Patent EP-1577429-A1 (EP)
Inventor: PESTER WOLFGANG
IPC: D04H3/04
Filed: 2005-02-25
Abstract: Laying fiber bands of filaments to form fiber arrangements includes individually spreading fiber bands guided by guide elements of weft layer or diagonal layer crosswise over two transport chains, depositing the fiber bands onto the transport chains, and forming a direction change fold having lower strand, upper strand, and apex into each fiber band. A start of lower strands and an end of upper strands are fixed in gaps between guide hooks. Laying fiber bands of filaments to form fiber arrangements includes individually spreading fiber bands (F) which are guided by guide elements (22) of weft layer or diagonal layer crosswise over two transport chains (1) equipped with guide hooks (13) and retainer needles (14); depositing the fiber bands onto the transport chains; and forming a direction change fold having lower strand, upper strand, and apex into each fiber band. A start of the lower strands and an end of the upper strands are fixed in gaps between the guide hooks. Formation of direction change fold includes executing racking for the fiber bands in a direction change phase of the weft layer or diagonal layer, and spreading out and hanging next to one another the apexes of the change direction folds into a row of retainer needles arranged close together and directed horizontally outwards. The retainer needles are wrapped through lowering and raising of the guide elements to fix the apexes of the change direction folds. Formation of upper strands of the direction change folds of a group includes inwardly moving a spreading edge (31) of a stitch spreader (3) which is aligned parallel to a movement direction of the transport chains from an outside position to directly above the retainer needles, so that the inward movement is crosswise to the movement direction of transport chains and fixes the apexes in the gaps between the retainer needles; and moving the guide elements of the weft or diagonal layers, so that the upper strands are formed between the retainer needles and the guide elements of weft or diagonal layers. During the execution of racking, a width of the fiber bands is reduced, and during the formation of upper strand, the reduced width of the fiber bands is enlarged. Cross-sections of the upper strands of direction change folds are guided parallel to a plane of retainer needles while keeping the sections of fiber bands between the spreader edge and the guide elements pinned. An independent claim is also included for an apparatus for laying fiber bands of filaments to form fiber arrangements, comprising a pair of endless movable transport chains equipped with a double row of vertically oriented needle-shaped guide hooks and with a row of retainer needles horizontally oriented and arranged so that the mountings of retainer needles are lower than foot sections of the guide hooks, guide elements for weft layer and/or diagonal layer aligned perpendicularly to a laying direction of the fiber bands between the transport chains, creel(s) with bobbins arranged to unwind tangentially to supply groups of fiber bands per weft layer and/or diagonal layer, and stitch spreader(s) structured and arranged to be guided and controlled outside the transport chains and being assigned to each transport chain for each weft layer and/or diagonal layer. The retainer needles are oriented outward for guiding and fixing direction change folds. The guide elements are structured and arranged to guide endless fiber bands. Each stitch spreader is structured and arranged to be guided in a displaceable manner within a customary movement area of guide elements of the weft layer and/or diagonal layer and crosswise to a movement direction of transport chains. Each stitch spreader has a spreader edge aligned parallel to the transport chains and movable from outside the assigned transport chain and over the retainer needles up to an area of mountings. Each stitch spreader is structured to extend over an area of the direction change folds of the fiber bands.