Cable reel with reinforcing flanges

A cable reel having cardboard ends and core which are reinforced by a hollow plastic axis having flanges secured to each end, the flanges pressing against the outer surfaces of the ends and being held to the axis by sonic-welding.

This invention relates to reels for storage of cable or rope and in 
particular reels with end plates which are secured to a central hollow 
core by means of glueing or other adhesives. 
RELATED PATENTS 
This invention is related to, but an improvement over, applicant's prior 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,417 issued Apr. 16, 1985. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
As described in my prior patent, it is known in the prior art to form a 
cable reel by means of securing end plates, usually of circular 
configuration, to a hollow central core. For small reels or reels designed 
for storage of lightweight material, the central core is usually of a 
laminated paper stock material cylindrically wound and of heavy weight. 
The end plates are made of heavy weight corrugated cardboard material 
which are secured to the annular end surfaces of a hollow core by 
compatible adhesives. 
The end plates are often composed of two layers of material, the outer 
layer being in the form of a circle having a relatively small hole at its 
center and the inner layer having a relatively large opening, just 
slightly larger than the outer diameter of the center core to which the 
end plate will be secured. When these inner and outer layers are securely 
fastened together, the inner surface of each end plate has a center 
depressed circular area which will receive the central core of the reel to 
be assembled and furnish two surfaces for adhesive securing. That is, one 
surface on the annular end surface of the hollow central core and the 
other surface on the inner circular surface defined by the opening in the 
inner layer. 
Despite the fact that two glueing surfaces are available in the known 
reels, it is still a common problem for the end plates to become separated 
from the central core, due to rough handling and tearing of the cardboard 
material. In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,417, this cardboard reel was 
reinforced by a plastic axis extending through the hollow center of the 
core, with a plastic flange spin-welded to each end thereof. This is a 
satisfactory reel, except that in the process of spin-welding the ends of 
the reel are sometimes damaged by the spinning tool. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to form a reel having plastic 
flanges which are strongly secured to the central core of the reel by use 
of a cylindrical member of plastics material extending along the axis of 
the reel, and having flanges secured to each end of that central member by 
means of sonic welding. These flanges are positioned tightly against the 
outer surface of each end plate so as to reinforce the reel structure and 
make it considerably stronger than reels known in the prior art, since 
instead of a smooth inner surface on each flange (to permit spin-welding), 
there is at least one lug or cylindrical plastic protuberance, spaced from 
the center of the flange, which engages a hole in the outer face of the 
cardboard reel end. 
It is a further object of this invention to teach a method of assembling 
such a reel without the necessity of any potentially dangerous power tools 
used to fasten plastic materials together by spin-welding. 
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the 
following description, which is given by way of example only with 
illustration of a preferred embodiment as shown in the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken through a reel of the present invention, 
the section being cut approximately through and parallel to the central 
axis thereof. A hollow core 14, preferably of helically or convolutedly 
wound craft paper material is positioned between first end plate 16 and 
second end plate 18. Each end plate 16 and 18 has an outer layer of 
corrugated cardboard and a second (inner) layer 20 which is adhesively 
secured to the inner surface of the outer layer. That inner layer has a 
circular opening of approximately the same size as the outer diameter of 
holow core 14. The edge of the circular opening thus forms inner facing 
offset 22 and bears against the outer surface of the hollow core 14, and 
centers it in relation to end plates 16 and 18. Such a reel is known in 
the prior art, and glue or other adhesive is used along offset 22 and on 
the annular end of core 14 to hold the reel together. As previously 
mentioned, such securing has not proved satisfactory in the prior art and 
such reels are now reinforced by a spin-welded central cylindrical member. 
In heavier reels, the core and end plates may be made of other materials, 
such a wood or plastics, but problems of weakness of the end plates still 
may be present. 
FIG. 2 shows a cylindrical member 24, preferably in the form of a piece of 
pipe of plastics material, having a first flange 26 and a second flange 
28. Each of these flanges has a boss 33 having an inner opening 34, which 
is of a size to form a close fit with the outer diameter of the 
cylindrical member 24. By "close fit", it is meant that the cylindrical 
member 24 will fit into the opening 34, but be close enough to be 
sonically welded at that fitting point. Thus, a very strong joint can be 
formed without the necessity of using an adhesive or a solvent or a 
spin-welding process, all of which would cause extra expense and expose 
workers to potentially dangerous vapors or machinery. 
The method of assembly involves securing flange 28 to one end of 
cylindrical member 24, preferably by holding member 24 in a suitable jig 
on the production line and pressing flange 28 over the end of member 24, 
and then, by means of the head 27 of a sonic-welded tool which fits into 
or around the flange, immediately weld the flange 28 so that it becomes 
bonded to the end of member 24. Preferably, both the cylindrical surface 
and the annular end surface of the axial member are welded at their 
interfaces with the confronting surfaces inside the hole in the flange. 
As a separate step, a cable reel is assembled in the usual manner, that is 
by placing end plates 16 and 18 over the ends of a hollow core 14 so that 
holes 25 in the center of each end plate 16 or 18 are in alignment along 
the axis of the reel. The holes 25 are of a size to receive the outer 
surface of boss 33 of flange 26 or 28. The free end 32 of member 24 is 
then passed through one of the holes 25, through the hollow center of core 
14 and through hole 25 in the other end plate 16. Member 24 has been cut 
to a length so it will be approximately flush with the outer surface of 
flange 16 when it is installed in place with boss 33 of flange 28, 
projecting into the hole of flange 18. Flange 28 is then held in 
predetermined position and flange 26 is pressed against the free end 32 of 
member 24 so that free end 32 enters and bottoms into hole 34, which, as 
previously described, is sized to be a close fit. Flange 26 is then welded 
by means of a sonic welder, the head of which is shown diagrammatically in 
FIG. 1 which will fit into an adjacent boss 33, causing sonic-induced 
heating to take place in the close fit joint, and thus melting and fusing 
the plastics material of flange 26 to the plastics material of the member 
24 without the necessity of using any adhesives or spin-welding. The 
welder head is needed for only momentary contact until the plastic is 
fused. The welder may, of course, be in other positions adjacent the area 
to be welded. Thus, production time is greatly reduced and there is no 
need to have equipment to mechanically rotate a flange to cause 
spin-welding. 
Since the cylindrical member 24 is cut to a length which is approximately 
equal to the width of the reel, when flange 26 is pressed and sonic-welded 
into place, the inner surfaces of flanges 26 and 28 will bear tightly 
against the outer surfaces of end plates 16 and 18, respectively, thus 
forming an extremely tight and rigid reel structure. The protruding lugs 
40 strengthen the joint between the flanges and the end plates. 
Optionally, the lugs 40 may have hollow centers 41 for engagement of a 
tool for reeling or unreeling cable or rope from the reel. 
In a particular preferred embodiment, end plates 16 and 18 are made of 
corrugated boxboard material of a diameter of about 14 inches, the core 14 
is made of helically wound heavy craft paper material of a diameter of 
about 5 inches, and the core is about 6 inches long. The cylindrical 
member 24 and the flanges 26 and 28 are made of high impact polystyrene 
material, with the flanges each having a diameter of about 33/4 inches. 
The cylindrical member 24 is a hollow pipe with an outer diameter of about 
1 inch. Each boss 33 has an outer diameter of 11/4 inches and is chamfered 
toward its end. The outer periphery of the flanges 26 and 28 are also 
chamfered for a smooth finish. Sonic-welding of the flange to the 
cylindrical member only required a few tenths of seconds, while the reel 
was held with the cylindrical member extending in the vertical position. 
In building this particular embodiment, the second flange was pressed onto 
the end of the cylindrical member 24 to bottom out in the close fit hole 
34, the flange was then sonically welded for 4/10 second and the pressing 
was continued for an additional 4/10 second to fuse the plastics together. 
The time would vary depending upon the size of the reel and the plastics 
material being used. Other plastics could be sonic-welded, such as 
polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinylchloride and ABS, etc. If the reel 
is intended for use in damp locations, the corrugated boxboard may be 
treated with wax or plastic coating to avoid water absorption. 
Although a specific preferred embodiment has been disclosed, it is 
understood that this is only by way of example and that the scope of this 
invention is defined by the claims which follow.