According to the US Patent & Trademark Office: “Apparatus for use in handling a load where a load-bearing rope and a service cable are inter-wound as they are being paid out, having a wrapping device for wrapping a securing member around the service cable and the load-bearing rope, and to unwrap the securing member from the service cable and load-bearing rope as either of them is recovered.”
An abstract of the invention, released by the Patent Office, said: “The securing member is wound around the service cable and the hoist rope, to hold the service cable relative to the load-bearing rope and to reduce the extent of creeping of the service cable down the load-bearing rope. The securing member can be planar, in the form of a strip, tape or ribbon, or can have a circular cross-section, in the form of a rope. In preferred embodiments, the securing member is resilient and is applied to the rope in tension.”
The inventor was issued US Patent Number 7,201,365 on April 10.
The patent has been assigned to Deep Tek Ltd., Newport-on-Tay.
The original application was filed on October 7 2003.
