IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIRE ROPES
Year: 1884

page_text: I HENRY ROBERT INGHAM WEBSTER of Sunderland in the County of Durham
Rope Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIRE ROPES to be as follows:-
The objects of my Invention are to attain in a manner not hitherto practised and
to an extent not hitherto reached the two combined objects of (1) durability and
the withstanding for a longer period the wear and tear of use together with (2)
pliability and what may bo terined cohesiveness or freedom from kinking.
In the original system of constructing Wire Ropes the method was for the wires
forming the strand to be spun so that they had a lay opposite to that of the strands
forming the rope, that is, if the latter lay from right to left then the former lay
from left to right and vice versa.
This rope was excellent so far as regards cohesiveness but there have always
been these two objections to it that is firstly the small extent of surface of each
Wire exposed to the friction in passing over pulleys and drums owing to the
individual Wires on the crown of each strand lying at an angle to, instead of
parallel with the lay of the strand and secondly the rubbing of each two adjoining
strands against each other due to the fact that the individual wires of adjoining
strands cross each other at the point of contact at an angle instead of lying parallel
to each other.
I am aware that for the purpose of partly overcoming these obstacles Ropes
have been made in which the wires of one half of the number of strands employed
were spun as before in a lay opposite to that of the strands of the Rope while
the Wires of the other half were spun in a lay the same as the lay of the strands.
By this means one half of the strands expose a greater surface of the Wires to
friction and the rubbing of the adjoining strands is very much diminished.
I am also aware that ropes have been made in which the Wires of all the
strands were spun so that the lay of the Wires of the strand was the same as the
lay of the strands of the Rope and in these Ropes all the strands expose a greater
surface to friction in passing over pulleys and drums but at the expense of the loss
of the important quality of exemption from twist and kinking that is to say at the
expense of the cohesiveness of the Rope.
I have found by experience that kinking may be prevented and a great surface
exposed to friction by making ropes in which one only of the strands has the wires
spun in a lay opposite to the lay of the strands of the rope.

page_text: In the construction of a rope of six strands I spin the wires of one strand in a
lay opposite to that of the strands of the Rope and of the remaining five strands of
the Rope I spin the wires in the same lay. For example in a rope of which the
strands lie from right to left I spin the wires of one strand from left to right and
the wires of the remainder from right to left and vice versa.
In constructing this Rope I make this one strand the spin of which is opposite to
the lay of Rope less in size than the others by using a special Core Wire slightly
smaller than the others and of an extra quality of material which brings the crown
head of that one strand on a level with the crown heads of the others consequently
it gets the same amount of friction and no more than the other strands and thus
no part of the rope will wear out earlier than the rest as might otherwise be the
case and at the same time that strand with the opposite lay of wires exercises its
.binding or cohesive influence upon the whole rope quite sufficiently to prevent the
rope opening or untwisting and to give entire immunity from kinking.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I HENRY ROBERT INGHAM WEBSTER of Sunderland in the County of Durham
Rope Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIRE ROPES and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
The objects of my invention are to attain in a manner not hitherto practised
and to an extent not hitherto reached the two combined objects of (1) durability
and the withstanding for a longer period the wear and tear of use together with
(2) pliability and what may be termed cohesiveness or freedom from kinking.
In the original system of constructing wire ropes the method was for the wires
forming the strand to be spun so that they had a lay opposite to that of the
strands forming the rope (that is) if the latter lay from right to left then the former
lay from left to right and vice versa.
This rope was excellent so far as regards cohesiveness but there have always
been these two objections to it that is firstly the small extent of surface of each
wire exposed to the friction in passing over pulleys and drums owing to the
individual wires on the crown of each strand lying at an angle to, instead of
parallel with the lay of the strand and secondly the rubbing of each two adjoining
strands against each other due to the fact that the individual wires of adjoining
strands cross each other at the point of contract at an angle instead of lying parallel
to each other.
I am aware that for the purpose of partly overcoming these obstacles ropes have
been made in which the wires of one half of the number of strands employed were
spun as before in a lay opposite to that of the strands of the rope while the wires
of the other half were spun in a lay the same as the lay of the strands.
By this means one half of the strands expose a greater surface of the wires to
friction and the rubbing of the adjoining strands is very much diminished.
I am also aware that ropes have been made in which the wires of all the strands
were spun so that the lay of the wires of the strand was the same as the lay of the
strands of the Rope and in these ropes all the strands expose a greater surface to
friction in passing over pulleys & drums but at the expense of the loss of the
important quality of exemption from twist and kinking that is to say at the
expense of the cohesiveness of the rope.
I have found by experience that kinking may be prevented and a great surface
exposed to friction by making ropes in which one only of the strands has the
wires spun in a lay opposite to the lay of the strands of the rope.
In the construction of a rope of six strands I spin the wires of one strand in a
Jay opposite to that of the strands of the Rope and of the remaining five strands
of the Rope I spin the wires in the same lay For example in a rope of which the
strands lie from right to left I spin the wires of one strand from left to right and
the wires of the remainder from right to left and vice versa.
In constructing this Rope I make this one strand the spin of which is opposite
to the lay of Rope less in size than the others by using a special core-wire slightly

page_text: smaller than the others and of an extra quality of material which brings the
crown head of that one strand on a level with the crown heads of the others
consequently it gets the same amount of friction and no more than the other
strands and thus no part of the rope will wear out earlier than the rest as might
otherwise be the case, and at the same time that strand with the opposite lay of
wires exercises its bending or cohesive influence upon the whole rope quite
sufficiently to prevent the rope opening or untwisting and to give entire immunity
from kinking.
I apply the same principle in the construction of a Rope of five or four strands
but in practice I find the rope of six strands as above described to he the most
successful.
I claim as my invention the construction of wire ropes of four or more strands
in such a manner that the lay of the wires in all the strands except one shall be
the same as the lay of the strands of the rope.