US2287708A - Strand handling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

June 23, 1942. E. w. REYNOLDS ETAL 2,287,708

STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS I Filed May 9, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNE) June23, 1942. E. w. REYNOLDS ET AL. 2,287,708

STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Fil ed May 9', 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS E.W. REYNOLDS D. 1- WA TERS 52 f Ow -M ATTORNEY Patented June 23, 1942 UNlTED S TENT OFFICE STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Application May 9, 1941, Serial No. 392,670

8 Claims.

This invention relates to strand handling apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for reeling or taking up cable under predeterminedly constant tension.

In the manufacture of multi-conductor electrical cables, especially the relatively fine stranded cables employed in the telephone arts, insulated electrical Wires are drawn simultaneously from a plurality of supply spools, reels, coils an axis at right angles to the axis of its twisting rotation, the driving means including means to or the like, are laid closely together side by side, '16

twisted as a group, provided with some kind of binding or wrapping to keep them in place, and are taken up for storage or further handling or processing on a reel, spool, or the like. In most such procedures the twisting operation necessil5 tate's rotation either of the group of supplies as a whole or of the take-up reel about the axis of the group of strands or cable. Where the latter method is chosen a double rotary motion of the take-up reel is required. This reel must rotate 520 about its own axis, in order to wind or take up the completed cable upon itself; and to do this its axis of take-up rotation must in general be at right angles to the axis of the cable. In order to effect or to follow the otherwise effected twist- 2'5 ing of the cable, the reel must also rotate about an axis generally parallel to or coincident with the axis of the cable, and hence at right angles to the axis of the reels take-up rotation.

Usually, for this purpose, there is provided a cradle or frame rotatable about the axis of the cable to eifect the twisting. The take-up reel is then mounted Within this cradle to rotate therewith for the twisting, but also with the axis of the reel itself at right angles to the axis of the '35 rotation of the cradle, and in such fashion that the reel may rotate about its own axis also in order to effect the taking up of the twisted cable on the reel. Means must, of course, be provided to drive the cradle in rotation about the twisting axis, the cradle carrying the reel with it, and means must also be provided to additionally drive the reel inside of the rotating cradle additionally about the axis of the reel. Further complications of this last problem are introduced because of the fact that the rotary take-up speed of the reel must be progressively diminished from empty reel at the beginning to full reel at the end because of the increasing diameter of the body of cable on the reel and because the linear a reel, mounted to have twisting rotation, about adjustably vary the speed of rotation of the reel about its axis progressively while in operation and means to adjust to predetermined values the average take-up speed and also the range of variation of the take-up speed.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention may be embodied in a strand handling apparatus provided with a rotarily driven cradle in which is mounted a take-up reel to have its axis at right angles to the axis of the cradle, together with means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis, the said means comprising a constant speed driving member, a hydraulic coupling of adjustably constant torque output driven by the member and driving a shaft extending into the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, and means within the cradle to couple the reel to the shaft to be driven thereby, in combination with an adjustable variable speed transmission driven in synchronism with the cradle, and means driven by the transmission to progressively vary the adjustable torque control means of the hydraulic coupling.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals areapplied to identical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan View of a cable take-up apparatus and drive therefor constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof with the motor removed;

Fig. 3 is a vertical central longitudinal section of the hydraulic coupling; and

Fig. 4 is a partial view corresponding to Fig. 2, of a modified form.

As herein disclosed the invention is embodied in take-up apparatus for a machine for manufacturing cable, of which machine only so much is shown as is required for an understanding of the present invention. It is assumed that a cable H] has, in preceding parts of the machine not shown, been fully formed and twisted and is now to be taken up. This cable as it enters Fig. 11 from the left, is rotating about it own axis after leaving the twisting means and is to be taken up on the take-up reel 20 mounted in the cradle M to be rotatable with the cradle and also rotatable about its own axis. The cradle'2l is rotated about the axis of its bearing 22 by means such as belts 23 from a shaft 24 driven at constant speed by means not shown. The belts 23 drive a pulley 25 rigidly secured on the hollow stub shaft 26 of the cradle. The cradle is to be assumed to be rotating at the same speed and in the same direction as the cable to maintain the twist of the latter unchanged, and hence the reel also rotates with the cable and so can take it up without affecting its twist. The cable comes to the reel from the twisting means through a distributor device generally indicated at 21, which is rotated with the cable, cradle and reel and serves to guide the cable to lie in regular layers of coils on the reel as the cable is taken up thereon. For further details of the cabling machine generally and suitable twisting means and distributor means, reference may be had, if desired, to U. S. Patent 2,171,993 issued September 5, 1939, to Lester O. Reichelt, and more particularly to Fig. 4 thereof.

The reel 2i] is driven in take-up rotation by a wheel 28 and worm shaft 29, the latter being driven by suitable means such as a chain and sprockets from a take-up drive shaft 30 journalled within the cradle shaft 26 and thus entering the cradle along the axis of rotation thereof. The shaft 30 is connected to and driven by the output member 4! of a hydraulic coupling device generally indicated at 40 and more particularly described hereinafter. The input member 42 of the coupling is driven by any suitable constant speed driving member such as the shaft 60 driven by a constant electric motor Si or other suitable means. The shaft 60 might well be driven from the shaft 24. However, in practice 11; is preferable to start the take-up at the beginning of a cycle of operation a few seconds before the main apparatus starts in order to have tension throughout the length of the cable when twisting commences or re-commences. Hence it is preferred, although not necessary, to drive the shaft 60 independently of the shaft 24.

The device 40 serves to convert the constant speed imposed by the shaft 60 on the member 42 into constant torque delivered by the member 4| to the shaft 39 and so to the reel 23. Because of this general arrangement the torque at the reel 20 is wholly independent of the speed and direction of motion of the cradle, despite the differential effect of the quasi-planetary gearing represented by whatever means is provided to transmit the drive from the shaft 30 to the reel 20. Thus the elaborate counter vailing planetary gearing outside the cradle is done away with, which is required when the shaft 30 or its equivalent is driven directly fr'c'im constant speed means.

Were the effective diameter of the reel to remain constant, the reel, driven in the manner described by a constant torque drive, would effect a constant linear tension on the cable and hence would wind the cable at constant linear speed, a desideratum in this art since the pitch of the cable lay is directly controlled by the ratio of its linear speed to the rotary speed of the cradle, which latter is constant. But, as the cable is wound on the reel, the effective diameter increases; and therefore, if the reel is to exert a constant pull on the cable, the torque impressed upon the reel must be correspondingly increased.

Since the device 40 is constructed to deliver constant torque, which however can be adjusted to have its otherwise constant value varied by altering the position of the adjusting lever 43, the necessary change in torque delivered to the shaft 30 is eifected by means of auxiliary apparatus provided for that purpose.

The shaft 26, as already noted, isdriven at constant speed from the constant speed shaft 24. By means of a sprocket and chain drive, the input shaft of an adjustably variable speed transmission device 62 is driven from the shaft 26 at constant speed. The device 62 has a hand wheel 63 by means of which its output shaft 64 can be made to run at any constant speed within a considerable range. The output shaft 64 is coupled through a worm and wheel or other high ratio speed reduction device 65 to a shaft 66. On the shaft 66 is rigidly secured one member 61 of a simple clutch. The other member 68 is mounted to slide on the shaft into and out of engagement with the member 61, being normally held in engagement by a spring 69. A lever 10 rigid with the member 68 is connected through a shock-absorbing pitman H to the adjusting lever 43 of the hydraulic coupling 40.

In operation an empty reel 20 is placed in position in the cradle and the end of the cable attached to the barrel of the reel. The apparatus is then started with the various adjustments in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The cradle 2| rotates at constant speed, and the cable is twisted at constant speed. The device 40 is set at the start to deliver to the shaft 30 the torque required to make the reel take up the cable at the linear velocity needed to produce the desired pitch of lay of the cable. The cradle, through its shaft 26, drives the transmission 62, the reduction gear 65 and the shaft 66 to move the lever '10 gradually and thus through the pitman "H and the lever 43 to increase the torque of the shaft 30 as required to maintain the pull of the reel on the cable constant by compensating for the increasing effective diameter and lessening efiective mechanical advantage of the reel.

Theoretically the increase in effective diameter of the reel is not continuous. This diameter remains constant throughout the winding on of one full layer of cable from reel head to reel head and then jumps abruptly when the first turn of the next layer is wound. In theory therefore, the continuous variation of torque at the reel effected by the above described adjustment by continuous movement of the lever 43 is not correct. However, in practice, where the diameter of the cable being wound is small in proportion to the diameter of the barrel of the reel, the error due to this is negligible and the smooth curve of the torque follows the stepped curve of the effective diameter of the reel closely enough. But if'the cable diameter is considerably larger as compared to the reel barrel diameter, the departures of the two curves from each other may become material. In such a case, the apparatus may be modified as shown in Fig. 4.

In this case a stepped cam H2 is secured to the clutch member 68 and runs against a cam roller I13 on a lever I70 pivoted to any suitable fixed support and connected through the pitman H to move the lever 43 step by step. The cam I12 is so formed as to advance the lever 43 only at the end of each successive layer of cable wound on the reel.

The construction and mode of operation in detail of the device 62 are no part of the present invention. All that is important here is that the ratio of input speed to output speed be normally constant but adjustably variable by some means such as the Wheel or handle 63. The familiar device commercially known as the Graham transmission is suitable for this purpose. If, a detailed description of its structure and operation be desired, reference may be had to U. S. Patent 2,171,993 of September 5, 1939, to L. O. Reichelt already referred to above, and particularly to Fig. 3 of that patent.

The adjustably constant torque hydraulic coupling indicated at 40 is shown in detail in vertical longitudinal central section in Fig. 3. The input shaft 60 is rigidly coupled to the input or driving member 42, a hollow half annulus or annularly dished plate coaxial to the shaft. Its annular recess is provided with a plurality of radially transverse fins 44 having arcuate stiffening ribs 45 at their free edges. A similarly shaped, formed and recessed output or driven member 4| secured on the output shaft 30 faces the input member, concave to concave, close to it but not quite in contact. On the outer edge of the member 4| are secured the components of an annular chambered housing 46 adapted to contain and be a reservoir for a supply of oil or other suitable liquid not shown. A scoop tube or nozzle 41 extends more or less radially outwardly from its eccentric seat in which it .is pivotably adjustable by means of the lever 43 to have its outer end lie more or less close to the outer peripheral wall of the annular chamber of the housing 46.

The axial end of the scoop tube 41 communicates with an annular passage 48 concentrically around and near to the shaft 3B, and in the fixed base member 49, in which the tube 4'! is seated pivotably. The annular passage 48 communicates near the general axis with the space 59 between the housing 46 and the output member 4|.

For operation the required amount of oil is assumed to be present in the housing. Due to centrifugal force created in the oil by the housing, the oil will lie in a peripheral band on the inner side of the peripheral wall of the rotating housing, rotating with the housing. The scoop tube 41 will pick up oil from this, force it into the passage 48 and thence into the space 5|) and thence radially inwardly between the members 4| and 42. Entering the transversely vaned recess of the member 42, this oil is forced out by centrifugal force and into the member 4|, where it moves toward the center and up the central dish and across to the member 42 to be again thrown radially out and back into member 4| again. The amount of power transferred thus by the oil from the member 42 to the member 4| depends upon the relative amount of oil circulating thus between these two members, Small leak holes 5| allow oil to leak from this circulation back into the body of oil in the rotating reservoir 46, to be scooped up by the nozzle 41 and returned to work again. The nozzle being adjustable toward and from a position of maximum effectiveness, the balance between oil delivered by the nozzle and oil returning through the leak holes can be set at any fraction of the amount of oil needed for full load transmission by operation of the lever 43. Thus the torque delivered by the shaft 30 is constant and adjustable to any fractional value of the maximum.

Thus the apparatus disclosed starting with constant speed and substantially unlimited torque at the shaft 6!], delivers constant torque and speed dependent upon the resistance to that torque at the reel 20 so that the reel may be able to and does exert substantially constant linear tension on the cable being wound. The value of this torque is maintained constant at the effective winding radius of the reel by the actuation of the lever 43, to compensate for the increase of this radius as the reel fills, by the devices 62,

65 and I, either through the lever 10 or through the cam I12 and the lever I10.

The embodiment disclosed is illustrative and may be modified and departed from in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into constant torque variable speed at the shaft.

2. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel inrotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and constant torque hydraulic transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into constant torque variable speed at the shaft. I

3. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reelfrom the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and adjustable constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into adjustably constant torque variable speed at the shaft, in combination with means to adjust the torque of the transmission means to correspond to the change in effective radius of the reel with changing strand content of the reel.

4. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said meanscomprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and adjustable constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into adjustably constant torque variable speed at the shaft, in combination with means to adjust the torque of the transmission means to correspond to the change in eifective radius of the reel with changing strand content of the reel and means driven by the rotating cradle to actuate the adjusting means.

5. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and adjustable constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into adjustably constant torque variable speed at the shaft, in combination with means to adjust the torque of the transmission means to correspond to the change in effective radius of the reel with changing strand content of the reel and mean to actuate the adjusting means comprising a speed reducing transmission driven by the rotating cradle and a member driven by the speed reducing transmission to operate the adjusting means.

6. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axlis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and adjustable constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and r the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into adjustably constant torque variable speed at the shaft, in combination with means to adjust the torque of the transmission means to correspond to the change in effective radius of the reel with changing strand content of the reel and means to actuate the adjusting means comprising an adjustable ratio speed reducing transmission driven by the rotating cradle and a member driven by the speed reducing transmission to operate the ad justing means.

'7. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and adjustable constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into adjustably constant torque variable speed at the shaft, in combination with means to adjust the torque of the transmission means to correspond to the change in effective radius of the reel with changing strand content of the reel and means to actuate the adjusting means comprising a speed reducing transmission driven by the rotating cradle and a lever driven by the speed reducing transmission to operate the adjusting means.

8. In an apparatus for handling strands having a cradle driven in rotation at constant speed and a reel mounted in the cradle with its axis at an angle to the axis of the cradle to be rotatable with the cradle about the axis thereof and simultaneously rotatable about its own axis, means to drive the reel in rotation about its own axis to exert constant tension upon a strand wound on the reel, the said means comprising a shaft entering the cradle in the axis of rotation thereof, means to drive the reel from the shaft, constant speed power supply means, and adjustable constant torque transmission means interposed between the power supply means and the shaft to convert the constant speed variable torque of the power means into adjustably constant torque variable speed at the shaft, in combination with means to adjust the torque of the transmission means to correspond to the change in effective radius of the reel with changing strand content of the reel and means to actuate the adjusting means comprising a speed reduoing transmission driven by the rotating cradle and a stepped cam driven by the speed reducing transmission to operate the adjusting means.

ELLWOOD W. REYNOLDS. DANIEL V. WATERS.

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