GB2493518A

GB2493518A - Cable reel which can be dismantled

Info

Publication number: GB2493518A
Application number: GB1113531.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Crank
Original assignee: PENTRE GROUP Ltd
Current assignee: PENTRE GROUP Ltd
Priority date: 2011-08-05
Filing date: 2011-08-05
Publication date: 2013-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-05
Also published as: GB201113531D0; GB2493518B

Abstract

Flanges 10, 12 are detachably mounted to each end of a hollow barrel 14 having an internal annular ledge 31 spaced from a first end and sloping towards the first end and at least a first flange 10 having an annular projection 21, 22 to engage behind the ledge 31, the barrel 14 being formed from at least two part-cylindrical sections 24 connected to each other to mount the barrel to the first flange 10 with the annular projection 21, 22 retained behind the annular ledge 31. The barrel 14 may be provided with a secondary wall 32 which can be an extension of the internal annular ledge 31 or of which the internal annular ledge 31 may be an extension so that between the main wall of the barrel 14 and the secondary wall 32 there is defined a channel 34 opening towards the first end of the barrel 14 enabling at least one fastener, such as an angled clip 40, to locate through an opening in the first flange 10 and engage in the channel 34 to further secure the flange 10 to the barrel 14.

Description

A REEL WHICH CAN BE DISMANTLED

This invention concerns a reel of the type used for transporting, storing, dispensing cable or similar filamentary products.

Cable reels (which are also referred to as spools) formed from a hollow cylindrical barrel and separate flanges attached to respective ends of the barrel are well known, as it is often easier to manufacture these parts separately. Moreover, there are reels known where the flanges are attached by fasteners, such as plugs or clips to the ends of the barrel. This may be because adhesion of the flanges, when made of plastics, to the barrel, is problematic, or because it is favourable to transport the reels as separate components, which can be packed in less space, and assemble them at the site of product application whele attachment by fasteners is easier for unskilled operatives to deal with. Examples are disclosed in EP 1657201 and US 2009/134259. There are other designs of cable reels where the flanges are attached to the barrel by means of mechanical joint, e.g. friction fit or direct clip on arrangements, with or without additional fasteners.

Many cable reels are produced of inexpensive plastics material and are not intended for re-use. Although re-use may be possible, the cost of transporting empty reels back from the end user of the wound product to be rewound usually does not make that worthwhile.

One of the problems with low cost clip together reels is that they mostly do not provide a particularly stable or rigid structure. Generally they are rickety.

An object of the present invention is to provide a reel which can be assembled from separate barrel and flange parts, yet is more reliably firmer in its assembled form than many known designs. A further object is to provide a reel which can be dismantled easily for purposes of recycling.

According to the present invention, a reel capable of being dismantled comprises a hollow barrel and respective flanges detachably mounted to each end of the barrel, characterised in that the barrel has an internal annular ledge spaced from a first end, at least a first flange is provided with an annular projection which is positioned and configured to engage behind the ledge, and the barrel is formed in at least two part-cylindrical sections which are connected to each other to mount the barrel to the first flange with the annular projection retained behind the annular ledge.

A corresponding assemblage of parts for forming such a reel comprises a hollow barrel and respective flan9es capable of being mounted to each end of the barrel, characterised in that the barrel has an internal annular ledge spaced from a first end, at least a first of the flanges is provided with an annular projection which is positioned and configured to engage behind the ledge, and the barrel is formed in at least two part-cylindrical sections which are connectable to each other to mount the barrel to the first flange with the annular projection retained behind the annular ledge.

In preferred embodiments the annular ledge of the barrel slopes towards the first end of the barrel and the annular projection of the first flange slopes outwardly in a correspondingly divergent manner to fit in abutting manner behind the ledge. This sloping configuration facilitates manufacture of the flanges and the barrel parts and allows for greater manufacturing tolerances while still achieving close, secure fitting between the sloping ledge and the sloping projection.

Either or both of the inter-engaging parts, namely the ledge and/or the flange projection, may be continuous or have gaps between successive parts arranged in annular manner.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the barrel is formed as two half shells. These may be connected along their adjoining axially extending edges by respective tongue and groove formations of any conventional form. These formations may be continuous along the adjoining edges, or spaced apart at a small number of locations along the respective mating edges.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the barrel, namely each barrel part, has in addition to a main wall, also a secondary wall which is spaced inwardly of the main wall at least in the vicinity of the first end of the barrel. The purpose of the secondary wall is to define, with the main wall, a channel opening towards the adjacent end of the barrel into which fasteners may be engaged as additional means for securing the respective flange to that end of the barrel.

Further, the design is optimised where the ledge and the secondary wall are associated, namely with the ledge providing pad of the secondary wall or being formed thereon.

The fasteners are preferably provided in the form of strips of material (referred to as clips') which are fabricated in bent configuration, e.g. moulded of plastics or bent from metal strip, e.g. steel, so as to provide resilient, spring-like devices.

Such fasteners are then located through one or more openings in the first flange aligned with the channel and project into and are resiliently engaged in the aforesaid channel.

These fasteners serve as additional means to hold the reel parts together while it is wound with product. After that the product itself will reliably secure the barrel parts to the respective flanges.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a practical embodiment of an assembled reel in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-section of the reel of Figure 1 shown adjacent/above another similar reel, only a top portion of which is shown; Figure 3 is a plan view of a flange of the reel of Figure 1 Figure 4 is a perspective view of the underside of the flange of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a cross-section of the flange of Figure 3 along long line V-V in Figure 3; Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross-section of part of the flange along line VI-VI in Figure 3; Figure 7 is a perspective view of one half of the barrel of the reel of Figures 1 and 2, viewed from the mating edge; and Figure 8 is an enlarged detail showing the attachment of a first flange to a first end of the barrel and engagement of a clip there between, as at the top of Figure 2.

As illustrated in figures 1 and 2, a practical embodiment of a reel in accordance with the invention comprises first and second flanges 10, 12 mounted at respective ends of a barrel, designated generally by reference 14. A single flange 10 is illustrated separately in figures 3, 4 and 5. The other flange 12 is substantially identical. Each flange is in the form of a circular disc moulded from polyolefin, typically polypropylene, although any other suitable plastics may be used. One surface of the disc, which is to face outwardly of the barrel 14 when the flange is fitted to the barrel, is formed with a plurality of circumferential and radial ribs 16 for purposes of rigidity. A central hub region 18 is formed with a central aperture 17 and a kidney shaped well 19 which may serve as handhold means.

Respective openings 15 are provided at opposing locations radially outward of but adjacent to the hub region 18. The underside of each flange 10, 12 is formed with a bifurcated annular projection 20 extending from the periphery of the hub region 18, this projection having a first wall 21 which extends substantially perpendicular relative to the surface of the flange and a second wall 22 which slopes outwardly from adjacent the base of the projection 20. This is best shown in figures 5 and 6.

The barrel 14 is formed as two semi-cylindrical shells, one of which 24 is illustrated separately in figure 7. These half shells 24 fit together along mating longitudinal edges by means of a series of inter fitting ledges, pairs of closely adjacent ledges providing grooves 26 and corresponding single ledges on the opposing edge of the other half barrel providing tongues 28 which locate and engage into aforesaid grooves. In the illustrated example a groove 26 is formed at upper and lower locations on one side edge with a single ledge providing a tongue 28 at an intermediate, central location on the same side edge, while a corresponding tongue 28 is formed at upper and lower locations on the opposing side edge, with a groove 26 formed at the intermediate location. In this way, both half barrels can be of identical configuration. However, in other embodiments, other arrangements of tongue and grooves and different numbers of these at different spacing may be provided, and different forms of inter-fitting formations, such as plug and socket formations or tongue and groove formations extending longitudinally along substantially the entire length of each side edge, could also be provided within the scope of the present invention.

At each semicircular end of each half barrel 24 a sloping ledge 31 and secondary inner wall 30 is formed. The sloping ledge 31 extends from the main wall of the half barrel at a short spacing from the respective end of the barrel and extends towards said end at an acute angle relative to the main wall. This is best shown in the enlarged detail of figure 8.

The secondary wall 30 is formed in part by aforesaid sloping ledge 31 together with an upturned extension 32 from the distal end of the slope, which extension 32 is arranged substantially parallel to, inwardly of the main wall. When the two half barrels 24 are fitted together, a continuous annular sloping ledge 31 and secondary wall 30 is provided at each end of the barrel 14. Together with the respective adjacent end margin of the main wall of the barrel, these define an annular channel 34, with a sloping bottom, which is open towards the respective end of the barrel.

The reel is assembled by fitting the two half barrel shells 24 together so as to capture the projections 20 of the flanges 10, 12 behind the sloping ledges 31 at the respective ends of the barrel 24. This is best seen in figures 2 and 11. The abutting interconnection between the sloping ledges 31 of the barrel 14 and the sloping walls 22 on the underside of each flange 10, 12, provides stability and a firm and reliable interconnection between these parts.

The openings 15 in the respective flanges 10, 12 are in alignment with and overlie opposing locations of the annular channel 34 at each end of the barrel 24. Clips 40 are inserted into these openings 15 and engage into the channel 34. These clips 40, one of which is illustrated in figure 8, each consist of a strip of material which has been bent into the configuration shown so as to have a U-shaped portion, with resilient opposing limbs, which fits in spring-like manner and is resiliently retained in aforesaid channel 34, as shown in figure 8. These clips 40 provide additional security of connection between the flanges 10, 12 and the barrel 14 prior to the winding of filamentary product onto the barrel 14. As shown, a terminal end portion 41 of each clip 40 is inserted through a further small aperture 23 (figures 6 and 8) near the base of the bifurcated annular projection 20 of each flange 10, 12. An opposing bent terminal end portion 42 of each clip 40 may be secured by adhesive to the outer surface of the respective flange 10, 12.

The clips 40 may be made of any material that has the required resilience to perform its task. For example, the clips may be of steel strip. However, they will preferably be made of thermoplastics material, most preferably polypropylene, so that all the material of the reel can be recycled without the need for separation of different types of material.

Two or more such reels are intended to stack on top of each other. The kidney shaped well 19 on the outer surface of the hub 18 of each flange 10, 12 has an outer edge 29 which projects upwards from the flange surface and this fits into a corresponding curved groove 23 provided near the opposing side of the hub 18 when two such reels are stacked at the appropriate relative angular positions, one turned through 180°. The insertion of the upstanding edge 29 into the groove 23 creates an anti-slip feature. A stack of loaded spools may rock but the individual schools will not slip apart.

The reels are produced relatively inexpensively and are not generally intended for re-use.

Nevertheless, it is particularly useful if they can be dismantled after use, namely after the relevant filamentary product for which the reel acted as a carrier has been used up, as that facilitates recycling of the plastics material or is preferable to make the parts more compact if they are being sent to landfill waste disposal. Reels in accordance with the invention can be readily dismantled by separation of the two barrel halves 24. In the illustrated embodiment, the clips 40 also need to be removed prior to separation of the barrel halves 24. Particularly where the clips 40 are secured by adhesive, it is necessary to damage or break the flange in order to remove the clip connection. However, this may also be the case when adhesive is not required as a quick means to release the clips. Such damage/destruction is intentional so that the reels cannot be re-used but will be sent for recycling or disposal in a compact form as intended.

The foregoing is illustrative and not limitative of the scope of the invention. Many variations in detail are possible in other embodiments. For example, the annular ledges formed adjacent to the ends of the barrel halves need not be sloping and could be substantially radial instead, with the projections from the under surface of the respective flanges being L-shaped in order to have a distal portion which fits behind such a radial ledge. Other configurations are possible. The projections from the flange do not need to be bifurcated. Although the specific example illustrated has continuous annular ledges on the barrel ends and corresponding flange projections, in other embodiments one or both of these could be discontinuous, thus with gaps between part-annular portions. Further, although the illustrated example is particularly favourable in having the ledge forming a lower portion of the secondaly wall and forming portion of the outwardly facing channel, in other embodiments a secondary wall and channel may not be provided, or the ledge may be formed differently, for example as a further extension of the secondary wall projecting to the interior of the barrel. Many other variations in design detail are possible as will be apparent to anyone skilled in the art.

Figure 2 shows how the particular illustrated version, and variants thereof, lend themselves to stacking of reels once assembled, or to close side-by-side storage or use, as the outer surfaces of the flanges of respective reels may be brought into level overlying contact with each other.

Claims

<claim-text>CLAIMS1. A reel capable of being dismantled comprising a hollow barrel and respective flanges detachably mounted to each end of the barrel, characterised in that the barrel has an internal annular ledge spaced from a first end, at least a first flange is provided with an annular projection which is positioned and configured to engage behind the ledge, and the barrel is formed in at least two part-cylindrical sections which are connected to each other to mount the barrel to the first flange with the annular projection retained behind the annular ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A reel according to claim 1 wherein the annular ledge of the barrel slopes towards the first end of the barrel and the annular projection of the first flange slopes outwardly in a correspondingly divergent manner to fit in abutting manner behind the ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A reel according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the ledge is continuous or discontinuous.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A reel according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the annular projection of the first flange is continuous or discontinuous.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A reel according to any preceding claim wherein the barrel has a main wall and also has a secondary wall which is spaced inwardly of the main wall at least in the vicinity of the first end of the barrel.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A reel according to claim 5 wherein the secondary wall is provided, at least in part, by the internal annular ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A reel according to claim 5 wherein the secondary wall is provided as an extension of the internal annular ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A reel according to claim 5 wherein the internal annular ledge is provided as an extension from the secondary wall.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A reel according to any of claims 5 to 8 wherein a channel opening towards the first end of the barrel is defined between the main wall and the secondary wall and at least one opening is provided in the first flange at a position which overlies the open side of the channel, and at least one fastener locates through the opening and engages the channel.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A reel according to claim 9 wherein the fastener is an angled clip which is resiliently engaged in the channel.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A reel according to claim 9 or 10 wherein a portion of the fastener overlies and is adhesively connected to an outer surface of the first flange.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A reel assembly comprising a hollow barrel and respective flanges capable of being mounted to each end of the barrel, characterised in that the barrel has an internal annular ledge spaced from a first end, at least a first of the flanges is provided with an annular projection which is positioned and configured to engage behind the ledge, and the barrel is formed in at least two part-cylindrical sections which are connectable to each other to mount the barrel to the first flange with the annular projection retained behind the annular ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. A reel assembly according to claim 12 wherein the annular ledge of the barrel slopes towards the first end of the barrel and the annular projection of the first flange slopes outwardly in a correspondingly divergent manner to fit in abutting manner behind the ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A reel assembly according to claim 12 or 13 wherein the ledge is continuous or discontinuous.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. A reel assembly according to claim 12 or 13 wherein the annular projection of the first flange is continuous or discontinuous.</claim-text> <claim-text>16. A reel assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the barrel has a main wall and also has a secondary wall which is spaced inwardly of the main wall at least in the vicinity of the first end of the barrel.</claim-text> <claim-text>17. A reel assembly according to claim 16 wherein the secondary wall is provided, at least in part, by the internal annular ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>18. A reel assembly according to claim 16 wherein the secondary wall is provided as an extension of the internal annular ledge.</claim-text> <claim-text>19. A reel assembly according to claim 16 wherein the internal annular ledge is provided as an extension from the secondary wall.</claim-text> <claim-text>20. A reel assembly according to any of claims 16 to 19 wherein a channel opening towards the first end of the barrel is defined between the main wall and the secondary wall and at least one opening is provided in the first flange at a position which overlies the open side of the channel, when the reel is assembled, and wherein the assembly further includes at least one fastener adapted to locate through the opening and engage in the channel.</claim-text> <claim-text>21. An assembly according to claim 20 wherein the fastener is an angled clip which is resiliently deformable.</claim-text> <claim-text>22. A reel capable of being dismantled substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.</claim-text> <claim-text>23. A reel assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.</claim-text>