GB1604409A

GB1604409A - Holders for reels of paper

Info

Publication number: GB1604409A
Application number: GB44178/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Bpc Business Forms Coils & Rol
Current assignee: Bpc Business Forms Coils & Rol
Priority date: 1978-05-22
Filing date: 1978-05-22
Publication date: 1981-12-09

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO HOLDERS FOR REELS OF PAPER (71) We, B.P.C. BUSINESS FORMS (COILS & ROLLS) LIMITED, a British Company, of P.O. Box 10 George Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU6 lNW, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to holders for reels or coils of paper and the like. Reference will hereinafter be made simply to reels of paper, as the invention has particular application to holders of reels of paper for the reception and transmission of data produced on or received by electromechanical orel ectric data receiving and transmission equipment where the data received or produced is in printed format.

Current forms of holders for the above purpose are more or less satisfactory in operation, but usually involve substantial expense in the production of their mounting frames. Furthermore, even such expensive frames may involve the expense of skilled fitters for setting-up to the precise degree of alignment of the paper reels which is required to ensure correct passage of the individual piles of paper to the data receiving and transmission equipment. It is an object of the present invention to reduce or at least minimise the above disadvantages and, according to the invention, there is provided a dispenser pack of a number of rotatable reels of paper each of which has an open-ended core, and which reels are held in alignment by a corresponding number of bearing assemblies, the pack including a frame having opposed side parts formed with through openings where said bearing assemblies are individally secured, and each of said bearing assemblies comprising an outer part in engagement with a side part of the frame and a inner part having a spigot entered firmly into a core opening of a reel so that the reels form structural components of the pack.

The frame can comprise two unitary frame members which carry said bearing assemblies, or may comprise a series of frame parts in a modular system.

The pack may be mounted on a base which may also carry a self-actuating tension control bar to stabilise the entry of plies of the paper into, for example, data receiving and transmission equipment.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a teleprinter having a paper feed in the form of a threereel pack according to the invention; Figure 2 is a rear view of the three-reel pack; Figure 3 is a detail view showing one form of reel bearing assembly; Figure 4 is a side view of an alternative form of two-reel pack according to the invention; and, Figure 5 is a rear view of the two-reel pack.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, teleprinter 10 is of conventional form and is fed from a pack 11 of three reels 12, 13 and 14 of pressure-sensitive paper of different colours. The reels themselves are also of conventional form and have tubular cardboard or plastics cores 15.

The pack 11 comprises three modules each consisting of opposed side-frame parts 16 of plastics material. Each frame part is formed with two upper sockets 17 and with two complementary spigots 18 which enter the sockets below in firm engagement and, as shown in Figure 1, the complete spigots of the bottom frame parts 16 enter sockets 19 formed in four legs 20 upstanding from a fixed base plate 21.

The frame parts 16 carry bearing assemblies for the reels 12-14 and, as best shown in Figure 3, each bearing assembly comprises a plastics member 22 provided with a plastices retaining cap 23. Each member 22 consists of a solid spigot 24 which is a pushfit in the end of core 15 of a paper reel (12), an annular collar 25 which is sandwiched between the reel and the adjacent frame part 16, and a cylindrical outer shaft 26. The shaft extends freely through a bearing opening 27 in the frame part 16 and has a socket 28 in which the retaining cap 23 is secured by adhesive. The assembled arrangement is such that the shafts of the bearing members 22 can rotate freely in the openings 27, and there is a slight clearance between the faces of the frame part 16 and the inner collar 25 and outer head 29 of the cap 23.

Two of the legs 20 carry pivots 30 for a gravity-operated tension control bar 31 which is self-actuating to stabilise the feed entry of the plies of paper 12A, 13A and 14A from the three reels.

The sockets 17 of the top frame parts 16 provide a mounting for an optional feed roll holder 32.

In use of the invention, the teleprinter operators receive a factory-assembled pack of three reels 12-14, and simply enter the spigots 18 of the bottom frame parts firmly into the fixed sockets 19. Plies of paper from the three reels are then passed under the tension control bar 31 and entered into the teleprinter at 33, and the holder 32 may be fitted. It will be appreciated that the initial assembly of the pack and the subsequent setting-up of the paper supply are simple and largely foolproof operations which can be carried out rapidly by unskilled or semiskilled labour, and that accurate alignment of the three reels is ensured, without the complex, heavy and expensive framework which would be required if, for example, the reels were carried by steel bars passing through the core openings. Furthermore, in operation, the control bar 31 stabilises the feed entry of the plies of paper so that the drag effect of the paper should not impair or arrest the paper advance mechanism in the teleprinter. A controlled degree of end float of the reels may readily be provided by adjusting the bearing assemblies (22, 23) to compensate for any variations in the form of the end faces of the reels, and this can ensure the important feature of the plies of paper remaining in lateral register with each other. Also, as the bearing members may be formed by injection moulding, a high degree of consistency can thus be obtained and close tolerance bearing can be achieved.

After the reels of paper 12-14 are exhausted, the frame parts 16 together with the bearing assemblies 22, 23 and the cores 15 are simply discarded and replaced by a fresh pack.

Turning now to Figures 4 and 5, the pack 34 consists of two reels 35, 36 mounted, by means of bearing assemblies similar to 22, 23 as described above, between two side-frame members 37 formed of hardboard. In this case, each bearing assembly comprises an inner plastics member 38 and an outer plastics bush 39 which is a force fit in the hardboard member 37. The member 38 comprises a spigot 40 which is a force-fit in the reel core 15, an annular collar 41 which is sandwiched between the reel and the member 37, and a stub shaft 42 which is a free fit in the bush 39.

The pack illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 is supplied in a cardboard carton, and, in use, the carton lid (not shown) is removed and discarded, and the reels, already factorymounted on the two frame members 37, remain in base 43 of the cardboard carton, so that the carton base forms a supplementary structural part of the assembly and also protects the reels of paper from dust, dirt, etc. In this case, the reel pack is simply placed on the bench at the feed side of a teleprinter or like machine. The bench position may be suitably marked or, alternatively, a recessed base support may be provided. Again, the parts of the pack remaining when the reels of paper are exhausted, are discarded, and a new pack is then placed in position.

As will be appreciated, the modular form of pack illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 can be readily adapted to hold, say, two to six reels and, of course, the pack according to Figures 4 and 5 can be initially formed to hold any reasonable number of reels. Also, the reels may be of, for example, normal paper and carbon paper as well as of pressuresensitive papers.

Modifications may be made. For example, the bearing assemblies 22, 23 described in Figures 1 to 3 may be as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 so that one form of bearing assembly could be incorporated in both forms of pack.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A dispenser pack of a number of rotatable reels of paper each of which has an open-ended core, and which reels are held in alignment by a corresponding number of bearing assemblies, the pack including a frame having opposed side parts formed with through openings where said bearing assemblies are individually secured, and each of said bearing assemblies comprising an outer part in engagement with a side part of the frame and a inner part having a spigot entered firmly into a core opening of a reel so that the reels form structural components of the pack.

2. A pack of reels as claimed in Claim 1, in which said frame comprises a series of pairs of frame parts in a modular system.

3. A pack of reels as claimed in Claim 2, in which said frame parts are formed with spigot and socket connectors which interconnect the frame parts and provide means for use in mounting the pack on a base which is provided with complementary spigot andfor socket connectors.

4. A pack of reels as claimed in Claim 1, in which said frame comprises two unitary frame members which carry said bearings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. 16, and a cylindrical outer shaft 26. The shaft extends freely through a bearing opening 27 in the frame part 16 and has a socket 28 in which the retaining cap 23 is secured by adhesive. The assembled arrangement is such that the shafts of the bearing members 22 can rotate freely in the openings 27, and there is a slight clearance between the faces of the frame part 16 and the inner collar 25 and outer head 29 of the cap 23. Two of the legs 20 carry pivots 30 for a gravity-operated tension control bar 31 which is self-actuating to stabilise the feed entry of the plies of paper 12A, 13A and 14A from the three reels. The sockets 17 of the top frame parts 16 provide a mounting for an optional feed roll holder 32. In use of the invention, the teleprinter operators receive a factory-assembled pack of three reels 12-14, and simply enter the spigots 18 of the bottom frame parts firmly into the fixed sockets 19. Plies of paper from the three reels are then passed under the tension control bar 31 and entered into the teleprinter at 33, and the holder 32 may be fitted. It will be appreciated that the initial assembly of the pack and the subsequent setting-up of the paper supply are simple and largely foolproof operations which can be carried out rapidly by unskilled or semiskilled labour, and that accurate alignment of the three reels is ensured, without the complex, heavy and expensive framework which would be required if, for example, the reels were carried by steel bars passing through the core openings. Furthermore, in operation, the control bar 31 stabilises the feed entry of the plies of paper so that the drag effect of the paper should not impair or arrest the paper advance mechanism in the teleprinter. A controlled degree of end float of the reels may readily be provided by adjusting the bearing assemblies (22, 23) to compensate for any variations in the form of the end faces of the reels, and this can ensure the important feature of the plies of paper remaining in lateral register with each other. Also, as the bearing members may be formed by injection moulding, a high degree of consistency can thus be obtained and close tolerance bearing can be achieved. After the reels of paper 12-14 are exhausted, the frame parts 16 together with the bearing assemblies 22, 23 and the cores 15 are simply discarded and replaced by a fresh pack. Turning now to Figures 4 and 5, the pack 34 consists of two reels 35, 36 mounted, by means of bearing assemblies similar to 22, 23 as described above, between two side-frame members 37 formed of hardboard. In this case, each bearing assembly comprises an inner plastics member 38 and an outer plastics bush 39 which is a force fit in the hardboard member 37. The member 38 comprises a spigot 40 which is a force-fit in the reel core 15, an annular collar 41 which is sandwiched between the reel and the member 37, and a stub shaft 42 which is a free fit in the bush 39. The pack illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 is supplied in a cardboard carton, and, in use, the carton lid (not shown) is removed and discarded, and the reels, already factorymounted on the two frame members 37, remain in base 43 of the cardboard carton, so that the carton base forms a supplementary structural part of the assembly and also protects the reels of paper from dust, dirt, etc. In this case, the reel pack is simply placed on the bench at the feed side of a teleprinter or like machine. The bench position may be suitably marked or, alternatively, a recessed base support may be provided. Again, the parts of the pack remaining when the reels of paper are exhausted, are discarded, and a new pack is then placed in position. As will be appreciated, the modular form of pack illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 can be readily adapted to hold, say, two to six reels and, of course, the pack according to Figures 4 and 5 can be initially formed to hold any reasonable number of reels. Also, the reels may be of, for example, normal paper and carbon paper as well as of pressuresensitive papers. Modifications may be made. For example, the bearing assemblies 22, 23 described in Figures 1 to 3 may be as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 so that one form of bearing assembly could be incorporated in both forms of pack. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A dispenser pack of a number of rotatable reels of paper each of which has an open-ended core, and which reels are held in alignment by a corresponding number of bearing assemblies, the pack including a frame having opposed side parts formed with through openings where said bearing assemblies are individually secured, and each of said bearing assemblies comprising an outer part in engagement with a side part of the frame and a inner part having a spigot entered firmly into a core opening of a reel so that the reels form structural components of the pack.

5. A pack of reels as claimed in any

preceding Claim, in which said spigot part of each of said bearings is a push-fit or forcefit in the adjacent end of the reel core and includes a shaft which is rotatable in the adjacent side part of said frame or in a socket in said outer part of the bearing assembly, and further includes a collar which is sandwiched between the reel and the adjacent frame part.

6. A pack of reels as claimed in any preceding Claim, and further comprising a self-actuating tension control bar to stabilise the passage of plies of the paper leaving the the pack.

7. A pack of reels as claimed in Claim 7, and further comprising a base on which said frame parts and said control bar are mounted.

8. A dispenser pack of reels of paper, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 or to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.