Forming an eye end termination on a rope

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of forming an eye end termination on a rope having a core comprising a plurality of multi-strand subropes, and a rope having a core comprising a plurality of multi-strand subropes and at least one eye end termination. In one embodiment, a method of forming an eye end termination ( 16 ) on a rope ( 10 ) having a core ( 12 ) is disclosed. The rope comprises a plurality of multi-strand subropes ( 14 ) each of a first strength, and the method comprising the steps of: coupling a pair of subropes ( 14 ) in the rope core ( 12 ) together using a multi-strand coupling rope ( 18 ) of a second strength which is greater than said first strength, to thereby form at least part of the eye end termination ( 16 ). The step of coupling the pair of subropes ( 14 ) together comprises splicing a first portion of a coupling rope ( 18 ) to one of the subropes in the pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in the pair of subropes.

1 . A method of forming an eye end termination on a rope having a core comprising a plurality of multi-strand subropes each of a first strength, the method comprising the step of:
 coupling a pair of subropes in the rope core together using a multi-strand coupling rope of second strength which is greater than said first strength, to thereby form at least part of an eye end termination;   wherein the step of coupling the pair of subropes together comprises splicing a first portion of the coupling rope to one of the subropes in the pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in the pair of subropes.   
     
     
         2 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method is a method of forming an eye end termination on a rope in which the number of coupling ropes extending around a perimeter of and forming at least part of the eye end termination is less than the number of subropes in the rope core. 
     
     
         3 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the coupling of the pair of subropes together using the coupling rope involves forming a loop comprising the coupling rope and parts of the first and second subropes in the subrope pair to which the coupling rope is spliced, which loop forms at least part of the eye end termination. 
     
     
         4 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method comprises the steps of:
 coupling a first pair of subropes in the rope core together using a first multi-strand coupling rope, to thereby form part of an eye end termination; and coupling at least one further pair of subropes in the rope core together using at least one further multi-strand coupling rope, to thereby form a further part of the eye end termination.   
     
     
         5 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the step of coupling the first pair of subropes together comprises splicing a first portion of the first coupling rope to one of the subropes in the first pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the first coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in the first pair of subropes. 
     
     
         6 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the step of coupling the at least one further pair of subropes together comprises splicing a first portion of the at least one further coupling rope to one of the subropes in the at least one further pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the at least one further coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in the at least one further pair of subropes. 
     
     
         7 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising forming an eye end termination on a rope having a rope core comprising a first array of subropes and at least one further array of subropes, the or each said further array of subropes located radially outwardly of a preceding array. 
     
     
         8 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
 coupling a pair of subropes in a first array of the rope core together using a first multi-strand coupling rope, to thereby form part of an eye end termination; and coupling a pair of subropes in at least one further array of the rope core together using at least one further multi-strand coupling rope, to thereby form a further part of the eye end termination.   
     
     
         9 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the step of coupling the pair of subropes in the first rope core array together comprises splicing a first portion of the first coupling rope to one of the subropes in said pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the first coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in said pair of subropes. 
     
     
         10 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein the step of coupling the pair of subropes in the at least one further array comprises splicing a first portion of the at least one further coupling rope to one of the subropes in said pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the at least one further coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in said pair of subropes. 
     
     
         11 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein one or more of the arrays of subropes in the rope core comprises a plurality of pairs of subropes, and the method comprises the steps of:
 coupling a first pair of subropes in at least one of the arrays of the rope core together using a first multi-strand coupling rope, to thereby form part of an eye end termination; and coupling at least one further pair of subropes in said array of the rope core together using at least one further multi-strand coupling rope, to thereby form a further part of the eye end termination.   
     
     
         12 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the step of coupling the first pair of subropes in said array together comprises splicing a first portion of the first coupling rope to one of the subropes in the first pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the first coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in the first pair of subropes. 
     
     
         13 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the step of coupling the at least one further pair of subropes in said array together comprises splicing a first portion of the at least one further coupling rope to one of the subropes in the at least one further pair of subropes, and splicing a second portion of the at least one further coupling rope to the other one of the subropes in the at least one further pair of subropes. 
     
     
         14 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising coupling each subrope in the rope core to another subrope in the core using a coupling rope. 
     
     
         15 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising coupling a plurality of pairs of subropes of the rope core together using respective coupling ropes, and arranging the coupling ropes to form overlapping rope layers of the eye end termination. 
     
     
         16 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 15 , comprising coupling at least two pairs of subropes in the rope core together using respective coupling ropes and arranging said coupling ropes in a first layer; and coupling at least two further pairs of subropes in the rope core together using respective further coupling ropes and arranging said coupling ropes in a second layer located around the first layer. 
     
     
         17 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method is a method of forming an eye end termination having at least two separate loops. 
     
     
         18 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the method comprises forming an eye end termination having an even number of loops. 
     
     
         19 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein each loop of the eye end termination is formed by coupling a plurality of pairs of subropes in the rope core together using respective multi-strand coupling ropes. 
     
     
         20 . A method of forming an eye end termination as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the method comprises the steps of:
 coupling at least one pair of subropes in the rope core together using a multi-strand coupling rope to thereby form at least part of a first loop of the eye end termination; and   coupling at least one further pair of subropes in the rope core together using a multi-strand coupling rope to thereby form at least part of a further loop of the eye end termination, said further loop being separate from the first loop.   
     
     
         21 . A rope comprising a core having a plurality of multi-strand subropes and at least one eye end termination;
 wherein the eye end termination comprises at least one multi-strand coupling rope having a first portion spliced to one of a pair of subropes in the rope core and a second portion spliced to the other one of the subropes in the pair of subropes; and   wherein the subropes are of a first strength and the coupling rope is of a second strength which is greater than said first strength.   
     
     
         22 . A rope as claimed in  claim 21 , wherein the coupling rope is of a second strength which is at least 1.5 times greater than a first strength of the subrope material. 
     
     
         23 . A rope as claimed in  claim 21 , wherein the coupling rope comprises a plurality of yarns, each coupling rope yarn being of a material having a tenacity which is at least about 1900 mN/tex. 
     
     
         24 . A rope as claimed in  claim 21 , wherein each subrope comprises a plurality of yarns, each subrope yarn being of a material having a tenacity which is no more than about 900 mN/tex. 
     
     
         25 . A rope as claimed in  claim 21 , wherein the eye end termination has at least two separate loops. 
     
     
         26 . A rope as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein each loop of the eye end termination comprises a plurality of pairs of core subropes coupled together using respective multi-strand coupling ropes.