Cord eye

Abstract

The invention relates to a rope end which is spliced, whereby a loop is formed, comprising a rope end piece folded back in order to form the loop and a rope section leading to the loop, wherein a spliced area is provided in which the rope end piece is guided within the rope section leading to the loop, and wherein the rope is a core/sheath rope. The rope end according to the invention is characterized in that, in the rope end piece, part of the core, preferably the entire core, is removed in the spliced area, that a load-bearing sewing of the rope end piece to the rope section leading to the loop is provided in the spliced area and that a load-bearing sewing is provided in an area of the rope section leading to the loop which comprises part of the core, preferably the entire core.

Claims

1. A safety rope end which is spliced, whereby a loop is formed, comprising: a rope end piece folded back in order to form the loop; and a rope section leading to the loop, wherein a spliced area is provided in which the rope end piece is guided within the rope section leading to the loop, and wherein the rope is a core/sheath rope, wherein, in the rope end piece, part of the core is removed in the spliced area, wherein a load-bearing sewing of the rope end piece to the rope section leading to the loop is provided in the spliced area, and wherein a load-bearing sewing is provided in an area of the rope section leading to the loop which comprises part of the core, wherein said load-bearing sewing ensures a minimum breaking load of the rope end of at least 10 kN, and wherein the spliced area exhibits no increase in thickness in comparison to an unspliced thickness of the rope.

2. The safety rope end according to claim 1, wherein part of the core is removed in the rope end piece also in the area of the loop.

3. The safety rope end according to claim 1, wherein the spliced area and the area of the rope section leading to the loop which exhibits part of the core overlap.

4. The safety rope end according to any of claim 1, wherein a single continuous load-bearing sewing is provided.

5. The safety rope end according to claim 1, wherein at least part of the area of the rope end piece in which part of the core is removed is additionally tapered.

6. The safety rope end according to claim 1, wherein a reinforcing element, which is different from the core, is provided at least in a portion of the area of the rope end piece in which part of the core is removed.

7. The safety rope end according to claim 6, wherein a reinforcing element, which is different from the core, is provided at least in an area of the rope section in which part of the core is removed.

8. The safety rope end according to claim 6, wherein the reinforcing element is tensile-load resistant.

9. The safety rope end according to any of claim 6, wherein a continuous reinforcing element is provided.

10. The safety rope end according to any of claim 6, wherein the reinforcing element is provided in the form of a flat band.

11. The safety rope end according to any of claim 6, wherein at least part of the reinforcing element is also covered by the sewing.

12. The safety rope end according claim 1, wherein, in those areas of the rope end in which part of the core is removed, the entire core is removed in each case.

13. The safety rope end according to claim 1, wherein the entire core is removed in the entire rope end, the rope section exhibits an area in which the entire core is present, the rope section exhibits an area in front of the loop in which the entire core is removed, and the spliced area and the area in which the entire core is present overlap.

14. A safety rope comprising a safety rope end according to claim 1.

Description

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

(1) FIG. 1 schematically shows the construction of a preferred embodiment of a rope end according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(2) According to the present invention, a spliced rope end of a core/sheath rope is provided in which, in the rope end piece, the core or, respectively, part of the core is removed at least in the spliced area.

(3) As is generally known, core/sheath ropes may comprise a single core (e.g., yarns braided into a rope), or, however, a core consisting of several parts which are detachable from each other (e.g., several yams twisted into twines, with the twines lying next to each other without any connection therebetween).

(4) For the purposes of the present invention, the term part of the core signifies a part of the materials forming the core, e.g., a part of the twines forming the core.

(5) Accordingly, removing part of the core is to be understood as the removal of at least part of the materials forming the core, e.g., by removing one of several twines forming the core, but also by separating one or several yarns from a rope contained in the core.

(6) In contrast, the term the entire core signifies the core in its form as present in the remaining rope, i.e., with all the materials forming the core such as, e.g., all twisted or braided yarns.

(7) In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in all areas of the rope end in which, according to the invention, part of the core is removed, the entire core (that is, all parts of the core) is removed in each case.

(8) Thus, the term part of the core is to be understood as at least part of the core.

(9) If, vice versa, a removal of the core is mentioned in the following, this should, in each case, be understood also as the removal of only part of the core, unless a removal of the entire core is explicitly indicated.

(10) Due to the removal of the core in the rope end piece, the remaining sheath is compressible and thus exhibits a smaller diameter in the spliced area than the original core/sheath rope. However, the result is also that, in comparison to the normal thickness of the rope, the spliced area as such will exhibit a smaller increase in thickness than ropes as known from the prior art or, respectively, that virtually no increase in thickness will even occur.

(11) A load-bearing sewing is provided for securing the spliced rope end. Optionally, the sewing may be provided in the form of several sewings separated from each other. At least one load-bearing sewing of the rope end piece to the rope section leading to the loop in the spliced area and one load-bearing sewing in the area of the rope section leading to the loop in which part of the core, preferably the entire core, is present must be provided.

(12) For the purposes of the present invention, the term load-bearing sewing means that the sewing is stable relative to tensile loads which occur when the respective rope is being used, i.e., neither becomes loose nor breaks. In particular, a load-bearing sewing in terms of the present invention is able to ensure, in a safety rope according to EN 1891, a minimum breaking load of the rope end of at least 10 kN, preferably of at least 15 kN, measured according to EN1891:1998, Section 5.10.1. Such ropes have a diameter ranging from 8.5 to 16 mm For ropes with diameters deviating therefrom, correspondingly smaller and higher minimum breaking loads, respectively, are to be ensured. The manufacture of such load-bearing sewings is known per se to a person skilled in the art, see, for example, EP 0 768 100 B1.

(13) Preferably, the sewing is machine-made or, respectively, the sewings are machine-made. The material for the sewing can be chosen arbitrarily; seams of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA) or high molecular weight polyethylene (HMW-PE; known by the name of Dyneema) are preferred.

(14) Preferably, the core is removed in the rope end piece also in the area of the loop. The result is that also the loop itself will exhibit no or, respectively, only a small increase in thickness relative to the normal thickness of the rope.

(15) An area in which the core is removed can be provided also in the rope section leading to the loop. This also leads to a further reduction in the thickness of the rope end. In this embodiment, the core can be removed in the rope section also over at least part of the spliced area.

(16) Thereby, it is merely important that the sewing provided according to the invention comprises in any case an area of the rope section leading to the loop in which part of the core, preferably the entire core, is present. If part of the core is removed also in the area of the sewing in the rope section leading to the loop, a person skilled in the art will understand that at least enough material of the core must remain in order to ensure the tensile load resistance of the rope in connection with the sewing.

(17) Preferably, the spliced area and the area of the rope section leading to the loop which exhibits part of the core overlap. This means that the rope end piece without a core or, respectively, with only part of the core, which is guided within the rope section, abuts on the core present in the rope section at least partially.

(18) In particular in this embodiment, a single continuous load-bearing sewing is preferably provided.

(19) In a further preferred embodiment, at least part of the area of the rope end piece in which the core is removed is additionally tapered. This can be effected in particular by removing part of the material forming the sheath, for examply, by progressively removing individual or several yarns. As a result, a further reduction in the thickness of the rope end will occur.

(20) In a further preferred embodiment, a reinforcing element of the rope end, which element is different from the core, is provided at least in a portion of the area of the rope end piece in which the core is removed.

(21) A reinforcing element of the rope end may also be provided at least in a portion of the area of the rope section leading to the loop in which the core is removed. Likewise, a reinforcing element may also be provided at least in a portion of the area of the rope section leading to the loop which comprises part of the core.

(22) Preferably, a continuous reinforcing element is provided.

(23) Preferably, the reinforcing element is arranged in the interior of the sheath. Said reinforcing element can assume different tasks such as, for example, the stabilization of the shape of the loop. The reinforcing element preferably serves for increasing the tensile load resistance of the rope end.

(24) The sheath of the rope which remains after the removal of the core is load-bearing. If it is rubbed off, the system loses in tensile load resistance.

(25) Therefore, a tensile-load resistant reinforcing element is preferably provided, which is preferably arranged in the interior of the sheath.

(26) The shape and the design of the reinforcing element fit the objective thereof. In particular, the reinforcing element may be provided in the form of a flat band.

(27) Preferably, at least part of the reinforcing element is also covered by the sewing provided according to the invention or, respectively, the sewings provided according to the invention.

(28) A particularly preferred embodiment of the rope end according to the invention is characterized in that the entire core is removed in the entire rope end the rope section leading to the loop exhibits an area in which the entire core is present the rope section leading to the loop exhibits an area in front of the loop in which the entire core is removed, and the spliced area and the area of the section leading to the loop in which the entire core is present overlap.

(29) Also in this embodiment, a single continuous sewing is preferably provided.

(30) A further aspect of the present invention concerns a rope which comprises a rope end according to the invention.

(31) The rope end or the rope according to the invention, respectively, is constructed in a manner known per se as a core/sheath rope, wherein all materials and structures known in this field can be used for the core and the sheath, respectively, such as, e.g., high-strength polyamide or polyester materials.

(32) High-strength materials such as, e.g., Dyneema (HMWPE), aramide and Vectran (LC polyester) are possible materials for the preferably provided reinforcing element, in particular in the form of a band. The reinforcing element may be provided, for example, in a woven or braided state, in particular in the form of a collapsible hollow weave.

EXAMPLES

(33) The following explanation of FIG. 1 relates to an embodiment with a single core (i.e., a core consisting, for example, of yams braided into a rope). The explanations apply analogously also to embodiments with a core consisting of several parts.

(34) FIG. 1 schematically shows a rope end 1 of a core/sheath rope. The core of the rope is illustrated schematically with reference numeral 8. In the rope end 1 as illustrated in the figure, a loop 2 is formed by folding back the rope end piece 3. The rope end piece 3 is spliced with the rope section 4 leading to the loop 2 in a known manner in that it is inserted into the rope section 4 and runs over a certain range within the rope section. The area between the first point, as seen from the loop, where the end piece touches the rope section 4 and enters into it (e.g., in the form of a puncture), up to the end of the end piece 3, is referred to as the spliced area 5.

(35) In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the (entire) core is removed in the rope end piece in the entire spliced area 5, but also in the entire area of the loop 2. The (entire) core is removed also in a part of the rope section 4 leading to the loop. The result is that a part 4a of the rope section is with a core 8 and a part 4b of the rope section is without a core.

(36) According to the invention, a load-bearing sewing 6 is provided.

(37) In a part of the spliced area 5, said sewing sews the (core-less) rope end piece 3 to the rope section 4 leading to the loop. In sections, the load-bearing sewing also comprises the part 4a of the rope section 4 leading to the loop which exhibits a core 8.

(38) In FIG. 1, the sewing 6 is illustrated as a single continuous sewing. However, several sewings separated from each other are possible as well.

(39) According to FIG. 1, the spliced area 5 and the part 4a of the rope section 4 exhibiting a core preferably overlap in parts. The sewing 6 thereby covers a part of the spliced area 5 in which the core is removed both in the rope section 4 and in the rope end piece 3 and a part of the spliced area 5 in which the rope section 4 exhibits a core 8.

(40) The areas of the rope end 1 in which no core is present may be tapered further, which is illustrated in FIG. 1 only schematically for the rope end 3 in the spliced area 5.

(41) Preferably, a reinforcing element 7 (illustrated as a dotted line) is provided in the rope end 1. As shown in FIG. 1, said element may extend continuously from the rope section 4 up to the end of the spliced area 5 or even beyond, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, the reinforcing element 7 is also preferably covered by the sewing 6.

Examples 1 to 4

(42) Rope Ends According to the Invention Were Manufactured From Ropes of the Following Types

(43) Rope 1: a core-sheath rope (DM 11.5 mm) having a PET sheath (24 braids) and a core of several twisted PA twines.*

(44) Rope 2: a core-sheath rope (DM 11.5 mm) having a PET sheath (24 braids) and a core with a braided small PA rope as well as central twines of polyolefin.

(45) Rope 3: a core-sheath rope (DM 13 mm) having a PA sheath (16 braids) and a core of several twisted PA twines.

(46) Rope 4: a core-sheath rope (DM 13 mm) having a PET/polyolefin sheath (16 braids) and a core of several twisted PA twines.

(47) *PET: polyester; PA: polyamide

(48) At first, the maximum tensile force (HZK) of the original rope was measured in the free length.

(49) For determining the maximum tensile force of the sheath without core(s), the entire core (that is, all components of the core) was removed. The maximum tensile force of the remaining sheath was measured in the free length.

(50) For the production of rope ends according to the invention, the entire core was removed in each case. The core-less rope end piece was in each case folded back to form a loop and spliced with the rope section leading to the loop and sewn up in a load-bearing manner, as it is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1.

(51) The maximum tensile force of the resulting loop was measured.

(52) In case of the ropes 1 and 2, a further embodiment with a reinforcing element in the form of a small band made of Dyneema and having a width of 10 mm and a thickness of 1.4 mm was produced, which was arranged and integrated by sewing as it is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1.

(53) In those cases, the maximum tensile force of the loop including the reinforcing element was measured. For comparison purposes, the maximum tensile force of the loop was additionally measured after the sheath had been cut through (that is, when only the reinforcing element is still provided as a load-bearing element).

(54) The results are illustrated in the following table:

(55) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE HZK of the HZK of loop only with HZK the sheath HZK of the HZK of the reinforcing in free in free loop without loop with element (sheath Rope length length reinforcing reinforcing cut through) type [kN] [kN] element [kN] element [kN] [kN] Rope 32.9 15.0 20.2 20.2 17.1 1 Rope 31.1 14.9 18.3 18.5 16.7 2 Rope 37.4 27.6 22.0 3 Rope 31.1 25.1 21.1 4

(56) From the above table, it is evident that, despite the removal of the entire core, the resulting loop exhibits a tensile load resistance which is still adequate. At the same time, the resulting rope end is much thinner in comparison to conventional spliced rope ends.