GB2130999A

GB2130999A - Packaging coils of wire or cable on reels

Info

Publication number: GB2130999A
Application number: GB08327941A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Neville James Ditchfield
Original assignee: BICC PLC
Current assignee: Balfour Beatty PLC
Priority date: 1982-10-20
Filing date: 1983-10-19
Publication date: 1984-06-13
Also published as: AU557199B2; GB8327941D0; AU2023283A; CA1217623A; GB2130999B

Abstract

In forming a coil package (4), a blank of cardboard is folded to form a closable carton having a pair of parallel oppositely disposed major side walls (5), each of which has an aperture (6) in axial alignment with the aperture of the other major side wall; a coil of wire (7) is fed into the carton until it bounds the apertures in the major side walls; a hollow hub (1) having longitudinally extending corrugations (2) and preferably made of metal is arranged to extend between and protrude beyond the major side walls and is expanded radially outwardly, e.g. by a mandrel, until it fits tightly in the apertures in the major side walls and its cross section has become substantially circular; and the protruding end parts of the hub are distorted so that they form flanges (8) that bear against the outer surfaces of the major side walls (5). Preferably, during distortion the major side walls (5) are forced inwardly to a dish-like shape so that no part of the hub protrudes beyond the planes containing the boundary edges of the major side walls, so allowing stacking. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to packaging coils of wire or cable This invention relates to the packaging of wire or cable and particularly to the packaging of coils of bare or insulated electric wire or cable, for example wire or cable of the kinds used in house wiring systems, all such wire and cable hereinafter, for convenience, being included in the generic term "wire".

The interests of the manufacturer, wholesaler or retainer, and user of wire are in conflict insofar as packaging and transportation of wire are concerned. For ease of manufacture and transportation within the factory, it is in the interests of the manufacturer that the wire within the factory be in coil form. From the point of view of the wholesaler or retailer who has to keep a large stock of wires of different kinds from one another, storage of wire is facilitated if it is supplied in packages of a shape and size such that they can be readily stacked. On the other hand, the user prefers wire to be supplied on a reel from which wire can be readily unwound as and when required.

Generally, wire is marketed either in coils which are covered by a toroidal lapping of paper or cheap fabric or on non-returnable reels. The former type of packaging is cheap but it is not popular with wholesalers and retailers because such packaged coils are not readily stackable and is not popular with users because a wire cannot be readily withdrawn from a coil and because once the toroidal lapping is removed to enable wire to be withdrawn from the coil, the balance of the coil is left unprotected and may become tangled, as replacement of the toroidal lapping is usually too tiresome to be undertaken by the user. The alternative form of packing in non-returnable reels is unpopular with the wire manufacturer because it is more labour intensive and costly and is disliked by the wholesaler and retailer because reels cannot be readily stacked.

A known form of coil package comprises a closable carton which is formed from at least one folded blank of cardboard or plastics material and which has a pair of oppositely disposed major side walls whose boundary edges lie in substantially parallel planes, each of which major side walls has an aperture in axial alignment with the aperture of the other major side wall, a coild of wire housed in the carbon and bounding the apertures in the major side walls, and, extending through the coil of wire and between parts of the major side walls bounding said aligned apertures, a substantially rigid hollow hub. Such a known form of coil package will hereinafter, for convenience, be referred to as "of the kind described".

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of manufacturing a coil package of the kind described.

According to the invention, the method comprises at least partly folding or otherwise shaping at least one blank of cardboard or plastics material to form partly or in whole a closable carton having a pair of oppositely disposed major side walls lying in substantially parallel planes, each of which major side walls has an aperture in axial alignment with the aperture of the other major side wall; feeding a coil of wire into the carton so that the coil substantially bounds the apertures in the major side walls; closing the carton; introducing into the apertures in the carton a preformed substantially rigid hollow hub in such a way that the hub extends between, and protrudes beyond the outer surfaces of, the major side walls, the hollow hub having a transverse cross-section of substantially corrugated form with the corrugations extending lengthwise of the hub; expanding the corrugated hollow hub radially outwardly to such an extent that the transverse cross-section of the hollow hub becomes substantially circular and the hollow hub fits tightly in the apertures in the major side walls; and distorting the protruding end parts of the hub in such a way and under such a pressure that said distorted protruding end parts bear against the outer surfaces of the major side walls.

Preferably, the overall external diameter of the corrugated hollow hub, that is the diameter of a circle which circumscribes the peaks of the corrugations, is substantially less than the diameter of the aperture in each major side wall so that the corrugated hollow hub can be readily introduced into the apertures before it is expanded radially outwardly to a transverse cross-section of substantially circular shape and to a diameter approximating to that of each aperture.

Preferably, also, the hollow hub is made of a metal or metal alloy and, in a preferred embodiment, is formed by transversely folding a strip of metal or metal alloy so that edges of the strip overlap and securing these overlapping edges together to form a preformed substantially rigid hollow hub, corrugations being formed in the strip before or whilst it is transversely folded or in the hollow hub after it has been formed.

The hollow hub of corrugated transverse crosssection is preferably expanded radially outwardly to substantially circular transverse cross-section by means of a radially expandable mandrel.

The end parts of the hub protruding beyond the outer surfaces of the major side walls are preferably distorted in such a way and under such a pressure that said distorted protruding end parts bear against the outer surfaces of the major side walls and the major side walls are pressed inwardly to such a dish-like shape that no part of the hub protrudes beyond the planes containing the boundary edges of the major side walls.

The protruding end parts of the preformed rigid hollow hub may be distorted to bear against the outer surfaces of the major side walls in any convenient manner but, preferably, each protruding end part is folded radially outwardly to form a flange which bears against the outer surface of, and whose extreme edge bites into, one of the major side walls.

Preferably, during loading of the coil the closable carton is arranged in such a way that the common axis of the apertures in the major side walls extends substantially horizontally and the coil of wire is fed into the carton in a substantially vertical direction with its axis substantially horizontal. It is to be understood, however, that the closable carton may be arranged in such a way that the common axis of the apertures in the major side walls lies substantially vertical or in any other plane inclined to the vertical and the coil of wire is fed into the carton in a substantially horizontal direction with its axis lying substantiallysvertical or is fed into the carton with its axis lying in a plane that is substantially parallel to the plane containing the common axis of the apertures.

The preformed rigid hollow hub or corrugated transverse cross-section may have, spaced inwardly from its ends, outwardly extending continuous or discontinuous circumferential ribs which are of such a height and shape that, when the hollow hub is expanded radially outwardly and pressure is imparted to distort the protruding end parts of the hub, they will be distorted to form outwardly extending continuous or discontinuous circumferential shoulders bearing against the inner faces of the major side walls, the distance between the shoulders preferably being such that the major side walls pressed inwardly against the shoulders and gripped between the shoulders and the flanged end parts are of dish-iike shape and no part of the flanged end parts of the hub protrudes beyond the planes containing the boundary edges of the major side walls.

The operations of feeding a coil of wire into a carton and, when necessary, substantially centring the coil in the carton so that its axis is approximately co-linear with the axis of the apertures in the major side wall of the carton, introducing a preformed rigid hub of corrugated transverse cross-section into the carton, expanding the hub radially outwardly to substantially circular cross-section, distorting the protruding end parts of the hub, and closing the carton may be effected in sequence at a single operating station but, preferably, cartons are conveyed in turn between two or more mutually spaced stations at each of which one or more of these operations is effected, the or an operation at each of the stations preferably being effected substantially simultaneously so that, at any one time, operations are being effected on two or more cartons.In this latter case, the stations are preferably in alignment and the cartons conveyed along a substantially rectilinear path from station to station or, if desired, the stations may be arranged at circumferentially spaced positions around a circle and the cartons conveyed from station to station either by means of a rotatable turntable or by a rotating spider having a plurality of radially extending arms, each carrying means for supporting a carton. In all cases, conveying of cartons from one station to a succeeding station or succeeding stations and the operation or operations at each station are effected automatically and in the appropriate sequence.

The invention also includes apparatus for use in the improved method as hereinbefore described of manufacturing a coil package of the kind described.

The invention is further illustrated by a description, by way of an example, of the preferred method of manufacturing a coil package with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the corrugated hub to be employed, shown in its preformed state; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the coil package at an intermediate stage of its manufacture, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of the completed coil package.

Referring to Figure 1, the preformed hub 1 is constructed from a cardboard strip which has corrugations 2 extending lengthwise along the strip and which is transversely folded so that the strip edges overlap to form a seam 3. The overlapping edges are secured together to form a hollow hub with longitudinal extending corrugations. The hollow hub has an overall diameter substantially less than the diameters of the apertures in the major side walls of the coil package into which it is to be secured.

Referring now to Figure 2, the carton is constructed by folding a blank of cardboard to form a closable carton 4, having a pair of oppositely disposed major side walls 5, which lie in parallel planes and each of which has a centrally positioned aperture 6. A coil 7 of wire is inserted into the carton 4 from a vertical direction with the axis of the coil horizontal until the axis of the coil is colinear with the axis of the apertures 6 in the major side walls 5.

The preformed corrugated hub 1 is fed through the aperture 6 in the major side wall 5, through the coil 7 of wire and the aperture in the other major side wall so that the hub protrudes beyond the major side walls. The corrugated hub 1 is now radially expanded by means of a radially expandable mandrel to an extent such that the hub has a circular transverse cross-section and fits tightly with the apertures 6 in the major side walls 5.

Finally, each protruding end part of the hub 1 is folded radially outwardly to form a flange 8 which bears against the outer surface of, and whose extreme edge bites into, one of the major side walls 5, the force employed to form the flanges being such that the major side walls are pressed inwardly to such a dish-like shape that no part of the hub protrudes beyond the planes containing the boundary edges of the major side walls, as shown in Figure 3.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a coil package of the kind described which comprises at least partly folding or otherwise shaping at least one blank of cardboard or plastics material to form partially or in whole a closeable carton having a pair of oppositely disposed major side walls lying in substantially parallel planes each of which major side walls has an aperture in axial alignment with the aperture of the other major side wall; feeding a coil of wire into the carton, so that the coil substantially bounds the apertures in the major side walls; closing the carton; introducing into the apertures in the carton a preformed substantially rigid hollow hub in such a way that the hub extends between, and protrudes beyond the outer surfaces of, the major side walls, the hollow hub having a transverse cross-section of substantially corrugated form with the corrugations extending lengthwise of the hub; expanding the corrugated hollow hub radially outwardly to such an extent that the transverse cross-section of the hollow hub becomes substantially circular and the hollow hub fits tightly in the apertures in the major side walls; and distorting the protruding end parts of the hub in such a way that under such a pressure that said distorted protruding end parts bear against the outer surfaces of the major side walls.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the protruding end parts are distorted in such a way and under such a pressure that they bear against the outer surfaces of the major side walls and the major side walls are pressed inwardly to such a dish-like shape that no part of the hub protrudes beyond the planes containing the boundary edges of the major side walls.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the corrugated hollow hub has, spaced inwardly from its ends, outwardly extending continuous or discontinuous circumferential ribs which are of such a height and shape that, when the hollow hub is expanded radially outwardly and pressure is imparted to distort the protruding end parts of the hub, they are distorted to form outwardly extending continuous or discontinuous circumferential shoulders bearing against the inner faces of the major side walls, the distance between the shoulders being such that the major side walls pressed inwardly against the shoulders and gripped between the shoulders and the flanged end parts are of dish-like shape and no part of the flanged end parts of the hub protrudes beyond the planes containing the boundary edges of the major side wails.

4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein each protruding end parts is folded radially outwardly to form a flange which bears against the outer surface of, and whose extreme edge bites into, one of the major side walls.

5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the hollow hub is formed by transversely folding a strip of metal or metal alloy so that edges of the strip overlap and securing these overlapping edges together to form a preformed substantially rigid hollow hub, corrugations being formed in the strip before or whilst it is transversely folded.

6. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the corrugated hollow hub is expanded radially outwardly to substantially circular transverse cross-section by means of a radially expandable mandrel.

7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein during loading of the coil the closable carton is arranged in such a way that the common axis of the apertures in the major side walls extends substantially horizontally and the coil of wire is fed into the carton in a substantially vertical direction with its axis substantially horizontal.

8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the cartons are conveyed in turn between two or more mutually spaced stations, at each of which is or are effected one or more of the operations of feeding a coil of wire into a carton, introducing a preformed rigid hub of corrugated transverse cross-section into the carton, expanding the hub radially outwardly to substantially circular cross-section, distorting the protruding end parts of the hub and closing the carton, the or an operation at each of the stations being effected substantially simultaneously, so that at any one time, operations are being effected on two or more cartons.

9. A method as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the operating stations are arranged at circumferentially spaced positions around a circle and the cartons conveyed from station to station by means of a rotatable turntable or by a rotating spider having a plurality of radially extending arms, each carrying means for supporting a carton.

10. A method as claimed in Claim 8 or 9, wherein conveying of cartons from one station to a succeeding station or succeeding stations and the operation or operations at each station are effected automatically and in the appropriate sequence.

11. A method of manufacturing a coil package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A coil package manufactured by the method claimed in any one of the preceding Claims.