Reeling apparatus

A cable reeling apparatus includes a plurality of reeling stations, a reel at each reeling station and a winding mechanism at each station for winding a cable onto the reel at the same station. The apparatus further includes a guide mechanism for selectively guiding the cable onto a first one of the reels and for transferring winding to a second reel when a sufficient length of cable has been wound on the first reel. The apparatus further includes an eccentric at each station for generating a loop in the cable when winding is commenced at a station.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to reeling apparatus and particularly, but 
not exclusively to apparatus for reeling cable. 
One known form of cable winding apparatus comprises two reels. When one 
reel is full, winding is automatically transferred to the other. So that 
various tests can be carried out on the wound cable, it is desirable for a 
reasonable length of the inner end of the cable to be brought out to the 
surface of the reel so that various tests can be carried out on the reeled 
cable. It is difficult to produce an inner end of sufficient length and 
also difficult to avoid damage to that inner end. An object of the 
invention is to mitigate or eliminate these disadvantages. 
According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for reeling 
an elongate object comprising first and second reeling stations, means at 
each station for winding cable delivered to the station on a reel disposed 
at that station, means for guiding the element to be wound to one or other 
of the stations, means for transferring the element from one station to 
the other when a sufficient length of element has been wound on a reel at 
the said one station and means at each station for generating a loop in 
the element at the beginning of winding at that station which provides an 
inner loose end. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the means at each station for 
generating a loop comprise an eccentric, which on rotation displaces the 
element being wound from the centre of rotation to create the loop. The 
eccentric includes a catcher or snagger to hold the element at changeover 
and a deflector which pushes the element onto the barrel of the reel being 
wound. The part of the element would around the eccentric then becomes the 
inner loose end. At the commencement of winding, directly after transfer 
from one reel to the other, changes of speed of element take place causing 
initial speed increase followed by speed decrease of the element. It is 
important that this slack does not effect the normal speed control 
provided by a conventional accumulator unit. A swinging arm is therefore 
provided to absorb these changes. This arm is itself provided with both 
spring and pneumatic position control means. Means, for example, pins or a 
strip, are provided for restraining ballooning of the element due to 
centrifugal force during changeover. At the end of winding on the reel 
after changeover, by rotating the eccentric relative to the reel, the 
inner end form may be laid on the external surface of the reel. To enable 
the eccentric to be rotated relative to the reel, a pin which normally 
locks both together is withdrawn and that catcher is opened to release the 
elements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the reeling apparatus generally 
comprises reels 1 and 2. The cable, which is referenced C is fed via a 
control accumulator 3 swinging arm arrangement 4 and wire guide mechanism 
comprising guide rolls 5 to one of the reels (in the case shown reel 1). 
The swinging arm arrangement comprises a roller 6 connected rotatably to 
an arm 7 mounted for pivotal movement about a stationary point 8. The arm 
7 is acted upon by a variable spring plunger mechanism 9 and a pneumatic 
piston and cylinder arrangement 10. In its normal position the arm 7, 
contacts a switch SW1. The forces exerted by the mechanism 3, 9 and 10 are 
referenced P1, P2 and P3. 
p1 is a loading of the control danger 3 to give the required winding 
tension of the cable C. 
p2 is a loading of the arrangement 10 required to hold the swinging arm 7 
in the correct position at switch. 
p3 is the loading of the spring plunger B2 which in normal running is zero. 
The speed of the rotation of reel 1 is relative to line speed and is 
trimmed for reel diameter by the control dancer A such that the position 
of A remains substantially constant by use of a proportional and integral 
loop control. At this point, reel 2 is stationary. 
The accumulator is preferably similar to the one disclosed in the U.S. Pat. 
No. 2,929,569 to Detrick et al, and it is associated with a conventional 
feed back speed control unit illustrated generally and diagrammatically at 
13. The position of the accumulators controls the electrical current fed 
to the motor driving either reel 1 or reel 2. 
Reels 1 and 2 are disposed in catcher discs. These discs are specially 
formed to accept a cable at changeover from one reel to the other. 
Referring specifically to FIGS. 2(a), 2(b) and 2(c) the disc comprises a 
drive shaft 21 on which the reel is mounted. A "live" pintle 22 is mounted 
via bearings onto the drive shaft and a conventional retractable drive pin 
23 is also mounted on the drive shaft, the drive pin 23 is being normally 
disposed in the position illustrated in FIG. 2(c) but being retractable by 
suitable conventional means, such as a pneumatic cylinder, to the position 
illustrated in FIG. 2(d). The disc comprises inner and outer flanges 28 
and 29. A conventional cable catcher or snagger mechanism 24 of the 
general type disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,886 to Meisser and 
Veyrasset et al, No. 4,451,008 is mounted on flange 29. This mechanism has 
an associated conventional loading system 25 which is actuatable via 
conventional means, such as a pneumatic cylinder. The reel itself is 
referenced 26 and is mounted over the pintel 22. 
The disc comprises an eccentric 27 disposed between the two flanges 28 and 
29. A deflector 210 is fitted to this eccentric at its major diameter and 
a series of pins 211 are mounted on the flange 28. The pins 211 could be 
replaced by a continuous strip. FIG. 2(c) shows the catcher or snagger 
mechanism 24 closed, and the drive pin 23 engaged in the reel 26. FIG. 
2(d) shows the catcher mechanism 24 open, and the drive pin 23 retracted 
from the reel 26. In this condition, the reel 26 is free to rotate 
relative to the catcher disc. 
FIG. 3 shows the initial sequence at transfer of cable winding from reel 1 
to reel 2. 
The wire guide mechanism 5, which comprises a conventional traverse of 
distributor mechanism of the type illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 
3,368,765, to O'Grady, moves across to reel 2, and a deflector roll 30 
pulls the cable down into the correct position relative to the reel 
flange. 
The loading P2 on arrangement 10 changes to a value such that the swinging 
arm arrangement 4 is in balance with the control dancer 3, i.e., the 
tension in the cable C resulting from force P2 applied to the arm 
arrangement 4 is equal to the tension in the cable C resulting from force 
P1 applied to the dancer 3. The switch SW1 is operative for controlling 
the piston and cylinder arrangement 10 to normally return the arm 7 to its 
normal position wherein it is in contact with the switch SW1. The ratio of 
P1 and P2 is dependent upon the dynamic effects of the cable and the 
physical characteristics of the swinging arm. Loading P3 is still at zero 
and loading P1 is still controlled by the control dancer A. 
Reel 2 is accelerated to a speed R2 which is proportional to the radius of 
the eccentric (FIG. 2). 
Speed R2 is in the region of 75-85% of the speed required to match the reel 
barrel diameter to the line speed, to actual value being dependent upon 
the ratio of barrel diameter to accentric diameter, and the size of cable 
being wound. The control dancer 3 is not connected to the drive reel 2. 
FIG. 4 shows the relative position of cable C and reels 1 and 2 at the 
moment of transfer of cable 1 winding from reel 1 to reel 2. When the wire 
guide mechanism 5 reaches the flange of the reel the cable C is deflected 
by roller 30 moving upwards between the two reels into the path of the 
catcher mechanism. 
At this point, the wire guide 5 is either held in position or is moved out 
away from the reel, depending upon the type of cable being wound, and the 
speed of winding. As is known in the art, when winding small diameter 
highly flexible cables at high speeds it is advantageous to initially move 
away from the reel to avoid improper initial wrapping whereas when winding 
longer diameter cables at slower speeds, it is important to start wrapping 
next to the reel in order to produce a high quality winding. At this 
moment, reel 2 is accelerated to bring it to a barrel match speed. 
FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c), respectively, show the progressive positions of 
the cable C as it is caught in the catcher mechanism 24, and winding 
commences on reel 2. 
The cable C is pulled down onto the eccentric of the catcher disc, is 
severed and winds around the eccentric 27, over typically half a 
revolution of the reel 2, and is pulled down to a position under the 
catcher pins 211, preventing "ballooning" due to centrifugal forces. 
FIG. 5(d) shows the action of the swinging arm 4 during this time. Due to 
the change in diameter of the winding surface, a change in linear speed of 
the cable C takes place. During this time, the swinging arm 4 is pulled 
back against the force P2, and the arm comes into contact with the spring 
plunger mechanism 9, causing force P3 to increase. 
FIGS. 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c) show the action of the cable C after it has wound 
around a half revolution of the eccentric 27. On reaching the major 
diameter of the eccentric, the deflector 210 (FIG. 2) guides the cable C 
across the eccentric 27 and off the flange 28 (FIG. 2). The cable C then 
falls into the reel 26 until it reaches the reel barrel (FIG. 6(b) and 
6(c)) where it starts to wind onto the barrel. 
FIG. 6(d) shows the action of the swinging arm 4 during this operation. 
During the time that the cable leaves the eccentric 27 (FIG. 5(a) to the 
time that it starts to wind onto the barrel of the reel 26, (FIG. 6(c)) 
the cable C is not being wound, and slack cable is generated between the 
reel and the dancer unit 3 (FIG. 1). The swinging arm 4 senses this slack 
via the switch SW1 and under the combined influence of force P2 and P3 
moves outwards to take up the slack (see FIG. 6(d) and overcome the 
centrifugal forces on the cable C. Force P3 is present only at the initial 
movement, in order to assist in acceleration of the arm. 
The size of the loop generated in the cable C as it transfers from the 
catcher disc to the reel barrel is a function of cable weight, tension, 
speed of rotation, the reaction time of the swinging arm 4, and the 
acceleration rate of the reel. The values of forces P2 and P3, and the 
initial speed of the reel 2, together with the acceleration rate are all 
controlled to give the required size of loop for each cable size and 
linear speed of winding. 
FIG. 7 shows the system after transfer has been completed, and the cable is 
being wound onto the barrel of reel 2. 
After the given time following transfer of winding, the value of P2 is 
altered to bring the arm 4 to the normal running position relative to SW1, 
and the dancer control system is switched from reel 1 drive to reel 2 
drive to enable control of winding during build up of the reel diameter. 
Reel 1 is a braked via conventional means (not shown) to standstill, and is 
then ready for unloading and an empty reel is loaded. 
The machine is then ready to do a transfer of winding from reel 2 to reel 1 
when winding is complete on reel 2. 
FIGS. 8(a), 8(b) and 8(c) and FIGS. 9(a), 9(b) and 9(c) show the method of 
dealing with the inner end loop during unloading. 
In order to facilitate reel handling, and avoid damage to the inner end, it 
is desirable to have this wound onto the reel and not hanging loose. 
This is achieved during the unloading cycle as shown in FIGS. 8(a), 8(b) 
and 8c) and FIGS. 9(a), 9(b) and 9(c) (for reel 2). The inner end is shown 
in heavy line in these figures. The reel and catcher disc are rotated in 
the same direction as when winding, until the catcher is in the position 
shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 9(a). 
At this point the catcher mechanism 24 is opened, releasing the cable C 
from the catcher, and the drive pin 23 is retracted from the reel, see 
FIG. 2(d). 
The reel is then prevented from rotating, and the catcher disc continues to 
rotate in the same direction (FIGS. 8(b) and 8(c) and FIGS. 9(b) and 9(c). 
The deflector 210 pushes the inner end loop across the flange of the 
catcher disc causing it to fall onto the top of the cable wound on the 
reel FIGS. 8(c) and 9(c). 
Due to the length of the end, it lies over the drum and the reel can be 
removed without damage to the loose end. 
It will be appreciated that the above embodiment has been described by way 
of example only and that many variations are possible without departing 
from the invention.