Provided is a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord having improved shear fatigue resistance while reducing the weight of the steel cord by using a wire of high tensile strength. The rubber article-reinforcing steel cord 10 is a steel cord 10 having a two-layer twisted structure comprising a core filament 11 composed of a plurality of filaments and a sheath filament 12 composed of a plurality of filaments twisted around the core filament 11, wherein the tensile strength of the core filament 11 is higher than the tensile strength of the sheath filament 12, and the core filament 11 and the sheath filament 12 are twisted together in the same direction and the same pitch.

A reinforcement strand (400) comprises a core (403) around which steel filaments (404) are twisted all with the same final lay length and direction. The steel filaments are arranged in an intermediate layer comprising N first steel filaments and an outer layer of 2N steel filaments circumferentially arranged around the intermediate layer. In the intermediate layer filaments will contact one another at a closing lay length that is determined by the number of steel filaments N in the intermediate layer, the diameter of the core and the diameter of the first steel filaments. By choosing the final lay length and direction equal to the between two and six times the closing lay length gaps will form between the intermediate layer filaments. The 2N outer layer filaments are further divided into a group of smaller (408) and a group of larger (406) diameter steel filaments.

The method enables the production of a final assembly (A) comprising two layers and comprises a step (100) of providing a temporary assembly (AT) comprising a temporary core (NT), a step (124) of separating the temporary assembly (AT) into a first divided assembly (AFI), a second divided assembly (AF2), a third divided assembly (AF3) and the temporary core (NT). The method comprises a step (135) of reassembling the first divided assembly (AFI), the second divided assembly (AF2) and the third divided assembly (AF3) to form the final assembly (A).

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 belt for use as for example an elevator belt, flat belt, synchronous belt or toothed belt comprises steel strands held in parallel by a polymer jacket. The steel strands have a diameter ‘D’ and are separated by a pitch ‘p’. The ratio of diameter ‘D’ over pitch ‘p’ is larger than 0.55. Such belt arrangement prevents the cutting of the polymer jacket between strand and pulley and abates the noise generation during use. The belts are best built with a type of parallel lay strands particularly designed for use in a belt. These strands do not show core migration during use of the belt.

A reinforcement strand (400) comprises a core (403) around which steel filaments (404) are twisted all with the same final lay length and direction. The steel filaments are arranged in an intermediate layer comprising N first steel filaments and an outer layer of 2N steel filaments circumferentially arranged around the intermediate layer. In the intermediate layer filaments will contact one another at a closing lay length that is determined by the number of steel filaments N in the intermediate layer, the diameter of the core and the diameter of the first steel filaments. By choosing the final lay length and direction equal to the between two and six times the closing lay length gaps will form between the intermediate layer filaments. The 2N outer layer filaments are further divided into a group of smaller (408) and a group of larger (406) diameter steel filaments.

Elevator coated ropes or belts are disclosed. The coated rope or belt may include at least one cord and a jacket retaining the at least one cord. The cord may include a plurality of filaments. The filaments are free of second-order helical structure. In a first embodiment, the filaments includes at least one inner filament and a plurality of outer filaments surrounding the at least one inner filament. The outer filaments are bunched together by forming a first-order helical structure through the length of the cord. In a second general embodiment, the filaments are free of both first- and second-order helical structures. The filaments are bunched together by a restraining loop or adhesive at one or more locations along the length of the cord. Methods of making the tension cord are also disclosed.

A steel cord includes one or more core filaments, and outer sheath filaments provided so as to surround the one or more core filaments. The one or more core filaments and the outer sheath filaments have an identical wire diameter and an identical twist pitch. At least one of the one or more core filaments is a waved filament having a bent portion and a non-bent portion along a longitudinal direction.

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 used. 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.

The durability of a wire rope is improved. The wire rope includes a rope body having at least one strand each formed with a plurality of element wires twisted with each other; a lubricant interposed between the plurality of element wires of the at least one strand; and a resin layer coating the outer periphery of the rope body along with the lubricant, the lubricant containing a sulfur-containing organic molybdenum compound.