US3591104A

US3591104A - Resilient cable drum

Info

Publication number: US3591104A
Application number: US828095A
Authority: US
Inventors: Erich Hafner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-05-21
Filing date: 1969-05-19
Publication date: 1971-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 1988-07-06
Also published as: DE1774308A1; GB1233287A; BE732503A; DE1774308C3; ES169636Y; DE1774308B2; ES169636U; SE364149B

Abstract

A drum for the winding and storage of cable or wire comprising a core and a pair of flanges flanking the ends of the core. The marginal portion of each flange is surrounded by a resilient, nondeformable ring of metal or synthetic plastic which intercepts impact and shock forces applied to the edges of the flanges, thereby protecting the drum from damage.

Description

United States Patent inventor Erich l-lainer Doktor Kamp ll, Leopoldshohe, Germany Appl. No. 828,095

Filed May 19, 1969 Patented July 6, 1971 Priority May 21, 1968 Germany RESILIENT CABLE DRUM 12 Claims, 17 Drawing Figs.

B6511 75/14 242/117, 118.7,118.6,1l8.4,ll8.5,118.61,118.8,125,

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,582,597 1/1952 McCaskie 242/118.6 2,657,876 1 1/1953 Bieber 242/46.2l 2,944,756 7/1960 Wilson 242/117 FOREIGN PATENTS 690,147 6/1930 France 242/1 18.4

909,113 4/1954 Germany." 242/77.4 1,273,640 9/1961 France 242/118.5

Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Attorney-Michael S. Striker ABSTRACT: A drum for the winding and storage of cable or wire comprising a core and a pair of flanges flanking the ends of the core. The marginal portion of each flange is surrounded by a resilient, nondeformable ring of metal or synthetic plastic which intercepts impact and shock forces applied to the edges of the flanges, thereby protecting the drum from damage.

PATENTED JUL e|sm 3.591.104

' swan 1 or 2 SHtET 2 OF 2 I I/Il/I/l Hy; I] I w m F 1 7/ I /m W Fig.

' fig. 12

PATENTEU JUL si n Fig.6

RESILIENT CABLE DRUM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to cable drums, particularly those which are used for the winding and storage of cable, wire and the like. Conventional cable drums are usually made from wood, metal or light weight alloys. Because the drums are subjected to heavy loading when cable or wire is wound on them, they must be designed to be structurally stable when loaded. They must also be constructed so that they will not roll during transportation. The drums must be able to pass through clearances ranging from to 60 centimeters and the flanges must be able to withstand frequent and repeated contact with hard solid surfaces. The flanges of wooden drums are frequently unable to endure the impact forces to which they are subjected and split, crack or break as a result, thereby making the drum unsuitable for further use.

Metallic drums, particularly those made of ferrous metals are stable and withstand impact and load forces very well. However, these types of drums are expensive to manufacture and have a high deadweight. In addition, once such drums have been used their return shipment to the supplier involves a considerable freight cost, especially if the drums must be shipped over long distances.

Manufacturing the drums from synthetic plastics has only provided more problems. If a hard, high shock-resistant plastic such as polystyrene is used, a sudden shock or impact, such as when the drum is dropped onto a hard surface, tends to break, crack or split the flanges. Drums made of soft plastics such as polyethylene, while exhibiting other desirable structural characteristics, tend to become deformed when subjected to a constant load for any length of time. Thus, the prior art does not permit the manufacture of a cable drum which has a relatively low deadweight; is stable and can carry heavy cable loads without deformation; and which has impactand shockresistant flanges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide an improved cable drum which has a relatively low deadweight, yet which is sufficiently stable and capable of carrying heavy cable loads.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved cable drum which has flanges that are resistant to deformation and fracture when subjected to impact or shock forces.

The improved cable drum comprises a core and a pair of flanges which flank the ends thereof. Each of the flanges includes a central portion and a marginal portion which surrounds the respective central portion. The marginal portions consist of a material which is more elastic than the material of the central portions.

The core of the drum is of substantially cylindrical outline and the marginal portions are resilient rings surrounding the central portions. The material of the core and the central portions is a relatively hard synthetic plastic material, while the rings consist of a relatively soft and resilient synthetic plastic material such as polyethylene.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved cable drum, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cable drum, partly shown in section, wherein one configuration of resilient rings surrounding the flanges are shown;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the cable drum of FIG. 1, with the internal structure shown partially in section;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the elastic ring as seen along line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 through 16 are cross-sectional views of various forms of the resilient rings which surround the flanges; and

FIG. 17 is a modification of the resilient rings utilizing a metallic band and springs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. I and 2, there is shown a reel-shaped cable drum comprising a cylindrical core 1 and disc-

shaped flanges

2 and 3, all of which are made from a relatively hard and nondeformable plastic.

Flanges

2 and 3, which can be of any polygonal outline, are preferably of circular outline and are constructed in double-walled fashion as shown in FIG. 1 as described in extensive detail in US. Pat. No. 3,289,972 issued to Erich I-ITa'fner. This double-walled construction protects the drum from damage which might occur as a result of thrust loads directed to the external sides of

flanges

2 and 3. Accordingly, an inner flange portion 4 with annular supports 5, 6 and 7 is connected to core 1 as well as outer flange 8. Flange 8, is also provided with annular supports 5a, 6a and 70 whose surfaces mate with the corresponding surfaces of the inner flange supports 5, 6 and 7 respectively. The matching support surfaces of flanges 4 and 8 are adhesively joined to each other by any conventional adhesive means. In this way the flanges are made stable enough to withstand the large side loads which result from the successive layers of rolled-up cable or wire.

The marginal portions of

flanges

2 and 3 are elastic rings 9 which are preferably of circumferentially complete construction and surround each of the flanges as shown in FIG. 2. Ring 9 can be made from a relatively soft and resilient synthetic plastic such as polyethylene. It can also be constructed in the form of a metallic ring mounted on shock absorbing means such as springs provided between the ring 9 and the central portion of the flange.

The cross-sectional profile of ring 9 can be in the form of any of a multiplicity of shapes and designs which will be explained in more detail below.

The central portions of

flanges

2 and 3 shown in FIG. 1 are surrounded by ring 9, which in this embodiment is made from polyethylene. FIG. 3 illustrates the cross-sectional profile of ring 9 as taken along line A-A in FIG. 1. Rings 9, which are inserted in annular grooves cut in the surface of the outermost support 7 of the central portion of

flanges

2 and 3, extend outwardly beyond the central portions to act as shock absorbers or bumpers. I

The annular groove into which the elastic ring is inserted can be of any shape, but more importantly it must be designed so that it will correspond to the shape of the elastic ring. FIGS. 4 through 8 illustrate various configurations of the elastic rings which can be inserted in the annular grooves of the central portions of the drum flanges. FIG. 4 depicts a hollow ring 13 inserted in a sloped annular groove. FIG. 5 shows a ring 12 secured to a flange portion 11 and held in place by a second ring 10. Ring 12 is not inserted in an annular groove, rather it is mounted on a first side of the angled corner portion of flange 11 in such a way that it contacts lip 11b. 7

Ring [0, which is fastened to the second side of the corner of flange 11 by conventional fastener means indicated by the dotted lines, holds ring 12 in place thereby preventing it from being displaced by axial movement.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate other forms of elastic rings 14 and I5 respectively, inserted into grooves cut into the surface of the drum flanges.

FIG. 8 shows an elastic ring 16 which includes a metallic insert 17 which serves to prevent damage to the peripheral surface of ring 16.

In each of the above-described configurations illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 8 the elastic ring which forms the marginal portion of the flanges of the cable drum has been constructed to be insertable into an annular groove in the flange. In this manner the elastic deformability of the particular material from which the ring is made is utilized as a shock-absorbing means because the ring, being of a continuous and closed form, will evenly distribute any stresses applied to it.

In FIGS. 10, 11 and 9, the marginal portion of the flanges has been made in the form of a closed inner ring having projections extending outwardly therefrom. FIG. depicts a ring 19 with hollow projections 22 extending therefrom, in which the hollowed portions are somewhat triangular in shape. FIG. 11 shows a ring with hollow projections 23, the hollow portions being of circular shape. FIG. 9 illustrates a ring 18 having solid projections 21, the ends of which are rounded.

In FIG. 12, the marginal portion of the flange is in the form of a ring 24 having hollow projections which extend inwardly from ring 24.

The configurations of the elastic rings shown in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 are each constructed in the form of a band whose width exceeds its thickness and which has recesses provided in the interior portion of the band. In FIG. 13, the recesses are in the form of a trapezoid when the band is in an unstressed condition; in FIG. 14 the recesses are rectangular-shaped; and in FIG. 15 the recesses are of circular shape.

Another possible form of the elastic ring is illustrated in FIG. 16 where the ring is of an undulating or wave-shaped outline.

Still another configuration of the elastic ring is depicted by FIG. 17 where the marginal portion of the flange includes a resilient metallic ring 29 mounted on radially acting springs 30 which are interposed between ring 29 and flange 33. A guide pin 31 is affixed to ring 29 and is slidably received in and guided by recess 32 in flange 33.

A further modification of this arrangement would be to use rubber or plastic pads or supports in place of the springs.

In any of the above-described configurations, the principle of operation of the resilient cable drum remains the same. Thus, regardless of the source of external shock or impact forces, such as from dropping onto a hard surface, or contact with other drums, the resilient rings forming the marginal portion of the drum flanges intercept, absorb and distribute any forces applied to the edges of the flanges, thus protecting the remaining central portion of the flange from damage.

The use of the resilient rings to protect the flanges allows the core and the central portion of the flange to be made from a synthetic plastic such as polystyrene without the risk of cracking or splitting occurring in the core of central portion of the flange. Likewise, using synthetic plastic for the core and central flange portion reduces the deadweight of the cable drum without sacrificing the required stability.

The resilient polyethylene rings permit the cable drum to be loaded and stored for extensive periods of time without the rings being deformed as a result of the cable load. When the load is removed from the drum the rings will reassume their original shape and will still retain their resilient character.

A particular advantage of the present invention is that the resilient rings can be replaced whenever necessary, thus greatly extending the period of time in which the cable drums can be reused as well as reducing the cost of replacement of damaged or worn drums.

It is to be understood that each of the above-described elements, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of cable drums which differ from the type described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in this resilient cable drum, it is not intended to'be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. I

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. Cable reel, comprising a cylindrical core; disc-shaped flanges mounted on said core and defining with said core a space for cable, said core and flanges consisting of a hard resin; and an elastic ring mounted on the periphery of each of said flanges, said ring consisting of a softer resin than said hard resin and being profiled both axially and radially so that each ring has ribs and cavities, thereby increasing its flexibility and ability to absorb shocks without damage to itself, the flanges or the core.

2. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said elastic rings has an internal surface and each of said flanges has an external surface adjacent to the corresponding ring, one of said surfaces having at least one annular groove receiving at least a portion of the other surface.

3. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said discshaped flanges are composed of polystyrene.

4. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said softer resin is polyethylene.

5. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said elastic rings has outwardly extending projections.

6. A cable reel as defined in claim 5, wherein at least some of said projections are hollow.

7. A cable reel as defined in claim 5, wherein at least some of said projections are solid.

8. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said elastic rings includes a circumferentially complete outer part and projections extending inwardly therefrom,

9. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein the width of at least one of said elastic rings exceeds substantially the thickness thereof.

10. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said elastic rings is provided with recesses.

11. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said elastic rings is of undulate cross-sectional outline.

12. A cable as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said elastic rings comprises a first ring of synthetic plastic material and a second ring consisting of metallic material surrounding said first ring.

Claims

3. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said disc-shaped flanges are composed of polystyrene.

8. A cable reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said elastic rings includes a circumferentially complete outer part and projections extending inwardly therefrom.