Production of high soft stretch tapes of reinforcing cords for molded elastomeric articles

Claim 1

Apparatus for making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used ih building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, said tape as made including at least one reinforcing cord having a multiplicity of undulations therein which in any given straight length of the tape are substantially planar, and relatively weak tying means secured to said cord and releasably holding the same in the undulating state thereof; said apparatus comprising: A. an undulating and tying device operable upon feeding of said cord and said tying means thereinto to transform the same into the desired tape, said device including 1. means for reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device, thereby to form said multiplicity of undulations in said cord, and 2. means for continuously securing said relatively weak tying means to said cord coextensively therewith at said undulations thereof; B. means arranged effectively in advance of the cord entry location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location to said undulating and tying device; C. means arranged effectively behind the tape exit location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said tape away from the latter in a slip-free manner; and D. means for driving both said feeding means in predetermined synchronism with one another and the driven elements of said undulating and tying device, thereby to ensure that said tape has the desired stretch ratio imparted thereto.

Claim 38

The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. providing at least one reinforcing cord; B. continuously advancing said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location thereof to an undulating and tying device; C. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in said cord; D. concurrently advancing a relatively weak tying means into said undulating and tying device and securing said tying means to respective portions of said cord at said undulations thereof so as releasably to hold said cord in the undulating state thereof, thereby forming said cord into the desired tape; and E. continuously advancing said tape away from said undulating and tying device in a slip-free manner and at a controlled speed synchronized with the speed of advance of said cord and with the operation of said undulating and tying device.

Claim 39

The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. providing at least one reinforcing cord; B. continuously advancing said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location thereof to an undulating and tying device; C. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in said cord; D. concurrently advancing a relatively weak tying means into said undulating and tying device and securing said tying means to respective portions of said cord at said undulations thereof so as releasably to hold said cord in the undulating state thereof, thereby forming said cord into the desired tape; and E. continuously advancing said tape away from said undulating and tying device in a slip-free manner and at a controlled speed synchronized with the speed of advance of said cord and with the operation of said undulating and tying device.

Claim 44

The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. providing a plurality of sets of relatively low numbers of individual reinforcing cords; B. continuously first advancing all of said cords in a group along a common path of travel and in side by side relation from a supply location past a weakening device, and thereafter advancing those cords in each individual set along respective paths of travel of different lengths to an undulating and tying device; C. intermittently and repeatedly activating said weakening device, while said cords are being advanced past the same, to subject all cord portions which at each such activation are at said weakening device to a simultaneous weakening action, for forming in each of said cords a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions each having a residual tensile strength between about 5 percent and about 20 percent of the full tensile strength of that cord, whereby the simultaneously formed weakened portions of said cords in each set are first in lateral aliGnment with one another across the width of that set and are then, by virtue of said different lengths of said respective paths of travel for said cords in each set from said weakening device to said undulating and tying device, shifted relative to one another longitudinally of said cords within each set so as to be out of lateral alignment with one another in that set; D. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cords of each set relative to their paths of travel through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in each cord, with the instantaneous deflections of adjacent cords of each set being in opposite directions to place the laterally adjacent ones of each simultaneously formed series of said undulations in each set out of phase with one another; E. concurrently advancing respective relatively weak tying means for each set of cords into said undulating and tying device and securing each tying means to its respective set of undulated cords, to tie the latter to one another and hold them in their undulating state, thereby forming said sets of cords into respective substantially identical relatively low cord number sub-tapes; F. continuously advancing said sub-tapes from said undulating and tying device to a joining device along respective paths of travel of different lengths so as to shift said weakened cord portions of each sub-tape as a group longitudinally of that sub-tape relative to and out of lateral alignment with the corresponding weakened cord portions of each other sub-tape; G. bringing said sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other at said joining device, thereby forming a relatively higher cord number final tape; H. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll preparatory to use in a building operation; and I. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

Claim 45

The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. providing a plurality of sets of relatively low numbers of individual reinforcing cords; B. continuously first advancing all of said cords in a group along a common path of travel and in side by side relation from a supply location past a weakening device, and thereafter advancing those cords in each individual set along respective paths of travel of different lengths to an undulating and tying device; C. intermittently and repeatedly activating said weakening device, while said cords are being advanced past the same, to subject all cord portions which at each such activation are at said weakening device to a simultaneous weakening action, for forming in each of said cords a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions each having a residual tensile strength between about 5 percent and about 20 percent of the full tensile strength of that cord, whereby the simultaneously formed weakened portions of said cords in each set are first in lateral aliGnment with one another across the width of that set and are then, by virtue of said different lengths of said respective paths of travel for said cords in each set from said weakening device to said undulating and tying device, shifted relative to one another longitudinally of said cords within each set so as to be out of lateral alignment with one another in that set; D. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cords of each set relative to their paths of travel through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in each cord, with the instantaneous deflections of adjacent cords of each set being in opposite directions to place the laterally adjacent ones of each simultaneously formed series of said undulations in each set out of phase with one another; E. concurrently advancing respective relatively weak tying means for each set of cords into said undulating and tying device and securing each tying means to its respective set of undulated cords, to tie the latter to one another and hold them in their undulating state, thereby forming said sets of cords into respective substantially identical relatively low cord number sub-tapes; F. continuously advancing said sub-tapes from said undulating and tying device to a joining device along respective paths of travel of different lengths so as to shift said weakened cord portions of each sub-tape as a group longitudinally of that sub-tape relative to and out of lateral alignment with the corresponding weakened cord portions of each other sub-tape; G. bringing said sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other at said joining device, thereby forming a relatively higher cord number final tape; H. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll preparatory to use in a building operation; and I. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

Claim 46

The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' relatively high cord number reinforcing cord tape to be used in building reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. warp knitting a plurality of relatively weak, frangible stitching yarns into a plurality of disconnected single chains of loops each one wale wide by lapping each of a plurality of single threaders each guiding a respective single stitching yarn around a respective single knitting needle in a 1-0/0-1 pattern; B. concurrently shuttling the cords of each of a respective plurality of reinforcing cords reciprocally across each needle path, thereby to form a multiplicity of generally planar undulations in each of such cords and simultaneously lay the same into said loops of the associated stitching yarn so as to form a respective relatively low cord number sub-tape; C. advancing said cords from a supply location to the warp knitting and laying in location in a slip-free manner by passing said cords about a driven first metering roll having a high-friction exterior surface; D. advancing said sub-tapes from said warp knitting and laying in location to a joining device by passing said sub-tapes about a second driven metering roll having a high friction exterior surface; E. at said joining device bringing at least two of such sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other so as to form a relatively high cord number final tape; F. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll; and G. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

Claim 47

The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' relatively high cord number reinforcing cord tape to be used in building reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. warp knitting a plurality of relatively weak, frangible stitching yarns into a plurality of disconnected single chains of loops each one wale wide by lapping each of a plurality of single threaders each guiding a respective single stitching yarn around a respective single knitting needle in a 1-0/0-1 pattern; B. concurrently shuttling the cords of each of a respective plurality of reinforcing cords reciprocally across each needle path, thereby to form a multiplicity of generally planar undulations in each of such cords and simultaneously lay the same into said loops of the associated stitching yarn so as to form a respective relatively low cord number sub-tape; C. advancing said cords from a supply location to the warp knitting and laying in location in a slip-free manner by passing said cords about a driven first metering roll having a high-friction exterior surface; D. advancing said sub-tapes from said warp knitting and laying in location to a joining device by passing said sub-tapes about a second driven metering roll having a high friction exterior surface; E. at said joining device bringing at least two of such sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other so as to form a relatively high cord number final tape; F. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll; and G. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.