Ube Nitto Kasei Co., Ltd.

Minoru Naito

Kenji Kozuka

Shigehiro Matsuno

Kazuo Yasuda

In the manufacture of a fiber reinforced plastic armored cable, long reinforcing fibers are impregnated with an uncured thermosetting resin and formed into a predetermined shape to obtain a plurality of rod-like members with the thermosetting resin held uncured. Then the uncured rod-like members are passed through a die of a melt extruder, by which the rod-like members are each coated with a thermoplastic resin layer. The coated layers of the rod-like members are immediately cooled to simultaneously form a plurality of fiber reinforced plastic armoring strands with the thermosetting resin held uncured. The armoring strands thus obtained are wound around a cable which is fed while being rotated. The cable having wound thereon the strands is passed through a die portion of a melt extruder, by which the cable is sheathed with a thermoplastic resin layer which is immediately cooled and solidified. The sheathed cable is guided into a curing tank using a liquid as a heating medium to cure the thermosetting resin in the armoring strands. Thereafter, the sheathed cable is wound onto a drum via a rotary take-up device.

Process of manufacturing a fiber reinforced plastic armored cable

A twisted FRP structure having sufficient strength and flexibility is produced by providing a rod member disposed centrally and twist a plurality of side strands twisted around the rod member in the same direction at a predetermined pitch. At least the side strand includes a composite strand having an FRP element from by impregnating fibers with an uncured thermosetting resin and a thermoplastic coating on such FRP element, the thermosetting resin being cured after the side strands are twisted around the rod member. The twisting pitch is not less than 25 times the outside diameter of the FRP element in the side strand.

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Kisogawa, Japan

Minoru Naito