Manufacture of woven wire tire cord fabric

Claim 2

In the method of making a woven wire tire cord fabric composed of metal wire tire cords extending in the warp direction and continuous filament picks; the improvement comprising the steps of: A. advancing said wire tire cords into a loom through the nip between a high friction surfaced driven first feed roll and a first pressure roll biased thereagainst; B. interweaving said picks with said wire tire cords in said loom at relatively wide spacings of about one-eighth to about 1 inch between adjacent picks; C. advancing the resultant woven wire tire cord fabric from said loom to a take-up station through the nip between a high friction surfaced driven second feed roll and a second pressure roll biased thereagainst; D. winding said woven wire tire cord fabric onto a center-driven take-up roll at said take-up station; and E. maintaining said wire tire cords, during the advance thereof from their entry into said loom to their arrival as warps of said woven wire tire cord fabric at said take-up station, under a substantially constant, uniform tension of between about 0.9 and 1.7 lbs./end.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, wherein the driving torque applied to said take-up roll is approximately twice as high as the driving torque applied to said second feed roll.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1, wherein said picks are spaced about 1/2 inch apart.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3, wherein said picks are mono-filamentary in nature.

Claim 6

The method of claim 3, wherein said picks are multi-filamentary in nature.

Claim 7

The method of claim 3, wherein said picks are made of a synthetic textile fiber material.

Claim 8

In an apparatus for making a woven wire tire cord fabric and including a loom for interweaving a plurality of metal wire tire cords extending in the warp direction with continuous filament picks; the improvement comprising: A. first driven roll means positioned in front of said loom for feeding said wire tire cords to said loom, said first roll means including a series of first rolls each having a high friction surface to minimize slippage between said wire tire cords and said first rolls; B. a first pressure roll juxtaposed to and biased against the first in said series of said first rolls to define a nip for passage of said wire tire cords therethrough; C. fabric take-up means positioned behind said loom and including driven rotatable means for axially supporting the core of a take-up roll for said woven wire tire cord fabric; D. second driven roll means positioned intermediate the fabric let-off end of said loom and said take-up means for feeding said woven wire tire cord fabric to said take-up means, said second roll means including a series of second rolls each having a high friction surface to minimize slippage between said wire tire cords and said second rolls; and E. a second pressure roll juxtaposed to and biased against the last in said series of said second rolls to define a nip for passage of said woven wire tire cord fabric therethrough; F. the respective drives of said first and second roll means and said take-up means being constructed and arranged to ensure maintenance of a substantially constant, uniform tension of between about 0.9 and about 1.7 lbs./end on said wire tire cords from their entry into said loom to their arrival as the warps of said woven wire tire cord fabric at said take-up means.

Claim 9

In an apparatus for making a woven wire tire cord fabric and including a loom for interweaving a plurality of metal wire tire cords extending in the warp direction with continuous filament picks; the improvement comprising: A. first driven roll means positioned in front of said loom for feeding said wire tire cords to said loom, said first roll means including a series of first rolls each having a high friction surface to minimize slippage between said wire tire cords and said first rolls; B. a first pressure roll juxtaposed to and biased against the first in said series of said first rolls to define a nip for passage of said wire tire cords therethrough; C. fabric take-up means positioned behind said loom and including driven rotatable means for axially supporting the core of a take-up roll for said woven wire tire cord fabric; D. second driven roll means positioned intermediate the fabric let-off end of said loom and said take-up means for feeding said woven wire tire cord fabric to said take-up means, said second roll means including a series of second rolls each having a high friction surface to minimize slippage between said wire tire cords and said second rolls; and E. a second pressure roll juxtaposed to and biased against the last in said series of said second rolls to define a nip for passage of said woven wire tire cord fabric therethrough; F. the respective drives of said first and second roll means and said take-up means being constructed and arranged to ensure maintenance of a substantially constant, uniform tension of between about 0.9 and about 1.7 lbs./end on said wire tire cords from their entry into said loom to their arrival as the warps of said woven wire tire cord fabric at said take-up means.

Claim 10

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said respective drives comprise a variable speed motor for driving said first roll means, a first variable torque motor for driving sAid second roll means, and a second variable torque motor for driving said rotatable means of said take-up means.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second variable torque motor provides a torque output approximately twice as high as that provided by said first variable torque motor.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said variable speed motor is connected to the last in the series of said first rolls, and said first variable torque motor is connected to the last in the series of said second rolls.

Claim 13

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said first pressure roll is biased to exert a force between about 0.13 and about 0.51 lb./end, and said second pressure roll is biased to exert a force between about 0.22 and about 0.33 lb./end.