Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units

Claim 1

Apparatus for forming a core unit from telecommunications conductor units each formed of twisted together insulated conductors comprising, in a downstream direction along a passline for the conductor units: a position changing means for changing the positions of laterally spaced-apart conductor units across the passline and relative to other conductor units; conductor unit array forming means comprising at least two rollers having rotational axes one downstream from the other with opposed peripheral surfaces of the rollers spaced apart one on each side of the passline, each surface changing in diameter along its length with one surface having its smallest diameter and the other its largest diameter at a position intermediate its axial ends, the positions and configurations of the surfaces being such that together they are operable to position the conductor units in an array as the conductor units move towards, past and then beyond the rollers, the array extending in two planes in a section taken across the passline, the rollers enabling the conductor units to move across the array dependent upon the positional change caused by the position changing means; and a core unit forming means for causing convergence of the conductor units in the array to bring them together with the relative positions of the conductor units changing in the core unit as they extend along the core unit, each conductor unit extending around the axis of the core unit alternately in opposite directions as influenced by its movement across the array.

Claim 7

A method for forming a core unit from telecommunications conductor units each formed of twisted together insulated conductors, the method comprising: (a) moving a plurality of conductor units in laterally spaced relationship along a passline while:- moving the laterally spaced conductor units into an array across the passline, the array of controlled configuration extending in two planes in a section taken across the passline; and moving each conductor unit alternately in opposite directions across the passline independently of other units at a position upstream from the array so that each conductor unit moves alternately in opposite directions across the array and the conductor units move laterally relative to one another in the array; and (b) causing the conductor units in the array to converge as they continue along the passline so as to bring them together to form the core unit with the relative positions of the conductor units changing in the core unit as influenced by their relative positions in the array and with each conductor unit moving around the axis of the core unit alternately in opposite directions as it moves along the core unit as influenced by its movement across the array.

Claim 8

A method for forming a core unit from telecommunications conductor units each formed of twisted together insulated conductors, the method comprising: (a) moving a plurality of conductor units in laterally spaced relationship along a passline while:- moving the laterally spaced conductor units into an array across the passline, the array of controlled configuration extending in two planes in a section taken across the passline; and moving each conductor unit alternately in opposite directions across the passline independently of other units at a position upstream from the array so that each conductor unit moves alternately in opposite directions across the array and the conductor units move laterally relative to one another in the array; and (b) causing the conductor units in the array to converge as they continue along the passline so as to bring them together to form the core unit with the relative positions of the conductor units changing in the core unit as influenced by their relative positions in the array and with each conductor unit moving around the axis of the core unit alternately in opposite directions as it moves along the core unit as influenced by its movement across the array.