Patent ID: 7082722

Claim:
A method of making at least one elongate spindle member having rigidity and stability against pressure and tensile loads as well as bending and torsional loads, whereby said spindle member acts between two objects, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of mutually interlocking chain links ( 1 , 12 ), said chain links each being formed with a substantially circular curvature on an exterior side thereof and including associated engagement means for mutual interlocking of the chain links, drivingly connecting said chain links to a rotatable driving device ( 3 , 4 ; 15 , 26 ) arranged in at least one winding guide ( 14 ) connected with one of said two objects, operating said driving device to rotate said chain links in said winding guide, said winding guide guiding said chain links to form at least one helical winding ( 5 , 16 ) which forms said elongate spindle member and advancing said spindle member along a longitudinal axis thereof, wherein each of the chain links in said elongate spindle member is interconnected and retained in engagement by its associated engagement means with at least one neighboring chain link of said plurality of chain links in the same turn of said elongate spindle member as well as an adjacent chain link of said plurality of chain links in at least one neighboring turn of said elongate spindle member, and coupling the helical winding with the other of said two objects by a coupling member ( 6 , 18 ).