Patent ID: 6999641
Filing Date: 2006-02-14
Classification: D04C,D07B,G01D,G01L

Abstract:
1. A system for measuring large strains, up to twenty percent, in ropes utilizing at least one plastic optical fiber integrated into the construction of said rope and instrumentation to measure the time required for light to be transported inside said plastic optical fiber comprising: a plastic optical fiber to permit transmission of light over long distances and exhibiting the capability to repeatedly sustain large strains with recovery to the same length as the rope upon the removal of the imposed load; integration of said optical fiber into a long length rope such that the assembly causes the rope to impose restraint to said optical fiber forcing it to experience the same axial strain as the rope and; optical instrumentation for measuring the time of flight-of-light through said plastic optical fiber and from reflective surfaces placed in said plastic optical fiber; and thus, the strain in the entire length or in discrete segments along the length of the rope.