Patent ID: 7090162

Claim:
An apparatus for winding a fiber about a spool, comprising: a center shaft supported by a pair of support members, around which the spool is fitted to slide along the axis of the center shaft; a first winding disk arranged adjacent to a first end of the spool, the first winding disk adapted to rotate about the center shaft; a second winding disk arranged adjacent to a second end of the spool, the second winding disk adapted to rotate about the center shaft; a first reel adapted to be detachably mounted on the first winding disk, on which one half of the fiber is wound; a second reel adapted to be detachably mounted on the second winding disk, on which the other half of the fiber is wound, the second reel being spaced apart from the first reel by a predetermined interval when both reels are mounted on the winding disks; driving mechanism adapted to rotate first and second winding disks about the center shaft to wind the fiber about the spool; the driving mechanisms adapted to hold the second winding disk fixed until the one half of the fiber on the first reel has been wound about the spool by rotating the first winding disk to shift the spool by about the predetermined interval when the fiber is wound from the second end to the first end of the spool; and the driving mechanisms adapted to hold the first winding disk fixed until the other half of the fiber on the second reel has been wound about the spool by rotating the second winding disk to shift the spool by about the predetermined interval when the fiber is wound from the first end to the second end of the spool.