SPOOL FOR COILED WIRE

BOBINE A FIL METALLIQUE ENROULE

English Abstract

A spool to facilitate drawing off of products from a wound coil of
product, the spool comprises first and second disc like members having
elongated central cylindrical hubs formed to interengage while leaving a
central
cylindrical spindle receiving passage therethrough so that with the hubs
inserted into the center of the product coil from opposite sides of the coil
and
interengaged they span across the width of the coil. The interengagement of
the hubs is such as to be maniputable to positively draw the members towards
each other. Preferably the disc like members are injection molded plastic and
are formed so that when they are drawn together they firmly grip only the
innermost layer of the coil.

Claims

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THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A spool to facilitate the drawing off of product from a wound coil of
product, said coil having given inner and outer diameters and width, said
spool
comprising first and second disc like members having elongated central
cylindrical hubs formed with interengaging means such that they leave a
central
cylindrical spindle receiving passage therethrough when interengaged whereby
with said hubs inserted into the center of said product coil from opposite
sides
thereof and interengaged they span across the width of said product coil, said
interengaging means being manipulable to positively draw said members
towards each other.
2. A spool as claimed in Claim 1 in which said disc like members are
formed so that when they are manipulated towards each other they firmly grip
the innermost layer of the coiled product while leaving the remaining layers
free to be drawn off.
3. A spool as claimed in Claim 1 in which said interengaging means
comprise threadably interengaging means.
4. A spool as claimed in Claim 3 in which said threadably
interengaging means comprises an internal thread on the hub of said first disc
like member and an external thread on said hub of said second disc like
member threadably engageable with the internal thread of said first disc
member.
5. A spool as claimed in Claim 4 in which each disc like member is an
injection molded plastic member.
6. A spool as claimed in Claim 1 in which each of said disc like
cylindrical members is a molded plastic member and has an inner annular wall
section sloping outwardly from its said central cylindrical hub and an outer


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annular wall section connected to the periphery of said inner annular wall
section and extending outwardly substantially perpendicular to the axis of
said
central cylindrical hub.
7. A spool as claimed in Claim 6 in which the cylindrical hub of said
first disc like member has an internal thread and the cylindrical hub of said
second disc like member has an external thread threadable into the internal
thread of said hub of said first disc member.
8. A spool as claimed in Claim 7 in which said inner and outer annular
walls of said disc like members have openings therethrough surrounded by
reinforcing flanges.

Description

CA 02487703 2004-11-02
SPOOL FOR COILED WIRE
FIELD OF THE INVENTI
This invention relates to the handling of coils of product such as
outdoor electrical wiring, tubing and the like and, more particularly, to a
spool
on to which a coil of wound product can be mounted to greatly facilitate the
drawing of the product off the coil.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
At present, such products as electrical outdoor wiring are wound
layer upon layer like a spool of thread into a coil. The wound coils upon
removal from their spools are strapped and then shrink wrapped in plastic for
shipping. For ease of shipping, the external and internal diameters of the
wound coils are maintained the same for a given size of product.
The customer upon receiving the shrink wrapped wound coil
removes the shrink wrapping and cuts or removes the strapping and is then left
to his own devices as to how the product can be drawn off the wound coil.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a very effective
solution to this existing problem to thus enable the product to be drawn off
the
shrink wrapped wound coil with ease.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, the solution to the problem resides in
providing a two part spool on to which the shrink wrapped wound coil can be
mounted. This two part spool comprises a first disc like member and a second
disc like member having interengaging means for drawing the members
together from opposite sides of the shrink wrapped wound coil. These
members are formed so that the innermost layer of the coiled product is firmly
gripped therebetween when they are firmly drawn together and they provide a
central cylindrical passage therethrough to receive a spindle on which they
can
rotate as the layers of the wound product are drawn off from the wound coil
commencing with the outermost layer

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According to a preferred form of the invention, the spool on which
the coil of wound product is mounted comprises a pair of injection molded disc
like plastic members adapted to be screwed together to close against the coil
from opposite sides. Each of the members has a central cylindrical hollow
elongated hub, an inner annular wall section sloping outwardly from the hub
and an outer annular wall section connected to the perimeter of the inner wall
section and extending outwardly substantially at right angles to the axis of
the
hub. The hub of one of the members has an internal thread while the hub of the
other of the members has an external thread threadable into the hub of the
said
one section whereby the members can be screwed together to bring the outer
edges of the inner annular wall sections into gripping engagement with the
innermost row of the coiled product whereby a spindle sleeved through the
interconnected hubs enables the spool to freely rotate as product is drawn off
commencing with the outermost layer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective sketch illustrating a wound coil of product
which is strapped and then shrink wrapped ready for shipping;
Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating the cutting of the strapping;
Figure 3 is a exploded view illustrating the two disc like members
constituting the supporting spool ready to be assembled with the shrink
wrapped coil, the central hubs of the members being ready to be inserted or
pushed through the shrink wrapping into the interior of the coiled product
from
opposite sides of the product.
Figure 4 is the vertical sectional view showing the two disc members
threadably connected with the wound coiled product in position and the
innermost row of the wound coil gripped between the outer edges of the inner
outwardly sloping annular wall sections of the disc members.

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Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the two disc like sections
of the spool ready to be threaded together;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the rear or inner side of the left
hand disc member of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the front or outer side of the right
hand disc shown in Figure 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED
EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Figure 1 is a sketch illustrating a wound coil of product such as
outdoor electrical wiring or the like, generally designated at 1, which is
secured
by strapping 2 and then enclosed shrink wrapped plastic 3.
In the customer's hands, the shrink wrapping would be pierced and
the strapping 3 removed as by cutting with scissors 4 at which time the wound
coil of product is ready to be mounted on the spool of the present invention
which comprises two separate disc like members 5 and 6 as illustrated in
Figure
3.
Figure 4 illustrates the relationship of the two disc members 5 and 6
after they have been assembled with the coil wound product. As seen in Figure
4, the disc like member 5 has an elongated central cylindrical hub 7 which is
internally threaded with threads 8. Hub 7 has an outer end 9 and an inner end
10.. Connected to the hub 7 adjacent to the inner end 10 is an inner annular
wall section 11 which slopes outwardly to its periphery 12. Connected to the
periphery 12 of the inner annular wall section 11 is an outer annular wall
section 13 which extends substantially perpendicular to the axis of the hub 7.
The disc like member 6 similarly has an elongated hollow hub 14 which is
somewhat longer than hub 7 of member S. Hub 14 is externally threaded with
threads 15 extending forwardly from a point 16 at the inner side of member 6
to
its outer end 17. Secured at the inner end of the threading 15 is an inner

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annular wall section 18 that slopes outwardly from hub 14 to its periphery 19.
Attached to the periphery 19 of the inner annular wall section 18 is an outer
annular wall section 20 which is substantially at right angles to the axis of
the
cylindrical hub 14.
As will be seen from Figure 4, as the hub 14 of the disc like member
6 is threaded into the hub 7 of disc like member 5, the disc members 5 and 6
will be drawn together until the opposing perimeters 12 and 19 of inwardly
sloping wall sections 11 and 18 firmly engage the inner row 21 of the coiled
wound product.
It will be understood that it is not necessary to totally remove the
shrink wrapped covering of the coiled wound product as the hubs 7 and 14 can
be punched through the plastic of the shrink wrapping as they are threaded
together.
As seen from Figure 5, which shows member S and 6 ready for
assembly, both the inner annular walls 11 and 18 and the outer annular walls
13
and 20 are provided with openings 22 to save on material and reduce weight.
These openings preferably have surrounding flanges 23 to provide
reinforcement.
Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the inner side of member
S, the outer side being shown in Figure 5.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the outer side of member 6, the
inner side being shown in Figure 5.
As will be seen from Figure 7, the hub 14 at the outer side of
member 6 is grooved to in effect provide teeth 24 by means of which the spool
comprised by the screwed together components 5 and 6 can be rotated about a
spindle, eg. a bar or pipe sleeved through hubs 7 and 14 by a gear (not
shown)..

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While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and
described, it will be understood that various modifications may be made
without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Representative Drawing