Circular carriage track guide for a braiding machine

Abstract

The invention relates to a circular carriage track guide for a braiding machine. The braiding machine has at least two supply spool support sets performing relative movement with respect to each other about its rotational axis during braiding, wherein the spool supports (16) of one of the spool support sets are guided by the carriage track guide and the carriage track guide comprises a carriage (20) for each spool support (16) for attachment thereof. The carriage track guide comprises a set of outer rollers (6) for the outer radial guidance of the carriages (20), said outer rollers being attached to a support plate (4) of the carriage track guide such that an outer surface (70) of the respective carriage (20) can roll on a surface (38) of the outer rollers (6) which is mounted so as to be able to rotate by means of at least one roller bearing. The carriage track guide is characterized in that the carriage track guide comprises a set of inner rollers (8) for the inner radial guidance of the carriages (20), said inner rollers being attached to the support plate (4) such that an inner surface (68) of the respective carriage (20) can roll on a surface of the inner roller (8), that is mounted so as to be able to rotate by means of at least one roller bearing, and in that the weight of the carriage (20) and of the spool support (16) guided by the carriage track guide is absorbed via at least one of the inner and outer roller bearings. The invention provides a carriage track guide in which sliding friction occurs only to a relatively small extent.

Description

The invention relates to a circular carriage track guide, provided for a braiding machine, in accordance with the preamble of claim 1. The braiding machine is thus a so-called rotary braiding machine.

Braiding machines are used in particular for braiding wire cloth or textiles and comprise at least two sets of supply spools. The supply spools are used to receive the so-called warp and weft threads. In order for the weft thread to be able to be guided through a shed formed by the warp threads, associated sets of supports, to which the supply spools are attached, must perform a relative movement with respect to each other about a rotational axis of the machine. The spool supports for the weft thread and also the spool supports for the warp thread generally each perform a rotational movement about the rotational axis of the machine, wherein the rotational movements are in opposite directions. The weft thread spools can be disposed in a smaller or larger radius than the warp thread spools with respect to the rotational axis, said warp thread spools also performing a substantially vertical movement during braiding to form the sheds. The so-called braiding point, at which the fabric is produced, is normally on the rotational axis of the machine.

DE 10 2005 058 223 A1 discloses a generic circular carriage track guide. Rotary bearings are disposed for the outer radial guidance of the spool supports along the guide track, the axes of the rotary bearings thereof extending at least approximately in parallel with the rotational axis of the machine. However, a slide guide is provided for the inner radial guidance of the carriages, and in fact the carriages slide with an inner surface on an upper and on a lower end along a shoulder or collar of upper and lower guide plates, between which the outer roller bearings are disposed for the outer radial guidance. Furthermore, slide surfaces are also provided for the axial guidance of the spool supports. The weight of the carriage and of the spool support attached thereto including the wound thread material is thus absorbed by these slide surfaces or this slide guide.

A disadvantage in this known carriage track guide is that the said weight cannot be evenly absorbed by the slide guide. The reason for this is that the spool supports are attached to the carriage in a laterally offset manner with respect thereto which means that a lever action is associated with the weight. The thus produced torque, that can also not be obviated owing to this conventional arrangement of the spool supports, ensures that the carriage slides to a greater extent at edges of the carriage. Thus produced pressing of edges of the carriage against the corresponding slide surfaces of the two guide plates causes a particularly great amount of friction and makes it necessary to use a large quantity of lubricant that is additionally difficult to control. A substantial problem of the lubricant used in such a way is that it can be dispersed within the braiding machine and in particular can soil the threads and thus the fabric to be produced.

Furthermore, the described edge pressing has the problem of excessive wear on the slide surfaces unless this can be compensated for by sufficiently lubricating the surfaces. The sufficient lubrication and bending caused by the edge pressing are a cause of machine and product contamination.

The entire system consisting of spools, spool supports, outer and inner supports of the guide bearing must be able to be guided through the warp thread shed, wherein in particular the diameter of the spool flange and the extension of the guide bearing are decisive variables. In relation to a minimized radial extension of a guide bearing for a carriage, the essential requirement is namely that the angle of the shed opening only needs to be so large that the spool support including its thread deflector plate passes through the shed. Moreover, the components of the guide bearing, in contrast, should not require a larger shed opening angle but rather remain in the shadows of the thread deflector plate so to speak. The shed width is thus to be determined merely by the spool support but not by the guide device of the spool support. A shed opening width of ca. 170 to 185 mm for a spool flange having a diameter of 80 mm is typical.

The greater the extension of the system of the spool support guide in the direction of the machine centre point, the wider the shed opening angle has to be. This could be countered by an enlargement of the machine diameter, that would also cause a larger shed width. However, a diameter enlargement is to be avoided since at the same rotational speed it would result in an increase in the sliding and rolling speed with the corresponding disadvantages of higher centrifugal loading of the system as a whole and thus in particular to a higher lubricant consumption.

In the case of the known carriage track guide, the required constructional space has been reduced by the use of a slide bearing, wherein, however, its above described disadvantages have to be taken into account.

Beyond the inner radial slide guide, the known carriage track guide is also extremely disadvantageous in that the weight of carriage and spool support is absorbed by the slide guide that is associated with the friction problem. This situation contributes considerably to the lubrication problem.

The object of the invention is thus to provide a generic carriage track guide in which sliding friction occurs only to a relatively small extent.

The object is achieved by the features of claim 1. The circular carriage track guide is provided for a braiding machine that comprises at least two sets of supply spool supports. The supply spools are used to supply the thread material used for braiding by way of corresponding unwinding during the braiding process therefor, whereby the spools become lighter over the time of the braiding process. The weight of an individual spool support with completely wound up thread material can be for example ca. 5 kg. The spool supports are each attached to a carriage of the circular carriage track guide. The carriages must be guided radially on the outside in order to absorb the centrifugal force, and also on the inside. Furthermore, the carriages must of course be guided axially owing to their intrinsic weight and the weight of the spool supports.

For the outer radial guidance, the carriage track guide comprises a set of outer rollers. These are attached to a substantially circular support plate of the carriage track guide such that an outer surface of the respective carriage, that is curved over its periphery with a corresponding radius, can be rolled onto a rotatably mounted surface of the respective outer roller. The rotatability of the roller surface is achieved by the use of roller bearings.

A set of inner rollers is also attached in a corresponding manner to the support plate for the inner radial guidance of the carriages. An inner surface of the carriages also rolls on the rotatably mounted surface or rolling surface of the inner rollers during braiding. Roller bearings are also used for these rollers. The roller bearings of the inner rollers are hereinafter referred to as “inner” and the roller bearings of the outer rollers as “outer” roller bearings and the surfaces, of the inner or outer rollers, used for rolling on the carriage surfaces are referred to as “rolling surfaces”.

Furthermore, the invention is characterized in that the weight of the spool supports and of the carriages is absorbed by at least one of the inner and outer roller bearings.

Owing to the radially inner and outer carriage guidance effected by means of rollers, in this case substantially only rolling friction occurs. Only a small amount of sliding friction occurs. This results essentially in the fact that the rotational speed of the rollers slows down, e.g., by 10%, after passage of a carriage and the rotational speed of the rollers increases when a carriage reaches them again. During this increase, that can occur for example eight times per machine rotation, sliding of the inner or outer surface of the respective carriage and the rolling surfaces and thus sliding friction occur to a certain extent. However, the proportion thereof is very small compared with rolling friction. A very small amount of sliding friction can still occur owing to a deformation caused basically in practice by pressing, in that owing to the deformation small speed differences are produced and as a result a pure rolling action cannot occur.

By virtue of the fact that at least one roller bearing of the respective roller is created such that it can be subjected to an axial loading and thus can absorb part of the weight of the spool support including the associated carriage, it is achieved that this weight has an effect substantially only in the form of rolling friction and only to a relatively small extent in the form of sliding friction. The advantageous of a sliding friction force that is as small as possible are described above and are based—briefly stated—on the fact that only a small amount of lubricant has to be used and this amount can be controlled effectively.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the carriage track guide in accordance with the invention, the rolling surfaces are cylindrical in the case of at least one roller set, wherein these rollers comprise a wear ring at an upper end. This wear ring is disposed such that a collar portion of the respective carriage lies with its own weight and the weight of the spool support thereon when the inner or outer surface of the carriage rolls on the rolling surface. The collar portion of the carriage is formed such that a shoulder extends substantially radially from the inner or outer surface inwardly or outwardly. Preferably, such a collar portion is provided in the two radial directions and provision is accordingly made that the inner rollers and also the outer rollers comprise a cylindrical rolling surface and a wear ring.

A proportion of rolling friction and of sliding friction occurs in each case between the mutually contacting surfaces of the wear ring and the collar portion. However, owing to the rotational movement of the wear ring around its own axis, the rolling friction proportion is considerable which means that the remaining sliding friction proportion is small compared with the known carriage track guide described above.

The cylindrical rolling surfaces ensure that hardly any edge processing occurs owing to the present torque as described above, but rather the torque is absorbed as evenly as possible over the cylindrical rolling surfaces.

The wear ring is preferably attached by means of a clamping screw. The clamping screw is screwed from above into a body portion of the roller and fixedly presses the wear ring with its screw head against an inner edge of the upper free wear ring surface. By means of such a clamping screw, the wear ring can be replaced in a simple and time-saving manner when it has reached a predetermined degree of wear.

The wear ring can be produced from different materials, in particular from ceramic. The advantages of ceramic are a high wear resistance, dimensional stability and thermal endurance.

The material of the wear ring and that of the respective collar portion are preferably adapted to each other.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the carriage track guide in accordance with the invention, provision can also be made for the weight of the carriage and of the spool support to be transferred to the inner and/or outer rollers owing to the positive-locking connection between the inner and/or outer surface of the carriage and the rolling surface. In particular when this weight transfer takes place completely by way of a positive-locking connection, the sliding friction proportion can be reduced to an extremely small amount. This is caused substantially only by the above-described acceleration of the rollers during passage of a carriage.

In particular the rolling surface in the case of at least one of the roller sets, but preferably the inner and also the outer rollers, can be curved in a convex manner and the associated inner or outer surface of the carriages rolling thereon can be curved in a concave manner. For such a positive-locking connection, it is generally the case in practice that two circular contact lines are produced with rolling taking place thereupon. This means that in practice there is no even contact of the surfaces rolling one on the other. However, the two contact lines do not generally involve a particular large amount of material wear. An essential advantage of this embodiment resides in the fact that it can be assumed that as the thread material is unwound from the spool and the spool support becomes reduced in weight accordingly, the axial position of the contact lines can be changed slightly. It is also obviated, in contrast to the Prior Art, that the changing weight has a noticeable effect on the running behavior of the carriages or rollers.

Of course it is also possible for the rolling surface to be curved in a concave manner and the inner or outer surface of the carriage to be curved in a convex manner.

In the embodiment having cylindrical rolling surfaces and also in the embodiment having curved rolling surfaces, the inner and outer roller bearings can comprise one or more radial groove ball bearings. These substantially absorb the weight of the carriage and of the spool support including the thread material. Such a ball bearing is advantageous in that it can absorb, in addition to the radial load, a relatively large axial load. In the carriage track guide in accordance with the invention, the entire weight of the respective carriage and the associated spool support can be absorbed. For example, provision can be made in the embodiment having curved rolling surfaces for these rolling surfaces to constitute the surface of a rotary rim that is rotatably mounted by means of a respective upper and lower radial groove ball bearing. In this case, the roller can be fixed in a bore of the support plate by means of a shaft disposed beneath the rolling surface.

Preferably, the radial groove ball bearing is a double sealed collar ball bearing. This offers the advantage that lubrication over the service life is possible and as a result it can be particularly avoided that lubricant contacts the material to be braided.

It is also possible for the inner and outer roller bearings to comprise a radial needle bearing in addition to a radial groove ball bearing. A substantial advantage of such a needle bearing with respect to a ball bearing resides in the fact that a higher maximum rotational speed is permitted owing to more favorable mass ratios. Consequently, a higher machine rotational speed is then possible. The weight is absorbed by the radial groove ball bearing. The needle bearing can be in particular a double row radial needle bearing. In the case thereof, two needle-shaped roller bodies are disposed axially one over the other in each case. Preferably, provision is made that the needle bearing can be lubricated via a lubricating nipple. A further advantage of a needle bearing resides in the fact that it tends to take up less space than a ball bearing. The radial groove ball bearing absorbing the weight can be disposed beneath the needle bearing. Since the needle bearing completely absorbs the radial load, the radial groove ball bearing is used mainly to absorb the weight. Provision is preferably made for the groove ball bearing to be slightly adjustable in its angular relationship with the needle bearing in order to avoid over-determining when attaching the roller in the support plate.

In the embodiment of the carriage track guide having the curved rolling surface as well as in the embodiment having the cylindrical rolling surface, provision can be made for the components, comprising the rolling surface, of the respective roller to be mounted in the support plate so as to be rotatable with respect thereto. In this case, the described combination consisting of a radial needle bearing and a radial groove ball bearing can be particularly provided. However, it is also possible to provide two radial groove ball bearings disposed one over the other within the support plate. The inner running surface of the needle bearing can be provided by a shaft of the respective roller. The body portion of the roller disposed above the support plate comprises the rolling surface. The body portion preferably has a cavity therewithin in order to reduce the rotating mass. In particular, the above-described clamping screw can be screwed into this cavity.

The rollers can be arranged such that a carriage is simultaneously in contact predominantly with three outer rollers, but also temporarily only with two outer rollers. The group of inner and outer rollers that are disposed between two gap-like recesses in the support plate required for forming the shed through the warp threads, together with a support plate portion located between the recesses is referred to herein as a guide unit. A guide unit can comprise for example three inner and four outer rollers.

In accordance with claim 11, in particular a braiding machine is provided in accordance with the invention that comprises a carriage track guide in accordance with the invention.

In accordance with the invention, in particular a braiding machine having 6 to 48 supply spools can be provided.

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with the aid of two exemplified embodiments, wherein reference is made to the Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective partial view of a weft thread support that comprises inner and outer rollers having a cylindrical rolling surface,

FIG. 2 shows a partial plan view of the weft thread support of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows the sectional view along line III-III in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 shows a lateral view of an inner or outer roller of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 shows the sectional view along line V-V in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of the roller of FIG. 4,

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a carriage of the carriage track guide of FIG. 1,

FIG. 8 shows a perspective partial view of a weft thread support that comprises inner and outer rollers having a curved rolling surface,

FIG. 9 shows a sectional view of the weft thread support of FIG. 8 corresponding to line III-III in FIG. 2,

FIG. 10 shows a plan view of an inner or outer roller of FIG. 8,

FIG. 11 shows the sectional view along line XI-XI in FIG. 10,

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a carriage of the carriage track guide of FIG. 8.

FIG. 1 shows a weft thread support 2 that is part of a central unit of a braiding unit, said central not being illustrated and being referred to as a braiding head. The weft thread support 2 has a support plate 4 to which a set of outer rollers 6 and a set of inner rollers 8 are attached. The two roller sets extend substantially over the entire periphery of the support plate 4 and are attached to the support plate 4 by means of a clamping plate 10 on the support plate. The support plate 4 comprises 8 gap-like recesses 12 that are used to guide the warp threads over and under the support plate 4 for shed formation. The warp threads are supplied from spool supports that are attached to a warp thread support (not shown) so as to be able to be displaced substantially vertically, said warp thread support being disposed beneath the weft thread support and likewise appertaining to the central unit. A support plate section between two recesses 12, on which a total of four outer rollers 6 and three inner rollers 8 are disposed, is referred to as a guide unit 14. The weft thread support 2 comprises a total of eight such guide units 14.

Furthermore, the weft thread support 2 comprises eight spool supports 16 having supply spools 18 of which only one is shown as an example for ease of illustration. The spool supports 16 are each attached to a carriage 20 (see FIG. 7). The respective carriage 20 (only one is illustrated) is guided radially outwards and radially inwards and furthermore perpendicular to the support plate 4 by the outer and inner rollers 6, 8, as will be described in detail hereinafter. The spool support 16 comprises a row of means, known per se, for guiding the weft thread; these means will not be discussed further herein and have for example one roller 22 and two further rollers 24 and 26. A thread deflector plate that is disposed between the rollers 22 and 24 is not illustrated.

The support plate 4 is rotated by means of a transmission shaft, not illustrated, and five toothed wheels 28. Furthermore, the carriages 20 are driven via an inverter transmission that comprises a toothed wheel 30 attached to the shaft, a row of toothed wheels 32 driven thereby (of which only two are illustrated in FIG. 1) and a respective toothed portion 34 of the spool support 16 co-operating with the toothed wheels 32. In the plan view of the weft thread support 2 in FIG. 2, the toothed wheel 30 is not shown for ease of illustration, but it is shown in the sectional view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 shows one of the outer rollers 6 by way of example. These are constructed in the same way as the inner rollers 8. The roller 6 comprises a cylindrical rolling surface 38 and is referred to hereafter as a “cylindrical roller” for the sake of simplicity. The rolling surface 38 is produced from a hardened steel. Located above the rolling surface 38 is a wear ring 36 produced from ceramic material for example. As can be seen in FIG. 5, a rolling component 40, that comprises the rolling surface 38, has a shaft 42. The shaft 42, and thus the entire rolling component 40, is mounted so as to be able to rotate by means of a double row radial needle bearing 44. The needle bearing 44 comprises needle-shaped roller bodies 46. The needle bearing 44 is sealed and comprises a lubricant channel 50 and a lubricating nipple 52 for lubricating purposes.

A radial groove ball bearing 54 having a collar 56 is disposed beneath the needle bearing 44. The ball bearing 54 is double sealed by means of seals 58 and its balls 60 are disposed in a cage 62.

The cylindrical roller 6 is mounted in the support plate 4 with the needle bearing 44 and the ball bearing 54, wherein the ball bearing 54 is attached in the clamping plate 10. The ball bearing 54 is used to absorb the axial load produced by the entire weight. The weight is composed of the actual weight of the cylindrical roller 6 and the weight of the carriage 20 and of the spool support 16 including the thread material (not shown) wound thereon. The ball bearing 54 can be slightly adjustable in its angle with respect to the needle bearing 44 in order to avoid over-determining when attaching the cylindrical roller 6 in the support plate 4.

The rolling component 40 comprises a cavity 64 in an upper body portion 63 comprising the rolling surface 38, in order to keep the rotating mass as small as possible. A clamping screw 66 is disposed in the cavity 64 and is used to attach the wear ring 36 with slight overlapping thereof.

As can be seen in particular in FIG. 7, the respective carriage 20, that has in the peripheral direction a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the carriage track guide, has an inner surface 68 and an outer surface 70 that are adapted to the rolling surfaces 38, i.e., do to not change in the axial direction. Disposed above the surfaces 68, 70 is a collar portion 72 that protrudes radially inwards and also radially outwards beyond the surfaces 68, 70. In a corresponding manner, a lower collar portion 74 is disposed beneath the surfaces 68, 70. The collar portion 74 also protrudes radially inwards and outwards beyond the surfaces 68, 70. In the collar portion 72, the carriage 20 comprises three threaded bores 76 that are used to fixedly screw the spool support 16 to the carriage 20. The upper collar portion 72 of the carriage 20 lies on the wear rings 36 with the previously described total weight. The lower collar portion 74 engages below the lower edge of the rolling surface 38 and is merely used for securing purposes with respect to axial movement of the carriage 20 upwards in the event of a possible breakdown.

In all of the Figures, like features are provided with like reference numerals. In particular, in the case of the weft thread support in accordance with FIG. 8, the features that are identical to features in FIG. 1 are provided with like reference numerals. The weft thread support designated by reference numeral 2′ in FIG. 8 differs from the weft thread support 2 substantially by virtue of the fact that it comprises outer rollers 6′ and inner rollers 8′ that have a rolling surface 38′ curved in a concave manner. In contrast to the support plate 4, a support plate 4′ does not have a clamping plate. The spool supports 16 are each attached to a carriage 20′ (see FIG. 12) adapted to the rolling surfaces 38′. The respective carriage 20′ is guided radially outwards and also radially inwards and furthermore perpendicular to the support plate 4′ by the outer and inner rollers 6′, 8′. In contrast to the weft thread support 2, in the weft thread support 2′ the toothed wheels 28 and the toothed wheel 30 are only shown in the sectional view of FIG. 9. In contrast, FIG. 1 shows bores 78 for the toothed wheels 28 and also a bore 80 for the transmission shaft that is illustrated in FIG. 9 and is designated with reference numeral 82. Furthermore, FIG. 8 illustrates a thread deflector plate 85.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show one of the outer rollers 6′ by way of example. These are constructed in the same way as the inner rollers 8′. The curved rolling surface 38′ is likewise produced from a hardened steel. The roller 6′ is referred to as a “barrel roller” hereinafter for the sake of simplicity. Merely for production technology reasons, it has a narrow annular region 84 in the centre (see FIGS. 8 and 9) that is not curved and is not illustrated in FIG. 11 for the sake of simplicity. The barrel roller 6′ is attached in the support plate 4′ by means of a shaft 86 of a non-rotatable rolling component 88. At an upper portion of the rolling component 88, a rotary rim 96 comprising the rolling surface 38′ is mounted by means of two radial groove ball bearings 92 and 94. The two ball bearings 92, 94 are constructed in an identical manner. Their balls are held in a cage 62. The ball bearings 92, 94 are double sealed by means of two seals 58 and have service life lubrication. The ball bearings 92, 94 are pressed into recesses of the rotary rim 96 and each lie thereagainst with a collar 56. The ball bearings 92, 94 are secured by means of a securing ring 98 and a securing screw 100.

As can be seen in FIG. 12, the respective carriage 20′, that has in the peripheral direction a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the carriage track guide, has an inner surface 68′ and an outer surface 70′ that are curved in a concave manner in the axial direction so as to be adapted to the rolling surfaces 38′. At an upper end side, the carriage 20′ comprises three threaded bores 76 that are used to fixedly screw the spool support 16 to the carriage 20′. The total weight of the carriage 20′ and of the spool support 16 with the spool 18 and thread material and actual weight of the roller are absorbed by the positive-locking connection between the outer and inner barrel rollers 6′, 8′ and the outer surface 70′ or inner surface 68′. It can be assumed that in practice in the case of such a positive-locking connection, the respective rolling surface 38′ and the outer or inner surface 70′, 68′ are only in contact in two circular contact lines.

List of reference numerals:
2, 2′   Weft thread support
4, 4′   Support plate
6, 6′   Outer rollers
8, 8′   Inner rollers
10      Clamping plate
12      Recesses
14      Guide unit
16      Spool support
18      Supply spools
20, 20′ Carriage
22      Roller of spool support
24      Roller of spool support
26      Roller of spool support
28      Toothed wheels
30      Toothed wheel
32      Toothed wheels
34      Toothed portion
36      Wear ring
38, 38′ Rolling surface
40      Rotatable rolling component
42      Shaft of cylindrical roller
44      Double row radial needle bearing
46      Needle-shaped roller body
50      Lubricant channel
52      Lubricating nipple
54      Radial groove ball bearing
56      Collar of ball bearing
58      Seal of ball bearing
60      Balls of ball bearing
62      Cage of ball bearing
63      Body portion of cylindrical roller
64      Cavity
66      Clamping screw
68, 68′ Inner surface of carriage
70, 70′ Outer surface of carriage
72      Upper collar portion
74      Lower collar portion
76      Threaded bores
78      Bores for toothed wheels
80      Bore for transmission shaft
82      Transmission shaft
83      Rotational axis
84      Non-curved region of 38′
85      Thread deflector plate
86      Shaft of barrel roller
88      Non-rotatable rolling component
92      Radial groove ball bearing
94      Radial groove ball bearing
96      Rotary rim of barrel roller
98      Securing ring
100     Securing screw

Claims

1. Circular carriage track guide for a braiding machine comprising at least two supply spool support sets, wherein the supply spool support sets perform a relative movement with respect to each other about a rotational axis (83) of the machine during braiding and the spool supports (16) of one of the spool support sets are guided by the carriage track guide,

wherein the carriage track guide comprises a carriage (20; 20′) for each spool support (16) for attachment thereof, and

wherein the carriage track guide comprises a set of outer rollers (6; 6′) for the outer radial guidance of the carriages (20; 20′), said outer rollers being attached to a support plate (4; 4′) of the carriage track guide such that an outer surface (70; 70′) of the respective carriage (20; 20′) can roll on a surface (38; 38′) of the outer rollers (6; 6′) which is mounted so as to be able to rotate by means of at least one roller bearing (44, 54; 92, 94),

characterized in that the carriage track guide comprises a set of inner rollers (8; 8′) for the inner radial guidance of the carriages (20; 20′), said inner rollers being attached to the support plate (4; 4′) such that an inner surface (68; 68′) of the respective carriage (20; 20′) can roll on a surface (38; 38′) of the inner rollers (8; 8′) which is mounted so as to be able to rotate by means of at least one roller bearing (44, 54; 92, 94),

and in that the weight of the carriage (20; 20′) and of the spool support (16) attached thereby is absorbed via at least one of the roller bearings (44, 54; 92, 94).

2. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the surface (38) of the rollers of at least one of the roller sets (6, 8) is cylindrical and these rollers (6, 8) comprise at an upper end a wear ring (36) disposed such that a collar portion (72) of the respective carriage (20) lies thereon with its own weight and the weight of the spool support (16) when the carriage (20) rolls on the roller (6, 8).

3. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the wear ring (36) is attached by means of a clamping screw (66).

4. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the wear ring (36) is produced from ceramic material.

5. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the weight of the carriage (20′) and of the spool support (16) is transferred to the inner or outer rollers (8′, 6′) by a positive-locking connection between the inner or outer surface (68′, 70′) of the carriage (20′) and of the roller surface (38′).

6. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the surface (38′) of the rollers of at least one of the roller sets (6′, 8′) is curved in a convex manner the associated carriage surface (70′, 68′) rolling thereon is curved in a concave manner, or in that the roller surface is curved in a concave manner and the carriage surface is curved in a convex manner.

7. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that one or more of the roller bearings comprise(s) at least one radial groove ball bearing (54; 92, 94) that substantially absorbs the weight of the carriage (20; 20′) and of the spool support (16).

8. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the radial groove ball bearing is a double sealed collar ball bearing (54; 92, 94).

9. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that one or more of the roller bearings (54) additionally comprise(s) at least one radial needle bearing (44).

10. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the rolling component (40; 88) that comprises the surface (38; 38′) on which the carriage (20; 20′) can roll is mounted so as to be able to rotate with respect to the support plate (4) and has a cavity (64) therewithin.

11. Braiding machine having at least two supply spool support sets performing relative movement with respect to each other about a rotational axis (83) of the machine during braiding, wherein the spool supports (16) of one of the spool support sets are guided by a circular carriage track guide in accordance with claim 1.

12. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 3, wherein the wear ring (36) is produced from ceramic material.

13. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 2, wherein one or more of the roller bearings comprise(s) at least one radial groove ball bearing (54; 92, 94) that substantially absorbs the weight of the carriage (20; 20′) and of the spool support (16).

14. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 8, wherein one or more of the roller bearings (54) additionally comprise(s) at least one radial needle bearing (44).

15. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 2, wherein the rolling component (40; 88) that comprises the surface (38; 38′) on which the carriage (20; 20′) can roll is mounted so as to be able to rotate with respect to the support plate (4) and has a cavity (64) therewithin.

16. Braiding machine having at least two supply spool support sets performing relative movement with respect to each other about a rotational axis (83) of the machine during braiding, wherein the spool supports (16) of one of the spool support sets are guided by a circular carriage track guide in accordance with claim 2.

17. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 3, wherein one or more of the roller bearings comprise(s) at least one radial groove ball bearing (54; 92, 94) that substantially absorbs the weight of the carriage (20; 20′) and of the spool support (16).

18. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 3, wherein the rolling component (40; 88) that comprises the surface (38; 38′) on which the carriage (20; 20′) can roll is mounted so as to be able to rotate with respect to the support plate (4) and has a cavity (64) therewithin.

19. Braiding machine having at least two supply spool support sets performing relative movement with respect to each other about a rotational axis (83) of the machine during braiding, wherein the spool supports (16) of one of the spool support sets are guided by a circular carriage track guide in accordance with claim 3.

20. Carriage track guide as claimed in claim 4, wherein one or more of the roller bearings comprise(s) at least one radial groove ball bearing (54; 92, 94) that substantially absorbs the weight of the carriage (20; 20′) and of the spool support (16).