Abstract:
A payout tube for insertion in a radial hole of a wound coil of filamentary material and extending from the inner to the outer wind of the wound coil, the payout tube having entrance and exit openings in coaxial and spaced relationship with one another. The size of the entrance opening is determined by the following equation: Yc=3.5 sin×/Dm, where Dm is the diameter of the mandrel, X is the length along the circumference of the wind and Yc is the coil pattern. Yc′=3.5/Dm Cos×/Dm at x=0; Yc′=3.5/Dm, and the slope H of the coil pattern=Tan −1 [3.5/Dm]=23.629 degrees. The length L of the payout hole is determined as: L=O×Dm×pie/360 degrees; where O is the payout hole opening; the width of the payout hole is W=L cos(H). The size of the exit hole is determined as being a fixed amount less than the entrance opening; and a flange member surrounds the exit opening for engaging a panel of a container retaining the wound coil.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 09/157,317 filed Sep. 21, 1998 and entitled: “Combined Fiber Containers and Payout Tubes and Plastic Payout Tubes”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,554; and is related to application Ser. No. 09/063,278 filed Apr. 21, 1998 and entitled: “Coil with Large Payout Hole and Tube for Kinkless Payout”, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,812, and application Ser. No. 09/370,248 filed Aug. 9, 1999 and entitled: “Combined Fiber Containers and Payout Tube and Plastic Payout Tubes”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,012. All of these patents are assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and the subject matter of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to payout tubes for guiding filamentary material through a payout hole extending from the outer wind to the inner wind of a coil of filamentary material wound in a FIG. 8 wind, and in particular to such payout tubes made from corrugated fiber or plastic material and which have an oval, diamond, elliptical or round shape with an oversized opening to accommodate CAT 5, CAT 6 and CAT 7 cables for kinkless unwinding from the inner coil to the outer coil of the wound material. The invention is also useful in improving the payout of filamentary material other than CAT 5, CAT 6 and CAT 7. i.e. all filamentary material. 
     According to the invention, the payout tubes are made of molded plastic, molded paper pulp or made of corrugated fiberboard. 
     3. Related Art 
     Payout tubes for performing the function of guiding filamentary material through payout holes in wound coils are known to the art. The structure of such payout tubes is represented by the following patents all of which are assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and wherein: 
     (1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,607 entitled “Guide Device for Use in Elongate Filament Dispensing Package and the Like” discloses a tubular guide device inserted radially into a payout hole in a wound coil and through a hole in a carton containing the wound coil and includes means for securing the guide device to the carton. 
     (2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,853 and entitled “Guide and Support Members for Unwinding Flexible Material from a Wound Package” discloses specially shaped cones adapted to extend into the inner opening of the payout tube to prevent tangles and birdnesting as the filamentary material is unwound from the coil. 
     (3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,203 entitled “Package of Flexible Material with Oval Payout Tube” discloses an oval shaped payout tube that is inserted in the normal diamond-shaped payout hole of the wound coil. 
     (4) U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,399 entitled “Screw-in Tube with Breakable Tabs for Coil of Flexible Material with Inner End Payout” discloses a payout tube with spaced flanges for engaging the wall of the container retaining the wound coil and with the opposite end of the payout tube from the flanges being inserted into the radial payout hole of the wound coil. 
     (5) U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,315 entitled “Package of Flexible Material for Twistless Payout with Wide Funnel Guide” discloses the outer end of the payout tube shaped as a funnel. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Notwithstanding the aforementioned progress in the state of the art of payout tubes, the advances and development in wire cable has generated a need for new types of payout tubes to enable the proper twistless payout of wound wire cable from the inner wind to the outer wind and through a radial opening between the inner and outer windings (known in the trade as the REELEX system). In particular, the inherent residual twist characteristics of CAT 5, CAT 6 and CAT 7 cables require a much larger payout hole and payout tube to avoid kinking and interference with payout of the cable when wound in a FIG. 8 configuration and with a payout hole extending from the inner wind to the outer wind of the winding. 
     Furthermore, the present invention is related to U. S. Pat. No. 5,979,812 as noted above. The assignee has designated the new winding system as a REELEX II package and the payout tubes in accordance with the present invention form part of the new REELEX II package. 
     In accordance with the REELEX II package many new products may be used with the assignee&#39;s patented and licensed REELEX system. Products which had been considered too stiff, too flexible, too hard, too soft, too easily damaged, too prone to tangling, too large, or too small for REELEX packaging will work well in the REELEX II package. For example, single conductors, ultra-flexible cable and fiber optic cable are now all usable with REELEX II packaging. The new REELEX II package also significantly improves cold weather payout performance of many cable constructions. 
     With the use of corrugated paper board or paper pulp payout tubes in lieu of plastic payout tubes both the container and the payout tube are recyclable and thus the REELEX II corrugated paperboard cable package will satisfy the stringent waste reduction requirements of today&#39;s job sites and European “green” packaging regulations. 
     Alternatively, the plastic tubes of the present invention may be used in the REELEX II package where such use is desired, such as with stiff, robust wire cables that would tend to damage corrugated paper materials. 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide in a package of wound filamentary material of the type specified herein, a payout tube that is made of corrugated paper product, paper pulp or plastic. 
     It is a primary feature of the present invention that the payout tube is formed of corrugated paper as is the carton containing the wound coil. 
     It is an advantage of the present invention that the corrugated paper tube and the corrugated paper carton are recyclable. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an enlarged payout tube that engages with an enlarged payout hole to provide payout of wound flexible material having unusually stiff, flexible, hard, soft, prone to tangling, large or small characteristics. 
     It is another feature of the payout tube of the present invention that an enlarged payout tube provides kinkless and tangle-free unwinding of filamentary material from a wound package. 
     It is a further advantage of the payout tube of the present invention that wound flexible material having unusually stiff, flexible, hard, soft, prone to tangling, large or small characteristics may be unwound without tangling or kinking. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above objects, features and advantages of the invention are readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention when taken in consideration of the following drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a payout tube in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the payout tube of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a view of the payout tube of FIG. 1 as seen from the exit opening side thereof; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of a second embodiment of a payout tube in accordance with the invention and made of plastic; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a plurality of payout tubes of FIG. 4 shown in nested relationship; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the payout tube of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 is a front view of a third embodiment of the payout tube in accordance with the invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the third embodiment of the invention; 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B are respective front and side views of a fourth embodiment of the invention made from corrugated paper; 
     FIG. 10A is a cut-away perspective view of a fifth embodiment of the invention in which the payout tube and the container holding the wound coil are each made of corrugated paperboard; and 
     FIG. 10B illustrates a plan view of each of the respective sections of the corrugated paperboard forming the embodiment of FIG.  10 A. 
     FIG. 11 is a general representation of one FIG. 8 of a REELEX coil laid out flat; 
     FIG. 12 illustrates a payout hole in accordance with one aspect of the invention; 
     FIGS. 13A-7D illustrate different coils with various shaped guides/tubes in accordance with the invention and wherein a center portion of the coil is shown laid out flat; FIG. 13A represents a coil with a 40 degree payout hole with a 1 inch OD payout tube; FIG. 13B represents a coil having a hole of 110 degrees using a round payout tube/guide of approximately 2.75 inches; FIG. 13C represents a coil that has a hole of 110 degrees and using a diamond-shaped payout guide; and 
     FIG. 13D represents a coil having a hole of 110 degrees using a generally oval-shaped guide. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, a “nominal” size payout tube or payout hole refers to the size (diameter) of the payout hole or payout tube that is formed for filamentary material having little or no twist characteristics in accordance with the winding techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,778, High Speed, Dual Head, On-Line Winding Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,026, Uniform Width Payout Hole and U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,419, Method and Apparatus for Winding Flexible Material and all being assigned to Windings, Inc. the assignee of the present application. The respective disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the payout hole is produced in the wound coil by producing a payout hole of ninety degrees (90) or larger. In present day state of the art REELEX winding machines that have digital input controls, the size of the hole (in degrees) may simply be dialed as an input to the winding machine control and the winding process will produce a payout hole having the dialed-in diameter. 
     CYLINDRICAL-SHAPED PAYOUT HOLES/TUBES 
     Unless corrections are made during the normal REELEX winding process such as set forth in Windings&#39; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,406,419 and 5,678,778, for example, a payout hole having a diamond shape rather than a circular shape will be produced. However, as disclosed in windings&#39; U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,026, a payout hole having a substantially constant diameter may be produced. As set forth in the description of this patent, a constant diameter coil results in eliminating or reducing “valleys” and lumpiness of wound coils. Commensurate with the decrease in the lumpiness of the wound coil is a reduction in the overall diameter of the wound coil (for a given wind), thereby resulting in a decreased overall diameter coil that can be packaged in a smaller container. Finally, maintaining the desired diameter payout hole results in a smaller circumference wind, thereby also attributing to a smaller diameter coil because increasing the size of the payout hole diameter as the coil is wound causes increasing circumference of the wind. 
     The REELEX winding process normally does not produce twist in the wound coil; however, such a winding process does not eliminate or reduce the inherent twist in certain filamentary materials such as CAT-type cables, for example. Thus, it is necessary to account for the twist in wound coils with such twist-inherent filamentary materials when a wound coil of such filamentary material is being unwound through the payout hole and payout tube. 
     The large diameter payout tube and payout hole according to the invention serves several functions. 
     1) It keeps the crossovers further away from the exit hole in the wound coil or cable, thereby limiting the radius of the loops that develop near the payout hole. 
     2) It allows any “backed-up” twist that develops a way to exit the package. 
     3) It allows the payout exit point the freedom to move away from the crossover or a developing loop. With a smaller diameter payout tube the exit point is essentially fixed so the crossover must move. If the crossover does not move, the FIG. 8 loop can become quite small. 
     4) Because the payout smoothness is so greatly enhanced there is little force on the payout tube during payout. This increases the options available for the material that can be used for producing the payout tubes. Tubes made from molded paper pulp and die cut cardboard or corrugated paper board have all been used with success. 
     PAYOUT HOLE/TUBE SHAPES OTHER THAN CYLINDRICAL 
     The payout hole produced by the REELEX method of winding, as exemplified by the aforementioned U.S. patents, is already diamond-shaped and nothing special needs to be done to produce such a shape. Until recently the payout tubes have all had a round cross-section. As described above, by making the payout hole larger than nominal and using a large diameter (round) payout tube, the distance, in degrees, between the exit point and the cross-over nearest the hole is greatly increased. Using an oval shape can increase this distance even more. The diamond and oval-shaped tube guides are similar to each other except that the corners are rounded in the case of oval-shaped guides/tubes. 
     What makes the diamond-shaped guide/tube interesting is that it can be made without expensive molding equipment and can be made from the waste portions of the corrugated material that is used to make the box for the coil. 
     All of the molded payout tubes have a generous radius at the “mouth” that helps smooth out the payout even further. 
     In fact all of the large payout tubes (guides) are tapered for improved payout characteristics, and because this allows them to be stacked inside one another, they will take up less room during shipment. 
     The wound coils or cable are produced with payout holes of in excess of 90 degrees of circumference. This is easily accomplished using any one of Windings, Inc.&#39;s winding machines in existence (for example, see Windings, Inc.&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,419 and/or U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,778). 
     The hole slant is corrected for, and the constant hole size is adjusted for, using the methods described in the Windings, Inc.&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,026 for generating a uniform width payout hole. 
     The payout tube  20  of FIG. 1 is preferably made of injection molded plastic or pulp paper and includes body  22 , coaxial entrance opening  24  and exit opening  25 . As illustrated in FIG. 1, entrance opening  24  and exit opening  25  are circular (see FIG. 3) as will be explained more fully hereinafter. The distance between entrance  24  and exit  25  openings may be varied as desired to accommodate different sized diameter windings. Flange  26  extends around the circumference of exit opening  25  to engage the side panel of a container (not shown) holding the wound coil as is well known to those skilled in the art of payout technology. Payout tube  20  is made of injection molded plastic (in accordance with well-known plastic molding techniques), pulp paper or corrugated paper techniques. The body  22  of payout tube  20  narrows from the diameter of exit opening  25  to the diameter of entrance opening  24  as illustrated in FIG.  1 . 
     In the side view of the payout tube  20  shown in FIG. 2, the wall thickness of body  22  is approximately 0.04 inches for plastic tubes and ¼ inch for paper pulp tubes. The distance between the inside of entrance opening  24  and the outside of exit opening  25  is approximately 3.5 inches. The length of the payout tube  20  may be increased or decreased as necessary to accommodate the thickness of the wound coils with which the payout tube  20  is used. Flange  26  extends beyond the sides  27  of the payout tube  20  a sufficient amount to provide appropriate engagement of the flange with the side panel of the container (not shown). 
     FIG. 3 is a rear view of payout tube  20  (i.e. as viewed from the exit opening  24  end of payout tube  20 ) and shows the circular configuration of both the entrance  24  and exit  25  openings of the payout tube  20 . The inner diameter  24 A and outer diameter  24 B of exit opening  24  differ by approximately 0.04 inches for plastic tubes and ¼ inch for paper pulp tubes to provide suitable stiffness and ruggedness to accommodate stiff filamentary material. The inner diameter  25 A and outer diameter  25 B of exit opening  25  is also shown and preferably there is a difference of ½ inch in the respective diameters to provide a 0.04 inch for plastic tubes and ¼ inch thickness for pulp payout tubes of the body  22  of the payout tube  20 . Exit opening  25  includes a flange portion  25 B that rests against the outer surface of a container panel housing the wound coil (not shown) as is known to the art. 
     Entrance and exit openings  24  and  25  are sufficiently large to allow filamentary material wound in a configuration with a radial opening from the outer to the inner winds to be withdrawn from the inside of the coil and through the payout tube  20  without birdnesting or kinking. The configuration of the payout tube  20  in accordance with the invention essentially eliminates kinking and birdnesting of CAT 5, CAT 6 and CAT 7 cables and also improves the winding payout of all other filamentary material wound in accordance with the REELEX I and REELEX II techniques, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,419 for REELEX I and this application as well as application Ser. No. 09/063,278 for REELEX II techniques. For further explanation of the size of the openings to allow for kinkless payout, (see the explanation below as taken from U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,812). 
     FIGS. 4-6 illustrate another embodiment of the invention wherein the entrance and exit openings are oval in shape. In the top view of payout tube  30  the tube includes exit opening  31  and entrance opening  32 , both in the form of a diamond, and wherein the dimensions of the two openings are as follows: 
     Width and length of the entrance opening are substantially 2.49 and 1.77 inches, respectively; the width and length of the exit diamond shaped opening are substantially 5.06 and 3.66, respectively. FIG. 5 illustrates the manner in which the payout tubes  30  may be nested. 
     FIG. 7 simply illustrates an elliptical (football) shaped payout tube  40  and FIG. 8 shows a side view of the payout tube  40 . 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a payout tube  50  made of folded corrugated fiber and having a truncated shape as shown in FIG.  9 B. Flaps  51 ,  52 ,  53  and  54  extending from the respective sides of the diamond-shaped exit opening  55  are folded to form the sides  56  and  57  of the payout tube  50 . Flanges  58 ,  59  are formed by the folded flaps to engage the side panel of a container (not shown) to enable the payout tube  50  to remain in position with respect to the payout hole of the wound coil housed in the container. 
     The formation of the payout tube using corrugated fiber or other paper products provides a significant advantage with respect to the ecological disposal of the payout tube, for example as compared with a payout tube formed of plastic. 
     A combined container and payout tube in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG.  10 A and shows container  60  for holding a wound coil of filamentary material (not shown) and including a payout hole extending from the inner coil to the outer coil and formed in accordance with the method disclosed in previously mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,812. A serrated opening  62  is provided in panel  63  and is opened to allow the wound filamentary to be removed from the container  60 . The filamentary material (not shown) is threaded through a payout tube  64  shown in phantom lines and which is incorporated as part of the container  60  as will be more fully described hereinafter. Hand hold  65  enables container  60  to be carried from site to site. Semi-circularly-shaped cutout  66  provides access to the interior of container  60  after it is assembled as is described more fully hereinafter with respect to FIG.  10 B. 
     Container  60  is dimensioned in accordance with the diameter of the wound coil that is to be contained therein and may be manufactured in standard sizes to accommodate standard diameters of wound coils. For example, the container  60  shown in FIG. 10A may be 9.5 inches×13.5 inches to accommodate a 12 inch diameter wound coil. Opening  62  may be circular-shaped, diamond-shaped, or oval-shaped in conformance with the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,812. Cross-shaped opening  67  enables the end of the filamentary material protruding from opening  62  to be inserted to prevent it from freely moving in a random manner and falling back into the container. 
     FIG. 10B shows a plan view of container  60  as it appears in unassembled form and consists of four sections, namely sections  70 ,  72 ,  74  and  76 . First section  70  includes end panel  71 , bottom panel  73  and top panel  75 . Top panel  75  in turn includes V-shaped cutout  77  which forms part of a diamond-shaped payout tube to be more fully described hereinafter. Hand hold  78  enables the container  60  to be carried about as desired. Serrated hole  79  enables the end of the filamentary material of the wound coil to be inserted, thereby preventing it from moving freely. Flap  80  at the side of end panel  71  is a glue flap that connects panel sections  70  and  76  during the manual process that produces the box. 
     Second section  72  comprises side panel  81 , bottom panel  82  and top panel  83 . Top panel  82  includes a diamond-shaped payout tube opening  84 , hand-hold  85 , opening  86 , which aligns with opening  79  in top panel  75 . Flaps  87  and  88  in top panel  83  provide a means for securing top panel  83  with a counterpart top panel in fourth section  76  to be described more fully hereinafter. Flaps  89  and  90  in bottom panel  82  also aid in securing bottom panel  82  with a counterpart bottom panel in fourth section  76 . 
     Third section  74  comprises an end panel  91 , bottom panel  92  and top panel  93 . Top panel  93  includes the other half of the diamond-shaped and round-shaped opening payout tube  94  formed along with V-shaped cutout  77  in top panel  75  when the various sections of the container are folded over during assembly. 
     Fourth section  76  includes side panel  95 , bottom panel  96  and top panel  97 . Side panel  95  includes port  98  which provides access to the wound coil when container  60  is assembled. Bottom panel  96  includes flap  98  for engaging a counterpart opening in the bottom panel  82 . Top panel  97  includes serrated opening  99 , which is aligned with payout tube opening  84  in top panel  83  when container  60  is assembled. Once the box is assembled serrated hand hold  100  aligns with hand-holds  78  and  85  providing three larger corrugated thicknesses and increased strength for carrying the container  60 . Flap  101  engages a counterpart opening in top panel  83  when the container  60  is assembled by folding over the various sections described above. 
     The procedure for assembling the container  60  is as follows: 
     (1) The payout tube (round, diamond or oval-shaped) is inserted into the hole of the coil. 
     (2) The coil is then inserted into the box (after the bottom is made and the coil material is threaded through the guide tube). 
     (3) The flaps  75  and  93  are slid under the flange of the tube by bending the flaps at A and B. At this point a round tube will be held by the round portion of the cutout  77 / 94 . A diamond will be held in place and in shape by the pointy area of the cutout  77 / 94 . The side flaps  75  and  93  both have tabs (X &amp; Y) that mate with slot Z. When these tabs are mated with the slot the two flaps prevent the tube from falling into the box when the coil is completely payed out. 
     (4) The flap  83  is folded over the tube, which helps hold the tube in place along with the top flap  97 . 
     When the container  60  is assembled as shown in FIG. 10A, and as described above, with a wound coil of filamentary material enclosed therein, the end of the filamentary material (not shown) is unwound through the payout tube  71 ,  77 , and  84  without kinking or birdnesting. The combined container and payout tube structure according to the invention provides a single structure for housing and paying out the wound filamentary material. The construction of the container  60  of corrugated paperboard makes the payout tube and the container recyclable. 
     In summary, the round paper pulp guide tube has a wall thickness of approximately ¼ inch and may be made in various lengths depending on the coil size with a 2½ inch entrance opening as illustrated in FIG.  1 . The diamond-shaped (with round corners) paper pulp guide tube has a wall thickness of approximately ¼ inch and has the approximate dimensions as the diamond shape discussed in the above description. The paper pulp material has the distinct advantages of being biodegradable and recyclable. It is also the least expensive of the three materials disclosed herein and may be purchased close to any location where it is to be used, thereby significantly reducing transportation costs. 
     The round plastic guide tube has a wall thickness of approximately 0.04 inches, is biodegradable and has the advantage of stacking more efficiently than the pulp paper guides. This makes shipping costs lower, plus the other advantages mentioned in the above description. The advantage of the round tube over the diamond-shaped corrugated tube is that they tend to retain their shape once inserted into the payout hole. At most they may tend to become oval. However, the side flaps  75  and  93  (FIG. 10B) form a diamond shape opening once placed behind the flange of the guide tube and help to retain the diamond shape. 
     The above description serves only to describe exemplary embodiments of the best mode of making the combined fiber container and payout tubes and plastic payout tubes to demonstrate the features and advantages of its construction and operation. The invention is not intended to be limited thereby, as those skilled in the art to which the invention is directed will readily perceive modifications of the above-described embodiments. Thus the invention is intended to be limited only by the following claims and the equivalents to which the claimed components thereof are entitled. 
     The general representation of one FIG. 8 of a REELEX coil laid out flat and shown in FIG. 11 represents two revolutions of the mandrel. If the coil in FIG. 11 were wrapped around a circle of proper diameter such that the points marked A and B were located at the same point would represent one revolution of the mandrel. If the representation were wrapped around the same circle twice, points A, B and C would be coincident and a complete FIG. 8 would be represented. In this example the FIG. 8 is wound on an 8″ mandrel and the loops of the FIG. 8 extend 3.5″ on either side from the center of the mandrel. The pattern is roughly a sinusoid represented by equation (1): 
     
       
         Yc=3.5 sin×/Dm  (1) 
       
     
     where Dm is the diameter of the mandrel, X is the length along the circumference of the wind and Yc is the sinusoidal FIG. 8 coil pattern. 
     Equation (2) is the first derivative of equation (1): 
     
       
         Yc′=3.5/Dm Cos×/Dm at x=0; Yc′=3.5/Dm   (2) 
       
     
     and the slope H=Tan −1 [3.5/Dm]=23.629 degrees 
     FIG. 12 illustrates the commensurate payout hole. If the hole is created to be 99 degrees then it exists for 99/360 of the circumference, which for an 8″ mandrel is L=99×8×Pi/360=6.912″. With this data and the angle (H), the width of the payout hole is found to be 3.024″. Therefore, the opening of the tube is a diamond that is 6.912″ long and 3.024″ wide. However, it has been found that the wire gets caught in the narrow V&#39;s at the ends of the long dimension. Also a payout tube created in this way is weak and subject to cracking (especially for plastic). A radius of ¼″ to ½″ is created as shown. The new length is 4.626″. The minor dimension of the guide tube is simply rounded as shown in FIG. 12, thereby reducing the width but not less than 2½″ . The current tube is about 2¾″. 
     If the payout hole were produced with a constant angle the size of the hole would be 13.824″ by 4.32″ at the end of a 16″ diameter coil. However, the payout holes are not produced with a constant angle, but they are larger. The shape of the payout tube, its taper in this case, is more a function of molding and stacking stability. Thus, for example, a ¾″ taper from the entrance of the payout tube to the exit thereof may be approximately ¾″ to enable the payout tubes to be stacked, thereby enhancing their transportability. 
     The wound coil  90  shown in FIG. 13A has a 40 degree payout hole  92  with a 1 inch OD payout tube  94 . The distance between the top cross-over  95  and the exit point  96  is approximately 26 degrees as illustrated in the Fig. This subtends a coil arc of 1.82 inches on an 8 inch mandrel and a 3.18 inch coil arc at 14 inches (14 inches is chosen because this is the nominal size for CAT5-CAT7 unshielded cables). 
     The wound coil  100  shown in FIG. 13B has a payout hole  102  of 110 degrees using a round payout tube/guide  102  of approximately 2.75 inches. The crossover  103  and exit point  104  distance is 70 degrees which corresponds to coil arcs of 4.89 inches and 8.55 inches for an 8 inch mandrel and a 14 inch coil, respectively. 
     The wound coil  110  shown in FIG. 13C has a diamond-shaped hole  111  of 110 degrees and includes a diamond-shaped payout guide  112 . The crossover  113  and exit point  114  distance is 100 degrees which corresponds to coil arcs of 7 inches and 12.22 inches for an 8 inch mandrel and a 14 inch coil, respectively. 
     The wound coil  120  shown in FIG. 13D has a payout hole  121  of 110 degrees and uses a generally oval-shaped guide  122 . The crossover  123  and exit point  124  distance is 100 degrees which corresponds to coil arcs of 7 inches and 12.22 inches for an 8 inch mandrel and 14 inch coil, respectively. 
     It is apparent that, since the distance from the exit point and the crossovers nearest the payout hole are greatly increased, the filamentary material (cable or wire) does not have to experience anywhere as much bending stress with a larger than nominal hole and guide in accordance with the method of the invention. Moreover, the larger than nominal payout hole/tube of the invention is better than the nominal prior art-sized payout holes/tubes for many electronic and fiber optic cables as the bending radius of the coil is increased over that afforded by prior art winding techniques. Furthermore, the payout is also much smoother because the bending forces are much lower. With the smaller payout hole and tube, as the bending radius decreases, and the forces increase, the cable tends to spring free from the coil wall, placing many loops in the path of the exiting cable. This is reduced (or even eliminated) with the large hole. This is all in addition to the twist that is allowed to exit the package. 
     Therefore, it is desired that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments specifically described, but that it include any and all such modifications and variations that would be obvious to those skilled in this art. It is our intention that the scope of the present invention should be determined by any and all such equivalents of the various terms and structure as recited in the following annexed claims.