US3837597A

US3837597A - Coiled cable dispenser

Info

Publication number: US3837597A
Application number: US00329659A
Authority: US
Inventors: F Bourhenne
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-02-05
Filing date: 1973-02-05
Publication date: 1974-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 1991-09-24

Abstract

A coiled cable dispenser for use by the building trade in constructing buildings. The coiled cable usually packaged in 250 foot rolls is centrally located on a rotatable table. A spindle mounting assembly pivotally supports the table at one end and contains a pair of spaced apart U shaped members attached to each other by a single arm at the other end. The U shaped members are adapted to fit over opposite sides of a conventional two by four stud member which are usually located 16 inches on center. The cable is dispensed from the periphery of the coil through a cable guide assembly that is pivotally attached to the spindle mounting assembly below said rotating table. The table is frictionally restrained thereby allowing the construction worker to pull a selected amount of cable from the rotating table.

Description

Bourhenne 51 Sept. 24, 1974 COILED CABLE DISPENSER Francis Kurt Bourhenne, 1308 1/2 Anaheim St., Harbor City, Calif. 90710 Filed: Feb. 5, 1973 Appl. No.: 329,659

Inventor:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1927 Moser...- 248/246 X 1,908,073 5/1933 Spoor et a1. 3,275,263 9/1966 Parkinson 242/129 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 535,000 10/1955 Italy ..248/246 1,264,653 5/1961 France ..248/246 Primary Examiner-Leonard D. Christian Attorney, Agent, or FirmSinger & Singer [5 7 ABSTRACT A coiled cable dispenser for use by the building trade in constructing buildings. The coiled cable usually packaged in 250 foot rolls is centrally located on a rotatable table. A spindle mounting assembly pivotally supports the table at one end and contains a pair of spaced apart U shaped members attached to each other by a single arm at the other end. The U shaped members are adapted to fit over opposite sides of a conyentional two by four stud member which are usually located 16 inches on center. The cable is dispensed from the periphery of the coil through a cable guide assembly that is pivotally attached to the spindle mounting assembly below said rotating table. The table is frictionally restrained thereby allowing the construction worker to pull a selected amount of cable from the rotating table.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures COILED CABLE DISPENSER This invention relates to a coiled cable dispenser for use by the building profession in wiring the building under construction and more particularly to a reel for dispensing a non-metallic sheet cable of the type known under the trade name ROMEX.

Wiring cable of the type used in conventional building construction is usually sold in coiled lengths of 250 feet that are individually packaged in corrugated cardboard containers. Larger diameter wires capable of carrying a higher current would of necessity be contained in a larger carton whereas smaller diameter wires having the same 250 foot length would be contained in a smaller sized carton.

The usual practice in the building profession is to locate the coiled cardboard container containing the 250 foot length of wire at the building site for the availability of the wiring electrician. The cardboard container is usually sliced open and one end of the coiled wire is made available for the electrician in pulling the wire through the studs from junction box to receptacle.

The wire is usually left within the container as a means of restraining the coiled wire when not in use. Unfortunately when the electrician pulls the wire from the cardboard container the wire being dispensed tends to loop upon itself causing kinks and bends due to the looping of the wire as the wire is uncoiled. This looping of the wire requires constant attention having the tendency to slow the work of the electrician or at best requires an electrician and a helper to continually unwind the dispensed wire so that the wire may pass freely through the studs under the urging of the electrician.

This invention describes a coiled wire dispenser that freely dispenses the coiled wire from the periphery of the coil under the urging of the electrician and without the aforementioned kinks and loops. The dispenser is adapted to be movably mounted on a conventional 2 X 4 stud thereby insuring that the coiled wire will be located as close to the work as possible thereby reducing effort and saving time of the installation.

The coiled cable dispensercontains a rotatable table adapted to accept a complete 250 foot reel of coiled wire. The coiled wire is first completely removed from the cardboard shipping container and placed upon the rotating table. The table is rotatably mounted upon a spindle mounting assembly that is fixedly attached to an arm connecting a pair of spaced apart U shaped members. The U shaped members are each adapted to fit over opposite sides of a 2 X 4 stud member and each contain suitable barbs for maintaining the spindle mounting assembly in a given position when hooked over a stud member.

In the usual embodiment the spindle mounting assembly is shaped to hold the rotatable table in a horizontal plane with the spaced apart U-shaped members located about a vertical stud member.

A cable guide assembly having a length greater than the diameter of the rotatable table is pivotly mounted at one end on the spindle mounting assembly and below the rotatable table. The other end of the cable guide assembly is formed into an open polygon for accepting and guiding the dispensing cable. In this manner the electrician has only to slip the cable'through the open polygon and regardless of his location in the room rela tive to the supporting stud member the cable will be dispensed through the polygon opening located on the cable dispensing assembly. In other words regardless of where the electrician is located the polygon end of the cable guide assembly will always be facing the electrician and the wire will be dispensed without kinks or bends.

In order to prevent spilling of wire which may result from a free-wheeling reel or from over-pulling on the wire by the electrician there is located a frictional member in the form of a compression spring between the spindle mounting assembly and the rotatable table and the cable guide assembly. The compression spring continuously urges the members against each other thereby restraining the rotation of the table unless the wire is actively being pulled by the electrician. In addition the rotatable table contains a lip on the periphery for preventing excess wire from being spilled off the table as a result of the electrician suddenly pulling on the free end of the cable.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be made more apparent by referring now to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view which illustrates the present day technique for dispensing coiled wire from the corrugated shipping container;

FIG. 2 is a view which illustrates a coiled cable dispenser constructed according to the teachings of the present invention mounted upon a conventional 2 X 4 stud member;

FIG. 4 is a view which illustrates a side view of the coiled cable dispenser mounted upon a vertical stud member; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of the coiled cable dispenser illustrating how a lip member on the table prevents spillage of the dispensing wire.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a corrugated carton 10 of the type used to ship a coiled roll of 250 feet of wire. The container 10 is usually brought to the building site and the top section cut open as shown and the available end 12 of the wire is pulled out as needed. Due to the coiled action of the wire pulling on the end 12 produces kinks and bends as illustrated due to the unwinding of the wire. These kinks and folds can be prevented by carefully unwinding the wire which of necessity requires that a helper be located at the site of the wire in order to assist the electrician as the wire is pulled from the box. It is considered most desirable to leave the coiled wire in the corrugated carton in order to prevent spilling of the wire when less than the complete roll is used for any given installation. In addition the carton provides a convenient means of moving the coiled wire from location to location during the construction process.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown a coiled cable dispenser constructed according to the teachings of the present invention. A rotatable table 14 is pivotly mounted on and supported by one end of a spindle mounting assembly 16 which is connected at the other I end to an arm 18.

A pair of spaced apart U shaped

members

20 and 22 are each fixedly attached to each other by means of the arm 18. The spaced apart U-shaped

members

20 and 22 are each adapted to fit over opposite sides of at least one-half of a stud member 24. In the usual building construction, 2 inch X 4 inch stud members are used 16 inches on center to form the basic building wall structure. The coupling forces generated by the U-shaped

members

20 and 22 as a result of the total weight of the structure transmitted to the arm 18 allows the coiled cable dispenser to be arbitrarily located at any height above the floor level as determined by the needs of the user. The arm 18 is preferably connected to the U-

shaped members

20 and 22 at the end portions of the brackets so that the arm is aligned with the stud member 24 and preferably along the center of the widest face of the stud member.

A cable guide assembly 28 having a length greater than the diameter of the rotating table 14 is pivotably mounted at one end 26 to the spindle mounting assembly 16 and at the other end is formed into an open polygon 30 for accepting the wire 38. The polygon 30 is open at point 31 in order to allow the wire 38 being pulled from the coiled cable 32 to be quickly inserted within the polygon. The opening 31 is situated on the bottommost portion of the polygon 30 thereby insuring that the wire 38 will remain within the polygon during normal use of the dispenser.

In using the present invention the corrugated carton as illustrated in FIG. 1 is completely opened thereby allowing the coiled cable 32 to be removed and placed upon the rotatable table 14. The coiled wire 32 is centrally located and supported upon the rotatable table 14 by means of a pair of orthagonally located

hub members

34 and 36 that are centrally located on the rotatable table 14. The

hub members

34 and 36 have a height that is greater than the width of the largest coil of 250 foot length wire 32 that would be used on the rotatable table 14. In this fashion the hub members 34 and36 not only locate the coiled wire 32 on the rotatable table 14 but also maintains the coil on the table against the action of the electrician pulling upon the wire 38 as a demand for wire is made.

In actual practice the coiled cable dispenser is located on a stud member 24 that is in close proximity to the location of the wiring needs of the electrician. As the electrician pulls on end 38 for a length of wire the cable guide assembly 28 pivots about 26 thereby aligning the polygon opening'30 with the location of the electrician. In this fashion a tug on end 38 will cause the rotatable table 14 to rotate while the

hub members

34 and 36 maintain the coiled wire 32 on the table. In this fashion the electrician may select any given length of wire and at any location in the room area without fear of kinking or folding of the wire being dispensed.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown a side view of the coiled cable dispenser without the coiled wire 32 in place in order to illustrate a friction member in the form of a compression spring 39 that is located on the spindle mounting assembly 16. The compression spring 39 forces the rotatable table 14 and the cable guide assembly 28 against the spindle mounting assembly 16 thereby impeding the rotation of the table and the guide assembly so as to insure against spilling of the wire in the event a quick or sudden pull is made upon the free end of the wire.

FIG. 4 shows a section of the spaced apart U-shaped members and 22 for more fully

illustrating barb members

40 and 42 located on the U shaped members, respectively. The barb members areshaped to dig into the short side of the stud member 24 thereby insuring that the coiled cable dispenser will maintain the position that it is set at by the user until moved. Pulling on the polygon end of the cable guide assembly 28 will immediately release the

barb members

40 and 42 from the stud member 24 thereby allowing the operator to relocate or remove the cable dispenser from the stud member.

Referring now to FIG. 3 there is shown a top view of the coiled cable dispenser which more fully illustrates how the lip portion 44 restrains the loose end of the wire 38 in the event of a sudden pull on the end of the cable which may cause a slight free wheeling rotation of the rotatable table 14. As illustrated in FIG. 3 rotation of the table 14 will cause a billowing of the wire from the coil and against the lip portion 44. This excess cable is therefore maintained on the table 14 and simply provides additional slack for the user when he again pulls upon the wire 38. The compression spring 39 illustrated in FIG. 4 will keep the tendency of the table 14 from free wheeling to an absolute minimum and in combination with the lip 44 on the table 14 any tendency for the wire to spill from the table will be minimized.

Many modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art since variations in the shape of the spindle mounting assembly 16 to accommodate special situations will be apparent to the user. It is envisioned that for general purpose applications that the spindle mounting assembly 16 can be made adjustable to accommodate those situations where the stud members 24 are at some angle such as in an attic and it is still desired that the rotatable table be maintained in a horizontal plane.

I claim:

1. A coiled cable dispenser comprising,

a pair of spaced apart U-shaped members, a single arm and a rotatable table,

said pair of spaced apart U-shaped members fixedly attached to each other by said single arm and each adapted to fit over opposite sides of at least onehalf of a building stud member,

a spindle mounting assembly fixedly attached at one end to said single arm and at the other end adapted to pivotally support said rotatable table,

said spindle mounting assembly thaving a specific shape for holding said rotatable table in a preferred position,

a cable guide assembly having a length greater than the diameter of said rotatable table is pivotably mounted at one end on said spindle mounting assembly below said rotatable table,

said cable guide assembly being freely pivotable in all directions for dispensing cable below and above said rotatable table, and

a hub assembly centrally located on said rotatable table for holding and controlling the positioning of a coiled spool of cable on said table.

2. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 1 which includes a friction member centrally located on said spindle mounting assembly for frictionally engaging said cable guide assembly and said rotatable table to thereby impede rotational movement.

3. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 2 in which said friction member is a compression spring for forcing said rotatable table and said cable guide assembly against said spindle mounting assembly.

4. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 1 in which said rotatable table is circular having a curved lip portion on the periphery for restraining the dispensing cable.

Claims

1. A coiled cable dispenser comprising, a pair of spaced apart U-shaped members, a single arm and a rotatable table, said pair of spaced apart U-shaped members fixedly attached to each other by said single arm and each adapted to fit over opposite sides of at least one-half of a building stud member, a spindle mounting assembly fixedly attached at one end to said single arm and at the other end adapted to pivotally support said rotatable table, said spindle mounting assembly having a specific shape for holding said rotatable table in a preferred position, a cable guide assembly having a length greater than the diameter of said rotatable table is pivotably mounted at one end on said spindle mounting assembly below said rotatable table, said cable guide assembly being freely pivotable in all directions for dispensing cable below and above said rotatable table, and a hub assembly centrally located on said rotatable table for holding and controlling the positioning of a coiled spool of cable on said table.