Mechanical making of ribbon clusters

摘要

Pre-notched ribbon is impaled on a point. The ribbon is pivoted on the point through an angle to form a loop. The loop is completed by impaling the twisted end on the point. The action is repeated to form the required number of loops. The angle of twist is chosen so that a loop spaced more than 360 degrees from the first loop starts a second layer of loops lying between the loops of the first layer, and a loop spaced more than 360 degrees further on starts a third layer similarly interleaved, and so on until the required number of layers has been obtained.