US3313498A

US3313498A - Tie wire dispenser

Info

Publication number: US3313498A
Application number: US414191A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence W Wasson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-11-27
Filing date: 1964-11-27
Publication date: 1967-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 1984-04-11
Also published as: FR1454941A; GB1090889A

Description

pl N, 96? w. wAssoN TIE WIRE DISPENSER Filed Nov. 27, 1964 INVENTOR. LAWRENCE i4. WSSO/V TTOR/VEY United States Patent i' Bliflii Patented Apr. 1l, 1967 3,313,498 'HE WERE BESRENSER Lawrence W. Wasson, 587 Hope St., Springdale, Conn. 06879 Fiied Nov. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 414,191 5 Claims. (Cl. 242-96) This invention relates to a wire dispensing reel and more particularly relates to the type of wire dispensing device utilized by workmen in dispensing tie wire used in fastening steel reinforcing rod.

in the normal practice of constructing concrete buildings and other structures with steel reinforcing rod, workmen employ tying wire to secure the rods in position. To enable workmen to have a handy supply of wire readily available in a form that can be used in making quick `and efective ties of the various and numerous rods, 'a portable dispensing device is used. ln the past several types of dispensers have been developed and offered for use as wire dispensers for reinforcing rod tying. In all of these, however, some aspect of their construction or manner of functioning has limited widespread satisfactory commercial use. Typical of the devices that have been developed for this purpose are those disclosed in U.S. Patents 2,683,000 and 2,982,491.

An improved device is described yand claimed in my prior Patent 3,134,556, patented May 26, 1964. In this patent there is described a reel comprised of two cup-like shells, hinged at the center to open like a clam shell and provided in its end walls with openings in each of which a shaft is mounted with teeth or dogs at their central ends so that when mated on closing the reel the shaft becomes a unit as far as rotation is concerned. The two shafts are provided with tapered hubs so Athat when the reel is hinged open a coil of wire can be mounted on one hub and the reel closed. The side walls are provided with openings through which the end of the wire can pass and also through which the small lengths of light wire which holds the coils together can be cut after the reel is closed to permit wire to be pulled out. Two end plates are formed as part of the ends of the hubs or attached thereto so that with the hubs they form a reel holding the coil of wire and turning as a unit with the shaft.

In my copending application, Ser. No. 334,280, tiled Dec. 30, 1963, now Patent No. 3,249,319, is described and claimed an improved reel and dispenser in which one end plate forms -a cup sha-pcd device which is pivoted on the edge of the other end plate The shaft turning in the first end plate is much longer, for example twice as long, as the other shaft which is mounted in the opposite end wall The hubs are also of unequal length.

This improved reel eliminates a problem presented by wire catching in the slit where the two portions of the reel in my earlier patent meet. This can cause jamming of the wire but this is impossible in the improved device because the wire opening is a continuous edge without any split. The construction also presented an additional advantage that when a new coil of wire is to be inserted before the previous coil of wire is completely used up, as when a workman in moving to la different part of the building construction wishes to be sure that he has a full coil of wire to work with, the end wall with the short hub can be more easily opened when there is still some coiled wire on it than if the hub is of the same length as in my earlier patent.

Although the construction described in my prior patent and copending application represent improved devices they do have two general respects in which they fall somewhat short of the ideal. The first is that coils of wire to be inserted in the reels are not held to extremely close tolerances as far as width of the coil is concerned. Thus when one coil of wire is inserted of greater width, the end plates hold it closely, or it may be considered to lill the reel formed by the hub and end plates completely. However, if the coil is a little narrower it fits loosely in the reel and when wire is withdrawn it is possible to slip oli the end of the coil and become wedged. The second feature is that if a fairly long piece of wire is withdrawn, for example when the workman reaches to make a -tie of a reinforcing rod which is not close to his body, it may be desirable to wind the wire back in when the workman is finished and has to descend ladders or move elsewhere. The projecting piece of wire will be in the way. The present invention eliminates both of these drawbacks Vand may be considered .as having two aspects.

The iirst aspect, that is to say the rigid dimensions of the turning reel inside the dispenser is solved by the present invention by interposing resilient means, such as various kinds of springs, so that the end plates of the inner reel are pushed together. It is of course necessary that these plates must be slideable on a portion of the shaft. When the reel dispenser is loaded with a coil, a closing of 4the casing causes the coil to push the two inner end plates apart against spring pressure and they are always maintained snugly .against the edges of the coil of wire even though their width dimension may vary somewhat. There is therefore no possibility that the wire as it is withdrawn will slip between a loosely fitting end plate and the coil itself and so become wedged. The various types of springs which will be described below in a more speciiic description of the invention do not present any problem of excessive drag and therefore wire may be payed out just as easily as with the reel dispensers of my prior patent and application. In other words the improvement which eliminates the problem of loosely fitting wire coils is obtained without any corresponding drawback.

The second aspect of the present invention involves the provision of a particular kind of handle which can wind up wire on the reel inside the dispenser. Handles are not new things. The old types of dispensers prior to the improvements of my patent and application above referred to had an end plate which rotated as one part of the reel and on this there was a short handle. The dispensers presented all of the problems of disassembly, loosening, losses of clamping nuts and the like which rendered the earlier wire dispensers less advantageous and which were avoided by the improved dispensers of my patent and application above referred to. In addition these handles rotated with the rotating end plate and this created an additional problem because the rotating handle, even though quite short, could catch in workmens clothing or in other obstructions and this was a sufficiently serious problem so that the improved dispensers of my prior patent and applications were desirable even though they eliminated the possibility of winding back short strips of wire.

The present invention solves this problem without any drawback by means of a folding handle which, in the folded position7 forms a journal in which the shaft of the inner reel turns but when folded to a central position engages the fastening nut on the end of the shaft and when turned in this position turns the whole of the shaft thus permitting winding up wire on the inner reel. When returned to its unfolded position the handle iits snugly lagainst the peripheral surface of the dispenser and permits the reel to turn freely as if the handle were not there.

It will be obvious that both aspects of the present invention may be incorporated in a single dispenser and in fact this constitutes the preferred embodiment obtaining the maximum of advantages without any drawbacks.

The invention will be described in greater detail in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. l is a section through a dispenser hinged in the middle of its peripheral surface as described in my earlier patent, and

FIG. 2 is a similar section through a dispenser accordto my copending application.

In FIG. 1 the dispenser is shown in its closed form having two

outer end plates

1 and 2 with a central opening in depressions of each in which shafts 5 and 6 are journalled. The shafts are fastened by nuts 13 and 14 and at their inner ends are provided with teeth 11. The two halves of the outer dispenser casing are hinged at 22 and held by spring fastener Z1 when the dispenser is closed which is the position in which it is shown in FIG. l.

On the shafts 5 and 6 there are mounted hubs 9 and it? which are developed into inner reel end plates 3 and In the position shown in FIG. 1 the hubs 9 and 10 and end plates 3 and 4 form a reel which receives the coil of wire to be dispensed. The coil is shown at 24 riding on the hubs 9 and 10. Openings 25 and 26 are on opposite sides of the peripheral wall through which wire can be dispensed and/or wire coil fastenings can be cut.

End plate 1 is provided with two integral belt loops 27, only one of which shows in FIGS. 1 and 2. These belt loops are conventional on wire reel dispensers and are mounted near the peripheries to give a good grip on the workmens belt and prevent undesired twisting. The belt loops are not significantly changed by the improvements of the present invention.

In order to be able to rewind wire there is provided a handle 17 with a round portion 16 through which the shaft 6 passes and in which opening it turns. The member 16 is then provided with an offset portion 15 bringing it out to the level of the end plate 2. The handle 17 is journalled on a pin 19 in this member and can be folded back against the end wall 2 as is shown in FIG. 1. The handle is provided with a depression 18 which iits over on the nut 6 when the handle is swung into closed position, which is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this position the fiat edges of the depression engage two flat surfaces of the nut 14 and when the handle isturned the nut, and with it the shafts 6 and 5 and the inner reel formed of hubs 9 and 10 and end plates 3 and 4 turns, permitting winding back a portion of wire which may have been pulled out. After the wire is wound in the handle is folded back into its opened position which is shown in FIG. l. A spring detent 20 holds the handle 17 in either of its extreme positions with suicient force to guard against its moving unless deliberately moved by the workmen using the dispenser.

It will be seen that the hubs 9 and 10 can slide axially on the shafts 5 and 6 under the spring pressure of the springs 7. An alternative form dispenses with the portion of the shafts 5 and 6 near the center of the reel and the hubs are provided with teeth or dogs which engage when the dispenser is snapped shut. This alternative is shown in FIG. 2. This figure also illustrates hinging of the outer dispenser casing at one end at the hinge 23. This is in accordance with my co-pending application above referred to in which the openings 25 and 26 are in solid walls of the longer portion of the -peripheral walls so that there is no crack at the point where the two sides of the peripheral wall join, as in FG. 1. This modification incorporates the subject matter of my co-pending application -above referred to but does not change the other elements of the device, which form the subject matter of the present invention. It, therefore, is an illustration of the application of the present invention to the modified form of casing described in my co-pending patent. These same dogs can carry the ends of a wire spring 2 as shown in FIG. 2. The shaft 5 now ends in a head 29 on which the hub 9 can slide but cannot rotate as the head 29 is not round. The pressure of the spring 23 causes the hub 9 to move inwardly and with it the plate 3. Similarly on the other side the shaft 6 is formed into a bolt of the same shape and a second spring 23 fastened to the hub 1t) operates in the same manner. The effect of the two springs is to move the hubs together slightly, there being sufficient movement to accommodate snugly wire coils of slightly different sizes.

The inner ends of the hubs are provided with dogs 25 which engage corresponding dogs on the hub 1G so that the two hubs rotate as one when the dispenser is snapped shut. The dogs are sufficiently long so that they engage even though there has been slight movement of the hubs under the influence of the springs. Again the hubs and bolts form a solid shaft when the dispenser is snapped shut and therefore when the shaft 6 is turned by the handle 17 as described above the inner reel turns as a unit.

It will be noticed that the central depression of the end plate 1 of the dispenser is suiiciently deep so that the nut 13 does not project far beyond its plane. The nut 14 does project slightly beyond the plane of plate 2. The handle 17 in its unfolded position does n'ot turn and so doeg not catch on the workmans clothing. It of course projects beyond the end plate 2 which is away lfrom the workman.

Means for locking the handle onto the shaft 6 is shown in the form of a depression with uted sides which engage the nut 14. Of course this is only one form and any other shape which would cause engagement, for example a square of hexagonal projection fitting into a corresponding depression in the end of the shaft 6 could be used. The essential requirement is only that there be a connection of the handle to the shaft 6 in the unfolded position so that when the handle is turned the inner reel turns.

I claim:

1. In a cylindrically shaped, tie Wire dispensing device comprising two'opposing shells, at least one of which is cup shaped, hinged to open and close in a clamshelllike manner, each shell containing an end plate and at least one shell having a sidewall integral therewith, the shells having centrally located openings, a shaft journalled in each opening, an inner plate slideable on each shaft and rotatable therewith, a half hub on each shaft and integral with each of said inner plates and means for connecting the hubs to rotate as one in the closed position of the dispenser, the improvement which comprises resilient means p'ositioned to slide said inner plates toward each other whereby the hubs and inner plates form a reel of variable width and capable of accommodating coils of wire of different widths.

2. A tie Wire dispensing device according to claim 1 in which the resilient means is a spring surrounding each shaft at intervals between the end plates of the dispenser and the inner plates and hubs.

3. A tierwire dispensing device according to claim 1 in. which each shaft has an end on which the corresponding hub is slideably movable but l'ocked against rotation with respect thereto and the resilient means is a spring mounted in at least one hub and bearing on the end of the shaft positioned to move such hub inwardly with respect to the dispenser end plate.

4. In a cylindrically shaped, tie Wire dispensing device comprising two opposing shells, at least one of which is cup shaped, hinged to open and close in a clamshelllike manner, each shell comprising an end plate and at least one shell having a sidewall integral therewith, the shells having centrally located openings, a shaft journalled in each opening, an inner plate slideable on each shaft, hubs slideable on said shafts but not rotatable thereon, resilient means for moving said inner plates toward each other and means for connecting the hubs to rotate as one in the closed position of the dispenser, the improvement comprising a foldable handle hinged on a member through which one shaft is journalled, members provided on the handle and said one shaft cooperating References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,291,368 1/1919 Bass 242--71 X 10 3,001,738 9/1961 Quenot 242-84 3,134,556 5/1964 Wasson 242-96 STANLEY N. GILREATH, Prmaly Examiner.

in the handle folded position to lock the handle to said 15 W- S' BURDEN Assistant Examinerone shaft.

Claims

1. IN A CYLINDRICALLY SHAPED, TIE WIRE DISPENSING DEVICE COMPRISING TWO OPPOSING SHELLS, AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH IS CUP SHAPED, HINGED TO OPEN AND CLOSE IN A CLAMSHELLLIKE MANNER, EACH SHELL CONTAINING AN END PLATE AND AT LEAST ONE SHELL HAVING A SIDEWALL INTEGRAL THEREWITH, THE SHELLS HAVING CENTRALLY LOCATED OPENINGS, A SHAFT JOURNALLED IN EACH OPENING, AN INNER PLATE SLIDEABLE ON EACH SHAFT AND ROTATABLE THEREWITH, A HALF HUB ON EACH SHAFT AND INTEGRAL WITH EACH OF SAID INNER PLATES AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE HUBS TO ROTATE AS ONE IN THE CLOSED POSITION OF THE DISPENSER, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES RESILIENT MEANS POSITIONED TO SLIDE SAID INNER PLATES TOWARD EACH OTHER WHEREBY THE HUBS AND INNER PLATES FORM A REEL OF VARIABLE WIDTH AND CAPABLE OF ACCOMMODATING COILS OF WIRE OF DIFFERENT WIDTHS.