Patent Publication Number: US-10781069-B1

Title: Turntable pay-out organizer for coils and spools

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the priority of non-provisional patent application U.S. Ser. No. 16/660,238 filed Oct. 22, 2019, titled Turntable for Coils and Spools which is incorporated herein its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a wire/cable organizer and more specifically to an apparatus for mounting and feeding a spool of wire from a turnable and for spooling unspooled wire onto the turnable creating a coil of wire either dismountable for storage or storing and feeding the coil of wire from the turnable. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     There are other wire organizers which provide for spooled and unspooled wire. While these organizers may be suitable for the purposes for which they where designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. 
     It is thus desirable to provide a wire/cable organizer that serves as a turnable dispenser for mounting and feeding spooled wire through a wire/cable organizer aperture. Further, it is desirable to provide a wire/cable organizer for dispending an indeterminate length of loose or uncoiled wire by mounting a free wire/cable end then rotating the turnable until the wire/cable forms a coil of wire that can be dismounted for storage or the organizer can be used as spool and feed for the coiled wire. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The wire/cable organizer is a lightweight device for winding and unwinding lengths of pliable rigid materials including tubing, plastic sheathed, metal clad, steel wire armored cable (SWA and bare wire using turnable fixedly attached to one of the lazy susan swivel with the other member fixedly attached to base that by virtue of centrally positioned and radially arrayed stand-offs, preferably manufactured as a frictional polymeric or elastomeric material that will grip a surface covering, renders base to a static structure allowing free rotation of turnable. Being the static structure, base further serves as device exterior-periphery platform anchor for tensioned members to be moved interiorly defining a desired outward coil boundary limit while winding onto the turnable and aid in maintaining an existing outward boundary limit to an existing coil being payed-out from turnable. Tensioned members are pivotally attached to flange of base by hinges with the tensioning provided by attaching a respective end of spring to flange and flap. One of flanges also serves as product ingress and egress port having feed aperture having grommet. 
     A primary object of the present invention is to provide a turnable wire/cable organizer and wire/cable feed for either spooled or coiled wire/cable. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile lightweight stationary platform with a turnable enabled with a mechanism for setting diametrically a desired center aperture size and desired outward boundary limit while producing a coil of wire from a controlled source, such as wire from a spool, or an uncontrolled source, such as loose wire. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile lightweight stationary platform having the aforementioned enabling mechanism for loose wire where posts, used to establish a loose wire coil aperture size, are contoured with a flat interior side so that when abutting form a small spindle to accommodate small apertured spools. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide the mobile stationary platform with a base having distal end upwardly extending structure having pivotal flaps tensioned through distal ends of a spring attached at one end to the static upwardly extending flanges of the base and the other to the pivotal flap member to dimensionally establish the size of a loose wire coil, as well as, maintain an outward boundary on existing coiled wire or spooled wire as it pays-out from the turnable. 
     An additional object of the present invention is to provide an ingress and egress port for the wire as it moves to and from the turnable through a feed aperture located in one of the upwardly extending flanges lined with a grommet that may be of a frictional material to add a drag element to the wire moving from or to the freewheeling turnable. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide the turnable with radially disposed slidable posts that can be moved to align with the center hole of a spool then mounted onto the turnable and wire/cable dispensed through the feed aperture; 
     A yet further object of the present invention is to provide the turnable with a bowl-like receptacle work surface comprising a substantially planar portion with a track mounted on spacers diametrically extending across the planar area with the planar area bounded by an upwardly sloping rim capped by an o-ring like ring creating an inwardly depending lip aiding in preventing wire from sliding over the rim. 
     A still yet further object of the present invention is to the turnable receptacle with a pair of stops transversally positioned relative to the track rail to aid in establishing, in concert with the posts, an ovoid shape while winding onto the turnable an holding an ovoid shape when paying-out wire from the turnable. Optionally provided are telescopic posts increasing the height of the coil&#39;s center aperture. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a turnable wire/organizer having tractional non-marring feet aiding in the free-wheeling rotation of the coiled or spooled wire without damaging a floor covering. 
     Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds. 
     The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing apparatus for mounting and feeding a spool of wire from a turnable and spooling unspooled wire onto the turnable creating a coil of wire either dismountable for storage or storing and feeding the coil of wire from the turnable. 
     The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. 
     These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawing, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. 
     The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a turntable payout organizer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in use. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the payout organizer as in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an illustrative view of the payout organizer used to organize coiled wire. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the payout organizer setting up for use of rolled coiled wire. 
         FIG. 5  is another perspective view of the payout organizer setting up for use of rolled coiled wire. 
         FIG. 6  is another perspective view of the payout organizer set up for use of rolled coiled wire. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the payout organizer setting up for use of spooled wire. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the payout organizer setting up for use of spooled wire. 
         FIG. 9  is a final perspective view of the payout organizer setting up for use of spooled wire. 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded view of the payout organizer as in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A wire/cable payout organizer for coiled wire or wire wound on a spool will now be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 10  of the accompanying drawings. 
     The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention (and several variations of that embodiment). This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments; practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , shown is an illustrative view of the light turntable payout organizer for coils and spools of the present invention in use. The present invention is a cable spool payout device  10  designed for organizing loose wire into coiled wire and payout coiled wire and/or spool of cable smoothly from the device preventing bird nesting or sliding along a floor surface by virtue of tractional foot pads. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , shown is an assembled view of the present invention. The present invention is a turnable organizer  10  for spooled and unspooled wire/cable, shown in the accompanying drawings, comprising base  42  having a pair of coplanar transverse members forming structure  44  for fixedly attaching a first side of a lazy susan swivel member  38  and for attaching a plurality of polymeric or elastomeric feet  48  to the underside of  44  via fastener  50  serving as frictional elements to prevent damage to floor coverings and anchor base  42  from movement also of its fixed static portion of lazy susan  38  providing uninhibited rotation of turnable  12 . One of the coplanar transverse members of  44  has distal ends extending into vertical flanges  46  serving as static structures for movable flaps  52  secured to flanges  46  by hinges  54  with the flaps tensioned by spring  56  latched at its respective ends  62  to static flange  46  and flap  52  allowing flap  46  to be moved between a disengaged position, as illustrated in the figure, to a turnable wire/cable engaged position, see  FIG. 3 . One of the vertical flanges also defines a feed aperture  58  through which wire is moved onto and from turnable  12  with feed aperture  58  being lined with grommet  60 . The bottom side of turnable  12  has the other side of lazy susan  38  fixedly attached. Attached on the top of turnable  12  is rail  22 , which is spaced away from receptacle  14  by one or more spacers  26  and secured to receptacle  14  via fasteners  28  extending through rail fastener apertures  26 . Posts  30  are selectively positionable and are upstanding to accommodate coiled loose wire and spooled wire. Each post may have a semicircular cross section or half a cylinder configuration (i.e. half a cylinder) as shown in  FIG. 2 . More particularly, each post  30  is slidably movable and securable. Each post  30  may have a base flange portion forming post holder  32  for rail  22  and a base flange threaded bore that is a receiver for a thumb screw-like fastener  34  for securely latching post  30  to a desired rail  22  location. Also shown are elements designed to aid in handling loose wire (e.g. coiled wire). Basically, the turnable forms a trough between an outward containment formed by receptacle basin  14  that is solid and closed and peripherally transitioning into outwardly and upwardly extending rim  16  capped with a frictional elastomeric or polymeric o-ring like member  18  (aka a peripheral edge) and the inward containment formed by the selective positioning of post  30  with static structures  20  aiding in forming an ovoid coil shape. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , shown is perspective view of the turnable organizer used to organize loose coiled wire. The organizer  10  serves the dual purpose of spooling coiled wire  66  onto the turnable  12  having receptacle  14  with rim  16  and an o-ring-like ring forming ridge  18  (aka peripheral edge or peripheral rim). The turnable platform includes a track  22  having a linear and elongate configuration extending diametrically between opposed edges of the peripheral rim  16 . The pair of posts  30  are movable from a center position to a peripheral position as desired by the user. More particularly, each post  30  may be slidably movable along the track  22  and then latched and secured to the track  22 . As illustrated, the coiled wire  66  is contained on the turnable by virtue of the bowl-like turnable and posts. 
     A base  42  includes a pair of support members, each support member having a planar configuration and having opposed ends. An upstanding flange  46  extends upwardly from the opposed ends of one of the support members  44  of the base  42  and is an anchor for flaps  52  pivotally coupled thereto by a hinge  54  and tensioned by an attached spring  56  connected to the aforementioned flange, such that the flaps  52  are then selectively movable to help contain the coiled wire periphery boundary when receiving a roll of coiled wire or maintaining tension upon a mounted roll of coiled wire while being payed-out. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , shown is a perspective view of organizer setting up for use of rolled coiled wire  66 . The turnable organizer  10  can be used either with coiled wire or spooled wire, shown in later drawings, with the main difference being the position of the turnable posts  30 . For receiving a roll of coiled wire  66 , the posts  30  are approximately positioned to the inner wall of the roll of coiled wire  66  with the vertical flanges  46  and flaps  52  containing the exterior wall of the roll of coiled wire  66 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , another perspective view of the organizer  10  is shown setting up for use of rolled coiled wire  66 . Depicted in the turnable posts  30  moved to the approximate inner wall of the roll of coiled wire  66  and a roll of coiled wire ready to be mounted on the turnable platform  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , shown is another perspective view of organizer set up for use with rolled coiled wire. Depicted are the posts  30  moved to a position proximate an inner wall of the roll of coiled wire  66  and a roll of coiled wire  66  mounted on the turnable platform  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , shown is a perspective view of organizer setting up for use of spooled wire  68 . As aforementioned, the turnable  12  organizer can be used either with coiled wire or spooled wire  68  with the main difference being the position of the turnable posts  30 . For spooled wire  68  the posts  30  are approximately positioned to the center spool  68  aperture with the vertical flanges  46  and flaps  52  maintaining tension on the exterior wall of the roll of spooled wire  68  (see  FIGS. 8 and 9 ). 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , shown is a perspective view of a payout organizer  10  setting up for use of spooled wire. A base  42  includes the pair of support members  44  forming structure for securing a first side of a lazy susan swivel member  38  to a top surface of the support members  44  and a second side to turnable  12  described above. It is understood that a lazy susan swivel member  38  is essentially a hub in which the bottom side may be stationary and attached to the support members and a top side having structures that allow a structure coupled thereto to be rotated. Also called a turntable, a lazy susan is a rotating, tray shaped platform usually placed on tables or counters to easily distribute food. A second or top side of the lazy susan swivel member  38  may include a bushing allowing a spool or coiled wire to rotate thereon as will be described later. 
     In another aspect, the distal ends  46  of one of the coplanar transverse members includes vertical flanges  46  having hinges  54  pivotally attaching flaps  52  tensioned by spring  56  latched at its respective ends to static flange  46  and flap  52  allowing flap  52  to be moved between a disengaged position, as illustrated in the figure, to a turnable wire/cable engaged position. One of the vertical flanges also includes a feed aperture  58  for moving wire onto and from turnable  12  with feed aperture  58  lined with grommet  60 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , shown is a final perspective view of organizer  10  setting up for use with spooled wire. The spool  68  is positioned on turnable receptacle  14  with posts  30  extending through the spoofs center aperture. Base  42  includes transverse structure  44  supported on a surface by frictional pads  48  attached via fasteners  50  to support member  44 . 
     Each upstanding flange  46  defines a feed aperture  58  that is lined with grommet  60  and which is dimensioned to allow ingress or egress of a wire as the wire moves off or onto the spooled wire with flaps  52  moved into engagement with the spooled wire  68  under tension by spring  56  latched to a respective flange  46  and flap  52 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , shown is an exploded view of the present invention. The organizer  10  is a lightweight device for winding and unwinding lengths of pliable rigid materials including tubing, plastic sheathed, metal clad, steel wire armored cable (SWA and bare wire using turnable  12  fixedly attached to one of the lazy susan swivel  38  with the other member fixedly attached to base  42  that by virtue of centrally positioned and radially arrayed stand-offs  48 , preferably manufactured as a frictional polymeric or elastomeric material that will grip a surface covering, renders base  42  to a static structure allowing free rotation of turnable  12 . Being the static structure, base  42  further serves as a device exterior-periphery platform anchor for tensioned members  52  to be moved interiorly, defining a desired outward coil boundary limit while winding onto the turnable and aid in maintaining an existing outward boundary limit to an existing coil being payed-out from turnable  12 . Tensioned members  52  are pivotally attached to flange  46  of base  44  by hinges  54  with the tensioning provided by attaching a respective end  62  of spring  56  to flange  46  and flap  52 . One of flanges  46  also serves as product ingress and egress port having reed aperture  58  having grommet  60 . 
     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. 
     While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.