Rope products, systems, methods and applications

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention include rope products, systems, processes, and related applications as disclosed herein.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A rope system comprising:
 a cover having at least one channel and two terminal ends; and   a bundle of fibers that form a continuous loop, wherein the bundle of fibers is at least partially disposed within the cover and wherein a portion of the bundle of fibers extends beyond the two terminal ends of the cover and are exposed as loops.   
     
     
         2 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the bundle of fiber comprise a length of material formed in a loop and having two terminal ends of the material joined together to form the continuous loop. 
     
     
         3 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is a woven cover comprising a plurality of warp threads and a plurality of weft threads and wherein the warp thread and weft threads are interwoven together. 
     
     
         4 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is comprised of meta-, para-aramid fibers, para-aramid fibers, meta-aramid fibers, cotton, rayon, Teflon®-coated fibers, shaped fibers, glass fibers, basalt fibers, carbon fibers, high modulus polyethylene fibers, liquid crystal polymer fibers, hollow fibers, nylon, polyesters, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyphenylene sulfide, polyetheretherketone, polyolefins, high modulus polyethylene (HMPE), amide polymers or copolymers, other aramids, other suitable materials, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The rope system of  claim 4  wherein one or more of the warp threads and weft threads comprise polymers, paraffin waxes, non-paraffin waxes, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the bundle of fibers are comprised of polyester, nylon, meta- para-aramid fibers, para-aramid fibers, meta-aramid fibers, cotton, rayon, Teflon®-coated fibers, shaped fibers, glass fibers, basalt fibers, carbon fibers, high modulus polyethylene fibers, liquid crystal polymer fibers, hollow fibers, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyphenylene sulfide, polyetheretherketone, polyolefins, high modulus polypropylene, amide polymers or copolymers, other polyolefins, other aramids, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the bundle of fibers comprises one or more of the structures selected from the group comprising twisted continuous filaments, untwisted continuous filaments, parallel strands, filament bundles comprised of mono-filament yarns, filament bundles comprised of films, twisted rope, braided rope, woven rope, kernmantle rope, woven ropes with twisted or braided components, braided or twisted ropes with woven components, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The rope system of  claim 6  wherein at least a portion of the bundle of fibers is coated with polymers, paraffin waxes, non-paraffin waxes, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover comprises and inner cover and an outer cover. 
     
     
         10 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover comprises a divider. 
     
     
         11 . The rope system of  claim 10  wherein the bundle of fibers that form a continuous loop are disposed around the divider. 
     
     
         12 . The rope system of  claim 10  wherein a bundle of fibers is disposed on each side of the divider. 
     
     
         13 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover comprises a plurality of dividers and a plurality of channels. 
     
     
         14 . The rope system of  claim 13  wherein the cover comprises three or more channels and a bundle of fibers is at least partially disposed in at least three channels of the cover. 
     
     
         15 . The rope system of  claim 10  wherein the cover encases at least a portion of a plurality of bundles of fibers. 
     
     
         16 . The rope system of  claim 15  wherein at least more than one of the bundle of fibers is at least partially disposed within the cover and extends beyond the two terminal ends of the cover and are exposed as loops. 
     
     
         17 . The rope system of  claim 1  further comprising a joining component configured to connect the loops of the bundle of fibers that are exposed. 
     
     
         18 . The rope system of  claim 17  wherein a plurality of rope systems are interlaced to form a linked rope system. 
     
     
         19 . The rope system of  claim 17  wherein the terminal ends of the cover are adjoined to entirely encase the bundle of fibers. 
     
     
         20 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is at least partially disposed within a second cover and wherein the cover and the second cover are unattached. 
     
     
         21 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is configured to have one or more properties selected from the group consisting of high tensile strength, high thermal resistance, high abrasion resistance, low shrinkage at high temperatures, high fatigue resistance, ultraviolet radiation resistance, high chemical and heat stability, and low moisture regain. 
     
     
         22 . The rope system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is configured to provide an alert as a total breaking weight of t is approached, wherein the cover comprises indicator yarns displaced within the cover, wherein the indicator yarns have maximum load weights that are less than the total breaking weight of the entire rope. 
     
     
         23 . A linked rope system comprising:
 a fiber material configured in a loop with joined ends to form a first bundle of fiber in a continuous loop, wherein the first bundle of fiber is at least partially encased within a first cover;   a second fiber material in a loop with joined ends to form a second bundle of fiber in a continuous loop, wherein the second bundle of fiber is at least partially encased within a second cover;   wherein the first bundle of fiber and the second bundle of fiber are interlinked.   
     
     
         24 . The linked rope system of  claim 23  wherein the second fiber material is selected from the group consisting of a fiber material having the same composition as the first fiber material and a fiber material having a distinct composition from the first fiber material. 
     
     
         25 . The linked rope system of  claim 23  wherein the first bundle of fiber is entirely encased within a first cove and the second bundle of fiber is entirely encased within a second cover. 
     
     
         26 . A method of making a linked rope system, the method comprising:
 looping a first fiber material and joining two terminal ends of the first fiber material to form a first bundle of fiber in a continuous loop,   at least partially enclosing the first bundle of fiber is at least partially encased within a first cover;   looping a second fiber material and joining two terminal ends of the first fiber material to form a second bundle of fiber in a continuous loop,   at least partially enclosing the second bundle of fiber is at least partially encased within a second cover;   interlinking the first bundle of fiber that is at least partially encased within a first cover and the second bundle of fiber that is at least partially encased within a second cover.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the first fiber material is looped through the first cover wherein the first cover has two open terminal ends, and joining the two terminal ends of the first cover together after the two terminal ends of the first fiber material are joined, and wherein the second fiber material is looped through the second cover wherein the second cover has two open terminal ends and wherein the second fiber material is also looped through the interior of the loop formed by the first bundle of fiber that is at least partially encased within a first cover, and joining the two terminal ends of the second cover together after the two terminal ends of the second fiber material are joined.