Winding device for drawing-in strand materials on a drum

A winding machine device for drawing a string-shaped article, such as an electric cable, a rope, a wire or the like, to a drum onto which said string-shaped article is to be wound, said drum being carried by mandrels which are insertable into center holes of a hub of the drum, at least one of the side walls of the drum being provided with an aperture to allow an inner end of the string-shaped article to extend from inside the drum to the outside of said side wall thereof. According to the invention a winding wheel is rigidly affixed to and coaxial with a machine driven one of said mandrels, a tracking rope or the like, one end of which is attachable to said end of said string-shaped article, being arranged to extend through said aperture in said drum wall and to be wound onto said winding wheel to draw said article to the drum and the leading end thereof through the aperture and a selected distance outside the side wall.

The present invention is in respect of a winding machine device for 
drawing-in a string-shaped article, such as an electric cable, a rope, a 
wire or the like, to be wound up by the machine onto a storage drum or 
reel fitted into the machine and to be rotated thereby on mandrels 
inserted in center holes of the drum. A leading end of, for instance, a 
cable is introduced through an aperture in at least one end wall to the 
drum. 
Prior cable winding machines have incorporated apparatus for moving the 
machine mandrels laterally for insertion thereof into center holes of a 
drum, and apparatus for moving the mandrels vertically to lift the drum 
from a base or floor, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,458 for example. 
The entire content of the cited U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,468 is incorporated 
herein and made a part hereof by this reference thereto. 
When a large dimension electrical cable, for instance, in a conventional 
manner is to be wound up on a drum by means of a winding machine, the 
leading end of the cable is manually brought forward to the drum from a 
source, a cable manufacturing machine, for instance, and is manually 
secured to the drum, the cable therafter being wound on the drum by 
rotation of the drum. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,468. Heavy 
weight cables, weighing perhaps some tens of kilos per meter, calls for a 
number of men for bringing forward the cable and attaching it to the drum, 
this being a hard and troublesome element of work. To make possible an 
electrical test on the cable, the cable end has to extend through an 
aperture in one of the drum side walls, sometimes with a length of several 
meters. The manual effort required to draw large stiff cables through such 
an aperture can be a considerable one. Many cable manufacturing machines 
deliver a cable therefore as a finished or semi-fabricated article with a 
predetermined speed, below which the cable may be exposed to deficiences, 
a situation particularly valid for plastic and rubber extrusion operations 
during the course of manufacture. Consequently the time available for 
bringing the cable end through the aperture of a drum wall and attaching 
it to the drum is rather limited, causing a mental stress factor, and 
when, as the case may be, the work ends in a failure, costly rejections or 
repairs arise, followed by remanufacture. 
The object of the present invention is to provide a device which eliminates 
the manual working procedure and brings forward the cable to the cable 
drum by machine aids by drawing the leading cable end through the side 
wall of the drum, automatically attaching the cable end to the drum and 
rapidly and safely handling the cable during the starting up of the 
winding. 
According to the invention, this object is attained by means of a rope 
winding wheel which is rigidly affixed to and co-axially with a 
machine-driven one of said mandrels of the machine to be rotated 
therewith. A rope or the like, one end of which is attachable to said 
leading end of a string-shaped article that is to be wound on said mandrel 
carried drum, extends through an aperture in a side wall of the drum 
located adjacent said rope winding wheel and onto said wheel to be wound 
thereon while keeping the drum at rest, the mandrels not yet being fully 
engaged with the drum which still rests on the floor.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 show a winding machine 1 carrying a drum 2 for winding a 
cable 3 or similar material. The winding machine 1 comprises two aligned 
mandrels or bosses 20, one being a driven mandrel 6, which are insertable 
in the same fashion as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,468 in the center 
apertures 22 of a drum, whereafter the mandrels 20 may be elevated in the 
known manner, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,468 to lift 
the drum free from a base to be carried rotatably about its center axis on 
the mandrel. A device according to the invention for drawing-in a cable 
comprises a rope winding wheel 4, said winding wheel 4 being co-axially 
and rigidly affixed at one of the mandrels 6 and about which a rope 5, a 
wire or the like is wound up. When a cable is to be wound on an empty 
drum, part of the rope 5 is unwound from the winding wheel while passing 
it through an aperture 7 in one of the drum side walls and the end brought 
to a point where the cable to be wound is to be delivered from a previous 
manufacturing step. 
The rope 5 of the winding device is attached to the leading end of the 
cable 3, whereafter the winding wheel 4 with its driven mandrel 6 is set 
into rotation by means of the machine, the cable thus being drawn forward 
towards the drum 2 without manual work. 
Initially, the drum in the center holes of which the mandrels of the 
machine are not yet fully inserted, still rests with its weight on the 
floor or other base and is not engaged by the winding wheel 4. The rope 
and cable thus are drawn through the aperture 7 of the drum wall and wound 
onto the winding wheel 4 by the driven mandrel 6 to which the winding 
wheel is rigidly affixed, being rotated by the machine. When a desired 
length of cable has been drawn through the aperture of the drum wall, then 
in a fashion similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,468, the 
mandrels of the machine are fully introduced into the center holes of the 
drum while lifting the drum from the base in the known manner thus moving 
wheel 4 into engagement with the drum as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 6, and 
setting the drum into rotation to wind up the cable 3 on the drum 2. This 
procedure starts and commences without any manual attachment of the cable 
3 to the drum 2 being necessary. 
The driving force for drum rotation is transferred from the machine driven 
winding wheel 4 by the rope 5 and the cable 3 to the drum 2 by friction 
between driven mandrel 6 and wheel 4 with drum 2 and also by the pinching 
of the cable at the aperture 7 of the drum wall and at the periphery of 
the winding wheel 4 when driven mandrel 6 with wheel 4 are engaged with 
drum 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. FIG. 3 is a lateral view of the winding 
wheel 4, where the rope 5 is wound up onto catches 8, said catches being 
arranged circumferentially at a centre distance which is substantially 
shorter than the radius of the winding wheel. Preferably, the diameter of 
the winding wheel substantially equals the diameter of the drum hub. The 
rope 5 is then bent over the periphery of the winding wheel 4, said rope 5 
thus, as shown at 9, being curved at an angle so as to extend on the side 
of the winding wheel 4 where the catches 8 are located. 
By equipping a winding machine of the kind described with a device 
according to the invention, an automatic drawing-in of the cable end into 
the drum and subsequent holding it to keep the drum in rotation is 
obtained. Due to the selected location of the catches of the winding 
wheel, neither the rope nor the cable can cut or intrude in between the 
rotating winding wheel 4 and the drum as long as the drum still is at rest 
while wheel 4 is drawing-in the cable, thus preventing the rope 5 from 
being caught and wound up onto the mandrel. Obviously, the catches 8 may 
be replaced by an annular member in the form of a channel or shelf, onto 
which the rope 5 is wound. As illustrated by FIG. 4, the outer periphery 
of the winding wheel 4 consists of a bent tube 10, the rounded section of 
which enhances the possibility for the rope 5 to slide along the periphery 
of the winding wheel 4 while bringing forth the leading end of the cable 
to the machine. This feature is not limiting for the invention, but, in a 
preferred embodiment, the periphery of the winding wheel should consist of 
an annular member, the surface of which facing away from the wheel center 
has a rounded cross-section. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a coupling means for rapidly fastening and releasing the 
connection between the rope 5 and the cable 3. When drawing-in the cable, 
the cable end is held by means of a conventional steel wire drawing 
stocking 11 provided with an eye. The end of line 5 is, as well, provided 
with an eye, and carries a pin 12, slideably attached thereto. The drawing 
stocking 11 is swiftly attached to the rope 5 by inserting the pin 12 as 
illustrated by FIG. 5. Even if the connection is tightened by large 
forces, it may be easily released by beating the pin 12 out of the eyes.