Patent ID: 11970297
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  H  F | IPC B

Claim 11:
12. A system to facilitate tying a knot, the system comprising:
a fixture defining an internal passage therethrough, wherein the fixture defines a circumferential groove accessible through an interior surface of the fixture and in communication with the internal passage, wherein the circumferential groove includes first and second groove portions that cross one another;
a supply of a tie member configured to be connected to a lead member that has been fed through the circumferential groove and emerged from the fixture; and
a lead member supply mechanism separate from the supply of the tie member, the lead member supply mechanism configured to alternately feed the lead member through the circumferential groove and to withdraw the lead member from the circumferential groove once the tie member is connected to the lead member,
wherein the circumferential groove further includes a third groove portion parallel to the first groove portion, wherein the second groove portion crosses both the first and third groove portions, and wherein the first, second and third groove portions are disposed sequentially between opposite ends of the circumferential groove such that the first groove portion extends from an end of the circumferential groove to the second groove portion, the second groove portion extends from the first groove portion to the third groove portion and the third groove portion extends from the second groove portion to another end of the circumferential groove, and
wherein a part of the second groove portion that crosses the first and third groove portions has a different depth than the first and third groove portions, but another part of the second groove portion has a same depth as the first and third groove portions.