Nv Bekaert Sa

Universiteit Gent

Johan Hugelier

Johan Priem

Maarten Meyfroidt

Franky Wallaert

Peter De Jaeger

A winding module and a winding installation including winding modules for winding metal wire. In such a winding installation or take-up bench a driven capstan is used to pull the metal wire through a processing installation before being led onto a take-up spool. The spool is driven by a cantilever supported shaft. In prior art take-up benches, both the capstan and the spool is reachable by an operator from the same side. This means that the capstan direction—the direction from the driven side of the capstan to the operator side—is equal to the shaft direction—the direction from the drive side of the shaft to the open end of the shaft. In the inventive winding module the capstan direction is opposite to the shaft direction, which provides a completely different operation of the winding module and the winding installation and facilitates the introduction of doffing robots.

Winding module and winding installation for metal wires

A gripper for finding, clamping and releasing spools having a circular grip part such as a flange or a bore hole as well as a method to operate such gripper. The gripper has a driveable clamp that is provided with a scanning system comprising 'presence-absence detectors' that detect the presence or the absence of the circular grip part. The gripper is slowly moved over the flange of the spool and by means of the detectors and some calculation the centre of the grip part is identified followed by the gripping of the spool. The gripper has the advantage that no back-and-forth movement is needed in order to locate the circular grip part and that the superfluous motion of the gripper is prevented.

Gripper for spools

A spool fixation device for use in a wire winding installation, where in this spool fixation device, spools having a magnetically attractable flange are held to a rotatable flange using magnet assemblies. The magnet assemblies can be switched between a 'hold' state and a 'release' state. In a preferred embodiment the magnet assemblies only consume energy when in the &#x2018;release&#x2019; state i.e. when the spool fixation device is not rotating. Alternatively the magnet assemblies can be made to only consume energy when switching states. The magnet assemblies have permanent magnet arrays and are moveable inside a non-magnetic housing. Also a drive pin to transfer torque between rotatable flange and spool is no longer necessary. Therefore the spool fixation devices allows for a smooth changeover of spools.

Spool fixation device with bi-stable magnet assemblies

An arrangement of an elongated element wound on a spool is presented. The elongated element has a leading end having a bent part and an unbent part. The bent part further having a beginning part and a trailing end. The leading end is positioned on the core of the spool and the bent part deviates at least for a part from a winding direction. The elongated element further forms subsequent windings in the winding direction on the core. At least one of the subsequent windings is wound over the beginning part of the bent part while an adhesive is provided to fix the trailing end of the bent part on the core simultaneously thereby securing elongated element on the spool.

Arrangement of elongated element on empty spool

An elongated element () is transferred from a second (full) spool () to a first (empty) spool (). A gripper () is positioned on the elongated element (). The gripper () catches the elongated element () and the elongated element () is cut between the gripper () and the second spool () thereby leaving a leading end (). Thereafter the gripper () is positioned with the leading end () at the level of the first empty spool (). The gripper () is rotating around the axis of the first spool () to form first windings to fix the elongated element () on the first spool (). The method allows full automation and assures the use of the wound element () until its final end.

Transfer of an elongated element from one spool to another spool

The present invention relates to a method for producing a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger comprising at least one heat conducting conduit for passage of a first medium and at least one block of an open cell porous medium for passage of a second medium. The method comprises providing at least one groove in the open cell porous medium. Thereafter, the porous medium is bent in a direction such that at least part of the grooves are opened and heat conducting conduits are applied in this at least one opened groove. Thereafter, the porous medium is rebend such that the heat conducting conduits are locked in said open cell porous medium.

Growing community of inventors

Harelbeke, Belgium

Johan Hugelier