Method of preparing glass strand and novel glass strand packages

Claim 1

A method of winding glass strand comprising drawing a plurality of glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means, gathering said filaments into a strand, passing the strand so formed through a tension reducing zone to reduce tension thereon, passing the strand through a fluid turbulence means wherein a gaseous fluid is introduced perpendicular to the path of strand travel and tangential to the curved wall of the means to thereby microtraverse the strand and also produce a rounded strand and winding the strand on winding surface as it emerges from said fluid turbulence means at a high speed and in traversing relation to the winding surface.

Claim 2

A method of winding glass strand comprising drawing a plurality of glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means, gathering said filaments into a strand, passing the strand so formed through a tension reducing zone to reduce tension thereon, passing the strand through a fluid turbulence means wherein a gaseous fluid is introduced perpendicular to the path of strand travel and tangential to the curved wall of the means to thereby microtraverse the strand and also produce a rounded strand and winding the strand on winding surface as it emerges from said fluid turbulence means at a high speed and in traversing relation to the winding surface.

Claim 3

A method of winding fiber glass strand comprising drawing glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means, gathering said filaments into a strand, passing said strand over a godet to impart a thrust to the strand thereby reducing tension carried by the drawing force, introducing the tension reduced strand through a fluid turbulence means, passing a gaseous fluid at high speed tangential to the curved wall of the means and at high velocity to thereby microtraverse the strand and also produce a rounded strand and winding the strand on a rotating surface at high speed as it emerges from said fluid turbulence means while further traversing the strand across the winding surface by relative movement with the winding surface.

Claim 4

A method of winding fiber glass strand comprising drawing glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means, gathering said filaments into a strand, passing said strand over a godet to impart a thrust to the strand thereby reducing tension carried by the drawing force, introducing the tension reduced strand through a fluid turbulence means, passing a gaseous fluid at high speed tangential to the curved wall of the means and at high velocity to thereby microtraverse the strand and also produce a rounded strand and winding the strand on a rotating surface at high speed as it emerges from said fluid turbulence means while further traversing the strand across the winding surface by relative movement with the winding surface.

Claim 5

A method of forming glass fiber strand comprising drawing a plurality of glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means, contacting said filaments with an applicator to apply a size thereto, gathering said filaments into a strand, tension reducing said strand, passing the tension reduced strand into a fluid turbulence means, passing a gaseous fluid at a high velocity tangential to the curved wall of the fluid turbulence means to impart a false twist to said strand and create a curvilinear wave form in said strand and also microtraverse the strand and winding the strand immediately upon emergence from said fluid turbulence means on the surface of a winding collet at high speed while in proximity to said means to thereby further traverse the strand across the winding surface.

Claim 6

A method of forming glass fiber strand comprising drawing a plurality of glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means, contacting said filaments with an applicator to apply a size thereto, gathering said filaments into a strand, tension reducing said strand, passing the tension reduced strand into a fluid turbulence means, passing a gaseous fluid at a high velocity tangential to the curved wall of the fluid turbulence means to impart a false twist to said strand and create a curvilinear wave form in said strand and also microtraverse the strand and winding the strand immediately upon emergence from said fluid turbulence means on the surface of a winding collet at high speed while in proximity to said means to thereby further traverse the strand across the winding surface.

Claim 7

A method of preparing several packages of fiber glass strand simultaneously comprising drawing a plurality of filaments from each of several molten glass feeding means from a unitary attenuator winding means, gathering the plurality of filaments from each molten glass feeding means into a strand, passing each strand so formed through a separate tension reducing zone and reducing the tension thereon, passing each strand from said tension reducing zones into a separate fluid turbulence means for each strand, passing a high velocity gaseous fluid tangential to the curved wall of each of said fluid turbulence means to impart a curvilinear wave and a false twist to each of said strands and also microtraverse the strands, removing each of said strands from each of said means and winding each strand on a separate surface associated with a reciprocating rotating high speed winder in proximity to the fluid turbulence means to thereby further traverse each of the strands across the length of the surface associated therewith during winding.

Claim 8

A method of preparing several packages of fiber glass strand simultaneously comprising drawing a plurality of filaments from each of several molten glass feeding means from a unitary attenuator winding means, gathering the plurality of filaments from each molten glass feeding means into a strand, passing each strand so formed through a separate tension reducing zone and reducing the tension thereon, passing each strand from said tension reducing zones into a separate fluid turbulence means for each strand, passing a high velocity gaseous fluid tangential to the curved wall of each of said fluid turbulence means to impart a curvilinear wave and a false twist to each of said strands and also microtraverse the strands, removing each of said strands from each of said means and winding each strand on a separate surface associated with a reciprocating rotating high speed winder in proximity to the fluid turbulence means to thereby further traverse each of the strands across the length of the surface associated therewith during winding.

Claim 9

A method of forming fiber glass strand comprising drawing glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means at high speeds, applying moisture to said filaments, gathering said filaments into strand, passing said strand over a surface that moves the strand at a speed in excess of the speed of a winding means used for attenuating and winding said strand to thereby reduce the tension in said strand, passing the strand into a high fluid turbulence means, contracting the wall of said fluid turbulence means tangentially with a gaseous fluid to thereby impart a curvilinear wave and microtraverse to the strand and also produce a rounded strand and winding said strand on a rotating winding surface in proximity to the fluid turbulence means to thereby further traverse the strand as the strand emerges from said high fluid turbulence means.

Claim 10

A method of forming fiber glass strand comprising drawing glass filaments from a molten glass feeding means at high speeds, applying moisture to said filaments, gathering said filaments into strand, passing said strand over a surface that moves the strand at a speed in excess of the speed of a winding means used for attenuating and winding said strand to thereby reduce the tension in said strand, passing the strand into a high fluid turbulence means, contracting the wall of said fluid turbulence means tangentially with a gaseous fluid to thereby impart a curvilinear wave and microtraverse to the strand and also produce a rounded strand and winding said strand on a rotating winding surface in proximity to the fluid turbulence means to thereby further traverse the strand as the strand emerges from said high fluid turbulence means.