An elongate tubular shaft body having a stack of wrapped layers of fibrous reinforcement in a resin matrix, a portion of the stack of wrapped layers circumferentially surrounding a first surface part of a fibrous layer has a non-constant width which varies non-linearly with a change in radius of an inner elongate circumferential surface in the portion, and wherein the fibrous reinforcement has fibres that are, along the length of the elongate tubular body, constantly oriented with respect to a cylindrical coordinate system about the longitudinal axis of the elongate tubular body, the fibre orientation in any said portion being independent of the geometry of the inner and outer elongate circumferential surfaces of that portion.

A compacter that includes a compacting roller assembly, borne by a support element. The roller assembly includes a straight central shaft, having a longitudinal axis, and a plurality of compacting rollers, mounted parallel to one another about the central shaft, each compacting roller having a peripheral surface rotating around the central shaft about a roller axis. The longitudinal axis of the central shaft is parallel to the central axis of the support element. Each roller axis is inclined by a nonzero incline angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the central shaft.

A paint roller manufacturing system and method are described. In an embodiment, an inner strip of material and an outer strip of material are wound about a mandrel in offset relation. The inner strip of material and the outer strip of material each comprise material that results in a final paint roller which shrinks by less than 2.5 percent of the final paint roller axial length, or which has shrinkage that varies by less +/−0.1%, upon hardening and setting. An adhesive is applied to at least a portion of the outer strip as it is wound about the mandrel. A length of fabric is wound about at least the outer strip to form a paint roller tube, and compression is applied to the paint roller tube while advancing the paint roller tube in a direction parallel to the mandrel.

A filament winding device includes: a supporting unit that supports a mandrel on which a plurality of fiber bundles impregnated with a resin are wound, the supporting unit movable in the axial direction of the mandrel; and a helical unit having a plurality of fiber bundle guide units arranged radially in the circumferential direction of the mandrel and guide the corresponding plurality of fiber bundles to the mandrel, the helical unit supplying the plurality of fiber bundles to the mandrel through the fiber bundle guide units. Each of the fiber bundle guide units has a pressing roller for pressing a fiber bundle supplied to the mandrel, against the circumferential surface moving in the axial direction. The pressing roller can come into the contact with the circumferential surface of the mandrel and be rotationally driven about a roller axis extending in a roller axis direction perpendicular to the axial direction.

A pipe includes an elongate strip wound into a tubular pipe form with the upper surface and the ribs at an exterior of the tubular pipe form, and with a first portion of a first side overlapping a first portion of a second side along a helical joint. A plastic seam weld is applied between the overlapping first portions for bonding the overlapping first portions together. A plastic overweld extends over the overlapping first portions and over both a second portion of the first side and a second portion of the second side. The second portion of the first side is adjacent to the first portion of the first side and does not overlap with any part of the second side, and the second portion of the second side is adjacent to the first portion of the second side and does not overlap any part of the first side.

A method for manufacturing a fiber reinforced structure includes the following. A mandrel of a first material comprises a hollow interior and an aperture that allows a fluid to enter the interior. A layer of a second material provided on the mandrel includes an uncured resin and fibers. The mandrel and the layer are placed in a mold cavity formed by a mold. A pressurized fluid is introduced into the interior of the mandrel via the aperture to generate a force acting to expand the mandrel outward. The mandrel is heated so that it becomes deformable and expand outward to press the layer against the mold. The layer is heated so that it cures. The mandrel is then heated to a temperature above its melting point of the first material so that it melts, after which it is removed.

The invention relates to a method and a device for manufacturing a pipe shell from an insulating material by means of which the cycle times can be further reduced while the quality of the pipe shell is simultaneously improved, by at least one web (29) of the insulating material which is provided with a binding agent being wound around a core (19) by means of at least two opposing belts (12, 13) which wrap around the core (19) partially. The method steps are characterized in that the at least one wound-up web (32) of insulating material is removed in a radial direction of the core (19) which is, however, not opposite to the direction in which the at least one web (29) of insulating material was fed by the one belt (12), especially by the wound-up web (32) being discharged through the same belt (12).

A method of manufacturing a tank includes: a winding step of winding a fiber impregnated with thermosetting resin before curing on a liner; a shape changing step of making the shape of the liner larger than the shape thereof at the time of the winding step, the shape changing step being performed after the winding step; and a curing step of heating and curing the thermosetting resin while the shape of the liner is increased by the shape changing step.

Systems and methods for making and/or using a hybrid laminate composite tube structure. The methods comprise: wrapping a plurality of lamina layers around a male cylindrical tool (e.g., mandrel); treating the lamina layers with heat/pressure to form the hybrid laminate composite tube structure; and assembling a structure by adhesively bonding the hybrid laminate composite tube structure to a metallic fitting. The lamina layers comprise: at least one first lamina layer formed of a first material having a first CTE; and at least one second lamina layer formed of a second material different from the first material and having a second CTE different than the first CTE. The hybrid laminate composite tube structure has at least one property that is different in the axial direction than the hoop direction. An axial CTE of the hybrid laminate composite tube structure is tailored to provide a net zero CTE for the assembled structure.

A balloon wrapping apparatus and a balloon wrapping method are disclosed by which a balloon can be wrapped appropriately. The balloon wrapping apparatus for wrapping a balloon of a balloon catheter provided with the balloon at a distal portion of an elongated shaft includes: a pleating section that forms the balloon with wing shapes projecting in radial directions; a folding section that includes a plurality of blades aligned in a circumferential direction, and that folds the wing shapes formed in the balloon along the circumferential direction by moving rotationally the blades; and a rotational support portion that supports a portion of the shaft which portion is on a proximal side of the balloon, and that rotates the shaft in a direction opposite to a rotary movement direction of the blades in a state in which the balloon is positioned in relation to the folding section.