Wire dispensing device

Sept. 22, 1959 a. c. sheldon 2,905,409

WIRE DISPENSING DEVICE

Filed Feb. 2, 1955

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INVENTOR.

ALLEN C. SHELDON BY

6TT0RNEYS

United States Patent Office f’⁹®^5,4®⁹

Patented Sept. 22, 1959

2,905,409

WIRE DISPENSING DEVICE

Allen C. Sheldon, Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to Rea Magnet Wire Company, Incorporated, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Application February 2,1955, Serial No. 485,665

Claims. (Cl. 242—128)

The present invention relates to a wire dispensing device, and more particularly to a device from which a continuous length of coiled wire may be withdrawn at a relatively high rate of lineal velocity.

In the mass production of coils used in electrical equipment, it is conventional to rotate a core at a relatively high rate of speed to wind the required number of turns on the core in a minimum of time. Coil forms vary in cross-section from perfectly round to ovular, square, and the like shapes. When winding circular coils, a constant angular velocity of coil rotation will, of course, require a constant lineal velocity of wire being fed thereto. However, a coil of square cross-sectional shape which is . rotated at a constant angular velocity will jerk the wire being wrapped thereon, whereupon certain problems are encountered which normally require that the speed of rotation of the square coil be somewhat less than that of the circular coil.

The present invention is particularly adapted to the winding of coils of any cross-sectional shape at a greater velocity than has heretofore been possible. As a consequence, more coil units can be fabricated m a given period of time, whereby considerable savings in the cost of the finished product is achieved.

The principal feature of the invention resides in a wire retarding base in the form of an inverted cone having dampening walls extending upwardly and outwardly to terminate short of the adjacent inner surface of the usual conical guide through which the wire passes. The purpose of such an inverted cone is to dampen the elliptical action which is set up in rapidly withdrawing the wire from the drum, it being noted that usually the wire is coiled in the drum in eccentric loops. Thus, as the wire is withdrawn it gains momentum and inertia until it throws a loop ahead of itself such as to develop a knot in the wire. The inverted cone is effective to dampen and prevent the wire looping ahead of itself as it breaks away from the inner core or tube.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide a wire dispensing device whereby a continuous length of wire may be withdrawn at a relatively high velocity over a relatively long continuous period of time without interruption.

Other objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illus.trative only, and that Specific change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration showing how wire is normally stored in the container of Figs. 1 and 2.

With reference to the drawings, a barrel type container, generally indicated by the reference numeral 10, is composed of an outer tubular wall 12 and an inner core wall 14. These walls are coaxially related and 5 provide an annular storage space therebetween which is filled with a continuous length of enamelled soft copper wire. While this particular wire is specified as an example, it will be obvious that other wire may be stored and dispensed from the mechanism. The stor10 age space is shown as being approximately half filled with wire in Fig. 1, and the wire is so stored by being laid in a continuous coil around the core wall 14. Reference to Fig. 3 diagrammatically illustrates how the wire is disposed in the annular storage space, and for 15 Illustrative purposes three turns of wire have been shown.

It will be noted that each one of the three turns is eccentrically arranged in the storage space and such eccentricity may~be traced as starting with point 16, moving to the outer wall 12 at point 18, turning inwardly against 20 the core 14 at point 20, then moving outwardly to a point adjacent the outer wall, etc. until the three illustrated eccentric coils are laid in angular spaced relation into the storage space as shown. Methods for eccentrically storing coils of wire are well-known in the art 25 and need to be further elaborated here.

Referring now to the Figs. 1 and 2, a frusto-conically shaped guiding cone 22 is coaxially fixed to the upper end of the container wall 12 and is provided with an opening 24 at its apex for receiving the end of a wire-guiding 30 frame 26. This frame 26 has a downwardly inclined beam 28 which is supported by an upright member 30 suitably secured to the outer surface of the cone 22. A conventional tensioning device or capstan 32 is rotatably mounted on the frame 26 in registry with the opening 35 24, and is provided with adjustable friction means to retard or inhibit rotation.

Mounted internally of the cone 22 is a second cone Or retarding element indicated generally by the reference numeral 34. This inner cone is composed of two coni40 cal portions, a lower portion 36 and an upper portion 38. The lower portion is telescopically fixed to the discharge end of the core wall 14 and inclines toward the wall 12 extended and extends outwardly beyond the aforementioned discharge end as shown. The other conical portion 38 is oppositely arranged as shown.

The particular inclination of the conical surface 36 produces an annular opening or space 40 which is smaller than the annular storage space 42 between the inner and outer walls 14 and 12, and which is so positioned as to 50 lie approximately in between the two container walls as shown. The inclination of the conical surface 36 with the vertical is represented by the angle “a” and preferably lies within the range of twelve to twenty degrees £12° to 20°). The angle which the conical surface 38 55 makes with the vertical is not critical and may be fortyfive degrees (45°). Suitable supporting brackets or angles 44 secured to the inner surface of the inner core 34 abut the upper end edge or discharge end of the core wall 14 to provide support for the inner cone.

₆₀ Both of the inner and outer cones 34 and 22, respectively, are preferably detachably secured to the container 10 against accidental dislodgment.

Improved results are obtained with some types of wire when the conical surface 36 is covered with flock _6g material 46, which material is conventionally used as coverings for trunks of automobiles, and is also used in electronic equipment for insulating cabinet surfaces. /The importance of the presence of this flock material 46 will be explained more fully in the following.

As seen in Fig. 1, a strand Of wire from the annular ^υ space 42 is threaded between the inner and outer cones 34 and 22 through the apex opening 24, about the reel

2,905,409 and onto a coil form 48. This coil form is square in cross-section and represents one of the most difficult coil designs for winding at a high rate of speed. As the core 48 is rotated, wire is drawn out of the annular space 42. Since the wire is actually drawn axially from the space 42, it obviously follows that the wire will travel circumferentially around the wall 14.

In prior art arrangements which utilized the annular storage 42 and from which wire was axially drawn at a relatively high rate of speed, difficulty was normally encountered in the respect that the wire would uncoil too rapidly at times and would become knotted, thereby requiring that the equipment be stopped for clearing the knot and repairing any damage that may have occurred. This difficulty usually occurred when the wire was withdrawn from the storage space 42 at too great a velocity, such that the greatest rate at which wire could be withdrawn from the container 10 was limited to a value at which such knotting would not occur.

This invention considerably increases the upper limit at which wire may be withdrawn from the container 10, and thereby considerably increases the rate of production of coils. This increased efficiency is believed to be primarily due to the fact that the particular inclination of the conical surface 36 and the presence of the annular opening 40, which is of greater diameter than the core wall 14, serve as a brake against the wire leaving the mechanism too fast. Prior art arrangements permitted the wire being uncoiled to gain such momentum upon leaving the storage space that it would uncoil circumferentially around the core wall 14 at a rate exceeding that required by the lineal velocity of the wire leaving the mechanism. This caused the uncoiling wire to loop over itself and to tie a perfect knot.

While the invention materially improves efficiency when the conical surface 36 is a smooth metallic surface, the use of flock material 46 further improves the efficiency when smaller sizes of wire are dispensed.

While the different portions of the apparatus may be made of different suitable materials, satisfactory results have been achieved with the container 10 being fabricated from a paper base material, and the cones 22 and 34 being made from self-supporting metal.