Patent ID: 6319348
Filing Date: 2001-11-20
Classification: B29C,D04H,F16D,Y10T

Abstract:
A method of making an annular fiber structure by winding a flat helix of a fiber fabric in the form of a deformable strip, the method steps comprising:supplying a fiber fabric in the form of a deformable strip made up of two superposed unidirectional sheets, each constituted by mutually parallel fiber elements, the direction of the fiber elements in one sheet forming angles of opposite signs with respect to the direction of the fiber elements in the other sheet and relative to the longitudinal direction of the strip, and the two sheets being bonded together so as to form deformable elementary meshes;deforming the strip-shaped fabric into an helix having turns by modifying the shape of the elementary meshes so that their radial size increases towards the inside diameter of the helix turns, whereby the variation in mass per unit area between the inside and outside diameters of the turns is minimized; andwinding the deformed fabric into a flat helix by applying the deformed turns flat against one another so as to obtain an annular fiber structure whose radial dimension between its inner diameter and outer diameter corresponds to the width of the deformed strip-shaped fabric.