US3186658A - Wire carrier - Google Patents

Description

June 1, 1965 R. KOHN ETAL 3,186,558

WIRE CARRIER Filed Jan. 25, 1963 T s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ROBERT KOHN MORTIMER C. WINSKI BY] T U ATTORNEYS June 1, 1965 R. KOHN ETAL 3,135,653

WIRE CARRIER Filed Jan. 25, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5 ROBERT KOHN MORTIMER C. WINSKI ATTORNEYS June 1, 1965 R. KOHN ETAL 3,185,658

WIRE CARRIER Filed Jan. 25, 1963 s Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS ROBERT KOHN MORTIMER C. WINSKI AT TORNEYS United States Patent CARRIER Robert Kuhn, and Mortimer C. Winski, Michigan City, Ind., assignors to Northern Indiana Steel Supply Co., Inc., Michigan City, Ind, a corporation of Indiana Filed Jan. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 253,851 4 Claims. (Cl. 242-129) The present invention relates to wire carriers and more particularly to wire carriers of the collapsible type for use primarly in winding and unwinding, transporting and storing coils of wire.

The conventional carrier for coils of wire consists of a plurality of vertically positioned rods or tubes in spaced relation on a disc-shaped base, with the rods or tubes being joined to the base and at the top to one another by welding. Wire carriers of this type are completed at the fabricating plant, and stacked together by nesting for stor ing .and shipping. While a number of these carriers can be nested to form a relatively compact unit or package, the nested packages are difficult to handle and store and can not conveniently be shipped or stored without using an excessive amount of space, thus increasing substantially the shipping and storage costs. Further, this type of carrier is necessarily made relatively heavy and bulky in order to obtain the required amount of strength, particularly in the disc base. It is therefore one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide a relatively simple and light weight collapsible wire carrier of tubular construction which can be fully formed at the fabricating plan-t, shipped in disassembled, compact condition to the place where it is to be used, and then readily assembled for immediate use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tubular collapsible wire carrier, the parts of which can be easily fabricated using standard metal forming equipment and thereafter easily assembled using simple, readily available tools and without the use of any welding operation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide wire carriers of the aforesaid type which can be assembled at the place where they are to be used and thereafter easily stacked together by nesting for storage and further transporting, and which, if desired, can easily be disassembled and reassembled without the use of any special tools or equipment.

A further object is to provide a rugged tubular wire carrier of the collapsible or knock-down type, all the parts of which can be fabricated fully from standard steel tubing and thereafter nested or stacked into compact, easily handled packages for shipping and storing in a minimum amount of space.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire carrier of the aforesaid type which can be removed from and reinserted in a coil of wire, and from which the wire can be unwound vertically while the carrier is stationary, or horizontally while the carrier is rotated on a reel for handling coiled wire.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the present Wire carrier showing it in its assembled condition;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the wire carrier shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the wire carrier shown in the preceding figures;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of one of the principal elements forming the present wire carrier;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the wire carrier element as shown in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the wire carrier element shown in FIGURES 4 and 5.

In the manufacturing from wire of such products as bolts, nails, screws, fences, clothes hangers and reinforced concrete wire mesh, the wire is wound on carriers, and these carriers are mounted on reels which feed the wire into fabricating machines for the various products. In conventional or standard pa -off reels, the wire is pulled from the carrier, either vertically, during which the carrier remains stationary, or horizontally, during which the reel is rotated by the force applied to the wire by the fabricating machine. When the wire has been removed from the carrier, the carrier is removed from the reel and returned to the place where the wire is manufactured for receiving another coil of wire. The wire may be wound directly on a particular carrier where it remains until unwound, the original carrier remaining in the coil until the coil is unwound from the reel, or the wire may be wound on one carrier and the carrier removed from the coil, the coil shipped to the place where the wire products are fabricated, and another carrier reinserted in the coil ready for mounting on the pay-off reel. The conventional wire carriers, consisting of vertically positioned rods or tubes on a disc-shaped base are fabricated from steel and are difficult to handle and ship in quantities and to store economically.

Referring specifically to the present wire carrier shown in the drawings, which overcomes the inherent disadvantages of the foregoing conventional wire carrier, numeral 10 designates the wire carrier consisting of a base 12 of tubular construction, and vertical tubular members 14, 16, 18 and 20 secured at their lower ends to base 12 and joined by horizontally positioned arms 22, 24, 26 and 28, respectively, to one another at their upper ends. These members slant inwardly slightly from bottom to top to permit the wire coil to be removed from the carrier and to be inserted thereon with little difficulty and to permit the carriers to be stacked by nesting one on top of the other.

The tubular base is preferably formed of a single length of standard tubular material into the modified four leaf clover configuration shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, and joined together at its ends at numeral 30, preferably by welding. The base of the configuration shown has four protruding members 32, 34, 36 and 38 spaced at and joined to one another by inner looped portions 40, 42, 44 and 46. Protruding members 32, 34, 36 and 38 form supports for the wire coils placed over the four vertical members and constitute the footing for the carrier. The base 12 is initially formed separately from the vertical members and is thereafter joined rigidly to the members in the manner more fully described hereinafter.

Vertical members are formed in pairs as a modified U-shaped element 50 in which arms 22 and 24, for example, are attached to the upper ends of members 14 and 16, respectively, and attached to one another at the center. Two of elements 50 form the complete vertical structure with the four vertical members. The ends of members 14, 16, 18 and 20 are secured to the inner connecting portions 40, 42, 44 and 46 of the base by deformable hooks 52 and 54 on the lower ends of element 50. After the hooks have been placed around members 40 and 42, the hooks are bent inwardly to firmly grip the base and retain the respective elements in place thereon. The upper ends of the two elements 50 are joined rigidly together, preferably by a rivet or bolt 69, extending through hole 62 in the center of member 51 of the two elements 50, thus forming a rigid structure between the two members, which in turn form a rigid structure with base 12. If desired, a clamp may be used to secure portions 51 together in place of the rivet or bolt.

, Hooks52 and 54, while shown in the drawings as being formed integrally with members 14 and 16, for example,

may be formed as separate-members andvinserted in the lower ends of tubular members 14 and 16 and secured It is seen from FIGURES4, 5 and 6 that elements 50 I can be readily stacked by nesting one upon the other toform a compact package in which the elements are retainedtogether by two or three metal bands. Likewise, the bases 12, when separated from elements 50', can be stacked one upon the otherand secured together by a plurality of metal bands, forming a compact, easily handled package. The packages formed by the nested elements 50 and stacked bases 12 can be easily and economically shipped and stored. After the elements and bases have beenshipped to their destination, two elements and one base can be readily joined together in the manner previously described to form the rigid, permanent structure shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3.

In addition to tubular material, rod or bar stock, round or rectangular in cross section, may be used to form the present carrier, and the term rod-like when used in the claims is intended to mean and include tubular, rod and bar material. While only one embodiment of the foregoing collapsible or knocked down wire carrier has :been described in detail herein, various changes and modifications may be made to satisfy requirements.

We claim:

1 A tubular, collapsible wire carrier, comprising a base of tubular material having four arcuate outwardly extending lobes and four arcuate inwardly extending lobes disposed between said fist mentioned lobes'and joined theretogto form a four leaf clover configuration, said tubular. material being joined at its ends to form a continuous structure, two separate elements of tubular construction and inverted U'shaped configuration, each having two substantially vertical members and a generally U-shaped member' joined integrally to the upper ends of said members and extending inwardly substantially horizontally, hook-like fixtures on the bottom of each vertical member for securing the lower ends of 'said vertical members to the innermost portion of the inwardly extending lobes,

and means for securing the U-shaped members of said two elements together to form a rigid carrier structure.

2. A wire carrier, comprising a base of rod-like construction having four arcuate outwardly extending lobes and four arcuate inwardly extending lobes between said first mentioned lobes forming a four leaf clover configuration, two separate elementsiof rod-like.construction and inverted U-shaped configuration, each having two substantially vertical members and a generallyU-shaped member joined integrally to the upper ends of said memvertical members and a generally U-shaped member joined integrally to the upper ends rof said members and extending inwardly, means for'securing 'the lower ends of said vertical members to the innermost portion of the inwardly extending lobes, and means for securing the U-shaped members of said .two elements together to form a rigid carrier structure.

4. A wire carrier, comprising a base of tubular material having four arcuate outwardly extending lobes and four arcuate inwardly extending lobes between said first mentioned lobes, two separate elements of tubular construction and inverted U-shaped configuration, each having two substantially vertical members and a generally U-shaped member joined integrally to the upper ends of said members and extending inwardly means for securing the lower ends of said verticalmembers to the innermost portion of the inwardly extendinglobes, and means for securing the U-shaped members of said two elements together to form a rigid carrier structure;

2/23 Schane 242-77.2 3/63 Bittman 242-129 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A TUBULAR, COLLAPSIBLE WIRE CARRIER, COMPRISING A BASE OF TUBULAR MATERIAL HAVING FOUR ARCUATE OUTWARDLY EXTENDING LOBES AND FOUR ARCUATE INWARDLY EXTENDING LOBES DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID FIRST MENTIONED LOBES AND JOINED THERETO TO FORM A FOUR LEAF CLOVER CONFIGURATION, SAID TUBULAR MATERIAL BEING JOINED AT ITS END TO FORM A CONTINUOUS STRUCTURE, TWO SEPARATE ELEMENTS OF TUBULAR CONSTRUCTION AND INVERTED U-SHAPED CONFIGURATION, EACH HAVING TWO SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL MEMBERS AND A GENERALLY U-SHAPED MEMBER JOINED INTEGRALLY TO THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID MEMBERS AND EXTENDING INWARDLY SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY, HOOK-LIKE FIXTURES ON THE BOTTOM OF EACH VERTICAL MEMBER FOR SECURING THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID VERTICAL MEMBERS TO THE INNERMOST PORTION OF THE INWARDLY EXTENDING LOBES, AND MEANS FOR SECURING THE U-SHAPED MEMBERS OF SAID TWO ELEMENTS TOGETHER TO FORM A RIGID CARRIER STRUCTURE.

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