ROPE AND AGGREGATE ROPE

Abstract

 To provide a rope which is light in weight and flexible per se, resistant to invasion of sand granules and the like into strands thereof, and less prone to suffer fiber breakage caused by the sand granules nor to suffer per se inadvertent breakage under a small tensile load.
The rope includes: a core material formed by paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of yarns; and a filter material that covers a periphery of the core material and is comprised of a tubular woven fabric formed by weaving warp yarns and weft yarns.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to rope and aggregated rope. More particularly, the invention relates to rope and aggregated rope principally used on the sea for the purposes of mooring a marine vessel to a quay and anchoring an offshore structure to the sea bottom.

Background Art

[0002] Heretofore, mooring ropes of this type have been used. Many of such ropes are formed of fiber yarns simply twisted or braided together, as set forth in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.2002-264884 (Patent Literature 1).

[0003] However, such a rope may encounter the following problem when used under water. In the course of the use, gravels, sand granules, dirt and the like suspended in the water invade into the rope and strands constituting the rope.

[0004] If the rope in this state is repeatedly subjected to a tensile load, sand granules and the like abrade against the fiber yarns constituting the rope so that the rope is lowered in strength under heavy abrasion. In the worst case, the rope may be broken by a moderate degree of load.

[0005]  Since the above-described rope used on the sea, in particular, is required of high tensile strength, the rope is made of an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. However, with the sand granules and the like invaded in between the fibers, the rope may be damaged due to inter-fiber abrasion so as to be significantly decreased in strength.

[0006] It is contemplated to prevent the invasion of the sand granules and the like in-between the fibers by providing an impervious coating layer on the outer side of the rope, as suggested by Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.2014-31602 (Patent Literature 2). However, such a structure has such a thick coating layer as to make the rope rigid. Further, the structure allows little water invasion in between the fibers, making it difficult to adjust the specific gravity of the entire rope.

Citation List

Patent Literature

[0007] 

Patent Literature 1: JP-A No.2002-264884

Patent Literature 2: JP-A No.2014-31602

Summary of Invention

Technical Problem

[0008] In view of the foregoing, the invention has been accomplished and has an object to provide a rope which is light in weight and flexible per se, resistant to the invasion of sand granules and the like into the strands thereof, and less prone to suffer fiber breakage caused by the sand granules nor to suffer per se inadvertent breakage under a small tensile load. Solution to Problem

[0009]  According to an aspect of the invention, a rope includes: a core material formed by paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of yarns; and a filter material that covers a periphery of the core material and is comprised of a tubular woven fabric formed by weaving warp yarns and weft yarns.

[0010] According to another aspect of the invention, it is preferred that an outer side of the filter material is covered with a protective material comprised of a tubular woven or braid fabric. It is further preferred that the filter material is woven by a circular loom into a tubular configuration on an outer periphery of the core material.

[0011] It is further preferred that the tubular woven fabric has a total fineness of 130000 to 200000 dtex per square inch.

[0012] According to an aspect of the invention, an aggregated rope comprised of paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of the ropes of the invention.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0013] According to the invention, the filter material comprised of the tubular woven fabric covers the outer side of the core material, so as to filter out the gravels, sand granules, dirt and the like under water. The filter material prevents the invasion of the sand granules and the like into the strands of the rope. Thus, the rope is effectively prevented from suffering fiber breakage caused by the sand granules and the like or suffering per se an inadvertent breakage under a moderate degree of load.

[0014] Further, the filter material according to the invention is comprised of the tubular woven fabric formed by weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns into the tubular configuration. Therefore, the tubular woven fabric is much lighter in weight and much more flexible than the core material. The tubular woven fabric has little fear of becoming heavy or hard. Brief Description of Drawings

[0015] 

Fig.1 is a partially enlarged front view of a rope according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig.2 is a sectional view of the rope according to the embodiment of the invention; and

Fig.3 is a perspective view of a rope according to another embodiment of the invention.

Description of Embodiments

[0016] The present invention is described as below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig.1 and Fig.2 illustrate a rope 1 according to the invention. Indicated at 2 is a core material of the rope 1. Indicated at 3 is a filter material formed to cover an outer side of the core material 2.

[0017] The core material 2 is formed by twisting or braiding together strands 4, each of which is formed by twisting together a plurality of yarns. According to an embodiment shown in Fig.1, the rope is an eight strand cross rope but may also be a ten strand rope, a twelve strand rope or the like. Further, the rope may also be a two-strand twisted rope, a three-strand twisted rope, a four-strand twisted rope or the like.

[0018] As shown in Fig.3, the rope 1 may also be configured such that a plurality of paralleled yarns are used as the core material, and the filter material 3 is so arranged as to cover the outer side of this core material 2.

[0019]  Further, an alternative rope, however the illustration of which is omitted, may be configured such that a single strand is used as the core material while the filter material is arranged to cover the outer side of the core material consisting of the single strand. Such a rope is also usable as the rope of the invention.

[0020] A plurality of the above-described ropes, each of which includes a single strand as the core material and the filter material covering the outer side of the strand, are paralleled, twisted or braided. The paralleled, twisted or braided ropes are so as to be used as an aggregated rope. Examples of such an aggregated rope may include the followings. The rope shown in Fig.3 is used as the strand. Three of such strands are twisted together to form a three-strand twisted rope. Eight of such strands are braided together to form eight-strand cross rope.

[0021] Since the rope 1 of the invention is intended for mooring a heavy object in the sea, the fiber yarn constituting the above core material 2 may preferably employ a polyester fiber or an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber as the yarn constituting the core material 2. Such fibers have a relatively high strength.

[0022] The filter material 3 formed on the outer side of the core material 2 consists of a tubular woven fabric which includes annularly arranged warp yarns 5 and weft yarns 6 spirally woven into the warp yarns 5, as shown in the figure. The tubular woven fabric can be woven by a circular loom which weaves hoses and the like.

[0023]  The tubular woven fabric may preferably employ a spun yarn or bulky crimped textured yarn made of polyester fiber as the warp yarn 5 and weft yarn 6. The spun yarn with much fuzz and the crimped textured yarn are increased in bulkiness because of the fuzz and the crimped texture thereof. Therefore, the tubular woven fabric constituting from the spun yarn or crimped textured yarn has a weave texture prone to be closed and is suitable for use as the filter material. However, either of the warp yarn 5 and the weft yarn 6 may employ a filament yarn.

[0024] Accordingly, the above warp yarn 5 may properly employ a yarn (fineness equivalent to 1800 to 2400 dtex) made by twisting together 6 to 8 polyester fiber spun yarns having a yarn count of 20. It is proper to arrange 40 to 70 of such yarns per inch in width of the tubular woven fabric.

[0025] On the other hand, the weft yarn 6 may employ a yarn (fineness equivalent to 1800 to 2400 dtex) made by twisting together 6 to 8 polyester fiber spun yarns having a yarn count of 20. It is proper to make the tubular woven fabric by weaving 15 to 20 of such yarns per inch in length of the tubular woven fabric.

[0026] According to the invention, the filter material 3 comprised of the above tubular woven fabric is used for preventing the invasion of the sand granules into the core material 2. Therefore, the above tubular woven fabric needs to have a degree of fine texture. In terms of the total fineness of the warp yarn 5 and weft yarn 6 per one square inch of the tubular woven fabric, a proper fineness of the tubular woven fabric is in the range of 130000 to 200000 dtex.

[0027]  According to the invention, it is also preferred to cover the outer side of the filter material 3 with a protective material. The protective material may be a tubular woven fabric similar to the filter material 3. Otherwise, the protective material may consist of a tubular braid fabric. Further, the protective material may be somewhat pervious to the above-described sand granules and the like.

[0028] The protective material covering the filter material 3 is effective to protect the filter material 3 against damages due to abrasion and the like. The protective material can contribute to a more reliable function of the filter material 3 for protecting the core material 2. Further, the protective material can also cover the outer side of the above-described aggregated rope.

[0029] According to the invention, the outer side of the core material 2 is covered with the filter material 3 comprised of the tubular woven fabric. The filter material 3 filters out the gravels, sand granules, dirt and the like under water so as to prevent the invasion of the sand granules and the like into the strands 4 of the rope 1.

[0030] This eliminates the fear that the fibers constituting the rope 1 are damaged or broken by the sand granules and the like. Thus, a matter that the rope is inadvertently broken by a moderate degree of load is effectively prevented.

[0031] The filter material 3 according to the invention is comprised of the tubular woven fabric formed by weaving the warp yarns 5 and the weft yarns 6 into the tubular configuration. As compared with the core material 2 forming the thick rope, the tubular woven fabric is sufficiently light in weight and flexible. The tubular woven fabric has little fear of becoming heavy or hard when used as a floating rope 1.

[0032] The filter material 3 is comprised of the tubular woven fabric. Unlike the braid, therefore, the filter material has a stable structure that is less susceptible to yarn slippage when the rope 1 is bent or elongated. That is, the filter material is stable in the filtering function. Further, the tubular woven fabric can be easily formed on the outer side of the core material 2 by means of a circular loom.

Industrial Applicability

[0033] While the rope of the invention is suitable for use under water, the use thereof is not limited to this. The rope of the invention is quite useful as a measure against fugitive dust on the ground.

Reference Sings List

[0034] 

1:

rope

2:

core material

3:

filter material

4:

strand

5:

warp yarn

6:

weft yarn

Claims

1. A rope comprising:

a core material (2) formed by paralleling, twisting or

braiding a plurality of yarns; and

a filter material (3) that covers a periphery of the core material and is comprised of a tubular woven fabric formed by weaving warp yarns (5) and weft yarns (6).

2. The rope according to Claim 1, wherein
an outer side of the filter material (3) is covered with a protective material comprised of a tubular woven or braid fabric.

3. The rope according to Claim 1, wherein
the filter material (3) is woven by a circular loom into a tubular configuration on an outer periphery of the core material (2).

4. The rope according to Claim 1, wherein
the tubular woven fabric has a total fineness of 130000 to 200000 dtex per square inch.

5. An aggregated rope comprised of paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of the ropes according to Claim 1.

6. An aggregated rope comprised of paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of the ropes according to Claim 2.

7. An aggregated rope comprised of paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of the ropes according to Claim 3.

8. An aggregated rope comprised of paralleling, twisting or braiding a plurality of the ropes according to Claim 4.

9. The aggregated rope according to Claim 5, wherein an outer side of the aggregated rope is covered with a protective material comprised of a tubular woven or braid fabric.

10. The aggregated rope according to Claim 7, wherein an outer side of the aggregated rope is covered with a protective material comprised of a tubular woven or braid fabric.

11. The aggregated rope according to Claim 8, wherein an outer side of the aggregated rope is covered with a protective material comprised of a tubular woven or braid fabric.

Drawing