REEL

Abstract: The invention relates to a reel (5), in particular of wire basket type, for winding a wire (7), in particular welding wire, said reel having transverse U-shaped wire holders (13). The reel has the shape of a regular polygon, the number of main sides (16) being divisible by the number of wire holders (13), the wire holders being placed at the corner portions (17) of the polygon. The invention also relates to a method of arranging wire, in particular welding wire, by means of reel (5) in a package (41), a method of manufacturing a reel and a method of winding a wire, in particular welding wire, on a reel (5).

Description: REEL Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reel, in particular of wire basket type, for winding a wire, in particular welding wire, said reel having transverse U-shaped wire holders. The invention also relates to a method of packaging such a reel in a package, to a method of arranging wire, in particular welding wire, by means of a reel , a method of manufacturing such a reel and to a method of winding a wire, in particular welding wire. Technical Background As shown in Figs 1-3, use is currently made of round wire basket reels 1 for winding welding wire and these wire basket reels have transverse wire holders 2 evenly distributed along their periphery. If, for instance, the welding wire is to be used for submerged arc welding and intended for a wire of 30 kg, the wire basket reel usually has a diameter of 415 mm. In order to protect these wire basket reels during the transport to the customer, they are packaged in quadrangular boxes 3 having a lat- eral length of fully 415 mm. As shown in Fig. 2, these boxes 3 are generally placed on an EUR pallet 4 having a length of 1200 mm and a width of 800 mm. As shown in Fig. 1, this results in the boxes projecting a distance of about 15 mm on each side of the pallet in the lateral direction, whereas in the longitudinal direction, as shown in Fig. 2, the boxes do not extend across the entire pallet, but end about 35 mm from the edge of the pallet 4. This is the case, in spite of the fact that six boxes are stacked on top of each other on their ends in the central portion of the pallet for better use of the carrying capacity of the pallet, see Figs 2 and 3. Furthermore, in order not to risk that the boxes fall down during transport, it is only possible to stack four boxes on top of each other in the vertical direction, the boxes 3 having a thickness of about 100 mm. As a result, 22 boxes having a total weight of only about 660 kg are loaded on an EUR pallet with a carrying capacity of about 970 kg. What is referred to as the overhang in the lateral direction may also result in deformation of the boxes 3 and the included wire basket reels during transport in the portions which are located outside the pallet. When the wire basket reels are made of steel, this may also induce rusting as the box, when broken, can no longer keep out moisture. One drawback of this technique is thus that the total carrying capacity of the pallet is not used, which in turn makes it difficult to use the full transport ca- pacity of a lorry, especially as the pallets cannot be placed in immediate contact with each other due to the overhang. Nor is it possible to stack the pallets on top of each other due to the great risk of damage, which implies that, in this case, a normal lorry having a car- rying capacity of 20 pallets conveys 13,200 kg instead of 19,400 kg, which is the maximum carrying capacity. This in turn increases the amount of emissions per transported wire basket reel, i.e. an environmental problem arises as well . Another drawback is the high frequency of wire basket reels being damaged during transport. Summary of the Invention The present invention aims at solving the above- mentioned problems by increasing the degree of utilisa- tion of the total transport capacity of a pallet, while drastically reducing the number of reels damaged during transport and minimising the amount of emissions per transported reel . According to the invention, these objects are a- chieved by means of a reel and a packaging method of the kind defined by way of introduction. The reel is characterised in that it has the shape of a regular polygon, the number of polygon sides being divisible by the number of wire holders, the wire holders being placed at the corner portions of the polygon. The packaging method is characterised in that the reel is formed as a regular polygon, in which the number of main sides, preferably eight, is divisible by the number of wire holders, which are placed at the corner portions of the polygon, the package being dimensioned in relation to the dimensions of the reel so that the dis- tance between two mutually opposite sides of the package is shorter than the distance between two mutually opposite corner portions of the reel, but corresponds with or is longer than the distance between two mutually opposite main sides of the reel . Since the reel consists of a polygon with wire holders placed at the corner portions of the polygon, i.e. where the distance between two opposite points on the circumference of the polygon is at its maximum, equal amounts of wire can be wound on the polygon and on a round reel having a diameter which corresponds with said distance without any risk of the wire falling off the reel. At the same time, since the distance between two opposite polygon sides is shorter than the distance between two opposite corners, the reel can be packaged in, for instance, a box, in which the distance between two mutually opposite sides is shorter than the distance between two mutually opposite corner portions of the reel. As a result, the box for packaging the reel has a lateral length which is shorter than the lateral length of a box for packaging the corresponding round reel. The reel can have a wire holder at each of its corners, in particular eight sides and eight wire holders or four sides and four wire holders. Moreover, the reel can have a wire holder at every other corner, in particular eight sides and four wire holders . According to the packaging method, the reel can be placed in a package in the form of a quadrangular or octagonal box or in a package in the form of a plastic coating, in particular shrink plastic coating, which assumes the shape of the reel when applied to the reel. The package, which contains the reel may then be placed on a pallet, preferably an EUR pallet, the dimensions of said package being selected in relation to the length and width of the pallet so that the latter dimen- sions are divisible by the distance between two mutually opposite sides of the package. According to the invention, the object of simplifying the manufacture of the wire basket reels is achieved by a manufacturing method of the kind which is defined by way of introduction and characterised in that a first wire is bent so as to assume substantially the shape of a U having a web and two legs, that the legs of the U-bent wire are curved so that a first wire element curved substantially in the shape of an L transversely of the plane of the U and having first and second leg parts is formed, the second leg parts and the web forming a transverse U- shaped wire holder, that a second wire is bent and curved in the same manner as the first wire to form a U-bent second wire element curved substantially in the shape of an L, that the second wire element is joined with the first wire element, preferably by welding, in such a manner that the free end portions of the first leg parts of the second wire element are connected to the first leg parts of the first wire element in the transitions between the first and the second leg parts of the latter wire element to form corner portions adjacent to the wire holders, after which a number of wire elements are joined together in the same manner in series until a regular polygon forms, in which the number of main sides is di- visible by the number of wire holders. Preferably, portions of each wire element are bent at the free end portions of the first leg parts and in their transitions so that the transition portions of the first wire element overlap the free end portions of the second wire element, the bent portions together forming the angular deviation between two successively arranged main sides. Said portions are preferably bent in the transitions on the first wire element so that the free end portions of the first leg parts of the second wire element, after being joined with the first-mentioned portions, are on a level with the first leg parts of the first wire element. According to the manufacturing method, eight wire elements can be welded together to form an octagonal reel having eight wire holders or four wire elements can be welded together to form an octagonal reel having four wire holders, each wire element also being bendable at a location substantially half-way between the U-shaped wire holder and the free end portions of the first leg parts of the wire element before welding to form protruding corner portions without wire holders. The winding method of the type mentioned by way of introduction is characterised in that the wire is precision-wound on a reel having the shape of a regular polygon, the number of main sides being divisible by the number of wire holders, the wire holders being placed at the corner portions of the polygon. By precision-winding the wire, it is secured that a wire from a winding turn makes contact with the wire from the preceding and the subsequent turns in a close and space-saving manner. In the winding method, the wire can be precision- wound on a reel having eight sides and eight or four wire holders or the wire can be precision-wound on a reel having four sides and four wire holders . Brief Description of the Drawings Below, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figs 1-3 show, as mentioned in the introduction, packaging of round wire basket reels in quadrangular packages on a pallet in accordance with prior-art technique, Fig. 4 shows a first embodiment of a reel according to the present invention, Fig. 5 shows a wire element of the reel according to Fig. 4, Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of a reel according to the present invention, Fig. 7 shows a wire element of the reel according to Fig. 6, Fig. 8 shows a third embodiment of a reel according to the present invention, Fig. 9 shows a wire holder of a reel of the type shown in Fig. 4, on which wire has been wound according to the winding method of the present invention, Figs 10-12 show packaging of octagonal wire basket reels of the type shown in Fig. 4 in quadrangular boxes on a pallet according to the packaging method of the present invention. Description of Preferred Embodiments Fig. 4 shows an octagonal reel 5 of wire basket type, henceforth referred to as a wire basket reel, com- prising eight interconnected individual wire elements 6 which are arranged in series and are of the type shown in Fig. 5. Each wire element 6 consists of a wire 7 which has a diameter of about 4 mm and which is first bent so that it substantially assumes the shape of a U having a web 8 and two legs 9, 10. The legs 9, 10 of the U-bent wire are then curved so that the wire element will be substantially L-shaped, seen transversely of the planar direction of the U. Each of the legs of the U forms an L with two leg parts 11, 12 after the last curving, the leg parts and the web 8 forming a transverse U-shaped wire holder 13. As appears from Figs 4 and 5 , the two free end portions 14 of the first leg parts 11 of the wire element 6 are bent downwards towards the centre of the reel, whereas the wire element is bent upwards in a direction away from the centre of the reel at its two transition portions 15 between its first and second leg parts 11, 12. The two portions of the first two leg parts 11 between the end portions and the transition portions are henceforth referred to as main sides 16. It also appears that the end portions and the transition portions form the same angle of inclination with the vertical plane. Two adjacent wire elements 6a, 6b are joined by welding in such a manner that the free end portions 14b of the first leg parts lib of the wire element 6b are connected with the first leg parts 11a of the wire element 6a in the transitions between the first and the second leg parts 11a, 12a of the latter wire element to form corner portions 17a adjacent to the wire holder 13a. Due to the correspondence between the inclination of the end portions and the transition portions, the free end portions 14b of the first leg parts lib of the wire element 6b, after being joined with the transition portions 15a of the wire element 6a, are exactly on a level with the main sides 16a of the same, whereby a smooth outside of the reel is obtained also at its corner portions. The end portions and the transition portions of two successively arranged wire elements 6a, 6b together form the angular deviation between the main sides 16a, 16b of said wire elements, in this case an angular deviation of 45°. The wire element 6b is joined in the same manner with the immediately subsequent wire element 6c and so on until the wire element 6h is finally joined with the first wire element 6a. The distance between mutually opposite corner portions 17a and 17e of the reel 5 is about 415 mm, whereas the distance between the corresponding opposite main sides 16a and 16e is about 390 mm. The second embodiment of the reel 18, which is shown in Fig. 6, is similar to the reel shown in Fig. 4, except that the embodiment according to Fig. 6 has a wire holder 19 at every other corner portion 20. As the reel is oc- tagonal, this means that the reel has eight main sides 21, 22 and four wire holders 19. In this case, the reel is formed by welding together four wire elements 23 of the type shown in Fig. 7. As in the case of the wire element 6, a wire 24 is bent so as to substantially assume the shape of a U, after which the legs 25, 26 of the U- bent wire are curved so that the wire element will be substantially L-shaped transversely of the plane of the U to form two corner portions 20. Subsequently, each wire element is bent also at a location substantially half-way between the U-shaped wire holder 19 and the free end portions 28 of the first leg parts 29 of the wire element to form two protruding corner portions 30 without wire holders . Just as in the case of the wire element 6, the first leg parts 29 of the wire element 23 are bent downwards, as shown in Figs 6 and 7 , towards the centre of the reel , whereas the wire element is bent upwards in a direction away from the centre of the reel in its transition portions 31 between its first and second leg parts 29, 32. It also appears that the end portions and transition portions 28 and 31, respectively, form the same angle of inclination with the vertical plane. The third embodiment of the reel 33, which is shown in Fig. 8, differs from the previous embodiments in that the reel is quadrangular instead of octagonal and thus has only four main sides 34, four corner portions 35 and four wire holders 36. As appears from Fig. 8, the end portions 38 of the first leg parts 37 are straight, while their transition portions 39 are bent 90° in relation to the main sides 34 and the wire holders have then been bent about 45° in relation to the transition portions 39. The width of the reel is determined by the amount of welding wire which is to be wound on the reel and in the shown embodiments the width of the reel 5 in Fig. 4 is about 100 mm, whereas in the case of the reel 18 in Fig. 6 the width is about 50 mm. As a result, the weight of the reel 5 is about 30 kg, whereas the weight of the reel 18 is about 15 kg, since the distance between the corner portions is the same. As appears from Fig. 9, the windings of a welding wire 40 for two successive winding turns are placed in immediate contact with each other so that the windings will require as little space as possible on the wire holder 13, thus ensuring that an optimal number of wire windings can be wound on a wire holder. The one skilled in the art refers to this winding method as precision-winding. The number of wire windings which can be wound on a certain reel is determined, besides by the width, by the depth of the wire holder, which is about 63 mm in the embodiment according to Fig. 4. As shown in Figs 10-12, the reel 5 is packaged so as to be protected during the transport to the customer in a package in the form of quadrangular boxes 41 having a lateral length of 400 mm. The box is thus dimensioned in relation to the dimensions of the reel so that the distance between two mutually opposite sides of the box is shorter than the distance, about 415 mm, between two mutually opposite corner portions 17a and 17e of the reel, but corresponds with or is longer than the distance, about 390 mm, between two mutually opposite main sides 16a and 16e, respectively, of the reel. As shown in Figs 10 and 11, these boxes 3, each containing a reel 5, are placed on an EUR pallet 42 having a length of 1200 mm and a width of 800 mm. The box has thus been dimensioned in relation to the length and the width of the pallet so that the latter dimensions are divisible by the distance between two mutually opposite sides of the box. As shown in Figs 10 and 11, this arrangement makes it possible to stack two rows of boxes in the lateral direction and three rows of boxes in the longitudinal direction without overhang on the pallet. As it is not necessary to place some boxes on their ends in the middle of the pallet, as in prior-art technique (see Figs 2 and 3) , there is no risk of boxes falling down and therefore five rows of boxes may be stacked in the vertical direction on the pallet. As a consequence, 30 boxes each with a weight of 30 kg may be stacked on the pallet. Since it is also possible to stack another two boxes on top of the uppermost boxes, this results in a total weight of 960 kg, which means that 99 % of the carrying capacity of the pallet is used compared with the use of 68 % of the carrying capacity of the pallet in prior-art technique (cf. the introduction to the description). As a result, a normal lorry having a carrying capacity of 20 pallets, in this case, transports 19,200 kg compared with 13,200 kg in prior-art technique. Owing to this, the capacity of the lorry is much better used. This in turn implies that the amount of emissions per transported reel will be very low, which is advantageous from an environmental point of view. It will be understood that a number of modifications of the inventive embodiment described above are possible within the scope of the invention such as defined in the appended claims. The package can, for instance, be an octagonal box instead of a quadrangular box. It is also possible to place the reel in a package in the form of a plastic coating, in particular shrink plastic coating, which assumes the shape of the reel when applied to the reel. If in addition use is made of a transparent plastic, it is only necessary to apply a label to the actual reel, which is advantageous, whereas when using a box it is necessary to apply labels to both the box and the reel .

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A reel (5; 18; 33), in particular of wire basket type, for winding a wire (7; 24) , in particular welding wire, said reel having transverse U-shaped wire holders (13; 19; 36), c hara c t e r i s e d in that it has the shape of a regular polygon, the number of main sides (16; 21, 22; 34) being divisible by the number of wire holders (13; 19; 36), the wire holders being placed at the corner portions (17; 20, 35) of the polygon. 2. A reel (5; 33) as claimed in claim 1, c har a c t e r i s e d in that it has a wire holder (13; 36) at each of its corner portions (17; 35) . 3. A reel (5) as claimed in claim 2, ch a rac t e r i s e d in that it has eight main sides (16) and eight wire holders (13) . 4. A reel (33) as claimed in claim 2, c ha ra c t e r i s e d in that it has four main sides (34) and four wire holders (36) . 5. A reel (18) as claimed in claim 1, c ha rac t e r i s e d in that it has a wire holder (19) at every other corner portion (20) . 6. A reel (18) as claimed in claim 5, c ha ra c - t er i s ed in that it has eight main sides (21, 22) and four wire holders (19) . 7. A reel (5; 18; 33) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, c ha ra c t e r i s e d in that it consists of a number of interconnected individual wire elements (6a-h; 23) , which are arranged in series and which each are formed of a U-bent wire (7; 24), which is curved substantially in the shape of an L transversely of its planar direction and which has first and second leg parts (lla-h, 12a-h; 29, 32; 37), the second leg parts and the web (8) forming a transverse U-shaped wire holder (13a-h; 19; 36) , that two successively arranged wire elements (6a-h; 23) are joined in such manner that the free end portions (14; 28; 38) of the first leg parts (lib) of one of the wire elements (6b) are connected to the first leg parts (11a) of the preceding wire element (6a) in the transitions between the first and the second leg parts (11a, 12a) of the latter wire element to form corner portions (17a-h; 20; 35) adjacent to the wire holders of a regular polygon, in which the number of main sides (16a-h; 21, 22; 34) is divisible by the number of wire holders (13a-h; 19; 36) . 8. A reel (5; 18) as claimed in claim 7, c har a c t e r i s e d in that each wire element (6a-h; 23) has bent portions (15a-h; 31) at the free end portions (14; 28) of the first leg parts (lla-h; 29) and in its transitions, the transition portions together forming the angular deviation between two successively arranged main sides (16a, 16b; 22, 21) . 9. A method of arranging wire, in particular welding wire, by means of a reel (5; 18; 33) , in particular of wire basket type, in a package (41) , c ha ra c t e r - i s e d in that the reel (5; 18; 33) is formed as a regular polygon, in which the number of main sides (16a- h; 21, 22; 34), preferably eight, is divisible by the number of wire holders (13a-h; 19; 36), which are placed at the corner portions (17a-h; 20; 35) of the polygon, the package being dimensioned in relation to the dimensions of the reel so that the distance between two mutually opposite sides of the package (41) is shorter than the distance between two mutually opposite corner portions (17a, 17e) of the reel, but corresponds with or is longer than the distance between two mutually opposite main sides (16a, 16e) of the reel (5; 18; 33). 10. A method as claimed in claim 9, cha ra c t e r i s e d in that the reel (5; 18; 33) is placed in a package (41) , which has the shape of a quadrangular or octagonal box. 11. A method as claimed in claim 9, cha ra c t e r i s e d in that the reel (5; 18; 33) is placed in a package, which has the form of a plastic coating, in particular shrink plastic coating, which assumes the shape of the reel when applied to the reel. 12. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9, 10 or 11, charac t eri s ed in that the package (41), which contains the reel (5; 18; 33) is placed on a pallet (42) , preferably an EUR pallet, the dimensions of the package being selected in relation to the length and width of the pallet so that the latter dimensions are divisible by the distance between two mutually opposite sides of the package (41) . 13. A method of manufacturing a reel (5; 18; 33), in particular of wire basket type, for winding a wire (7; 24) , in particular welding wire, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that a first wire (7; 24) is bent so as to assume substantially the shape of a U having a web (8) and two legs (9, 10; 25, 26), that the legs of the U-bent wire are curved so that a first wire element (6a) curved substantially in the shape of an L transversely of the plane of the U and having first and second leg parts (11a; 12a) is formed, the second leg parts and the web forming a transverse U-shaped wire holder (13; 19; 36), that a second wire is bent and curved in the same manner as the first wire to form a U-bent second wire element (6b) curved substantially in the shape of an L, that the second wire element is joined with the first wire element (6a) , preferably by welding, in such a manner that the free end portions (14b) of the first leg parts (lib) of the second wire element (6b) are connected to the first leg parts (11a) of the first wire element (6a) in the transitions between the first and the second leg parts (11a, 12a) of the latter wire element to form corner portions (17a; 20; 35) adjacent to the wire holders (13a; 19; 36), after which a number of wire elements are joined together in the same manner in series until a regular polygon forms, in which the number of main sides (16a-h; 21, 22; 34) is divisible by the number of wire holders (13a-h; 19; 36) . 14. A method as claimed in claim 13, chara c t e r i s e d in that portions of each wire element (6a- h; 23) are bent at the free end portions (14a-h; 28) of the first leg parts (lla-h; 29) and in their transitions so that the transition portions (15a; 31) of the first wire element (6a) overlap the free end portions (14b; 28) of the second wire element (6b) , the bent portions (14b, 15a; 28, 31) together forming the angular deviation between two successively arranged main sides (16a, 16b; 22, 21) . 15. A method as claimed in claim 14, c ha ra c t e r i s e d in that said portions (15a; 31) are bent in the transitions on the first wire element (6a; 23) so that the free end portions (14b; 28) of the first leg parts (lib) of the second wire element (6b) , after being joined with the first-mentioned portions, are on a level with the first leg parts (11a) of the first wire element (6a) . 16. A method as claimed in any one of claims 13-15, c h a ra c t e r i s e d in that eight wire elements (6) are welded together to form an octagonal reel (5) with eight wire holders (13) . 17. A method as claimed in any one of claims 13-15, c ha ra c t e r i s e d in that four wire elements (23) are welded together to form an octagonal reel (18) having four wire holders (19) , each wire element also being bent at a location substantially half-way between the U-shaped wire holder and the free end portions (28) of the first leg parts (29) of the wire element (23) before welding to form protruding corner portions (30) without wire holders . 18. A method of winding a wire (40), in particular welding wire, on a reel (5; 18; 33), in particular of wire basket type, with transverse U-shaped wire holders (13; 19; 36) , c ha ra c t e r i s e d in that the wire (40) is precision-wound on a reel (5; 18; 33) having the shape of a regular polygon, the number of main sides (16; 21, 22; 34) being divisible by the number of wire holders (13; 19; 26), the wire holders being placed at the corner portions (17; 20; 35) of the polygon. 19. A method as claimed in claim 18, charac - t e r i s e d in that the wire (40) is precision-wound on a reel (5; 18) having eight main sides (16; 21, 22) and eight (13) or four (19) wire holders. 20. A method as claimed in claim 18, charac t e r i s e d in that the wire (40) is precision-wound on a reel (33) having four (34) main sides and four wire holders (36) .

Inventors: OESTGREN LARS, OESTGREN, LARS
Applicants: ESAB AB, OESTGREN LARS, OESTGREN, LARS
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B21C47
IPC codes: B21C47