Reel to hold metallic wire, which can be dismantled

Abstract: Reel to hold metallic wire, which can be dismantled and is suitable to take up rolls of metallic wire having a round, oval, three-lobed, hexagonal, rectangular, square, etc. section and produced by being hot or cold drawn or rolled, the reel (10) consisting of a central cylindrical body (11) and two lateral flanges (12-13), of which the second lateral flange (13) is connected to the cylindrical body (11) in such a way that it can be released and withdrawn therefrom axially, the reel (10) including also channel means (18) suitable for the tying of a roll of wire wound on the cylindrical body (11) and further including movable means (22-25) capable of being actuated from outside (41-42) the reel (10), means (28-29) able to release the withdrawable second lateral flange (13) and cooperating with the movable means (22-25) and sector means (33) which support the metallic wire wound on the reel (10) and are solidly fixed to the flange release means (28-29), the movable means (22-25) actuating the flange release means (28-29) in one or more successive steps, which determine first the release of the withdrawable second flange (13) and the simultaneous retention of the roll of wire wound on the sector support means (33) and thereafter the release and possible removal of the roll of wire thus wound.

Description: This invention concerns a reel for metallic wire, which can be dismantled. To be more exact, the invention concerns a reel able to hold rolls of metallic wire and suitable at the same time to cooperate with external means in the automatic discharge of a roll held on the reel. The reel according to the invention can be employed to advantage in automatic plants that wind and handle the rolls produced in the hot or cold drawing or rolling of round or shaped metallic wire. The word "wire" as used in this invention shall be understood in its widest meaning as covering products of a round, oval, three-lobed, hexagonal, rectangular, square, etc. section. The reel can also be used to take up other non-metallic wire materials. The state of the art comprises a plurality of reels for the take-up of metallic wires. These reels generally consist of a flanged structure of a one-piece type and are used for the take-up of wire being wound or for the unwinding of the wire in later processes. The structure of the reels has to be such as to ensure the necessary rigidity for the complete transfer of the drawing action to the metallic wire. Likewise, lateral yielding of the reel has to be avoided so as to prevent coils of a successive layer becoming intermingled with the coils of a previous layer, with resulting risks of tearing, jamming, deformations, etc. during unwinding. Moreover, the structure of the reels has to be able to resist the shrinkage which the wire, when wound in the hot state, undergoes during cooling. The state of the art covers also the known reels which provide for removal of a roll of wire by its withdrawal from the central body of the reel, such withdrawal being made possible by the previous removal of one of the two lateral flanges of the reel. In this case the structuring of the reel has to be such as to enable the roll to be tied as required before being withdrawn from the reel. This tying takes place by passing the tying means about the roll by means of suitable channels in the reel and thereafter fixing the tying means about the roll, thus preventing the roll disintegrating during its withdrawal thereafter from the reel. The removal of one of the two flanges of the reel is carried out manually with the help of external means, and this entails a considerable waste of time, difficult execution and excessive use of labour; it is therefore generally an operation that involves too great costs. US-A-2,529,185 discloses a reel of the same type as that of our invention, but the release means of US-A-2,529,185 are actuated rotatably in cooperation with screw means and include wedge means at their front end. EP-A-0187311 discloses a reel of the same type as that of our invention with the release means of a type having a longitudinal rotary shaft and having rotary cam means on that shaft. The present applicant has the purpose of embodying a reel which, while possessing the necessary requirements of rigidity, can be dismantled by cooperation with external means, which may be automatic and handle the reel, thus overcoming the drawbacks linked to the state of the art. The invention is set forth in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe various features of the invention. The reel which can be dismantled according to the invention consists of a central cylindrical body to take up metallic wire and of two lateral containment flanges, of which one can be withdrawn axially. The withdrawal of one of the two flanges is brought about by actuation of a movable means forming part of the central cylindrical body of the reel, the movable means being accessible from outside the reel. This movable means cooperates advantegously with automatic devices that handle and discharge the wound rolls of wire, and also with devices that replace the flange on the reel so that the reel can be reused at once during winding operations. The movement of the movable mean actuates one or more devices that release the flange which can be withdrawn from the central body of the reel; these devices are solidly fixed to the supports on which the roll of wire is wound. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the actuation of the flange release devices takes place in at least two steps to enable firstly the flange to be withdrawn and the roll of wire to be retained in its position at the same time and secondly the roll to be removed from the reel thus dismantled. However, such action can also be carried out in one single step. The reel which can be dismantled according to the invention possesses all the structural features required by its envisaged employment and the specific functional units such as, for instance, the introduction channels for the binding operations. These and other special features of the invention will be made clearer in the description that follows. The attached figures, which are given as a non-restrictive example, show the following: Fig.1 gives a front view of a partial cross section of a reel which can be dismantled according to the invention; Fig.2 shows a lengthwise section along the line B-B of the reel of Fig.1; Fig.3 shows a detail of the reel of Fig.1 according to a lengthwise section A-A. In the figures a reel 10 which can be dismantled according to the invention consists of a central cylindrical body 11 and two lateral flanges, namely a first 12 and a second 13, of which the second flange 13 can be withdrawn from the cylindrical body 11. The first flange 12 consists of an outer ring 14 and inner ring 15 connected together by a plurality of radial arms 16, whereas the second flange 13 consists of a disk 17. The reel 10 is also provided with suitable channels 18 for tying the wire, which in this example are advantageously four in number and arranged at 90° to each other; these channels 18 are positioned in the two flanges 12-13 and in a central sleeve 19 and can contain a length of wire to tie the roll. The central sleeve 19 is connected to the inner ring 15 of the first flange 12 by spokes 20 and comprises an inner axial hollow 21. A shaft 22 is located within the hollow 21 and can slide axially therein, the sliding being suitable controlled 23, guided and clamped at the end of the travel 24 of the shaft 22. An actuation assembly consisting here of four cams 25 arranged at 90° to each other is solidly fixed to the shaft 22. The cams 25, which emerge from the central sleeve 19 and move together with the shaft 22 in relation to the sleeve 19 by means of slits 26 machined in the sleeve 19, comprise advantageously a two-positional outer profile 27 suitable to obtain a displacement of an element mating with the cam 25 in two successive steps. This mating element is a cam-follower wheel 28 firmly secured by means of a first pivot 46 to a double lever 29, which is pivoted on a second pivot 30 and can oscillate at an angle to the second pivot 30. The two parts of which the double lever 29 consists are connected by suitable joint elements 31, while the second pivot 30 is supported by the spokes 20. Two springs 32 are fitted to the shaft 22 to keep the cams 25 in their correct position. To each of the double levers 29, which in this example are four in number, is fixed a support sector 33 to support the wire being wound on the central body 11. These sectors 33 contain a plurality of lengthwise grooves 34, in which are lodged lengthwise metallic strips 35 that protrude outwards from their respective grooves 34 and are therefore in contact with the wire being wound, whereas lengthwise strips 36 of a resilient material are contained in the inward side of the grooves 34. This configuration is suitable to take up the radial shrinkage forces generated by the hot metallic wire wound on the reel. Each support sector 33 can therefore move together with its respective double lever 29 by oscillating about the second pivot 30. One return spring 37 for each double lever 29 is secured to the sleeve 19. A terminal portion 38 of each double lever 29 extends inside the second withdrawable flange 13 and comprises an abutment portion 39, which abuts frontally, along a required radial extent in relation to the profile of the cam 25, against a coordinated abutment body 40 secured internally to the second flange 13. When the second flange 13 is fitted to the reel 10, it is kept in position by abutment between the cams 25 and the wheels 28 and between the abutment portions 39 and the abutment bodies 40. When a first thrust action is exerted in the direction of the arrow 41 against the end of the movable shaft 22, a first partial axial movement of the shaft 22 together with the cams 25 connected thereto is caused. This thrust action can be exerted advantageously by suitable automatic means that work through an opening 42. The first movement of the cam 25 determines a partial first oscillation, anticlockwise in Fig.2, of the double lever 29 and of the support sector 33 about the second pivot 30, thus causing disengagement of the abutment portion 39 from the abutment body 40; the second flange 13 is released thereby and can be withdrawn from the central body 11 of the reel 10. This first oscillation is of an extent such that the second flange 13 can be withdrawn but that the roll of wire wound on the support sectors 33 can still not be removed since the roll is still held in position by the abutment portions 39 brought into cooperation with the roll in the first working step. When a second thrust action in the direction of the arrow 41 is exerted on the end of the shaft 22, the second position of the wheel 28 against the profile 27 of the cam 25 is reached and obtains a second oscillation of the double lever 29 and corresponding sector 33 about the second pivot 30. The extent of the second oscillation is such that it releases the wound roll from the abutment portion 39 and thus enables the roll to be removed from the central body 11 of the reel 10. Re-assembly of the reel 10 by introducing and clamping the second flange 13 takes place, of course, with an analogous inverted sequence. Fig.3 shows a detail of Fig.2, where a movable plate 43 is secured in this instance to the outside of a tying channel 18. This plate 43, which can rotate about a third pivot 44 and is returned to its position by a return spring 45, serves to retain the curved end of the wound wire temporarily but, by rotating, releases that end during removal of the roll from the reel 10.

Claims: Reel to hold metallic wire, which can be dismantled and is suitable to take up rolls of metallic wire having a round, oval, three-lobed, hexagonal, rectangular, square, etc. section and produced by being hot or cold drawn or rolled, the reel (10) consisting of a central cylindrical body (11) and two lateral flanges (12-13), of which the second lateral flange (13) is connected to the cylindrical body (11) in such a way that it can be released and withdrawn therefrom axially, the reel (10) including also channel means (18) suitable for the tying of a roll of wire wound on the cylindrical body (11), the reel (10) further including movable means (22-25) capable of being actuated from outside the reel (10) and cooperating with a double-lever (29) able to release the second withdrawable flange (13), such double-lever (29) being able to oscillate on a pivot (30) positioned in the vicinity of the first stationary flange (12), the reel (10) further comprising cam-follower wheel (28) firmly secured by means of a pivot (46) to the double-lever (29), resilient return spring (37) being included, the double-lever (29) comprising terminally an abutment portion (39) cooperating with a second abutment body (40) included on the second withdrawable flange (13), the double-lever (29) having solidly fixed, in an intermediate outer position, a support sector (33) to support the metallic wire wound on the reel (10), the movable means (22-25) consisting of a longitudinal shaft (22) able to move axially along an axis at least parallel to the axis of the reel (10), the reel (10) being characterized in that the longitudinal shaft (22) is resiliently resisted (32) in the position of clamping of the second withdrawable flange (13), the movable means (22-25) further consisting of at least one cam (25) secured to the shaft (22) and able to take up at least two positions and cooperate with the cam-follower wheel means (28), such two positions corresponding to the position of clamping of the second withdrawable flange (13) and to the position of release of the second withdrawable flange (13). Reel (10) as in Claim 1, in which there are preferably included four cams (25) arranged at 90° to each other. Reel (10) as in any claim hereinbefore, in which a part of the release means (28-29) is lodged within the central cylindrical body (11). Reel (10) as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the support means (33) comprise a plurality of lengthwise metallic elements (35) and a plurality of lengthwise resilient elements (36). Reel (10) as in any claim hereinbefore, in which a terminal part (38) of the double lever (29) extends within the second withdrawable flange (13). Reel (10) as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the abutment bodies (40) of the second withdrawable flange (13) are located therewithin (13). Reel (10) as claimed in any claim hereinbefore, which comprises momentarily movable means (43) to hold the end of the wound wire.

Inventors: GRAZIUTTI GIUSEPPE, PLACEREANI CARLO, SARO GIANCARLO, GRAZIUTTI, GIUSEPPE, PLACEREANI, CARLO, SARO, GIANCARLO
Applicants: IMPIANTI INDUSTRIALI SPA
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65H75
IPC codes: B65H75