Cable, Strand, and Method and Device for Producing a Cable and a Strand

Abstract

The invention relates to a laid cable (1-1b), in particular a laid fiber cable (1-1b) or a laid hybrid cable, comprising at least one core strand or a laid core cable (2-2b) and at least one outer strand (7-7b) surrounding the core strand or the core cable (2-2b), the core strand, the core cable (2-2b) and/or the at least one outer strand is composed of at least one fiber line (9-9b, 10-10b). The at least one fiber line (9-9b, 10-10b) is beneficially made of a composite material having reinforcing fibers (12), the reinforcing fibers (12) of which composite material are laid to form at least one reinforcing line (11). Advantageously, a laid cable which is stable under transverse pressure is provided. The invention also relates to a strand, to a method for manufacturing a cable and a strand, to an apparatus for producing a cable and/or a strand, as well as an apparatus with a drum drive, said apparatus comprising a cable according to the invention.

Claims

1. A laid cable, in particular laid fiber cable or laid hybrid cable, comprising at least one core strand or one laid core cable and at least one outer strand surrounding the core strand or the laid core cable, wherein the core strand, the core cable and/or the at least one outer strand is composed of at least one fiber line, characterized in that the at least one fiber line is made of a composite material having reinforcing fibers, the reinforcing fibers of which composite material are laid to form at least one reinforcing line.

2. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one reinforcing line is formed from non-metallic reinforcing fibers and is preferably produced by an apparatus for producing wire cables or wire strands.

3. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one reinforcing line is formed of a blended yarn comprising reinforcing fiber filaments and filaments of a material from which a matrix is formed, into which matrix the at least one reinforcing line is embedded to form the fiber line.

4. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one reinforcing line is designed as a reinforcing strand or a reinforcing cable.

5. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that a proportion of the at least one reinforcing line in the at least one fiber line is at least 40% by volume, in particular between 45 and 90% by volume, preferably between 50 and 75% by volume.

6. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one core strand or the laid core cable and the at least one outer strand surrounding the core strand or the laid core cable are movable relative to each other, preferably in the longitudinal direction of the cable.

7. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one core strand or the laid core cable is at least partially surrounded by a sheathing, the sheathing being formed in particular from a different material than a matrix of the at least one fiber line into which the at least one reinforcing line is embedded.

8. The laid cable according to claim 1, characterized in that the cable is designed as a semi rotation resistant cable or rotation resistant cable.

9. A strand, in particular fiber strand or hybrid strand, which is formed from at least one fiber line, characterized in that the at least one fiber line is formed from a composite material having reinforcing fibers, the reinforcing fibers of which are laid to form at least one reinforcing line.

10. A method for producing a laid cable, in particular a laid fiber or a laid hybrid cable, which has at least one core strand or a laid core cable and at least one outer strand surrounding the core strand or the core cable, the core strand, the core cable and/or the at least one outer strand being formed from at least one fiber line, characterized in that the at least one fiber line is formed from a composite material having reinforcing fibers, the reinforcing fibers of which are laid to form at least one reinforcing line.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that several lines of a blended yarn comprising reinforcing fiber filaments as well as filaments formed from a preferably thermoplastic material are laid and pultruded under heating to form the fiber line.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the cable is formed in such a way that the outer strands and/or outer fiber lines have the same or a different cross-section than the at least one core strand, the core cable or inner fiber lines.

14. A method of manufacturing a strand, in particular a fiber strand or hybrid strand, which is formed from at least one fiber line, characterized in that the at least one fiber line is formed from a composite material comprising reinforcing fibers, wherein a plurality of lines of a blended yarn comprising reinforcing fiber filaments and filaments formed from a thermoplastic resin are laid and pultruded under heating to form the fiber line.

15. An apparatus for producing a laid cable according to claim 1 and/or a strand according to claim 9, which is designed to carry out the method according to claim 10 and/or a method according to claim 14, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a pultrusion device which is connected upstream of a first stranding apparatus and/or laying apparatus and downstream of a further stranding apparatus or laying apparatus.

16. An apparatus with a drum drive, in particular a crane with a drum drive, which has a laid cable according to claim 1, wherein the laid cable is designed as a running cable.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0065] Embodiments of the invention are to be explained in more detail below on the basis of examples with reference to the non-limiting figures:

[0066] FIG. 1A shows a first embodiment of a cable according to the invention and an exemplary embodiment of a strand according to the invention,

[0067] FIG. 1B shows a second embodiment of a cable according to the invention and an exemplary embodiment of a strand according to the invention,

[0068] FIG. 1C shows a third embodiment of a cable according to the invention and an exemplary embodiment of a strand according to the invention,

[0069] FIG. 2A shows a first embodiment of another cable according to the invention,

[0070] FIG. 2B shows a second embodiment of another cable according to the invention,

[0071] FIG. 3A shows a first embodiment of a third cable according to the invention, and

[0072] FIG. 3B shows a second embodiment of a third cable according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0073] A laid cable 1 shown schematically in cross-section in FIG. 1A comprises a laid core cable 2 having a core strand 3 and an outer core strand layer 4. Outer core strands 5, 6 of the outer core strand layer 4 have different cross-sectional sizes and shapes, in particular different from each other.

[0074] The core cable 2 is laid with a total of eight outer strands 7 forming a single outer strand layer 8 to form the cable 1. A cable 1 shown in FIG. 1A is semi rotation resistant.

[0075] To form a round outer strand 7 of a cable 1 as shown schematically in detail in FIG. 1B according to FIG. 1A, thirty-one fiber lines 9, 10 were stranded, twelve fiber lines 9 being equal in cross-section and larger than the other nineteen fiber lines 10, which fiber lines 10 are approximately equal in cross-section.

[0076] The fiber lines 10 are inner fiber lines of a core cable 2 or a strand 5, 6, 7, the fiber lines 9 are outer fiber lines of a core cable 2 or a strand 5, 6, 7.

[0077] Each fiber line 9, 10 comprises a reinforcing line 11 extending in a longitudinal direction of the fiber line and having a plurality of reinforcing fibers 12 formed of carbon stranded into a reinforcing line and embedded in a polypropylene matrix 13.

[0078] For clarity, reinforcing lines 11 and reinforcing fibers 12 are not shown for all fiber lines 9, 10 in FIG. 1B.

[0079] Although all strands of a cable 1 shown in FIG. 1A are formed from fiber lines 9, 10 with exclusively non-metallic reinforcing fibers 12, it is conceivable that individual reinforcing fibers 12 are formed from a metal wire. A strand comprising such a fiber line is a so-called hybrid strand, and a cable comprising such a fiber line is a so-called hybrid cable.

[0080] Advantageously, existing stranding or laying apparatii originally intended for wire cable production can be used to produce the laid cable 1 according to the invention, and at the same time a particularly light as well as bending-change-resistant and particularly transverse-pressure-stable stranded cable can be created.

[0081] The fiber lines 9, 10 can be produced by pultrusion by unwinding a blended yarn comprising a reinforcing fiber 12, which blended yarn comprises filaments made of, for example, polypropylene as well as of carbon, from a plurality of yarn bobbins and laid in a first stranding or laying apparatus. During pultrusion, i.e. under tensile stress, in a pultrusion device upstream of the first stranding or laying apparatus and downstream of a second stranding or laying machine, the polypropylene filaments soften under heating and form a homogeneous matrix 13 into which the reinforcing fibers 12 laid to form a reinforcing line 11 are embedded.

[0082] After cooling and solidification of the matrix 13, the fiber lines 9, 10 can be further processed with the second stranding or laying apparatus, which is located downstream of the pultrusion device.

[0083] Winding onto storage spools before further processing is conceivable.

[0084] Due to the fact that polypropylene forming a matrix 13 is deformable by heating the fiber line 9, 10 and solidifies again by cooling, it is conceivable to change the cross-sectional shape or size by applying deformation forces. For this purpose, a heating device may be provided which is arranged before or at a stranding or laying point of a corresponding stranding or laying apparatus.

[0085] It is conceivable that individual fiber lines 9, 10 are deformed in such a way that a trapezoidal or polygonal cross-section is formed, as it is shown for example in FIG. 1A.

[0086] It is also conceivable that a cross-sectional shape or size of individual fiber lines is changed prior to stranding or laying or of manufactured cables.

[0087] A laid cable 1 shown schematically in cross-section in FIG. 1C differs from that shown in FIG. 1A in that a laid core cable 2 has a core strand 3 and two outer core strand layers 4, 14, of which the outermost core strand layer 14 has outer core strands 5, 6 which have diameters different from one another.

[0088] Furthermore, the core strand 3 is formed of seven fiber lines 9, 10 of round cross-section, while outer strands 7 of round cross-section are formed of seven fiber lines 9, 10 of polygonal cross-section.

[0089] Reference is now made to FIG. 2, where identical or equal-acting parts are designated with the same reference number as in FIG. 1 and the letter a is added to the respective reference number.

[0090] A laid cable 1a shown schematically in cross-section in FIG. 2A differs from those shown in FIG. 1 in that a core cable 2a is surrounded by a shaded sheathing 15 into which halves 16 of outer strands 7a facing the core cable 2a are embedded. The sheathing 15 protects outer core strands 5a from damage.

[0091] The sheathing 15 can be formed by laying the core cable 2a with the outer strands 7a in a plastic bath comprising molten plastic forming the sheathing, preferably thermoplastic plastic such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethlyene (PE).

[0092] In addition, the core cable 2a has a core strand 3a and a single outer core strand layer 4a. The core cable 3a and the outer core strands 5a have identical cross-sections.

[0093] A laid cable 1a shown in cross section in FIG. 2B differs from that shown in FIG. 2A in that outer strands 7a are flattened on a side 17 facing away from the core cable 2a. This is possible, for example, by hammering, with or without prior heating.

[0094] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, where identical or equal-acting parts are designated with the same reference number as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the letter b is added to the respective reference number.

[0095] A laid cable 1b shown in cross-section in FIG. 3A differs from those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular in that a core cable 2b and outer strands 7b are embedded into a single polypropylene matrix 18 acting as a sheathing such that both a core strand 3b and outer core strands 5b and halves 16b of the outer strands 7b facing the core cable 2b are embedded into the matrix 18, said matrix being the sheathing. The matrix material of the matrix 18 may be different from the matrix material comprising the fiber lines 9b, 10b.

[0096] The laid cable 1b shown in FIG. 3A can be produced by stranding or laying fiber lines 9b, 10b in a molten polypropylene bath.

[0097] It is conceivable that the laid cable 1b is produced by stranding or laying fiber lines 9b, 10b, which in cross-section have an annular outer region not shown in FIG. 3 and an inner region of a matrix designated 13 in FIG. 1B, a reinforcing line being incorporated only into the inner region. The outer region can be deformed during stranding or laying of the fiber lines, preferably by heating up to a temperature at which a thermoplastic forming a matrix is deformable, in such a way that the outer regions form the matrix 18 being the sheathing during stranding or laying adjacent fiber lines 9b, 10b.

[0098] A laid cable 1b shown in cross-section in FIG. 3B differs from that shown in FIG. 3A in particular in that outer strands 7b are flattened on a side 17b facing away from the core cable 2b, the flattened areas forming circular arcs.

[0099] It is understood that all possible combinations of features shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are conceivable. For example, a laid cable shown in FIG. 1A may have outer strands according to FIG. 3B.

[0100] Although cables 1-1b with a single outer strand layer 8-8b are shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, it is conceivable that multiple outer strand layers are provided. Preferably, adjacent outer strand layers may have opposite lay directions so that a semi rotation resistant cable or rotation resistant cable is created.

[0101] It is also conceivable that reinforcing fibers are used that are formed from different materials and/or have different cross-sectional sizes. In particular, this is possible when using a blended yarn that is unwound from multiple yarn bobbins to produce a fiber line 9-9b, 10-10b. It is further conceivable that each fiber line 9-9b, 10-10b has more than one reinforcing line 11, for example two or three, which preferably extend parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction of the cable.