GB2167458A - Reel winder or winch - Google Patents

Abstract

A reel winder or winch has a drum or shaft (28 or 22) which is rotatable about its own axis by power operated means, said drum or shaft being also angularly movable about a second axis (25) which is perpendicular to its own axis to facilitate traversing of material (29) for winding. Further power operated means such as a piston and cylinder unit (26, 27) are provided for effecting such angular movement and sensing means (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35) may be provided for initiating actuation of said piston and cylinder unit. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Reel winder or winch This invention relates to a reel winder or a winch.

Such devices are of course used for the purpose of winding on to reels or spools elongated members such as ropes or cables of various kinds and it is very desirable in winding the ropes or cables or like members to arrange that they are coiled neatly on the receiving reels or spools in such a way thaa each member being coiled forms a plurality of layers extending across the width of the receiving reel so that each layer forms a close-coiled helix in which successive coils engage each other. Such a configuration ensures that the receiving reel will contain as geat a length of the elongated member as is possible.Conversely, if the member being wound on to a reel or winch is allowed to "pile up" so as to form, along its length, one or more flat spirals, then obviously sudden and unpredictable variations in winding speed will be called for since in portions where such flat spirals are formed the effective diameter of the wound coil will increase rapidly.

Hitherto, this requirement for neat coiling of the elongated member on the reel winder or winch has been met in one known arrangement by using coiling gear which comprises a pair of guide rollers or prongs which are spaced apart in a direction parallel to the axis of the associated reel or spool so as to be adapted to receive between them the incoming portion of the elongated member which is to be wound on, said guide rollers or prongs being traversed across the width of the reel or spool by means of a lead screw which is rotated as the spool rotates. The traversing speed of this mechanism must clearly be adjusted to suit the diameter of the elongated member and it is by no means easy to arrange for the correct adjustment to be made.Also there must be a reversing mechanism which acts to reverse the direction of rotation of the lead screw when the coiling gear reaches each end of its traverse across the width of the spool and altogether the whole system becomes complicated and expensive to manufacture and somewhat clumsy and imprecise in use.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of reel winder or winch which does enable an elongated member to be wound neatly as required but which does not have the disadvantages inherent in the known form of coiling gear as above-described.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a reel winder or winch which has a drum or shaft mounted in a housing or support so as to be rotatable about its own axis by power-operated means, said drum or shaft being arranged so that it is also angularly movable about a second axis which is perpendicular to its own axis, further poweroperated means being provided for effecting such angular movement.

The aforementioned angular movement about said second axis may be achieved by arranging that said housing or support is itself pivotable on a further, ground-engaging, support or, preferably, by arranging that the drum or shaft is pivotable, about said second axis, relative to said housing or support.

Furthermore, said further power-operated means (such as a fluid pressure actuated piston and cylinder unit) is preferably associated with sensing means which are operatively connected in use to the incoming portion of the elongated member which is being wound on to the reel winder or winch for the purpose of sensing the position of said incoming portion relative to either end of the spool on to which it is being wound so that said sensing means will act to energise said piston and cylinder unit at each end of the traverse of elongatged member across the width of the spool in order to turn the drum or shaft about said second axis.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein Figure lisa diagrammatic view showing part of a main power line comprising a plurality of pylons which carry mains cables, together with a winch which is being used, in the arrangement depicted in Figure 1, for the purpose of removing a length of old cable and replacing it by a corresponding length of new cable, there bring also shown diagrammatically in Figure 1 one example of a reel winder constructed in accordance with the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic elevational view showing an example of a reel winder in accordance with the invention and Figures 3,4 and 5 are respectively plan, side and rear views of one practical embodiment of a reel winder in accordance with the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, Figure 1 shows a plurality of pylons 10 which form part of a main electricity transmission line, said pylons carrying a plurality of mains cables of which only two (for sake of simplicity) namely cables 11 and 12 are shown. It is at times necessary to replace such mains cables (which may for example each comprise 1" diameter stranded aluminium conductor wire) and as shown in Figure 1 a portion of the mains cable 12 is being replaced over a distance which may in practice for example be of the order of one mile in length.

Accordingly the section of cable which is to be replaced is cut at its two ends as indicated in Figure 1 by reference numerals 13 and 14. Suitable pulleys (not shown) would be mounted on the pylons carrying the now severed portion of the old mains cable 12 which would be disconnected from its normal insulators and then engaged in the grooves of the aforementioned pulleys. A reel of new cable 15 would then be placed in position adjacent one end of the severed portion of old cable and the old and new cables would be joined together as indicated by reference numeral 1 5a. The other end of the severed cable is then led around the drum or bollard 16 of a winch 17 mounted on the front end of a tractor 18 and is then led from said winch bollard 16 to a reel winder generally indicated by reference numeral 19 mounted on a wheeled carriage 20.Thus the arrangement is such that rotation of said winch drum or bollard 16 by power derived from the tractor engine will result in the old, severed, portion of cable being drawn across said pulleys secured to the pylons and this operation will result in the new cable being pulled from the reel 15 until a sufficient length of such new cable will have replaced the old cable, the latter then being completely removed from the aforementioned pulleys. The winch 17 will thus provide the motive power for pulling the new cable into position. However it is of course desirable to ensure that the old cable which has been removed will be neatly wound onto a spool or spools in order that it can be stored or disposed of as may be required.

Attention is now drawn to Figure 2 which shows a part of the aforementioned reel winder 19 in greater detaii. Thus there is provided a housing or supporting frame 21 together with a drum or (as shown) a spindle 22 which is operatively connected to the output of a gearbox 23 the input of which is conveniently driven by power means such as an internal combustion engine (not shown). Said engine is thus adapted to rotate said spindle 22 about its own axis indicated by reference numeral 24. The end of said spindle 22 adjacent to the gearbox 23 is supported in a bearing carried by a trunnion which is pivotally mounted in said housing 21 so as to be pivotable relative thereto about an axis indicated by reference numeral 25.Effectively therefore said spindle 22 can not only be rotated about its own axis 24 but can also be moved angularly about the axis 25 which is perpendicular to the axis 24. The other end of said spindle 22 is also supported by a trunnion which is slidably mounted in the housing 21, said trunnion being connected to the outer end of the piston rod 26 of a piston and cylinder unit 27. The arrangement is such that actuation of said piston and cylinder unit 27 will be effective to cause slight angular movement of the spindle 22 about said axis 25. Mounted on said spindle 22 is a reel or spool 28 and the arrangement is such that the connection between the housing 21 and the spindle 22 at that end thereof opposite to the gearbox 23 can be disconnected when required in order that the spool 28 can be removed from or mounted on the spindle.

As previously explained, cable which is pulled over the pulleys suspended from said pylons will be firstly carried round the winch bollard 16 and will then be led to the spool 28, the incoming cable being indicated by reference numeral 29. Said incoming cable 29 is led through a loop or ring 30 connected to a rod 31 which carries a pair of adjustably spaced stops 32 and 33 which are respectively engageable with an arm 34 of an actuating valve 35 which is operatively connected to said piston and cylinder unit 37.

In use the aforementioned spindle 22 together with the associated spool 28 will be rotated through said gearbox 23 at a speed which will be slightly faster than the speed of rotation of said winch bollard 16 so that said incoming part 29 of the cable will be maintained in a tautcondition as it is wound onto the spool 28. By initial actuation of the piston and cylinder unit 27 said axis 24 of the spindle 22 and of the spool 28 is set so that it is not quite perpendicular to the incoming portion of the cable 29 and the line of said pylons indicated by broken line 36. The aforesaio axis 25 will be perpendicular to said line of pylons 36 and, as winding onto the spool 28 proceeds, the incoming cable will form naturally a close coiled helix 37 in which adjacent coils engage each other.As winding continues the incoming cable 29 will of course move continuously to the right as seen in Figure 2 and during this movement the rod 31 will also be moved to the right until the stop 32 engages the lever 34 which will then actuate the valve 35 to admit air or hydraulic fluid into the piston and cylinder unit 27 to cause it to move the spindle 22 so as to turn it angularly about its axis 25. Said spindle axis 24 will then be slightly tilted, relative to the direction of the incoming cable 29 in the opposite sense as compared with the inclination whilst the cable was being wound from left to right so that continued rotation of the spindle 22 and spool 28 will result in the cable traversing across the spool from right to left to form another layer of cable on said spool.This traverse continues until the other stop 33 engages said lever 34whereupon the piston and cylinder unit 27 will be actuated in the reverse direction, thereby reversing the direction of inclination of said axis 24 relative to the incoming cable and again causing said cable to make another traverse from leftto right.

As above described the invention is applied to a reel winder but it is of course to be understood that it can also be applied if desired directly to a winch.

Furthermore it is to be understood that the invention can be used in applications other than the removal and replacement of electricity mains cables as above described. For example it can be used in the textile industry or rope-making plants or in any other industry where it is required to wind an elongated flexible member on to a reel or winch. In all cases however (and irrespective of whether a reel winding operation or a winching operation is being carried out) the present invention will ensure that the elongated member is wound neatly on to a spool and will thereby (a) avoid damage to the elongated member (b) apply as great a length of the elongated member to the reel or spool as is possible and (c) prevent "piling" of the elongated member on the reel or spool which would cause sudden variations in winding speed and possibly lead to a violent snatch if the "pile" were to collapse.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, there is shown a reel winder having a pair of wheels 40 and 41 which support a chassis 42 provided with a platform 43 on which is mounted an assembly generally indicated by reference numeral 44 and comprising a diesel engine which serves to drive an hydraulic pump supplying fluid to an hydraulic motor/brake unit 45.

The front end of said platform is provided with a projecting drawbar46wherebythe reel winder can be towed by a tractor and there is also provided adjacent said drawbar a screw operated jack 47 and a parking brake lever 48. The rear end of said chassis 42 divides into two parailel arms 49 and 50, further screw operated jacks 51 and 52 being provided at the rear ends of said arms 49 and 50 when it is required to support the rear winder in an operating position.

There is also provided a reel lifting frame which includes a member 53 extending between the forward ends of said chassis arms 49 and 50 and to each end of said member 53 is connected an arm 54 or 55. Projecting upwardly from the rear ends of said arms 54 and 55 is a post member such as member indicated by reference numeral 56 in Figu. e 4 and t.

the upper end of each of said post members is attached one end of an hydraulic ram 57 or 58. The member 53 of the reel lifting frame is pivotable about its own axis relative to the main chassis members 49 and 50 so that extension of the two hydraulic rams 57 and 58 can be used to raise the arms 54 and 55.

The arm 54 is formed at its upper or rearward end with a telescopic extension 59 which is provided at its outer end with a U-shaped recess 60 which is adapted to receive a self-aligning bearing 61 supporting one end of a spindle 62 which in use will support the reel 63. There is also provided a further hydraulic ram 64 which can be used to extend or retract said member 59 by a small distance relative to the member 54 when the aforementioned spindle 62 is to be turned about the aforesaid second axis.

The other arm 55 of the reel lifting frame does not have any telescopic extension but its upper or rearward end is formed with a similar U-shaped recess which is adapted to support the other end of the spindle 62 and said other end is formed with a dog indicated by a reference numeral 65 in Figure 5.

There is also provided on the reel winder a reduction gearbox 66 which in use is driven by the aforesaid hydraulic motor/brake unit 45, said gearbox 66 being mounted so that it can swivel slightly relative to its mounting, the output member of said gearbox comprising a driving member 67 which has a dog complementary to the aforesaid dog 65 or the spindle 62.

In use and when it is required to wind a length of cable or the like on to the reel 63 the empty reel is first rolled towards the rear end of the reel winder and a spindle 62 is then assembled to the reel before the reel is rolled between the aforesaid main chassis arms 49 and 50, the reel lifting frame being then set in its lowered position by contraction of the rams 57 and 58. The two ends of the spindle 62 are then aligned with the aforesaid U-shaped recesses (such as recess 60) at the rearward ends of the arms 54 and 55 and the rams 57 and 58 are again extended in order to lift the reel into the position shwon in the drawings.The output member of the gearbox 66 is then connected to the adjacent end of the spindle 62 by means of an axially extending bolt which has the effect of bringing the aforesaid dogs into driving engagement The leading end of the cable which is to be wound on to the reel is then passed around the reel at one axial end thereof, the ram 64 having been actuated in the appropriate direction in order to swivel the reel 63 about the aforesaid second axis, namely an axis which will extend vertically through the swivel mounting of the gearbox 66 in order that actuation of the aforesaid hydraulic motor/brake unit 45 can then be effected to cause rotation of the reel 63. When the cable has been wound in one layer to reach the oiler axial eno of the drum the t c cFerator will then reverse the position of the ram 64 in order to turn the reel 62 about the aforesaid vertical axis in order to cause the cable to be wound in a second layer in the opposite direction back towards the first mentioned axial end of the reel. The two extreme angular positions of the reel are indicated in broken lines in Figure 3 by referent numerals 68 and 69 respectively and as above described it will be appreciated that such turning of the reel will be effected manually by the operator. In an alternative construction however means may be provided for effecting such turning of the reel automatically as for example by means described with reference to the construction shown in Figure 2.

Claims (8)

1. A reel winder or winch having a drum or shaft mounted in a housing or support so as to be rotatable about its own axis by power-operated means, said drum or shaft being arranged so that it is also angularly movable about a second axis which is perpendicular to its own axis, further poweroperated means being provided for effecting such angular movement.

2. A reel winder or winch as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said housing or support is pivotably mounted on a further support so as to be pivotable relative thereto about said second axis.

3. A reel winder or winch as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said drum or shaft is pivotable, about said second axis, relative to said housing or support, said second axis intersecting the axis of the drum or shaft.

4. A reel winder or winch as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said further power-operated means for effecting said angular movement of the drum or shaft about said second axis is associated with sensing means which are operatively connected in use to the incoming portion of the elongated member which is being wound on to the reel winder or winch, said sensing means acting in use to initiate actuation of said further power-operated means effect an angular movement of the drum or shaft about said second axis as the incoming portion of the elongated member approaches either axial end of the drum or shaft.

5. A reel winder or winch as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 4 wherein said further power-operated means comprises a fluid-pressure actuated piston and cylinder unit.

6. A reel winder or winch as claimed in Claim 5 wherein dependent upon Claim 4 wherein said sensing means comprises a guide through which in use said incoming portion of the elongated member extends, said guide being movable in a direction parailel to the axis of the drum or shaft and being connected to a valve operating member adapted to actuate a valve which is arranged in use to control the operation of said fluid-pressure actuated piston and cylinder unit.

7. A reel winder or winch as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said housing or support for the drum or shaft is pivotally mounted on a wheeled chassis so as to be pivotable relative thereto about a horizons I dXiS, means being provided for lifting said housing or support relative to the wheeled chassis.

8. A reel winder or winch substantially as hereinbefore decribed with reference to and as snown in the accompanying drawing.