Patent ID: 8052412

Claim:
A spool winding assembly for winding a composite strip onto a spool having a hub, the composite strip including: an elongate plastic strip having a flat base portion and a plurality of laterally spaced apart lengthwise extending rib portions upstanding from the base portion on one surface of the plastic strip; and a plurality of elongate reinforcing members extending lengthwise within respective rib portions, the rib portions and the reinforcing members forming composite ribs, the spool winding assembly including: a main frame; a spool holder for rotatably supporting the spool relative to the main frame; a spool drive unit for driving the spool with respect to the main frame; a carriage mounted for lateral movement with respect to the spool; a bender mounted to the carriage configured to receive the composite strip as the composite strip is fed towards the hub of the spool during use and configured to deform the composite strip to give the composite strip a curved base portion; and a bender drive unit operably connected to the bender for driving the composite strip through the bender; wherein the bender comprises a bender frame; a pair of parallel spaced apart support rollers rotatably mounted to the bender frame, at least one of the support rollers defining a surface configured to contact the flat base portion from which the composite ribs extend, and further defining grooves configured to receive the composite ribs of the composite strip while the flat base portion contacts the surface of the support roller; and a set roller parallel to the support rollers, rotatably mounted to the bender frame and arranged to roll on a side of the base portion opposite the surface from which the composite ribs extend, the set roller positioned such that as the composite strip is driven between the support rollers and the set roller, the composite strip is deformed such that the composite strip exits the bender with a curved base portion.