Improvements in the Manufacture of Wire Ropes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Oct., 1889
Complore Specification Left 1st July 1890-Accepted. 23rd Aug. 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Wire Ropes.
We, THOMAS TODD PREST, and JOHN GEORGE WEEKS, both of Bedlington in the
County of Northumberland, Mining Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to he as follows :-
According to this invention we make wire ropes with swellings at intervals along
the length, the swellings not being superposed upon the rope but forming part of it,
the external wires in place of forming a cylinder bending outwards at the swellings.
A rope thus constructed is easier to be gripped for haulage purposes than an ordinary
cylindrical rope, and yet is just as durable. The manner in which we prefer to form
these swellings is to make the rope with a core which, in place of being cylindrical as
is now usual, has swellings which may be conveniently produced by wrapping in places
The wires are then laid
yarn or other material around an ordinary cylindrical core.
upon the outside of this core in the usual manner.
Dated this 1st day of October 1889.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Wire Ropes.
We, THOMAS TODD PREST, and JOHN GEORGE WEEKS, both of Bedlington, in the
County of Northumberland, Mining Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
According to this invention we make wire ropes with swellings at intervals along
the length, the swellings not being superposed upon the rope but forming part of it,
the external wires in place of forming a cylinder, bending outwards at the swellings.
A rope
thus constructed is easier to be gripped for haulage purposes than an ordinary
cylindrical rope,
and yet is just as durable. The manner in which we prefer to form
these swellings is to make the rope with a core which, in place of being cylindrical as
is now usual, has swellings which may be conveniently produced by wrapping in places
yarn or other material around an ordinary cylindrical core. We prefer however to
employ a braided core the swellings being produced by inserting at intervals and
during the process of braiding pieces of ordinary hard twisted hemp rope. The wires
are then laid upon the outside of this core in the usual manner.
Figure 1 is a side view of a rope made according to our invention and Figures 2
and are transverse sections on the lines x and y y Figure 1 respectively.
Figures 4 and 5 are side views respectively of the core and of a piece of rope to
form a swelling. All these figures are full size.
a a are the external wires:-in the drawings there are 42 namely 6 strands of
7 wires each and this is a very suitable arrangement. is the braided core and c is a
piece of ordinary hard twisted hemp rope having somewhat pointed ends as shewn in
Figure 5-these points can readily be produced by nipping the rope in a die.
It will be observed that in Figure 1 there are spaces between the wire strands where
they bend outwardly at the swellings, these spaces are filled with the ordinary filling d
of lime and tar or the like and this is the arrangement we prefer but by suitably
altering the pitch of the lay of the rope at those places the spaces may be avoided.

page_text: These swellings may be put at any desired distances apart so long as there is
sufficient space between them to allow the wires to closely surround the core in the
intervals thus in the rope shown the spaces should not be less than about 12 times the
diameter.
We employ ordinary wire rope machinery for making our ropes the only change
being that it is necessary to make the nip elastic so as to allow the swellings to pass.
Figure 6 is a face view and Figure 7 a transverse section on the line zy of Figure 6.-
of the nip we employ :-these figures are full size. e¹ e²e are three segmental nips.
fis the recess for the rope. gg are compression springs. hh spring guide spindles.
i i set nuts for adjusting nip. jj holes for fixing to machine head. k slotted plate
to support and guide segmental nip. I screws working in radial slots in plate k.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is,
1. Wire ropes with swellings at intervals in which the external wires bend outwards
at the swellings substantially as described.
2. Ropes formed by laying wires upon a core having swellings at intervals
substantially as described.
3. Ropes substantially as described and 'shown in the drawings.
Dated this 20th d...
CT 1900
THOMAS TODD PREST.
JOHN GEORGE WEEKS.