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 invention relates to a metallic reinforcing cord (10) for tyres for vehicle wheels, comprising: —a) a plurality of metallic wires (11) twisted to one another with a single twisting pitch (P), or—b) a single metallic wire twisted with at least one second metallic wire with a single twisting pitch, or—c) a plurality of first metallic wires twisted to one another with a first twisting pitch to define a first strand of metallic wires and at least one second metallic wire twisted with said first strand of metallic wires with a second twisting pitch equal to or different from the first twisting pitch. The metallic reinforcing cord (10) has a part load elongation greater than or equal to 1%.

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.

An object of the present invention is to further improve upon the strength and durability of a wire rope. A wire rope has a core rope made of steel; a covering layer, which is made of a composite resin, covering the outer peripheral surface of the core rope; and multiple side strands, which are made of steel, wound on the outer peripheral surface of the core rope covered with the covering layer. The composite resin constituting the covering layer is obtained by blending cellulose nanofibers with polypropylene serving as a matrix.

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 wire strand (10) comprises a plurality of wires (12, 16, 20). The wires comprise a central king wire (12), a first layer (14) of wires (16) arranged around the king wire, and a second layer (18) of wires (20) arranged around the first layer. The king wire is formed of steel having a carbon content of at least 0.3 wt %. Each wire of the first layer is formed of steel having a carbon content which is less than the carbon content of the king wire. Each wire of the second layer is formed of steel having a carbon content which is greater than, or the same as, the carbon content of the wires of the first layer.

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.

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.