Nextrom, Ltd.

Roteq Machinery Inc.

Paul White

Andrew Blackmore

Michael Marshall

A concentric tape applicator has a support shaft that defines an axis and includes a structure for supporting a tape pad for rotation with the support shaft about the axis. Guide rollers are mounted on the support shaft for rotation concentrically about the axis for guiding tape from the tape pad for application to an elongated member advancing along the axis relative to the support shaft. A drive is directly coupled to the guide elements. A differential clutch is provided that has an input shaft directly coupled to the drive and an output shaft coupled to the support shaft for applying braking forces to the pad. A feedback circuit is provided for sensing the speed of rotation of the pad and applying a feedback signal to the clutch for regulating the excitation of the clutch to maintain a substantial uniform tension on the tape dispensed from the pad so potentially independently of the amount of tape remaining on the pad.

Concentric tape applicator

In an apparatus for cable manufacture, a cage strander rotates about a line axis at a chosen rotational speed. Bobbins supported by the strander dispense round conductors downstream of the cage strander. A forming apparatus downstream of the strander receives the conductors and forms them into many complementary segmented preshaped wires each having the desired cross-sectional profile in a final compact conductor. The conductors are positioned in a way that substantially corresponds to the orientations among wires in the final conductor. A first drive rotates the forming apparatus about the line axis substantially at the rotational speed of the strander. A second drive drives the forming apparatus. The drives are synchronized so that the conductors close about the core and cause the sides of adjacent wires to abut against each other to produce both the desired lay and a cable substantially without interstices between the wires forming the twisted conductor.

Apparatus for and method of manufacturing compacted cables by use of rigid cage stranders

A combination 37-wire unilay stranded conductor includes a 19-wire stable unilay construction includes two layers of wires on a core wire, each having a diameter D, to define a hexagon that circumscribes the 19 nineteen wires. A corner wire is positioned at each corner of the hexagon, the corner wires being formed to provide bearing surfaces facing radially outwardly and defining a circle having a diameter of approximately 4.7 D. A third layer of wires includes a smaller diameter wire having a diameter of approximately 0.8 D contacting each bearing surface, and pairs of two wires each having diameters D are positioned between the smaller wires and are nested in a recess formed by two wires in a preceding underlying layer to define a substantially circular outer cable configuration. The wires in the conductor are in contact with at least one wire in a previous inner layer and with circumferentially adjacent wires in the same layer thereby providing a stable conductor having a circular outer configuration without undesired gaps between adjacent wires in the third layer. A method and apparatus for making the 37-wire conductor are described.

Combination 37-wire unilay stranded conductor and method and apparatus for forming the same

Apparatus and method for manufacturing helically wound insulated conductors with filament fillers includes first and second payoff stations for paying off a plurality of insulated conductors and elongate filaments of filler materials. These cable components are guided from the payoff stations to a closing die, and are arranged in positions suitable for twisting into a cable by a double twist machine to form a cable of twisted insulated components forming radially outwardly facing helical interstices each of which is substantially filled with another one of the filaments of filler material. Differential or incremental lengths of filler material are metered upstream of the double twist machine to compensate for the differences in the radial distances of the insulated conductors and filaments of filler material on the center or cable of the axis. In this way, the helical interstices are more fully filled and the resulting cable has an exterior surface with minimal voids so that covering of the resulting cable with an outer elastomeric jacket or coating results in a substantially smoother and aesthetically pleasing cable with minimal surface irregularities.

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Newmarket, Canada

Paul White