1. A process for laying fiber bands of filaments to form fiber arrangements via changeably moveable weft layers or diagonal layers composed of fiber bands that are stretched in different laying directions between two transport chains equipped with guide hooks and retainer needles, said process comprising:
individually spreading the fiber bands, which are guided by guide elements of the weft layer or diagonal layer, crosswise over both transport chains;
depositing the fiber bands onto the transport chains;
forming into each of the fiber bands a direction change fold that has a lower strand, an upper strand and an apex, wherein a start of the lower strands and an end of the upper strands of the direction change folds are fixed in gaps between the guide hooks;
the formation of the direction change fold comprising:
executing a racking for the fiber bands in a direction change phase of the weft layer or diagonal layer; and
spreading out and hanging next to one another the apexes of the change direction folds into a row of retainer needles arranged close together and mainly directed horizontally outwards, wherein the retainer needles are wrapped through lowering and raising of the guide elements to fix the apexes of the change direction folds; and
the formation of the upper strands of the direction change folds of a group comprising:
inwardly moving a spreading edge of a stitch spreader, which is aligned parallel to a movement direction of the transport chains, from an outside position to directly above the retainer needles, such that the inward movement is crosswise to the movement direction of the transport chains and fixes the apexes in the gaps between the retaining needles; and
moving the guide elements of the weft layers or diagonal layers, such that the upper strands are formed between the retainer needles and the guide elements of the weft layers or diagonal layers, wherein, during the execution of the racking, a width of the fiber bands is reduced, and, during the formation of the upper strand, the reduced width of the fiber bands is enlarged; and
guiding cross sections of the upper strands of the direction change folds parallel to a plane of the retainer needles while generally keeping the sections of the fiber bands between the spreader edge and the guide elements pinned.
2. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the fiber arrangement is conveyed to a pretreatment station.
3. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the fiber bands are composed of endless flat fiber bands.
4. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the fiber bands are guided in a guide element aligned perpendicular to a preset laying direction.
5. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the guide element for each fiber band is arranged to cross the row of guide hooks of the transport chain.
6. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the spreader edge is guided closely above the row of retainer needles in a positive manner from below and in an elastic manner from above, and the formation of the upper strand further comprises moving the guide elements over the row of guide hooks while the fiber bands are braked on the transport chain between the spreader edge and a surface located at a distance in front of the row of guide hooks.
7. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the start of the lower strand and the end of the upper strand of the direction change fold are fixed in the gaps between the needles of two rows of guide hooks immediately adjacent to one another.
8. The process in accordance with claim 1, wherein each individual fiber band, independent of the other fiber bands of the group, is guided in the feed direction in front of the respective guide elements on the diagonal layer or weft layer across the width of the fiber bands under uniform tension and parallel to the respective guide element.
9. An apparatus for laying fiber bands of filaments to form fiber arrangements, comprising:
a pair of endless moveable transport chains equipped with a double row of essentially vertically oriented needle-shaped guide hooks and with a row of retainer needles essentially horizontally oriented and arranged such that the mountings of the retaining needles are lower than foot sections of the guide hooks, wherein said retainer needles are oriented outward for guiding and fixing direction change folds,
guide elements for at least one weft layer andor diagonal layer aligned perpendicularly to a laying direction of the fiber bands between said transport chains, which are structured and arranged to guide endless fiber bands;
at least one creel with bobbins arranged to unwind tangentially to supply groups of fiber bands per weft layer andor diagonal layer;
at least one stitch spreader structured and arranged to be guided and controlled outside said transport chains being assigned to each transport chain for each weft layer andor diagonal layer;
each said stitch spreader is structured and arranged to be guided in a displaceable manner generally within a customary movement area of said guide elements of the weft layer andor diagonal layer and crosswise to a movement direction of said transport chains;
each said stitch spreader comprises a spreader edge aligned parallel to said transport chains that is movable from outside said assigned transport chain and over said retainer needles up to an area of said mountings; and
each said stitch spreader being structured to extend over an area of the direction change folds of the fiber bands.
10. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein said rows of guide hooks and said row of retainer needles have a density of 15 to 30 needles per inch.
11. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein said needles of at least one of said two rows of guide hooks and said retainer needles have a flattened cross-section.
12. The apparatus in accordance with claim 11, wherein said flattened cross-section is oriented such that a largest extension is arranged crosswise to the movement direction of said transport chains.
13. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein the weft layer andor diagonal layer comprises guide devices composed of at least one of separate guide pins and dowel pins, such that guide surfaces of said guide devices are parallelly aligned with the guide elements.
14. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein said creels have at least one collarless deflection roller which is arranged at a distance of at least four bobbin widths behind a previous unwinding point.
15. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein at least one of conveyor or feed rollers and tension rolls have a polygonal cross-section in a band storage of the fiber bands.
16. The process of laying fiber bands of filaments between transport chains, comprising:
guiding a filament from a first transport chain to a second transport chain;
fixing the fiber band at the second transport chain;
pulling the fiber band in a direction parallel to the second transport chain;
lowering fiber band to a position below a retaining needle;
pulling the fiber band in a direction parallel to the second transport chain while in a position below the retaining needle;
lifting the fiber band to a position above the retaining needle;
holding a portion of the fiber band at the second transport chain; and
while holding the portion of the fiber band at the second transport chain, moving the fiber band toward the first transport chain.
17. The process in accordance with claim 16, wherein the second transport chain comprises a row of retaining needles that includes the retaining needle, and wherein the lowering of the fiber band, the pulling of the fiber band while below the retaining needle, and the lifting of the fiber band fixes the fiber band to the row of retaining needles.
18. The process in accordance with claim 16, wherein the second transport chain comprises a double row of guide hooks, and the fiber band is fixed at the second transport chain by the double row of guide hooks.
19. The process in accordance with claim 16, wherein a stitch spreader having a spreader edge is arranged to move in a direction crosswise to a length of the transport chains, and the spreader edge is moved to hold the portion of the fiber band at the second transport chain.
20. The process in accordance with claim 16, wherein the fiber band is guided by a guide element oriented perpendicularly to the retaining needle and movable along a length of the transport chain, crosswise to the transport chain, and vertically.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer installation for the management of a set of files, comprising a network including at least a server and a workstation that is provided with a display peripheral and a control peripheral, each of said set of files being recorded on said server andor on said workstation, said installation further comprising a graphical user interface that is adapted to:
display on said workstation display peripheral, at least one virtual space (1) as well as a first icon (2) that represents one file (A) of the set of files, called the first file, said first icon (2) being placed within said virtual space (1); and
enable a user of said workstation to control, by interaction of the control peripheral with said first icon (2) and without said first file (A) being open, the display on said display peripheral of a first interactive tool (3) enabling said user to record on said server the existence of a link between said first file (A) and at least another one of said files of the set of files, called the second file (B), said recording of the existence of said link being adapted to last independently of the subsequent location of said first icon (2) within said virtual space (1).
2. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said graphical user interface is adapted to enable a user of said workstation to control, by interaction of the control peripheral with said first icon (2), the display on said display peripheral of an information window adapted to inform said user of the possible existence of said link.
3. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said first interactive tool (3) includes a first input area (5) enabling said user to input and record on said server information relating to the nature of said link.
4. The computer installation according to one of claims 1, wherein said workstation is equipped with an operating system implementing a directory tree hierarchy, said installation including an import directory that is part of said directory tree hierarchy, said graphical user interface being adapted to enable said user to control said display of said first interactive tool (3) by moving said first file (A) to said import directory.
5. The computer installation according to claim 4, wherein said graphical user interface is adapted, one the one hand, to display, on said display peripheral, an import window (4) representing said import directory, and on the other hand, to enable said user to control said display of said first interactive tool (3) by moving said first icon (2) to said import window (4) by means of said control peripheral.
6. The computer installation according to claim 4, wherein said installation is adapted to duplicate the files contained in said import directory on the server, and to perform a synchronization of said files.
7. The computer installation according to claim 4, wherein said graphical user interface is adapted to modify the visual aspect of said first icon (2) when said first file (A) is moved for the first time in the import directory.
8. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said first interactive tool (3) comprises at least one list (6) of a group of files belonging to said set of files, said group including said second file (B), said graphical user interface being adapted to enable a user to select within said list (6) at least said second file (B), in order to record on said server the existence of said link between said first file (A) and second file (B).
9. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said first interactive tool (3) includes a second input area enabling said user to input and record, on said server, keywords relating to said first file.
10. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said first interactive tool (3) is adapted to display at least one list of metadata (8, 9, 0), and to enable the user to select within said list (8, 9, 0) at least one metadata item, in order to record on said server the allocation of said metadata item to said first file (A).
11. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said graphical user interface is adapted to display in said virtual space (1) a launching pictogram (11) of said first interactive tool (3), and to enable said user to control, by interaction of the control peripheral with said pictogram (11), the display on said display peripheral of said first interactive tool (3).
12. The computer installation according to claim 1, wherein said graphical user interface is adapted to display on said display peripheral a graphical representation of said link, said graphical representation including at least a first and a second pictograms (13, 14) representing said first and second files (A, B), respectively, as well as an elongated element (15) extending between said first and second pictograms (13, 4) to graphically symbolize the existence of said link.
13. The computer installation according to claim 12, wherein said graphical user interface is adapted to enable said user to control, by interaction of the control peripheral with at least said first pictogram, the display on said display peripheral of a second interactive tool (16) enabling said user to record on said server the existence of said link.
14. The computer installation according to claim 12, said installation comprising a means for identifying said user in order to control the access of the latter to said graphical representation.
15. The computer installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said graphical user interface is adapted to display on said display peripheral a cloud of pictograms each representing a file belonging to said set of files, and elongated elements linking between each other some of said pictograms to symbolize the existence of a link between the corresponding files, said graphical user interface including at least one sorting tool (20) enabling the user to select one or several criteria, so that said cloud is only formed of pictograms representing files fulfilling the selected criterion or criteria.
16. A method for managing set of files, each of said files being recorded on a server andor on a workstation provided with a display peripheral and a control peripheral, said servers and workstations being part of a network, said method comprising at least the following steps:
causing a graphic user-interface to displays, on said display peripheral, at least one virtual space (1) as well as a first icon (2) that represents one (A) of said file of the set of files, called the first file, said first icon being placed within said virtual space (1),
controlling by a user of said workstation, by interaction of the control peripheral with said first icon (2) and without said first file (A) being open, the display on said display peripheral of a first interactive tool (3), and
recording by said user on said server, by means of said first interactive tool (3), the existence of a link between said first file (A) and at least another one of said files (B) of the set of files, called the second file, said recording of the existence of said link being adapted to last independently of the subsequent location of said first icon (2) within said virtual space (1).
17. A computer program comprising a computer program code adapted to execute the steps of a method according to claim 16, when said program is executed by a computer.
18. The computer program according to claim 17, implemented on a computer-readable medium.
19. A computer-readable medium on which is recorded a program according to claim 17.