Machine for winding hollow filaments

Claim 1

A machine for unwinding a filament from a spool and for winding a filament on a take-up reel in a controlled manner, said machine having: a body; spool-mounting means on said body for rotatably supporting a spool of filament to be unwound; take-up reel means rotatably mounted to said body for winding said filament thereon and having at least two radially-spaced support means thereon about which said filament is wound; guide means mounted to said body and positioned in relation to said spool-mounting means and take-up reel means for guiding a filament as it is wound on said take-up reel means; control means for moving the guide means to controllably position the guide means so that the filament is controllably wound and positioned on the take-up reel means; drive means for rotating said take-up reel means, wherein the improvement comprises: said filament being continuous, hollow and semipermeable and for use in a hollow fiber dialyzer, which dialyzer includes a plurality of substantially equal length open-ended fibers formed from said filament and having liquid flow paths about the fibers thereof; said machine being adapted to apply said filament to said take-up reel means in a manner so as to assure the provision of liquid flow paths, wherein said guide means include an elongated arm having a rearward end pivotally secured with respect to said body and a movable forward end with filament guide elements mounted thereto; reciprocable rod means are provided and are secured at one end to said arm at a position intermediate the ends of said arm and cooperatively associated at the other end with said control means; and said control means for moving said arm, being cooperatively associated with said take-up reel means, and being shaped and constructed to oscillate said arm at a rate, related to the rate of rotation of the take-up reel means, and effective to prevent close packing of adjacent filament windings while also assuring loose and controlled winding of said filament.