US3491876A

US3491876A - Wire package

Info

Publication number: US3491876A
Application number: US753375A
Authority: US
Inventors: Guido Zecchin
Original assignee: Hudson Wire Co
Current assignee: Hudson Wire Co
Priority date: 1968-08-19
Filing date: 1968-08-19
Publication date: 1970-01-27
Anticipated expiration: 1987-01-27

Description

cs. ZECCHIN WIRE PACKAGE "Jan. 27,1970

Filed Aug. 19. 1968 FIG. I

INVENTOR sumo ZECCHIN 4 4% r ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,491,876 WIRE PACKAGE Guido Zecchin, Winsted, Conn., assignor to Hudson Wire Company, Ossining, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 753,375 Int. Cl. B65d 85/04 US. Cl. 20659 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wire package comprising a reel having a barrel in the shape of a conical frustum, with a flange at either end, the flange at the smaller end of the conical frustum being of a lesser diameter than the flange at the larger end, the reel being placed in a cardboard container which is square in cross-section and of a height substantially equal to the height or axial dimension of the conical frustum. By utilizing a container which is square in crosssection, it is possible to utilize a much less expensive container than has been used in the past, since the container is more readily fashioned and in addition, may be shipped to the point of use in the flat condition, thereby materially reducing the shipping expense of the empty container. Furthermore, handholds are so arranged in the container that they cooperate with a wire tensioning and dispensing device to hold that device in position on the opened container during pay-oh of the wire from the reel within the container.

In the past, wire packages of the general type disclosed herein have been made, utilizing a round card board or fiberboard container, or in fact a container of other material, which was provided with an outer cylindrical surface which extended to a point spaced downwardly from the edge of the open container, providing a shoulder on which the de-packing or dispensing mechanism rested. As can be seen, a container of this type is relatively difficult to manufacture and correspondingly expensive, requiring this internal shoulder as well as a top which is separately fabricated. By my present invention, it is possible to utilize a much less expensive cardboard container which is formed in the usual manner from a box blank provided with end flaps which can be shipped to the wire producer in a flat condition and erected before filling, thus saving expense both in shipment and in the requirements for storage space for the unused containers. At the same time, due to the use of a container whose minimum dimension is slightly smaller than the diameter of the supporting cylinder for the dispensing device, the handholds which are normally formed in the container for convenience in handling are also utilized to form edges on which the cylinder of the dispensing device seats after the container end flaps are opened, thereby properly locating the dispensing device with respect to the reel of wire in the container, this without in any way increasing the cost of the package.

In a preferred form of the invention, the container is provided with a window formed as a flap, scored on one side of its generally rectangular shape and cut along the other three sides, so that the window will be closed during shipment, but may be opened by the user of the package to permit visual checking of the amount of wire remaining on the reel.

The invention disclosed in this application is an improvement upon the wire package disclosed in Hirst Patent No. 3,000,493, issued Sept. 19, 1961, the package, however, having additional features with respect to ease of handling as well as ease of shipment of the knockdown outer container, and reduction of expense due to the possibility of shipping the container in this knock- 4 Claims 3,491,876 Patented Jan. 27, 1970 down form and of more readily constructing the square container than the old round container.

It will be appreciated that the improved wire package of this invention has all of the advantages set forth in the I Iirst patent above identified, including the ability to utillze the wire from the package Whether the de-spooling is by mounting the reel on an arbor or by maintaining the reel stationary and taking the wire off over the smaller upper reel flange; the placing of much greater quantities of wire on a reel than are possible when wire is placed on the reel in loose coils within a pail or container; and the provision of a package which prevents displacement and tangling of the wire since the conical core utilized minimizes slipping of the wire and thus minimizes tangling as the result either of shipping or removing wire from the reel. All of these advantages are discussed at some length in the Hirst patent above-referred to.

It is thus a feature of the invention to provide a wire package of which the outer container is a box which is square in crosssection and which is provided with cut and scored handhold elements, which elements likewise serve to position the wire de-packer, or wire tensioning unit, when the wire is being taken from the package.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent when the following description is considered with the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view showing the outer container and the reel which fits therein;

FIG. 2 is a view of the wire reel assembly in the box, with the box flaps open and a de-packer unit installed in position; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the plane of the line 33 of FIG. 2, showing the mode by which the landhold edges are utilized as supports for the de-packing ev1ce.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, it will be seen that my improved wire package comprises a reel generally designated 10 having a large lower flange 11, a smaller upper flange 12, and a core 13 of frustoconical shape on which the wire 14 is wound in substantially even layers so that the wire package when full is likewise in a frustoconical form.

The box 15 is square, having its sides substantially equal to the diameter of the lower flange 11 of reel 10, whereby the reel is definitely located and retained in the box and does not shift its position within the box during shipment, at which time of course the upper flaps 16 are folder into closed position and sealed in any suitable manner as by the use of gummed tape, staples, or the like. It will of course be understood that the box 15 is shipped to the user in a flat condition and is erected either manually or by customary box erection machinery to the form in which it is shown in FIG. 1, at which time it is ready to receive the reel 10 with the wire 14 thereon.

The box 15 is provided with customary cutouts 17 which form handholds for use during shipment and use, these handholds being formed in the usual manner by cutting along the line 18 and scoring along the line 20-. The box 15 is also provided with a window flap 21 which is cut along the lines 22 and scored along the line 23 so that the flap may be opened downwardly to provide an opening through which the wire on the reel 10 may be observed so that the operator can estimate the remaining amount of wire as the wire is being drawn off in a manner shortly to be described.

Although as has been indicated, the reel 10 may be removed from the box 15 and mounted on an arbor to be drawn from the reel by a coil winding machine or other suitable machinery, the package is also intended to be useful to supply wire to a coil winding machine, with the wire taken off over the small end flange 12. For this purpose a wire dispensing or de-packing device such as that shown in FIG. 2 is utilized, the package of the instant invention being particularly useful in connection with such a device.

The Wire dispensing device of FIG. 2 comprises a hollow cylinder 30 having a diametrically extending crosspiece 31 with an opening centrally thereof which is hushed with a bushing 32. Extending upwardly from the crosspiece 31 is a bracket 39 on which is pivotally mounted an arm 33 which at its end carries a roller 34 mounted on a stub shaft 35 for rotation thereabout.

An arm 36 is also mounted on shaft 35, this arm having at its outer end a spring-pressed clamp 37 having' felt pads indicated at 38 thereon. A similar clamp 40 with felt pads 41 is mounted on the bracket 39.

The cylinder 30 has a slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the inscribed circle of the box 15; thus when the de-packer cylinder 13 is inserted in the box as shown in FIG. 2, it forces the upper portion of the box sides into a curved formation seen particularly in FIG. 3, thus exposing the lower edges of the handhold cutouts 18 so that the lower edge of the cylinder. 30 rests on the handhold ledges, thereby definitely positioning the depacker unit with respect to the box and the reel therein.

As will "be obvious from FIG. 2, the end of the wire, which is normally shipped taped to the upper reel flange, can be removed and fed through the bushing 32, thence between the felt pads of the spring-pressed clamp 40, over the roller 34 (which is preferably formed of nylon), thence through the felt pads of the spring-pressed clamp or tensioning device 37 and to the point of utilization. The arm 33 is pivotally mounted, as stated, on the bracket 39 and thus the position of the roller may be adjusted to assure that the wire passes properly through the bushing 32. In like manner, the position of arm 36 may be adjusted by movement about the shaft 35 so that the clamp 37 is properly positioned in the path of the Wire from the roller to the point of utilization.

As is readily seen from the above description, the wire package comprising the tapered spool with its large and small flanges and the box which is square in cross-section and adapted to receive the cylindrical wire dispensing device, form a very compact and convenient packaging unit having all of the advantages of the Hirst patent heretofore mentioned and being at the same time much cheaper to produce and preferable for shipment purposes in that a plurality of packages of my improved type are readily stacked On a pallet, taking up no more space than does the round container of the prior construction, but assuring that the containers Will not shift about and making it possible to stack the containers on their sides rather than on their ends, without danger that they will roll or otherwise become displaced during shipment.

It will of course be understood that variations may be made, such for example as the omission of the window 21 or change in shape of the handholds 17, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A wire shipping and storage package adapted to the dispensing of wire at high speeds therefrom, comprising a box square in cross-section, having side walls, a normally closed bottom end and top end flaps adapted to be closed during shipping and storage and open during wire dispensing, a wire reel comprising a frustoconical core having flanges at either end thereof, one of said flanges having a diameter substantially equal to the interior length of a side of said square box, the other flange being smaller than said one flange, a body of wire closely wound on said core in a plurality of layers generally parallel to the surface of said core so that said body is of substantially uniform thickness throughout the length of said core, said box having an internal height substantially equal to the distance between the outer surfaces of said reel flanges to thereby maintain said reel in fixed position in said box during shipping and handling, with a generally annular gap between said box walls and said smaller reel flange, a handhold centrally located on each of said box walls, said handhold comprising a flap hinged at one edge of said handhold, the other edge of said handhold forming a ledge adapted to support a wire dispensing unit comprising a cylinder of slightly greater diameter than the interior length of a side wall of the box which serves to bulge the box side walls and adjacent top end flaps to thereby seat at its lower edge on the handhold ledges of the side walls of the box.

2. A wire shipping and storage package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said box is made from a single blank having sides each of which has a flap at each end, said flaps being folded inwardly to form the complete box.

3. A wire shipping and storage package as claimed in claim 1 wherein a window flap is provided through which the wire on said reel may be observed.

4. A wire shipping and storage package as claimed in claim 3 wherein said window flap is generally rectangular, one side of said rectangle being common with the lower edge of one of said handhold flaps and the side opposite said one side being connected to the box side by a score line.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 768,664 8/1904 Johnson 229872 2,663,491 12/1953 Hill et al 22952 3,001,642 9/ 1961 Hirst 206--5 2 3,283,887 11/1966 Rosen 20652 3,331,550 7/1967 Krzyzanowski 22993 3,384,223 5/ 1968 Manizza 299--39 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, IR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 22952