.3. The invention steel cord is beneficial for the stress distribution.

A wire rope for face shovels or draglines, comprising: a core, said core is made from a plurality of core strands a plurality of outer strands laid on said core, a plurality of separator strands located in the interstices between said core strands and said outer strands, a plastic jacket around said plurality of outer strands, said plurality of separator strands and said core strands, wherein said plurality of separator strands extend from said core strands and in-between each pair of said plurality of outer strands so as to produce and maintain gaps between said pair of said plurality of outer strands; wherein said core strands are compacted, and the gap between said core strands is less than 0.4% of the diameter of the core strand.

A wire rope includes a strand that is formed by winding a plurality of metal wires. The strand includes a core wire and side wires. Each of the side wires is arranged on an outer periphery of the core wire. In a transverse section of the strand, each of the side wires includes end portions positioned at opposite ends in a circumferential direction of the core wire. Each of the end portions includes a contact portion in contact with an end portion of an adjacent side wire, and a non-contact portion not in contact with the adjacent side wire. A Vickers hardness of the contact portion is higher by 1% or more than a Vickers hardness of the non-contact portion. A surface roughness Ra of an outer peripheral surface of each of the side wires is 0.10 m or less.