Lifting sling
First Claim
1. A lifting sling, comprising:
- a) an elongated sling member that includes an elongated woven portion having first and second ends and a central passageway surrounded by woven material;
b) first and second connections that join each end to the woven portion at the central passageway, and at spaced apart positions;
c) at least one of the ends being connected to the woven portion to form a loop that can be engaged by a lifting member;
d) a flexible spirally wrapped non-metallic polymeric sleeve that fits the loop, said sleeve being a separate member that is not a part of the sling woven portion, defining an interface between the loop and a lifting member that engages the loop, said sleeve being in the form of a polymeric tube having a tube wall thickness and a tube bore that is sized to provide compression to the connections;
e) wherein the non-metallic polymeric sleeve spirally wraps around and compresses at least one of the connections; and
f) wherein the sleeve applies compression to the connection by a combination of tube bore diameter and tube wall thickness and not by manual or machine induced loading applied during wrapping.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A lifting sling and a lifting grommet are disclosed which can be fabricated of a high tensile strength polymeric material, preferably a woven polymer such as liquid crystal polymer fibers, that are woven in a rope or cable configuration. The apparatus features an elongated woven material length of cable that is spliced. Plastic, preferably polyurethane spring cut tube sleeves are positioned as a grip on the splices to allow for handling in the field without concern for the splice becoming disassembled or undone. The sling and grommet of the present invention can each be provided with a clear cover spring cut tube that serves as a flexible protective cover for minimizing abrasion and maintaining the slings appearance.
201 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A lifting sling, comprising:
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a) an elongated sling member that includes an elongated woven portion having first and second ends and a central passageway surrounded by woven material; b) first and second connections that join each end to the woven portion at the central passageway, and at spaced apart positions; c) at least one of the ends being connected to the woven portion to form a loop that can be engaged by a lifting member; d) a flexible spirally wrapped non-metallic polymeric sleeve that fits the loop, said sleeve being a separate member that is not a part of the sling woven portion, defining an interface between the loop and a lifting member that engages the loop, said sleeve being in the form of a polymeric tube having a tube wall thickness and a tube bore that is sized to provide compression to the connections; e) wherein the non-metallic polymeric sleeve spirally wraps around and compresses at least one of the connections; and f) wherein the sleeve applies compression to the connection by a combination of tube bore diameter and tube wall thickness and not by manual or machine induced loading applied during wrapping. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A lifting sling, comprising:
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a) an elongated sling member that includes an elongated woven portion having first and second ends and a central passageway surrounded by woven material; b) first and second connections that join each end to the woven portion at the central passageway, and at spaced apart positions; c) each of the ends being connected to the woven portion to form a loop that can be engaged by a lifting member; and d) flexible spirally wrapped non-metallic polymeric sleeves that are fitted respectively to the loops, each sleeve being a separate member that is not a part of the sling member woven portion, defining an interface between the loop and a lifting member or lifted member that engages the loop, said sleeve being in the form of a polymeric tube having a tube wall thickness and a tube bore that is sized to provide compression to the connections; e) at least one polymeric sleeve spirally wraps and compresses a connection; and f) wherein the sleeve applies compression to the connection by a combination of tube bore diameter and tube wall thickness and not by manual or machine induced loading applied during wrapping. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A lifting grommet, comprising:
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a) an elongated grommet member that includes an elongated woven portion having first and second ends and a central passageway surrounded by woven material; b) first and second connections that join each end to the woven portion at the central passageway; c) each of the ends being connected to the woven portion to form a an endless circular grommet member that can be engaged by a lifting member; and d) a plurality of non-metallic polyurethane flexible sleeves that spirally wrap around the grommet member, at least one sleeve fitting the grommet member at one of the connections, spirally wrapping around and compressing the connection, another of the sleeves defining an interface between the grommet and a lifting member or a lifted member that engages the loop, each sleeve being a polymeric tube having a tube bore that has been spirally cut and not adhesive or rubber tape; e) wherein the sleeves are not part of the grommet woven portion; and f) wherein the sleeve applies compression to the connection by a combination of tube bore diameter and tube wall thickness and not by a manual or machine induced loading applied during wrapping. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A lifting sling, comprising:
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a) an elongated sling member that includes an elongated woven portion having first and second ends and a central passageway surrounded by woven material; b) first and second connections that join each end to the woven portion at the central passageway, and at spaced apart positions; c) at least one of the ends being connected to the woven portion to form a loop that can be engaged by a lifting member; d) a flexible non-metallic spirally cut polymeric tube having a tube bore and a tube wall thickness and that is connected to the loop, said tube being a separate member that is not a part of the sling woven portion; e) wherein the non-metallic spirally cut tube is spirally wrapped around and compresses at least one of the connections; and f) wherein the tube applies compression to the connection by a combination of tube bore diameter and tube wall thickness and not by manual or machine induced loading applied during wrapping. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification