STRANDED WIRE ROPE

Abstract

A wire rope (10, 20), comprising: a core (12, 22), a plurality of outer strands (18, 28) and a plurality of separator strands (17, 27) laid on said core (12, 22), and a first plastic jacket (19) around said plurality of outer strands (18, 19) and said plurality of separator strands (17, 27), wherein said plurality of separator strands (17, 27) extend from said core (12, 22) and in-between each pair of said plurality of outer strands (18, 28) so as to produce and maintain gaps between said pair of said plurality of outer strands (18, 28). Plastic impregnation of the wire rope (10, 20) can be ensured due to the separator strands/17, 27).

Claims

1. A wire rope, comprising: a core, a plurality of outer strands and a plurality of separator strands laid on said core, and a first plastic jacket around said plurality of outer strands and said plurality of separator strands, wherein said plurality of separator strands extend from said core 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.

2. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein said core, said plurality of outer strands and said plurality of separator strands are made from metals or metal alloys.

3. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the hardness of said plurality of separator strands is lower than that of said plurality of outer strands.

4. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein said first plastic jacket penetrates in-between said plurality of outer strands and said plurality of separator strands.

5. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein said first plastic jacket penetrates into said plurality of separator strands.

6. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein said core, said plurality of outer strands, and said plurality of separator strands are made from steels.

7. A wire rope according to claim 6, wherein said core and said plurality of outer strands are made from high carbon steel having a carbon content in the range of 0.2 to 1.5 weight percent and said plurality of separator strands are made from low carbon steel having a carbon content in the range of 0.02 to 0.2 weight percent.

8. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein said core is a wire strand.

9. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein said wire rope further comprises a second plastic jacket on said core.

10. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of separator strands is covered with a third plastic jacket.

11. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said first, said second and said third plastic jacket is made from polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), polysulfone (PES) or ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE).

12. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said first, said second and said third plastic jacket is made by extrusion.

13. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the diameter of said plurality of outer strands to the diameter of said plurality of separator strands is in the range of 3 to 10.

14. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of said plurality of outer strands is in the range of 2 to 40 mm.

15. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of said wire rope is in the range of 5 to 200 mm.

16. A wire rope according to claim 2, wherein the hardness of said plurality of separator strands is lower than that of said plurality of outer strands.

17. A wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the diameter of said plurality of outer strands to the diameter of said plurality of separator strands is in the range of 3 to 10, the diameter of said plurality of outer strands is in the range of 2 to 40 mm and the diameter of said wire rope is in the range of 5 to 200 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES IN THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The invention will be better understood with reference to the detailed description when considered in conjunction with the non-limiting examples and the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0025] FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of the wire rope according to the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 2 schematically shows another example of the wire rope according to the present invention.

MODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0027] A construction of the wire rope of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The wire rope has a diameter of 44 or 71 mm and a configuration of EP8×K36WS+IWRC (1+6−8−8+8). Herewith, EP refers to the wire rope covered with a polymer. The wire rope has 8 compacted outer strands having 36 wires in combined parallel lay, indicated by 8×K36WS. The core is an independent wire rope (IWRC). The entire rope has a Warrington construction (1+6−8−8+8), i.e. it is a parallel lay strand construction having an outer layer of wires containing alternately large cords and small cords, the number of cords in the outer layer being twice that in the underlying layer of cords.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, the wire rope 10 has an independent wire rope core (IWRC) 12 which is provided with a plastic jacket 14. Preferably, the plastic jacket 14 is made of a hard plastic material, such as polyamide. The independent wire rope 12 can be synthetic rope. The independent wire rope 12 is preferably a steel wire rope and more preferably the interior of the wire rope 12 is lubricated, e.g. with a conventional asphaltic lubricant 16 which is entrapped within the core 12 by the plastic jacket 14.

[0029] On the periphery of the plastic jacket 14, there are placed 8 separator strands 17 and 8 compacted outer 18, which are made from metal or alloys. Preferably, the separator strands 17 and the outer strands 18 are made from steel. More preferably, the steel for the outer strands 18 has higher carbon content than that of the separator strands 17. The separator strands 17 are provided in-between the compacted outer strands 18 so as to create a gap between each pair of compacted outer strands 18 laid on top of the plastic jacket 14.

[0030] The wire rope 10 is enclosed with a plastic jacket 19. Preferably, the plastic jacket 19 is made of polypropylene and more preferably produced by extrusion. The plastic jacket 19 is extruded to extend over the periphery of the wire rope by a thickness in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm, i.e. 1.50 mm.

[0031] Such a wire rope provides a considerable improvement in GAP uniform distribution among 5% to 10%.

[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates another example of the wire rope according to the present invention. The wire rope 20 has a 7×7+7×19W construction. Steel cords 27 are inserted as separators extending from the core 22 and in-between each pair of plurality of outer strands 28 so as to produce and maintain gaps between each pair of plurality of outer strands 28.