US2644650A - Expansible core for coils of rope or the like - Google Patents

Description

July 7, 1953 T. BURKE, JR

EXPANSIBLE CORE FDR COILS OF ROPE OR THE LIKE Filed June 27, 1952 I INVENTOR. {y f? 1/0 1/5 z'fla z/rsj J.

Patented July 7, 1953 UNITED {STATES PATENT OFFICE I I i 2,644,650 g EXPANSIBLE CORE FOR COILS- OF ROPE I on 'rmi LIKE .StephenTQBu ke, Jiu, Astoria, N. assignor of twenty five per cent to Henry Bchr, Jamaica,

' Application June 27,1952, Serial .No. 296,017

' "7 Claims. '(01. 242-113) This invention relates to expansible cores for balls of rope, and the main object .is to provide tangling of the .rope,-so-that to avoidthelabor of carefully undoing the rope. the remainder of the ball is discarded, which isofcourse wasteful. By making use of thesexpansible .core of this invention, as the hollow "core enlarges during, unwinding of the rope the arms of the expansible.

core of this device spreadaccording lyand: thus constantly maintain :the ,walls of-the rope ball erect, so that all of the rope may be unwound,

without danger of tangling;

The above broad as well as additional and more specificob-jects will heclarified; in the following description, wherein characters otreference refer to like-numbered parts in theiaccompanying drawing. -It"is to be noted that the. drawingis intended solely for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore. .neithen'desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details of -construction shown. except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention." I

Referring briefly to the'drawing, Y Fig. l is a perspective view-ofan expansib-le rope core embodying the salient features of this invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view. taken on the line 2- of Fig. 1 and including, in phantom, a small size.

ball of rope to which the expansible rope core has been applied. I 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional view 3-3 of Fig. 1. n

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line i4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of one of the plurality of radially movable arms of the device.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view through modified form of one of the above-mentioned arms.

Fig. '7 is a similar sectional view through another modified form of one of the said arms.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral taken on line 2 It] indicates the base of the expansible core, and the base may be made of wood or any other suitable material, preferably square in conformation, as shown. The base 10 is provided with two intersecting grooves H at. right angles toeach other, either in the following manner or in any other suitable manner. The base I!) may be com.

posed of a lower portion or layer l2 with an upper, portion or layer l3 superimposed upon and secured to the lower portion,. as by means of screws l4. Grooves l5 are out or otherwise provided in the top of the portion 12, extending across'the same and intersecting each other at right angles.-

Similarly situated and similar but narrower slots IB are provided through the upper portion l3,

but the slots l6 terminate close to but spaced from the edges of the portion l3 thereby leaving stops,

ll at their ends.

Four arms [8 are provided, each having a widened tongue or base I}! at right angles to the lower end of thearm and registering slidably in the groove 115, the Opposed edges of the superimposed slot [6, as is clear in Fig. 4, providing overhangs to prevent the tongue l9 from rising out of the groove l5. One of the arm tongues I9 is slidablejin eaohof the four half-grooves I6 thus provided by the intersection of the grooves l6, and, consequently, the four arms I8 are radially slidable with respect to an imaginary center line at ri ht angles to the base i 9 through the center thereof.

Resilient means is provided for normally urg-- ing the arms l8 outward from the-center line above-mentioned, asfollows. At at least one po.-. sition, and preferably at two levels and perhaps;

even more, a cross-shaped collapsible coiled spring leaf unit is provided. This unit consistsv of a central cross-shaped housing 2! having four cylindrical tubular legs 22 in each of which is anchored the base of a normally extended helical spiral spring leaf 23 whose outer end is of course reduced and is hollow. Each such spring 23 is obviously adapted to be compressed along its axis to greatly reduce the axial length thereof. At

a common horizontal level, each arm lElhas secured on its inner side, as by welding, ahead 24 of a pin 25, the latter registering in the hollow extremity of the spring 23.

In the example illustrated in the' drawing, two

normally has a hollow core 21 which is widened near the top and near the bottom, substantially as shown. With the ball mounted on the base and the arms l8 positioned in the hollow core, the force of the springs 23 tends to flex the upper and lower ends of the arms 18 into the conformation of the hollow core of the ball, so that continuously as the rope is unwound and the core enlarges, the arms l8 tend to move against the wall of the hollow core in conformity with the shape and size thereof. Thus, as the unwinding rope enlarges the hollow core the arms I8 maintain themselves as an expanding core inside the ball, to maintain the ball and to facilitate unwinding to nearly the very end of the rope.

For the case where the expanding core is to b used on the larger, say a sixty-pound, ball of rope, the arms l8 may be made of wood or other stiff material, since the cores of such balls, not shown, are substantially cylindrical.

A modified form of arm 18 may be provided, as illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein, in addition to the tongue I9 extending outward from the base of the arm a second similar tongue [9a is provided extending in the opposite direction. With this construction the foot of the arm has an enlarged and better balanced base slidable in th groove ll.

Fig. 6 shows, in exaggerated form, and in cross-section, how an arm I8b which is otherwise similar to the arms l8, may be curved to enhance the slidability of the rope around the outer surface of the arm during unwinding from the expansible core.

Fig. '7 shows an enlarged cross-section of the arm 18 to bring out the rounded edges of the arms, to prevent gripping or tearing of the fibers of the rope on the arms.

Further, the floors of the grooves II, that is, of the grooves l in the lower base member [3, may 'be lined with a metal plate or sheet, not shown, if desired, also to enhance the slidability of the tongues [9.

Obviously, structure may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An expansible core for a coil or ball of rope or the like having an axial passage therethrough and adapted to be unwound in a radial direction outward from said passage, comprising a base having two relatively long intersecting grooves in the top thereof intersecting at the center of the base thereby providing four relatively short grooves extending outward from the point of intersection, each of said short grooves having a tongue slidably mounted therein, each of said tongues having a substantially upright arm extending therefrom thereby providing four upright arms slidable through their respective tongues in said grooves and providing two pairs of mutually opposed upright arms, and at least one set of normally extended collapsible springs positioned in a horizontal \plane between said other modifications in form orarms, the outer extremities of said springs being attached to said arms, the inner extremities of said springs having a member joining said inner extremities thereto, said coil being adapted to be mounted on said base with said springs compressed and said arms passing through said axial passage of the coil and urged by said springs against the walls of said passage.

2.'The expansible core set forth in claim 1, said arms being made of resilient material and having a greater width than thickness, the said axial passage having varying diameters at different longitudinal positions thereof whence at a given longitudinal position the diameter of the passage is at a maximum, said lane lying in the plane of said maximum diameter of the passage, said springs urging said arms radially outward to bend the arms to conform to the contour of said passage at said longitudinal position.

3. The expansible core set forth in claim 1, said arms being made of resilient material and having a greater width than thickness, said springs comprising helical spiral spring leaves having a conical passage therethrough, said member having tubular sockets extending therefrom, each of said sockets being aligned with one of said conical passages and having one end of one of said spring leave mounted therein, each of said arms having a pin extending at right angles from the inner side thereof and registering in the outer end of one of said conical passages.

4. Th expansible core set forth in claim 1, said grooves having the upper edges thereof narrower than the floors thereof thereby providing longitudinal overhangs along the tops of the grooves, said tongues having a width greater than the width of said narrower upper edges of the grooves.

5. The expansible core set forth in claim 1, said tongues extending from one side of said arms.

6. The expansible core set forth in claim 1, each of said tongues having the said arm thereof extending upward therefrom intermediate the length of; the tongue.

'7. The expansible core set forth in claim 1,

said arms being formed of non-resilient material.

STEPHEN T. BURKE, J's.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 584,264 Eider June 8, 1897 701,317 English June 3, 1902 1,354,565 James Oct. 5, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country I Date 54,318 Denmark Feb. 14, 1938 175,725 Great Britain Feb. 17, 1922 209,961 Switzerland Aug. 16, 1940

Images