US3744734A

US3744734A - Tubular drum payout

Info

Publication number: US3744734A
Application number: US00188810A
Authority: US
Inventors: P Lodato; E Steffens
Original assignee: General Cable Corp
Current assignee: General Cable Corp
Priority date: 1971-10-13
Filing date: 1971-10-13
Publication date: 1973-07-10
Anticipated expiration: 1990-07-10

Abstract

A wire payout assembly that fits over the upper end of a drum of wire to prevent coils and groups of coils that come out of the drum from reaching a wire winding machine. The wire leaves the drum along an inner cone that holds loops of wire substantially horizontal as they unwind. Successively smaller diameter turns of tubing in an outer cone cause any groups of coils to pull apart into individual coils that unwind more easily. Guiding means at the top of the outer cone lead the wire to a winding machine or other use location.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Lodato et al. I July 10, 1973 [54] TUBULAR DRUM PAYOUT 2,752,108 6/1956 Richardson 242/128 [75] lnventors: Peter Lodato, St. Louis; Eugene W.

s n Bridgeton, both f Primary ExammerLeonard D. Christian Attorney-Sandoe, Hopgood & Calimafde [73] Assignee: General Cable Corporation, New

York, NY. ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Oct. 13, 1971 A wire payout assembly that fits over the upper end of Pl 88,810 a drum of wire to prevent coils and groups of coils that come out of the drum from reaching a wire winding 52 us. Cl. 242/129 machine The Wire leaves the drum along an inner cone 51 Int. Cl 1365!! 49/00 that holds 100p8 of Wire Substantially hrilmal as they [58] Field of Search 242/128, 129; hhwihdsuccessively smaller diameter turns of tubing 57/106408 in an outer cone cause any groups of coils to pull apart into individual coils that unwind more easily. Guiding [56] References Cited means at the top of the outer cone lead the wire to a UNITED STATES PATENTS winding machine or other use location. 3,203,642 8/1965 Hirst 242/128 11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1/ 9.: 26 q j. 22 "it 1 TUBULAR DRUM PAYOUT BACKGROUND'AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION When paying out wire from drums, individual coils or small groups of coils which normally lie in the horizontal position sometimes move into a vertical plane as they leave the drum. The tension in the wire leaving the package will cause such a vertical loop'to close down into a very small e shape which cannot pass through winding machines. To prevent the formation of such an c this payout provides an inner cone of such length that the wire has assumed a large pitch helix (open spiral) before the coil is free to assume improper position. To prevent the wire coils from clamping tightly on the inner cone, as they reduce in size during payout, the inner cone is made with a slight taper.

To separate groups of coils, which try to leave the package as a unit, into individual coils, a series of hoops is provided. Each successive hoop, that the wire must pass through, is smaller than the previous one. The spacing between them allows random coils from the group to momentarily catch and separate from the group. By the time such a group has passed through the series of hoops the group has been reduced to separated individual coils.

The hoops are constructed of steel tubing and assembled by brazing so that all surfaces are smooth and rounded. It is also desirable to obtain maximum rigidity with minimum weight, so light weight steel tubing is used as the primary construction material. The hoops are assembled by brazing because of the smooth surface produced as compared to arc welding.

The series of hoops can also be constructed from one continuous tube shaped into a large pitch, 6-inch pitch for example, tapered helix. The entry should be sized for the drum and the exit should be comparatively small, 3 or 4 inches in diameter for example.

As the wire leaves the area of the hoops, it enters a guide tube which guides it into a very deep grooved pulley. An exit guide tube is also provided. The guide tubes guide the wire back onto the pully when the wire has over traveled due to very rapid winding machine stops.

The payout assembly of this invention has a lower end of the outer cone constructed to fit over and to be positioned by the upper end of a standard wire drum. The inner cone fits into the drum and into the open space at the center of the coil of wire contained in the drum.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING at the top of the wire drum, the section being taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view at the location 4-4 of FIG. 2 illustrating the connection between the upper and lower parts of the inner cone; and

FIG. 5 is a small scale, diagrammatic view showing the frame of FIGS. 1 and 2 constructed with a helical tube in place of the spaced hoops of FIGS. 1 and 2, this being a modified form of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The wire payout assembly includes a frame 10 which has tubing 12 located at angularly spaced locations around an axis 14; the angular spacing in the illustrated embodiment being Each of the tubes 12 is connected to a number of hoops or turns of

tubing

16a, 16b, 16c, 16d and 16e.

The turns of tubing 16 are preferably evenly spaced from one another in a vertical direction and they are connected at points 18, by brazing or otherwise, to the converging tubes 12 so as to form a frusto conical frame.

Two of the tubes 12 extend upwardly beyond the top turn of tubing 16a to form vertical standards 20 which are part of the frame 10 for supporting a bracket 22 connected with the vertical standards 20 so that the bracket 22 is an integral part of the frame 10. A guide 24 consists of a tube with its axis in alignment with the vertical axis 14 of the frame.

The bracket 22 supports an axle 26 on which a grooved pulley 28 rotates. This grooved pulley is lo cated so that the bottom of its groove is tangent with the axis 14 immediately above the end of the guide tube 24 and there is another guide tube 30, supported by the bracket 22, with its axis tangent with a portion of the pulley groove at the top of the pulley.

The guide 30 extends in the direction in which wire is to be supplied by the wire payout assembly and in the construction illustrated this guide 30 is shown standing in a horizontal direction. However, it will be understood that the guide 30 can be supported from the bracket 22 in different locations depending upon the direction in which the wire is to feed from the pulley. It is a feature of the construction, that the ends of the

guides

24 and 30 which are closest to the pulley, are so close as to cause the wire to come back into the groove of the pulley in the event that slack accumulates in the wire which carries the wire out of the pulley groove; For example, if the payout of wire should be stopped very suddenly, the momentum of the wire feeding upward through the payout assembly might cause slack to accumulate at the pulley 28 and this slack would carry the wire beyond the pulley at the location of the pulley are between the

guide tubes

24 and 30.

Below the turn of tubing 16c, the frame 10 is constructed of a cylindrical sheet metal shell 32 which is permanently connected by a welding or brazing to the lower hoop or turn of tubing l6e at a level 34 which extends around the circumference of the turn of tubing 16a. The wire which is to be payed out is contained in a standard wire drum 34; and the wire is designated by the reference character 36. Such drums have a ridge 38 around their upper ends with a groove 40 below the ridge and into which a circumferential clamping ring 41 is fitted when the drum is closed prior to shipping. When the wire is to be payed out from the drum 34, the lid is removed and the payout assembly of this invention has the frame placed on the ridge 38 as shown in FIG. 2 and as shown in more detail in FIG. 3. The frame 10 is held on the ridge 38 by using the clamping ring 41 for the purpose.

FIG. 3 shows the cylindrical sheet metal shell 32 with an annular support 44 welded to the lower end of the shell 32 by welding 46. This connection can be brazed or made in other ways provided that the annular support 44 is an integral part of the shell 32 and extends all the way around the circumference of shell 32 with the concentricity necessary to fit over a standard cable drum.

One convenient way in which the annular support can be made is to take a lid from a standard wire drum package and cut out the center of the lid with the cutout of a diameter equal to the outside diameter of the cylindrical sheet metal shell 32. This leaves the lid with the cross-section as shown in FIG. 3 and it can be conveniently welded to the sheet metal section 32 to provide the support 44 with its lower concave surface 48 which fits over the ridge 38 and extends downward outside of the ridge.

The wire payout assembly also includes an inner element 56 which is preferably made of sheet metal and made with a slight taper to smaller diameter as the cone 56 extends upward. The axis of the inner element 56 is substantially coincident with the axis 14 of the frame 10.

The lower end of the inner element 56 has a base or lower portion 58 which fits into a cylindrical core 59 which is part of the wire package and inside of the coil of wire 36 in the drum 34. The base or lower portion 58 is braced with turns of tubing comprising hoops 60 that are held in spaced relation to one another by vertically extending sections of tubing 62 The hoops 60 are brazed or otherwise permanently connected to the vertically extending tubing 62 and the sections of tubing 62 are angularly spaced around the axis 14.

It is conventional for these wire drums to be of the same diameter and those which are intended to hold more wire are made deeper. Drums fifteen inches deep are a standard size and other drums of standard size are 30 inches deep for holding twice the length of wire of the smaller drum. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the wire payout assembly is being used with a inch drum. With a 30 inch drum, the frame 10 is still supported from the ridge at the top of the drum. The inner element 56 has a shoulder 64 which rests on the top of the inner drum core 59. The top of the inner core is at the same elevation, relative to the outside top rim of the drum on all conventional drums, regardless of drum length.

Sawcuts 68 are made in the sheet material of the tapered portion of the inner cone 56 extending parallel to the axis 14 and at angularly spaced regions around the circumference of the inner cone so as to leave tabs 70. These tabs are then bent around the lower part of the hoop 60 and brazed to the hoop to secure the sheet material to the base or lower portion of the inner element S6. A wire hoop 74 is placed around the tapered portion at the upper ends of the tabs 70 to provide the shoulder which rests on the top end of the inner core 59 of the drum. It will be understood that the upper frusto conical sheet metal portion of the inner element 56 can be connected to the base or lower portion 58 in other ways than that illustrated in FIG. 4; but the construction shown in FIG. 4 is simple, strong and inexpensrve.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

When wire from a wire containing drum vis to-be payed out with the payout assembly of this invention, the lid is first removed from the drum and the base or lower portion 58 of the inner element 56 is then inserted into the inner core 59 of the drum package at the center of the coil of wire in the drum. The inner element 56 is pushed down into the drum until the shoulder rests on the top of the inner core of the drum. The frame 10 is then placed over the inner element 56 and in substantial alignment therewith and lowered until the lower end of the frame 10 rests on the ridge 38 at the top of the drum 34.

The end of the wire which is to be payed out, and which is led from the drum before inserting the base or lower portion 58 of the inner element 56, and the wire is passed upwardly between the outside of the inner element 56 and the inside of the frame 18; and is passed through the tube constituting the guide 24, around the grooved pulley 28 and through the guide tube 30. The end of the wire is then led to a winding machine or any other location to which the wire is to be supplied during the payout.

As wire is pulled out of the drum 34 it is necessary for the coils of the wire to straighten out into straight runs; and the tapered inner element 56 serves toprevent coils which come outof the drum from turning into planes other than a substantially horizontal plane. These coils unwind most easily if they are in a horizontal plane when being pulled upward in a vertical direction. If a coil is free to move into a vertical plane, then the pull on the coil may reduce the coil to a small coil or tight e form which will kink the wire.

Sometimes groups of coils come out of the drum wit the coils hanging together and this sometimes makes one coil interfere with the unwinding of another coil so that it is desirable to break up the group into separate coils. This is done by the spaced hoops or turns of tubing 16a-16e. As groups of coils are pulled upward through the frusto conical frame 10, portions of these coils strike against one or more of the hoops and this tends to cause the coils to separate. Any coil which strikes against one of the hoops encounters some resistance and this tends to cause it to hold back while other coils pull loose from it.

By the time the wire has reached the upper'end of the taper of the frame 10 the coils are all pulled apart and in position'to unwrap, if not already unwrapped, to form straight runs of wire at the guide tube 24. The inside diameter of the guide tube 24 is large enough to permit free passage of the wire through the tube 24.

One of the features of the construction illustrated is that the turns of tubing l6a-l6e are continuous around their circumference, the ends being joined by smooth connections; and there are no rough protrusions formed by welding of the frame or by any other feature of construction which would permit a loop of wire to actually catch on such a protrusion and the wire to be pulled into a kink. All surfaces with which the wire comes in contact are smooth for passage of the wire without catching or scratching and the reason for tapering the inner element 56 is to prevent wire loops from tightening on this tapered element as the loops tend to become smaller as they are pulled upward.

The taper of the inner element 56 is limited since a diameter of this cone which was very much smaller than the loops of wire would not have the same desirable effect in preventing loops from turning into vertically or partially vertical planes. Experience has shown that the taper of the inner element 56 for preventing loops from tightening on the cone as they are pulled upward does not require a taper any greater than about 1% inch diameter reduction per foot of elevation.

FIG. 5 shows a modified form of the invention in which a helical tube is used in place of the separate hoops of FIGS. 1 and 2. In the construction shown in FIG. 5 the successive convolutions of the helically formed tube are used in place of the turns 16a l6e and these corresponding convolutions which are shown in FlG. 5 are indicated by the same reference characters as the turns or

hoops

16b, 16c, 16d and l6e with a prime appended.

These

convolutions

16b, 16c, 16d and l6e are brazed to upwardly converging tubes 12' which correspond to the tubes 12 of the frame shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and the convolutions function in the same way to separate groups of wire coils from one another as the wire is payed out from the drum.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made, and some features can be used in different formations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A payout assembly for a wire drum package including in combination a frame having a lower end that supports the assembly with its vertical axis in substantial alignment with the axis of a drum containing a coil of wire that is to be payed out from said coil, a portion of the height of the frame being tapered and having successively higher turns of tubing with the successive turns of smaller diameter for contact with random coils of wire that may pass upward in a group of coils and by said contact to separate the group into individual coils that will pull out into straight runs of wire, an inner element within the frame and substantially coaxial therewith, the lower portion of said inner element having a diameter that fits into a wire drum core with which the payout assembly is intended to be used, and the upper portion of the inner element tapering toward its upper end to prevent any substantial shifting of loops of wire into other planes after the loops of wire leave the drum and move upwardly in the frame.

2. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the successive turns of tubing being separate hoops made of smooth tubing, and verticallyextending elements of the frame that hold the hoops in spaced relation to one another with vertical spacing between them.

3. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the successive turns of tubing being convolutions of a helical tube that extends around the axis of the vertical frame, the convolutions of the helical tube being held in position by other parts of the frame including vertically extending elements secured to convolutions of the helix at angularly spaced locations around the respective convolutions.

4. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by a guide at the upper end of the frame including a tube in substantial alignment with the axis of the drum and frame, and through which the wire passes,

the guide also including a grooved pulley for changing the direction of run of the wire, and another tube through which the wire passes after traveling around an arc of the pulley, the inside radius of the guide tubes being approximately equal to the radius of the crosssection of the pulley groove, and the ends of the guide tubes being so located so as to bring the wire back into the pulley groove when the wire comes out of the groove as the result of slack accumulation in the wire.

5. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the lower end of the frame having radially spaced surfaces that fit over the inside and outside of a top rim of a wire-containing drum for supporting the frame from the drum and for holding the frame in alignment with the drum.

6. The payout assembly described in claim 5 characterized by the lower end of the frame having a groove therein facing downwardly and of a diameter to fit over the top rim of the wire-containing drum, the radially spaced surfaces of the groove being the surfaces that fit over the inside and outside of the top rim of the drum.

7. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the inner element having a frusto conical ouside surface that decreases in diameter as it extends upward to prevent the loops of wire from becoming tight around the inner element as they travel upward and decrease in diameter.

8. The payout assembly described in claim 7 characterized by the lowerend portion of the inner element being cylindrical, a wire drum core into which the cylindrical portion of the inner element tits at the center of a coil of wire contained within the drum.

9. The payout-assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the inner element within the frame having its upper portion made of a sheet material tubular construction around which loops of wire pass upwardly from the drum as the loops unwind to straight runs, the upper portion of the inner element terminating below the top of the turns of tubing of the frame.

10. The payout assembly described in claim 9 characterized by the lower portion of the inner element including a ring at its upper end of an outside diameter to fit into the lower end of the sheet material that forms the upper portion of the inner element, the lower end of the sheet material being cut lengthwise at close angularly spaced locations around its circumference to form tabs that are bent around the ring from the outside thereof and secured to the ring to connect the upper portion of the inner element to the lower portion 7 thereof.

1 1. The payout assembly described in claim 9 characterized by the turns of tubing of the frame and the surfaces of the tapered inner element, with which the wire contacts either usually or occasionally, having smooth surfaces and being free of roughness of welds and other protusions on which loops of wire could catch.

* i t i

Claims

1. A payout assembly for a wire drum package incLuding in combination a frame having a lower end that supports the assembly with its vertical axis in substantial alignment with the axis of a drum containing a coil of wire that is to be payed out from said coil, a portion of the height of the frame being tapered and having successively higher turns of tubing with the successive turns of smaller diameter for contact with random coils of wire that may pass upward in a group of coils and by said contact to separate the group into individual coils that will pull out into straight runs of wire, an inner element within the frame and substantially coaxial therewith, the lower portion of said inner element having a diameter that fits into a wire drum core with which the payout assembly is intended to be used, and the upper portion of the inner element tapering toward its upper end to prevent any substantial shifting of loops of wire into other planes after the loops of wire leave the drum and move upwardly in the frame.

2. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the successive turns of tubing being separate hoops made of smooth tubing, and vertically-extending elements of the frame that hold the hoops in spaced relation to one another with vertical spacing between them.

4. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by a guide at the upper end of the frame including a tube in substantial alignment with the axis of the drum and frame, and through which the wire passes, the guide also including a grooved pulley for changing the direction of run of the wire, and another tube through which the wire passes after traveling around an arc of the pulley, the inside radius of the guide tubes being approximately equal to the radius of the cross-section of the pulley groove, and the ends of the guide tubes being so located so as to bring the wire back into the pulley groove when the wire comes out of the groove as the result of slack accumulation in the wire.

8. The payout assembly described in claim 7 characterized by the lower end portion of the inner element being cylindrical, a wire drum core into which the cylindrical portion of the inner element fits at the center of a coil of wire contained within the drum.

9. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the inner element within the frame having its upper portion made of a sheet material tubular construction around which loops of wire pass upwardly from the drum as the loops unwind to straight runs, the upper portion of the inner element terminating below the top of the turns of tubing of the frame.

10. The payout assembly described in claim 9 characterized by the lower portion of the inner element including a ring at its uppeR end of an outside diameter to fit into the lower end of the sheet material that forms the upper portion of the inner element, the lower end of the sheet material being cut lengthwise at close angularly spaced locations around its circumference to form tabs that are bent around the ring from the outside thereof and secured to the ring to connect the upper portion of the inner element to the lower portion thereof.

11. The payout assembly described in claim 9 characterized by the turns of tubing of the frame and the surfaces of the tapered inner element, with which the wire contacts either usually or occasionally, having smooth surfaces and being free of roughness of welds and other protusions on which loops of wire could catch.