US2713464A - Wire coil flipper - Google Patents

Description

J. P. KING WIRE COIL FLIPPER July 19, 1955 Filed May 26, 1952 July 19, 1955 J. P. KING WIRE COIL FLIPPER I Filed May 26, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 19, 1955 J. P. KING i WIRE COIL FLIPPER Filed May 26, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent() B. King Company, North Haven, Conn., a corporationv of Connecticut Application May 26, 1952, Serial No. 290,015

Claims. (Cl. 242-128) This invention relates to a wire or coil handling device, sometimes known as a coil llipper, and particularly relates to a device for supporting coils in position to be fed to a wire drawing apparatus or some other machine adapted to perform some operation upon the coil.

The device particularly relates to mechanism upon which the coils of wire or rod may be supported in operative position so that it may be reeled off as used by the processing apparatus, and which mechanism may be detachably supported adjacent the processing device so that it may be readily removed from the support and carried by a transporting device to another location at which a fresh set of coils may be received.

As illustrated, the device comprises an elongated member or ram adapted to be thrust through a plurality of coils so that the latter will be supported thereon, the ram being secured to a head member or header so constructed that it may be supported in upwardly opening sockets of standards or like members supported by the floor. The head portion of the device is provided with front and rear plates, one of which is adapted to bear against a part of the standards to hold the ram in an extended position substantially horizontal but slightly tilted. The construction of this part of the apparatus is also arranged so that the mechanism may be picked up from the standards by a lift truck or similar mechanism having upwardly opening socket members to engage a part of the head, and the rear plate of the head is adapted to engage against the carrier plate of the lift truck to support the ram in its proper position.

With this construction, when the coils have been removed frorn the ram and it is desired to secure a new supply the lift truck may be driven up to the device and the carrier raised until the hooks or socket membersl thereof engage projecting parts of the head to raise the mechanism from its supporting standards. The mechanism or the detachable portion thereof may then be transported tothe place where the fresh supply of .coils is kept and a number of coils loaded upon the ram. The truck will thereupon return to the supporting standards adjacent the processing machine and deposit the mechanism with the coils thereon upon the standards at which time the coils will be held in proper pos1t1on to be fed to the processing device.

l also provide upon, or connect to, the head of the ram an upper and a lower drag member, these members being pivoted so that4 they may hang freely from their pivotal points to engage the rod or wire as it 1s unreeled from the coils upon the ram. The upper drag is detachable so that it may be removed when it is desired to load a new supply of coils upon the ram, while the lower drag is arranged to be raised to a position in close proximity to the ram and secured in this position so that it will not interfere with the loading of the coils thereon.

There are also provided adjustable means on which the bottoms of the coils may rest so that when the wire is unreeled from the coils their weight will be carried by this supporting member.

23,713,464 Patented July 19, 1955 ICC One object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved coil handling apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide a coil handling apparatus which may be supported upon a iixed standard or support while the Wire or rod is being fed to a machine, or which may be mounted upon a transporting mechanism to transport coils of wire to the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a transporting device for transporting coils of rod or wire to a processing machine from a place of storage and holding the coils while the rod or wire is being drawn therefrom as needed by the processing machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a coil supporting and transporting device of the character described wherein the mechanism for supporting the coils may be detachably secured to a truck or the like for purposes of transportation and also may be detachably supported upon lixed standards while the wire or rod is being processed in order to release the transporting device or truck for other use during this period.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of my improved coil holding mechanism supported on iixed standards with a portion of the mechanism shown in dotted lines supported upon a lift truck or the like;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

.Fig 3 is a top plan view of the supporting mechamsm;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on line 5-5 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevational view of the device when supported on fixed standards;

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of the head which supports the ram and the rear portion of the ram;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the carrier plate for supporting the device upon a lift truck; and

Fig. 9 is a front elevational view of the carrier plate shown in Fig. 8.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in the drawings a wire handling mechanism which comprises a ram member 10 which may consist of a U-shaped tubular member, the legs of which, as shown at 11 and 12, project rearwardly to be secured to a transversely extending tubular member 13.

The member 13 is a portion of the ram supporting head to which the ram is rigidly secured. In addition to the member 13 the head comprises a pair of spaced frame members 14 and 15 which, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, are rigidly secured to the tubular member or pipe 13. Secured to the front edges of the members 14 and 15 is a front plate 16, and secured to the rear edges of these members is a rear plate 17, all of these parts being rigidly held together so as to have a lixed position with relation to the ram 10.

Secured to the front plate 16 and projecting upwardly therefrom are a pair of spaced standards 18 having upwardly facing sockets 19 at their upper ends to receive the ends of a cross member 20 which constitutes the rear portion of the upper drag 21. This drag comprises a pair of spaced rods tapering toward each other toward their forward ends and held together by cross bars 22.

This upper drag member is pivotally mounted in the sockets 19 and may readily be removed therefrom. The forward end of this drag is adapted to rest upon a retainer plate 23 hinged at 24 to the ram (Fig. 1) and adapted to be supported in adjusted inclined position by a link 25 pivoted to the retainer plate 23 and adapted at its lower end to engage a serrated block 26 supported by a plate 27 secured to the ram adjacent its forward end. It will beA apparent that the retainer plate may be placed in any desired adjusted position and that this plate will retain the coils 28 upon the ram permitting the wire or rod to be paid out between this plate and the drag 21.

Pivoted at 30 to a block 31 secured to the front plate 16 (Fig. 4) is a lower drag member 32, this member comprising a U-shaped frame of wire or rods also tapering toward its forward end. In operative position this drag member is in the position shown in full lines in Fig. l in which it rests either upon the inner surface of a coil 28 or upon the upper surface of a support 33 to be hereinafter described. The member may, however, be folded to the stored position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l wherein its forward end is received between the legs 11 and 12 of the ram and may be secured in place by the hook 34 which is rotatably mounted in the plate 27. When it is desired to move the device to the stock pile of coils for a fresh supply, the drag .32 will be held in folded position where it will be substantially within the Outline of the ram and will not interfere with the insertion of the ram through the coils.

In order to support the ram adjacent a wire drawing machine or some other processing apparatus to perform some operation upon the coil, a pair of standards 35 and 36 are provided. These standards, as shown, are of I-beam construction and are spaced apart a sufficient extent so as to receive upon their upper ends the outer ends of the transverse member 13 of the ram-supporting head, as shown in Figs. l, 3 and 6. The standards are provided With upwardly facing seats or sockets 37 for this purpose and, as shown, the member 13 rests freely therein. At the forward face of each of the I beams retaining members 38 may be secured to retain the member 13 in place.

A cross support 39 is secured to the front face of the I beams and wedged outwardly therefrom at the bottom so that it lies in a slightly inclined position. When the head is supported upon the standards 3S and 36 the front plate 16 rests against this cross support as shown in Fig. 4 so as to hold the device rigidly in the standards and prevent its rotation about the transverse member 13. The position of the support 39 as will be seen from Fig. l and Fig. 4 holds the plate 16 in a slightly inclined position so that the ram in its operative position shown in Fig. l will be tilted upwardly to a slight extent toward its outer end in order that the coils upon the ram will tend to move to the rear end thereof.

Means are also provided to support the weight of the coils carried by the ram 10 so as to relieve the latter of a considerable part of this weight. To this end the supporting member 33 is provided which has at its rear end a hook 41 designed to be placed over any one of a number of transverse rods 42 supported by a frame designated generally by the numeral 43, the frame being carried by the standards 35 and 36.

This provides for the adjustable support of the inner or rear end of the member 33. The outer end of this member which, as shown in Fig. 5, is of channel or U-shaped form is also adjustably supported. A plate 45 is secured to the support 33 and depends downwardly therefrom, and to this plate are pivoted upper ends of stirrup members 46 and 47, these members carrying transverse rods 48 and 49 at their lower ends. The ends of these rods are adapted to be received in serrations or notches 50 and 51 provided in a pair of spaced stringers 52 and 53 also shown in Fig. 5.

The stirrups 46 and 47 are of different lengths and are used alternatively to support the outer end of the member 33 depending upon the height of adjustment of these members. The notches or serrations S0 and 51 are so arranged that one or the other of them will give a proper adjusted position to the outer end of the supporting member while the inner end will be given a sucient range of adjustment by means of spaced rods 42. The member 33 is shown in one position in full lines and is shown in a raised adjusted position in dotted lines wherein the stirrup 47 is employed to support the outer end of this member.

Thus far the description has been concerned with the mechanism which supports the coils when they are being fed to a wire drawing or other processing machine. Provision is also made for supporting the ram and the ramsupporting head on a suitable carrying device so that it may be transported from one place to another particularly from the position shown to a stock pile of coils so that a new supply may be loaded upon the ram.

To this end I provide a carrier plate 55 (Figs. 8 and 9) which plate is provided with means whereby it may be secured to the elevating carriage 56, Fig. 1, of a lift truck 57. This securing means may comprise, for example, a channeled portion 58 on the upper end of the plate 55 which fits over the edge of the carriage S6. Secured upon the front face of the plate 55 are a pair of spaced hooks 59 having upwardly facing sockets 60 which, as shown in Fig. l, are adapted to receive and support the transverse member 13 of the ram-supporting head. The hooks 59 are so positioned that they will enter the space between the inner edges of the standards 35 and 36 and the outer edges of the back plate 17 so that they may be engaged with the member 13 while it is supported upon the standards. By raising the elevating carriage 56 of the lift truck the ram and ram-supporting head may be raised from the standards 35 and 36 and supported by the hooks 59, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the mechanism will be moved from place to place by the truck. It will be noted that the rear plate 17 at this time rests flatly against the forward face of the carrier plate 55 so as to hold the ram rigidly in position upon the carriage of the lift truck.

When new coils have been mounted upon the ram, the latter may then be carried again to the position of the standards 3S and 36 and replaced in the sockets at the upper end of these standards, as shown in full lines in Fig. l.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a device for handling coils of wire or strip material, a ram-supporting head, a ram secured at one end to said head and projecting therefrom so that its free end may extend through a coil, spaced supporting elements, said head and supporting elements having interengaging means whereby the head is removably supported by the supporting elements with the ram extending forwardly from the head, a member carried by said supporting elements having a substantially vertical forwardly facing surface, said head having means to engage said surface to hold the ram in position, and said interengaging means comprising a member on the head extending transversely of the ram and having freely projecting end portions engaged with said supporting elements.

2. In a device for handling coils of wire or strip material, a head member, a ram secured at one end to said head member and projecting therefrom so that its free end may extend through a coil, a support for the head by which the latter is removably carried, means on the support and head to hold the ram in a substantially horizontal position, and a drag pivotally attached to the head below the ram to extend outwardly along the ram, said drag being pivoted closely adjacent the ram and foldable to a position in proximity to the ram.

3. In a device for handing coils of wire or strip material, a head member, a ram secured at one end to said head member and projecting therefrom so that its frec end may extend through a coil, a support for the head by which the latter is removably carried, means on the support and head to hold the ram in a substantially horizontal position, a drag connected to said head and extending outwardly along the upper surface of the ram, a retainer member adjustably secured to the upper surface of the ram, and said retainer engaging said drag to support the free end of the latter.

4. In a device for handling coils of wire or strip material, a head member, a ram secured at one end to said head member and projecting therefrom so that its free end may extend through a coil, a support for the head hy which the latter is removably carried, means on the support and head to hold the ram in a substantially horizontal position, a drag pivotally attached to the head to extend outwardly along the ram, said drag being mounted below the ram, and a coil support below the ram upon which the free end of the drag may rest.

5. In a device for handling coils of wire or strip material, a head member, a ram secured at one end to said head member and projecting therefrom so that its free end may extend through a coil, a support for the head by which the latter is removably carried, means on the support and head to hold the ram in a substantially horizontal position, a drag pivoted at its inner end and extending outwardly along the ram above the same, a second drag pivoted at its inner end and extending outwardly along the ram below the same, and means for supporting the free outer end of each of the drags, the means for supporting the lower drag constituting a coil-supporting member attached to the support for the head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,956,398 Nullmeyer Apr. 24, 1934 2,145,087 Hogue Jan. 24, 1939 2,263,889 Rose Nov. 25, 1941 2,437,630 Williams et al Mar. 9, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 9, 1937

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