STRANDING UNIT FOR A STRANDING MACHINE AND BASKET FOR A STRANDING UNIT

Abstract

A stranding unit for a stranding machine has a stranding axis and a cage in which a number of baskets are arranged for receiving a number of reels having a strand material wound thereon. The stranding unit is characterized in that a stand is arranged which has a frame which extends around the cage in a circumferential direction around the stranding axis. The cage is mounted on the frame by a number of frame bearing elements and is rotatable around the stranding axis. As a result of the circumferential bearing, centrifugal forces are particularly efficiently distributed and absorbed by the frame during operation. In an advantageous further development, a plurality of basket are also mounted in a similar manner within the frame. The stranding unit as a whole is furthermore constructed such that it can be operated at a particularly high rotational speed.

Claims

1. A stranding unit for a stranding machine, comprising: a stranding axis; at least one basket; a cage in which said at least one basket is disposed for receiving a reel having strand material wound thereon; a plurality of frame bearing elements; and a stand having a frame disposed to extend in a circumferential direction around the stranding axis and around said cage, said cage mounted on said frame by said plurality of frame bearing elements and being rotatable around the stranding axis.

2. The stranding unit according to claim 1, wherein said basket is mounted in said cage to be rotatable around a basket longitudinal axis which extends parallel to the stranding axis, and in that the reel mounted in said basket is rotatable around a reel axis which extends parallel to the stranding axis and coaxially to the basket longitudinal axis.

3. The stranding unit according to claim 1, wherein said frame bearing elements each have a plurality of frame rollers for mounting said cage.

4. The stranding unit according to claim 1, further comprising eccentric pins, said frame bearing elements are each fastened to said frame by one of said eccentric pins.

5. The stranding unit according to claim 1, wherein said frame has a lower region being below the stranding axis where said frame bearing elements are disposed more closely together than in an upper region for a purpose of absorbing weight forces.

6. The stranding unit according to claim 1, further comprising cage bearing elements, said basket is mounted on said cage by said plurality of cage bearing elements which are disposed around said basket in the circumferential direction, said cage bearing elements are disposed more closely next to one another in an outer region relative to the stranding axis of said cage than in an inner region for a purpose of absorbing centrifugal forces during operation.

7. The stranding unit according to claim 1, further comprising cage bearing elements, said basket is mounted on said cage by said plurality of cage bearing elements which are disposed around said basket in the circumferential direction; and said frame bearing elements are disposed at particular longitudinal positions along the stranding axis and said cage bearing elements are disposed at substantially same longitudinal positions.

8. The stranding unit according to claim 1, wherein: said basket has a tube which extends along a basket longitudinal axis and around the basket longitudinal axis; and said basket has a yoke inserted into said tube for receiving the reel.

9. The stranding unit according to claim 8, wherein: said tube has inner conical yoke bearing surfaces; and said yoke has at least two bearing rings, each of said bearing rings having a circumferential, conical contact surface, which abut with form fit against said inner conical yoke bearing surfaces of said tube in an inserted state.

10. The stranding unit according to claim 9, wherein said yoke has a reel holder for receiving the reel and for positioning the reel within said tube in a region between two of said circumferential, conical contact surfaces.

11. The stranding unit according to claimed claim 10, wherein: said reel holder has two conical clamping chucks for clamping the reel; and only one of said conical clamping chucks is displaceable relative to said yoke and along the basket longitudinal axis.

12. The stranding unit according to claim 9, further comprising a plurality of cage bearing elements disposed around said basket in the circumferential direction, said basket is mounted on said cage by means of said plurality of cage bearing elements; wherein said tube has, on an outside, a plurality of bearing tracks along which said cage bearing elements are guided for mounting said basket on said cage; and said bearing tracks are disposed downstream of a respective said circumferential, conical contact surface, facing outwards from the basket longitudinal axis in a radial direction.

13. The stranding unit according to claim 8, further comprising at least one pull-out rail disposed on said tube for reversibly pulling said yoke in and out of said tube and in a direction of the basket longitudinal axis.

14. The stranding unit according to claim 1, wherein: said tube has an end face; and said basket has a deflection mechanism for the strand material unreeled from the reel, which deflects the strand material, with no counter-bending, in a direction of said end face.

15. The stranding unit according to claim 1, wherein said cage has a plurality of cage plates which are disposed perpendicularly to the stranding axis and each of said cage plates have a basket opening formed therein into which said basket is inserted.

16. The stranding unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a coupling mechanism for coupling said basket to said cage for a purpose of reverse-rotating said basket during a rotation of said cage; an intermediate shaft; and a coupling having two wheels including a frame wheel rolling on said frame and a basket wheel driving said basket, wherein said two wheels are connected to one another in a fixed manner via said intermediate shaft.

17. The stranding unit according to claim 16, further comprising a chain fastened to said frame, said frame wheel is formed as a chain wheel and runs on said chain.

18. The stranding unit according to claim 1, further comprising at least one guide element for guiding the strand material to a stranding nipple.

19. A basket, comprising: a tube extending along a basket longitudinal axis and around the basket longitudinal axis, said tube having an end face; a yoke inserted into said tube for receiving a reel having strand material wound thereon; and a deflection mechanism for the strand material and disposed at said end face for unreeling the strand material in a lateral direction relative to the reel.

20. The basket according to claim 19, wherein the basket is configured for a stranding unit according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0048] FIGS. 1A-1D are diagrammatic, perspective and side views of a stranding unit for a stranding machine in different views;

[0049] FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of a circumferential bearing of the stranding machine;

[0050] FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the stranding machine and a basket in a rear view;

[0051] FIG. 4 is a perspective and sectional view having a pulled-out yoke;

[0052] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the yoke; and

[0053] FIGS. 6A-6C are perspective and detailed diverse views of a coupling mechanism of the stranding machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0054] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIGS. 1A-1B thereof, there is shown a stranding machine 2 in different views. FIG. 1A here shows the stranding machine 2 in a perspective rear view, FIG. 1B in a perspective front view, FIG. 1C in a side view and FIG. 1D in turn in a perspective rear view and in an extended state. The stranding machine 2 contains a stand 4 to which a frame 6 is fastened, in which a cage 8 is rotatably mounted. A number of baskets 10 (four baskets here) are in turn arranged in the cage 8, which baskets 10 are mounted to be rotatable relative to the cage 8. The baskets 10 serve here for receiving reels 12 having strand material 14 wound thereon. The stranding unit 2, and more precisely the cage 8, is driven by a drive motor 15 arranged outside and to the side of the frame.

[0055] During operation, the strand material 14 is unreeled from the reels 12 by the stranding unit 2 and supplied in a stranding direction V to a stranding point P at which the strands 14 are stranded to form a stranded material 16. To this end, a stranding nipple (not illustrated in more detail here) is arranged in particular at the stranding point P. In addition, the stranding unit 2 shown here has a number of strand lead-throughs 17 for leading through strands 14 which are unreeled upstream of the stranding unit 2, e.g. from a further stranding unit 2 connected upstream. One of the strand lead-throughs 17 is guided centrally along the stranding axis VA and serves here in particular for supplying a strand 14 as a center core, which is provided for example from an unwinder (not shown here) which is connected upstream.

[0056] During the stranding of the strands 14, a rotation of the cage 8 takes place in a circumferential direction UR around a stranding axis VA which extends in the stranding direction V. Through a rotation of the cage 8, the baskets 10 are moved on a rotation circle DK around the stranding axis VA. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the stranding additionally takes place with a so-called reverse rotation wherein, in addition to the rotation of the baskets 10 around the stranding axis VA, each of the baskets 10 is additionally each rotated around its own basket longitudinal axis KA in each case. The rotation of a respective basket 10 around its basket longitudinal axis KA takes place in particular in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation of the cage 8 in the frame 6.

[0057] All in all, during operation of the stranding unit 2, three different rotational movements are therefore executed here, namely first the unreeling of the strand material 14 from a respective reel 12, second the rotation of a respective basket 10 around its basket longitudinal axis KA and thirdly the movement of the baskets 10, in particular their basket longitudinal axes KA, on a rotation circle DK around the stranding axis VA. In the preferred embodiment described here, all of the rotational axes here are aligned parallel to one another. In particular, the reels 12 each have a reel axis which corresponds to a respective basket longitudinal axis KA. The basket longitudinal axes KA then extend in the stranding direction V and parallel to the stranding axis VA. Owing to this arrangement, the centrifugal forces generated during the rotation act only as radial forces on the individual components of the stranding machine and not as axial forces.

[0058] The cage 8 contains a plurality of cage plates 18, which can be seen particularly clearly in FIG. 1C. The cage plates 18 each have basket openings 20 into which the baskets 10 are inserted. The cage 8 formed in this way is surrounded by the frame 6 completely in the circumferential direction UR, which frame is formed by a number of rings 22 in the exemplary embodiment shown. These rings 22 are constructed in particular as steel rings here, which are fastened to the stand 4 and are arranged at different longitudinal positions L1, L2 along the stranding axis VA and thus enclose a clearance 24 in which the cage 8 is arranged. The baskets 10 are then inserted into the cage 8 in such a way that the reels 12 are arranged in the clearance 24 between the two outermost longitudinal positions L1, L2.

[0059] In the embodiment shown here, the bearing of the cage 8 in the frame 6 and the basket 10 in the cage 8 takes place by a number of frame bearing elements 26 and cage bearing elements 28 respectively. These can be seen particularly clearly in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 respectively. The frame bearing elements 26 and the cage bearing elements 28 are advantageously formed in the same manner here, namely as rolling units 30, which each have a number of rollers 32 (two rollers here) which are fastened to the frame 6 and the cage 8 respectively on an articulated arm 34 and via eccentric pins 36. The rollers 32 here each have a concave running surface which rolls on a correspondingly convex counter surface during operation. To this end, correspondingly convexly formed cage running surfaces 38 are formed in particular on the outer circumference of the cage plates 18, while the baskets 10 each have a number of convex bearing tracks 40 around the circumference.

[0060] As can be seen particularly clearly in FIG. 1C, the baskets 10 are mounted at a number of longitudinal positions L3 by the cage bearing elements 28 and the cage 8 is mounted on the frame 6 at a number of longitudinal positions L4, which correspond substantially to the longitudinal positions L3. A respective longitudinal position L3 here only has a small offset VL relative to a respective longitudinal position L4, which corresponds here to a width B of the bearing elements 26, 28, i.e. in particular approximately a width of the rollers 32. Through this positioning of the bearing elements 26, 28 in succession in the radial direction R, an optimal force flux in the radial direction R is ensured during operation of the stranding unit 2 and a load in the axial direction, i.e. in the stranding direction V, is particularly greatly reduced.

[0061] To additionally absorb weight forces in an optimal manner, the frame bearing elements 26 are arranged closer together in a lower region U of the stranding unit 2 than in an upper region O. This can be seen in particular in FIG. 1A. In a similar manner, for particularly optimal absorption of the outwardly acting centrifugal forces, the basket bearing elements 28 are arranged closer together towards the outside in the radial direction R than towards the stranding axis VA. This can also be seen particularly clearly in FIG. 1A, but also in FIG. 3. Through the reduced use of cage bearing elements 28 near to the stranding axis VA, it is moreover possible to arrange the baskets 10 particularly closely together towards the stranding axis VA and thus to reduce the radius of the rotation circle DK and therefore to also advantageously reduce the centrifugal forces produced during operation.

[0062] FIG. 4 shows a perspective sectional view of a basket 10 which has a tube 42 into which a yoke 44 is inserted for receiving a reel 12 (not illustrated here). The tube 42 extends along the basket longitudinal axis KA and contains a number of pull-out rails 46, via which the yoke 44 can be slid into and pulled out of the tube 42 in the direction of the basket longitudinal axis KA. This sliding in and out takes place in particular at the rear side of the tube 42, i.e. on the rear side RS of the stranding unit 2. In FIG. 5, the tube 42 is illustrated with the yoke 44 in the slid-in state.

[0063] The bearing tracks 40 arranged on a lateral surface 45, i.e. on the outer circumference of the tube 42, for the basket 10 to roll on the cage bearing elements 28 are clearly shown in FIG. 4. The cross-sectionally convex design is likewise clearly shown. Starting from the basket longitudinal axis KA and in a radial direction R towards the outside, conical yoke bearing surfaces 48 in each case are formed internally on the tube 42, upstream of the bearing tracks 40, for the form-fitting bearing of the yoke 44. To this end, the yoke 44 has a corresponding number of bearing rings 49 having outwardly facing conical contact surfaces 50. The form-fitting arrangement can be clearly seen in particular in FIG. 5. The contact surfaces 48, 50 here are set at an angle W so that they are formed correspondingly conically and enable an optimal form fit. In particular, the contact surfaces 48, 50 are set in the same direction towards the basket longitudinal axis KA so that rearward insertion is possible. To prevent the yoke 44 from falling out unintentionally during operation, a clamping lever 52 is provided to lock the yoke, by which the yoke 44 is clamped in the tube 42.

[0064] To receive a reel 14, the yoke 44 contains a reel receiving device 54 which has two conical clamping chucks 56, which are spaced in the direction of the basket longitudinal axis KA here and between which the reel 14 is then clamped. The reel receiving device 54 is arranged between the contact surfaces 50 here such that an inserted reel 14 is positioned between them and therefore any centrifugal forces acting radially relative to the reel 14 are transmitted via the contact surfaces 48, 50 in an optimal manner, firstly via the cage bearing elements 28 to the cage 8 and, finally, from there, via the frame bearing elements 26, to the frame 6. Any axial forces, i.e. forces in the direction of the basket longitudinal axis KA and the stranding axis V, are reduced to a minimum here. The clamping chuck 56 on the rear side can moreover be moved along the basket longitudinal axis by means of a thread 57 in order to clamp a reel 14 particularly securely. As a result of arranging this adjustable clamping chuck 56 on the rear side, it is moreover particularly easily accessible from the rear side RS of the stranding unit 2.

[0065] During operation, the strand material 14 is unreeled from a respective reel 12 in the radial direction R and then deflected in the stranding direction V via a deflection mechanism 58 and conveyed out of the basket 10 at the front side, i.e. via an end face S of the tube 42. To this end, the deflection mechanism 58 contains a number of deflection elements 60 which are formed here as rollers. The deflection of the strand 14 takes place here by the deflection mechanism 58, with no counter-bending, in order to prevent too great a mechanical load on the strand material 14. In other words: the deflection elements 60 each have a deflection axis UA around which the strand material 14 is deflected in each case, wherein, in the deflection mechanism 58 as a whole, a deflection in different directions around respective deflection axes UA having the same direction does not take place. The deflection mechanism 58 additionally contains a dancer guide 62 having an adjusting element 64 to ensure longitudinal compensation of the possibly unevenly unreeled strand material 14 during operation. The adjusting element 64 here is formed in particular such that a longitudinal compensation takes place in the direction of the basket longitudinal axis KA.

[0066] To realize an additional rotation of the basket 10 and in particular a reverse rotation as described at the outset, the stranding unit 2 has a coupling mechanism 66 between the frame 6 and the baskets 10, which can be clearly seen in FIGS. 6A-6C. By means of this coupling mechanism 66, the rotation of the cage 8 relative to the frame 6 is translated into a rotation of the basket 10 relative to the cage 8. To this end, the coupling mechanism 66 has, for each of the baskets 10 here, a coupling 67 having an intermediate shaft 68 which is mounted on the cage 8, more precisely on one of the cage plates 18, and to which two wheels 70, 72 are attached, namely a frame wheel 70 and a basket wheel 72. These wheels 70, 72 are connected to the intermediate shaft 68 in a rotationally fixed manner to produce a fixed translation ratio.

[0067] During operation the basket wheel 70 rolls on the frame 6in the embodiment shown here, on a chain 74 which is fastened to one of the rings 22 of the frame 6. The basket wheel 72 then drives one of the baskets 10 via a belt 76. To this end, a toothed contour 78 is formed externally on the lateral surface 45 of the associated tube 42. The translation ratio of the coupling 67 is produced, amongst other things, by the ratio of the diameter D1, D2 of the wheels 70, 72. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the ratio is selected such that the translation ratio is one and therefore a reverse rotation of the basket 10 is produced such that a respective basket 10 is only moved on the rotation circle DK relative to the stand 4 of the stranding unit 2 but is itself not rotated relative to the stand 4.