US3695525A

US3695525A - Apparatus for continuously winding up a linear product such as wire

Info

Publication number: US3695525A
Application number: US20230A
Authority: US
Inventors: Yasuhiko Otani
Original assignee: Kobe Steel Ltd
Current assignee: Kobe Steel Ltd
Priority date: 1970-03-17
Filing date: 1970-03-17
Publication date: 1972-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-03

Abstract

A continuous wire take-up apparatus having pair of rockable reel supporting frames. A disc is mounted on each pair of reel supporting frames adjacent one end of the reel for rotation therewith. One of the pairs of the frames is rocked down when the associated reel becomes substantially full of the wire. At the same time, a wire guiding sheave is moved axially of the reels to the above of the discs. A wire shifting rod is moved between the reels axially thereof to shift the wire beyond the discs. Claws project from the discs to engage the thus shifted wire and arrest it on the discs. The rotation of the discs cuts the wire between the discs. The cut end of the wire arrested on the disc for the empty reel causes a further length of the wire to be wound up thereon.

Description

United States Patent Otani [54] APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY WINDING UP A LINEAR PRODUCT SUCH AS WIRE [52] US. Cl. ..242/25 A [51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 54/02 [58] Field of Search.....242/25, 18 A, 18 EW, 18 PW [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,347,477 10/1967. Touze ..242/25A FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,074,709 Great Britain 51 Oct. 3, 1972 Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Assistant Examiner-Milton Gerstein Attorney-John J. Byrne [57] ABSTRACT A continuous wire take-up apparatus having pair of rockable reel supporting frames. A disc is mounted on each pair of reel supporting frames adjacent one end of the reel for rotation therewith. One of the pairs of the frames is rocked down when the associated reel becomes substantially full of the wire. At the same time, a wire guiding sheave is moved axially of the reels to the above of the discs. A wire shifting rod is moved between the reels axially thereof to shift the wire beyond the discs. Claws project from the discs to engage the thus shifted wire and arrest it on the discs. The rotation of the discs cuts the wire between the discs. The cut end of the wire arrested on the disc for the empty reel causes a further length of the wire to be wound up thereon.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED T I97! 8 3,695,525

sum 2 or 2 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY WINDING UP A LINEAR PRODUCT SUCH AS WIRE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for continuously winding up a linear product such as wire and, particularly, to an apparatus of this kind and in which, when the product has been wound up on a reel substantially to its full capacity, the product is then automatically transferred from the full reel to another empty one and is continuously taken up thereon.

In the apparatus of this kind, various types of automatic linear product transfer mechanisms have heretofore been proposed. However, none of the conven tional transfer mechanisms performs satisfactory and smooth transferring operation and this is especially true when the apparatus is operated to wind up a linear product at higher speed. With the conventional transfer mechanism, furthermore, the apparatus designed for use with large-sized take-up reels is inevitably required to have a large-sized construction in its entirety so as to be adapted for the large reels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for continuously winding up a linear product which can eliminate the problems and drawbacks mentioned in the above.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the class mentioned in the above and which assures reliable and smooth operation in transferring the linear product from a full reel to another empty one.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the class mentioned in the above and which is designed to be adapted for take-up reels of relatively larger size as compared with the size of the apparatus in its entirety.

These objects are achieved by the construction of an apparatus of the present invention which comprises pairs of frame members pivotally mounted on a base, said pairs of frame members being adapted to detachably and rotatably support thereon take-up reels in parallel relationship to one another, motor means for rotating the reels on said pairs of frame members in opposite directions, power means for rocking said pairs of frame members about pivotal axes thereof, a disc member mounted on each pair of said frame members adjacent one end of the reel thereon for rotation therewith, means for guiding said linear product from its delivery position to one of the reels on said pairs of frame members, said power means being operable to rock down the pair of said frame members associated with said one reel when it has taken up said linear product almost to its full capacity to bring the run of said product into contact with the periphery of the other empty reel, said guiding means being movable in a horizontal plane above said reels in directions parallel and perpendicular, respectively, to the axes of rotation of the reels, means movable between said reels axially thereof for shifting the part of said linear product axially of said reels beyond said discs when said one reel has take up said product substantially to its full capacity, said part of said linear product extending between said reels, and at least one claw member on each of said discs adjacent the periphery thereof, said claw members being adapted to engage the thus shifted part of said linear product and arrest it on said discs to cause said product to be cut between said claw members by the rotation of said discs whereby the cut end of said product arrested on the disc associated with said empty reel enables a further continuous length of said linear product to be continuously wound up on said empty reel.

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the wire take-up apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates in side view the wire take-up operation of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates in side view the apparatus in a position in which the wire has been wound up on one reel almost to its full capacity; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view, as viewed substantially in a direction indicated by an arrow V, of the arrangement of reels, associated disc members, a wire shifting rod and wire guiding traverse sheave when the wire has been completely wound up on the one reel and is going to be transferred to another empty reel.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention will be described hereunder in detail with reference to an illustrated embodiment of the invention which is designed to be suitable for winding up a continuous length of wire. It is, however, to be noted that the invention is not limited to winding up of wire only but is applicable to other similar linear products.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated an embodiment of the linear product takeup apparatus of the invention which is generally indicated at 10. The apparatus 10 has a base 11, two pairs of upright frames or posts 12 and 12a (post 12a not appearing in the drawings) and I3 and 13a extending upwardly from the base 11 substantially at the four corners thereof. A pair of horizontal bars or shafts 14 and 15 of circular cross-section extend between and are fixed at their opposite ends to the

posts

12 and 13 adjacent the top ends thereof. Similarly, a pair of horizontal shafts 14a and 15a extend between and are fixed at their opposite ends to the posts 12a and 13a adjacent the top ends thereof.

A pair of generally

triangular frame members

16 and 17 are pivotally mounted at one apexes or bottom ends on the base 11 adjacent the bottom ends of the

posts

13 and 13a by means of

axles

18 and 18a and

brackets

20 and 21 on he base 11. One of the frame members 16 is operatively connected substantially at the center of the length thereof to the corresponding upright post 13 substantially at the center of the height thereof by means of a piston and cylinder assembly 22, as shown in FIG. 2, which is adapted to be pneumatically or hydraulically actuated to pivotally move or rock the frame member 16 for the purpose which will be come apparent later. If necessary, the other frame member 17 may also be similarly actuated by a similar fluid-actuated piston and cylinder assembly (not shown) operatively connecting the member 17 with the corresponding upright post 13a.

The pair of

frame members

16 and 17 are adapted to support thereon a wire take-up reel indicated by R1. For this purpose, the member 16 carries at the upper apex a relatively shorter axle or shaft 23 which may be slidably retracted outwardly, when required, by any conventional power means such as conventional fluidactuated cylinder (now shown). The other frame member 17 has an axle or shaft 24 rotatably extending through the upper apex. The shaft 24 has a disc member 25 rigidly mounted thereon adjacent the inner end. The disc member is provided with inwardly projecting

claws

26 and 27 adjacent the outer periphery of the disc member. The

shafts

23 and 24 are adapted to support a wire take-up reel R1 on the inner ends of the shafts in such a manner that the flange on one end of the reel is in face to face engagement with the disc member 25 so as to be driven or rotated therewith.

For this purpose, the shaft 24 has a pulley 28 rigidly mounted thereon adjacent the outer end. The pulley 28 is operatively connected by a belt 29 with a second pulley 30 disposed co-axially with the pivotal axis of the frame member 17. The pulley 30 is operatively connected to a motor means (not shown) by any conventional torque transmitting means such as belt or chain. It will be appreciated that, since the second pulley 30 is mounted in coaxial relationship with the axis of rocking motion of the frame member 17, the torqueof the not shown motor means is advantageously transmitted through the belt 29 and the first pulley 28 to the shaft 24 and thus to the reel R1 in whichever position of the path of the rocking motion the frame member 17 may be.

The triangular frame member 16 has another fluidactuated piston and cylinder assembly 31 mounted thereon adjacent the remaining or inner apex. The fluid-actuated assembly 31 has a piston rod 32 supporting at the free end an inwardly and upwardly extending rod 33 for the purpose which will also become apparent later.

Another pair of generally triangular frame members 160 and 170 (member 17a not appearing in the drawings) are provided adjacent the other upright posts 12 and 12a in a manner similar to that in which the reel supporting

frame members

16 and 17 are provided. The frame members 16a and 17a are also adapted to support thereon another reel, represented by R2, and thus are associated with elements similar to those associated with with elements similar to those associated with frame members 16 and 7. Therefore, no further description will be required in connection with the frame members 16a and 17a with the exception that the elements for the members 16a and 17a similar or corresponding to those for the

members

16 and 17 are represented by similar reference numerals and followed by a character a.

Blocks

34 and 35 are slidably mounted on respective pairs of horizontal shafts l4 and and 14a and 15a. A transverse shaft 36 extends between and are fixedly secured at the opposite ends to the

blocks

34 and 35, respectively. Another block or slide member 37 having a bracket 37a is slidably mounted on the transverse shaft 36. The slide member has a sheave member 38 rotatably mounted on a stud 39 on the bracket 37a. The sheave member 38 is adapted to guide the wire form its delivery source to a working reel so that the wire is wound on the reel in good order. The slide member 37 has formed therein an internally threaded through hole (not shown) through which extends a second transverse shaft 40 having formed thereon turns of external screw threads which engage the internal screw threads in the slide member 37. The threaded shaft 40 is rotatably received at one end by the block 34 and extends rotatably at the other end through and beyond the other block 35.

The said other end of the threaded shaft 40 loosely extends through one end of a link 41 disposed outwardly of the frame member 17. A pulley 42 is rigidly mounted on the end of the shaft 40 outwardly of the link 41. The latter is hinged at the other end to a second link 43 by means of a hinge pin 41a on which rotatably mounted are

pulleys

44 and 45 which are connected together for unitary rotation. The second link 43 is pivotally mounted at the other or lower end on a stationary shaft 46 on which rotatably mounted are

pulleys

47 and 48 which are also connected together into a unitary structure. The last pulley 48 is suitably operatively connected to a motor means (not shown) which may either be one of the motors for rotating the reels, or be a separately provided motor. A belt 49 drivingly connects the pulley 45 with the pulley 42 while another belt 50 drivingly connects the pulley 47 to the pulley 44.

Means (not shown) are provided to move the

blocks

34 and 35 and thus the sheave 38 from the solid line position (A) in FIG. 2 to a broken line position (B) in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the reels R1 and R2 substantially in a plane defined between the two pairs of the

horizontal shafts

14 and 15 and 14a and 15a These means may be any conventional drive mechanism such as sprocket wheels and a chain running around the sprockets, one of the sprockets being driven by a motor and the chain being connected or secured at upper or lower run to one of the

blocks

34 and 35. Alternatively, the mentioned means may be a fluid-actuated cylinder having its piston rod secured to one of the

blocks

34 and 35.

The upper end of the link 41 is loosely mounted on the outer end of the externally threaded transverse shaft 40, as described in the above, so that the link 41 will follow the movement of the

blocks

34 and 35. This movement of the link 41 causes the second link 43 to be swung or oscillated about the stationary shaft 46 while the drive connection between the externally threaded shaft 40 and the motor means therefor is maintained by means of the link connection and the associated pulleys and belts. Thus, it will be appreciated that the torque of the motor means is transmitted through the pulleys and belts to the externally threaded transverse shaft 40 in whichever position the

blocks

34 and 35 may be with respect to the axis of rotation of the

stationary pulleys

47 and 48.

A pair of

rails

51 and 52 are provided on the base 11 and extend transversely of the axes of rotation of the reels R1 and R2 between the oppositeframe members of each pair of reel supporting frame structure. These rails are designed to guide wire take-up reels therealong in such a manner that an empty reel is rolled on the

rails

51 and 52 into the apparatus and a full reel is rolled out of the apparatus. For this purpose, the

rails

51 and 52 are slightly sloped down from the empty reel rolling-in position toward the full reel rolling-out position. Apair of stops 53 are provided in the

rails

51 and 52, respectively, at a position upstream of the pairs of reel supporting frames. Similarly, another pair of

stops

55 and 56 are provided in the

rails

51 and 52 in such a position as to hold a full reel dismounted down onto the rails from either pair of reel supporting frame members. Both pairs of

stops

53 and 54 and 55 and 56 are designed to be retracted down below the surfaces of the rails by any conventional means so that empty and full reels may be free, when required, to roll down along the rails.

Now, a description will be made with respect to the operation of the apparatus in reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the apparatus in a position in which the wire guiding sheave 38 is in the position B and is guiding the wire to the reel R1 mounted on the pair of

frame members

16 and 17. Another empty reel R2 is prepared on he other pair of frame members 16a and' 17a. Still another or next empty reel Rl-a is prepared on the

rails

51 and 52 and stopped by the stops 53 and 54.

When the wire is wound up on the reel R1 almost to its full capacity, the reel R2 is started its rotation and the peripheral speed thereof is adjusted so as to be substantially the same as the linear speed of the wire being taken up on the reel R1. At the same time, the piston and cylinder assembly 22 is actuated to move or rock the reel supporting

frame members

16 and 17 down to a position shown in FIG. 4 so that the running wire is brought into contact with the periphery of the wire take-up drum of the reel R2, as will be seen in FIG. 4. At the time the reel R1 has taken up the wire thereon to its full capacity, he wire guiding sheave 38 is rapidly moved by the rotation of the externally threaded shaft 40 to a position, shown in FIG. 5, which is axially beyond the disc 25a. The sheave 38 is maintained at this position for a while. Simultaneously, the piston and cylinder assembly 31a is actuated to move the associated rod 33a axially of the reels RI and R2 beyond the discs 25 and 250 so that the part of the wire between the discs is engaged by theclaws 26 and 26a, as seen in FIG. 5, and arrested on thediscs. The continuous rotation of the reels and the discs is sufficient to cut the wire therebetween. The cut end of the wire arrested on the disc 25a causes a further continuous length of the wire to be taken up on the reel R2. In other words, the wire is thus automatically transferred from the full reel R1 to the empty one R2. The wire guiding sheave 38 is then moved to the position A and serves in this position to guide the wire to the reel R2 until it takes up the wire almost to its full capacity.

On the other hand, the full reel R1 has stopped its rotation and is then removed off the pair of reel supporting

frame members

16 and 17 down onto the

rails

51 and 52 by retracting the shaft 23 outwardly. The thus removed full reel is rolled down off the apparatus as shown in FIG. 4 by broken line. Then, the stops 53 and 54 are retracted down and another empty reel Rl-a which has been prepared on the rails, are rolled down until it is reached by the

stops

55 and 56. The new reel Rla is then mounted on the pair of

frame members

16 and 17 which are then rocked upwardly to their normal position shown in FIG. 2 by the piston and cylinder assembly 22. When the reel R2 has taken up the wire thereon substantially to its full capacity, the piston and cylinder assembly 22a is actuated to rock down the reel supporting frame members 16a and 17a and the apparatus 10 operates in cyclical manner in a similar fashion.

In the above-described and illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the

wire shifting rods

33 and 33a are mounted on the piston and

cylinder assemblies

31 and 31a which are mounted on the respective pairs of reel supporting

frame members

16 and 17 and 16a and 17a. The

wire shifting rods

33 and 33a, however, may be disposed at any position which may enable these rods to shift the wire axially of the reels beyond one ends thereof.

It is particularly to be noted that when one of the pairs of reel supporting frame members is rocked down together with a substantially full reel thereon, the wire being still taken up on the full reel is brought into contact with the wire take-up drum of another empty reel and is advanced along a substantially vertical path as will be seen in FIG. 4. This makes it possible for a single rod, which is associated with the empty reel, to be brought into contact with the portion of the wire extending between the opposite wire take-up drums and bias or shift the wire portion axially beyond one ends of the reels whereby the wire is engaged and arrested by the claws on the discs at the said one ends of the reels. It is also pointed out that the sloped

rails

51 and 52 and the

stops

53 and 54 and 55 and 56 assure easy mounting and dismounting of reels on and off the reel supporting frame members.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for continuously winding up a linear product comprising a housing, a pair of frame members each pivotally mounted in said housing on parallel pivotal axes, a take-up reel for each of said frame members, said reels being detachably and rotatably supported in a first position in side by side parallel relationship in substantially the same plane on said frame members, motor means for rotating each of said reels in opposite directions, power means for rocking each of said frame members about said pivotal axes toward and away from each other to a second position whereby one reel is in a plane below that of the other, a disc member mounted oneach of said frame members adjacent one end of the reel thereon for rotation therewith, a source means for said linear product, means for guiding said linear product, means for guiding said linear product from said source means alternately to said reels, said linear product runningsubstantially tangential to each of said reels when one of said frame members is in the second position, said guiding means being movable in a horizontal plane above said reel in directions parallel and perpendicular, respectively, to the axes of rotation of the reels, means movable between said reel axially thereof for shifting said linear product axially of said reels beyond said discs, and at least one claw member on the periphery of each of said disc members, said claw member being adapted to engage and cut said linear product and arrest it on said disc member when frame members are in said second position and when said product is shifted axially by said shifting means.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said guiding means includes a pair of horizontal shaft members extending in parallel relationship to one another in a direction perpendicular to said axes of rotation of reels, a pair of block members slidably mounted on said shaft members respectively, a transverse shaft member rotatably extending through said block 'members, a sheave member mounted on said transverse shaft member for movement therealong, means for moving said sheave member along said transverse shaft member and means for moving said block members along said horizontal shaft members.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said means for moving said sheave member include screw threads formed externally on said transverse shaft member, a slide member carrying thereon said sheave member for free rotation, said slide member having therein internal screw threads in engagement with said external screw threads on said transverse shaft member, a second motor means, and drive means operatively connecting said second motor means with said transverse shaft member.

' 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said drive means include a pin member, first and second link members loosely hinged together at one end by said pin member, said first link member being pivotally mounted at the other end on said transverse shaft member, a second pin member, said second link member being loosely pivoted at the other end to said second pin member, a first pulley rigidly mounted on said transverse shaft member, a second pulley rotatably mounted on said first pin member, a first belt member drivingly interconnecting said first and second pulleys.

a third pulley mounted on said first pin member and connected to said second pulley for rotation therewith, fourth and fifth pulleys connected together and rotatably mounted on said second pin member, a second belt member drivingly interconnecting said third and fourth pulleys, said fifth pulley being operatively connected to the output shaft of said second motor means.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said means for shifting said linear product includes first and second fluid-actuated piston and cylinder assemblies, the first of which being mounted on one of said reel supporting frame members, and the second being mounted on the other of said reel supporting frame members, and product shifting rods connected at one end on the free ends of the piston rods of said assemblies, respectively, said product shifting rods extending inwardly and upwardly from a respective reel supporting frame member.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said power means include fluid-actuated piston and cylinder assemblies operatively connected at one end to said housing respectively, said assemblies having their other ends operatively connected to said reel supporting frame members, respectively.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a pair of rails on said base extending transversely of said axes of rotation of reel s on respective rgel supporting frame members, said rails being adapted or receiving thereon reels to be rolled into and out of said apparatus, said rails sloping in a direction, and first and second reel stopping means disposed in said rails, said stopping means being retractable down below the surfaces of said rails, said first stopping means being located remotely from said frame members and said second means be located adjacent to and generally beneath said frame members.

Claims

1. An apparatus for continuously winding up a linear product comprising a housing, a pair of framE members each pivotally mounted in said housing on parallel pivotal axes, a take-up reel for each of said frame members, said reels being detachably and rotatably supported in a first position in side by side parallel relationship in substantially the same plane on said frame members, motor means for rotating each of said reels in opposite directions, power means for rocking each of said frame members about said pivotal axes toward and away from each other to a second position whereby one reel is in a plane below that of the other, a disc member mounted on each of said frame members adjacent one end of the reel thereon for rotation therewith, a source means for said linear product, means for guiding said linear product, means for guiding said linear product from said source means alternately to said reels, said linear product running substantially tangential to each of said reels when one of said frame members is in the second position, said guiding means being movable in a horizontal plane above said reel in directions parallel and perpendicular, respectively, to the axes of rotation of the reels, means movable between said reel axially thereof for shifting said linear product axially of said reels beyond said discs, and at least one claw member on the periphery of each of said disc members, said claw member being adapted to engage and cut said linear product and arrest it on said disc member when frame members are in said second position and when said product is shifted axially by said shifting means.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said guiding means includes a pair of horizontal shaft members extending in parallel relationship to one another in a direction perpendicular to said axes of rotation of reels, a pair of block members slidably mounted on said shaft members respectively, a transverse shaft member rotatably extending through said block members, a sheave member mounted on said transverse shaft member for movement therealong, means for moving said sheave member along said transverse shaft member and means for moving said block members along said horizontal shaft members.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said drive means include a pin member, first and second link members loosely hinged together at one end by said pin member, said first link member being pivotally mounted at the other end on said transverse shaft member, a second pin member, said second link member being loosely pivoted at the other end to said second pin member, a first pulley rigidly mounted on said transverse shaft member, a second pulley rotatably mounted on said first pin member, a first belt member drivingly interconnecting said first and second pulleys, a third pulley mounted on said first pin member and connected to said second pulley for rotation therewith, fourth and fifth pulleys connected together and rotatably mounted on said second pin member, a second belt member drivingly interconnecting said third and fourth pulleys, said fifth pulley being operatively connected to the output shaft of said second motor means.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a pair of rails on said base extending transversely of said axes of rotation of reels on respective reel supporting frame members, said rails being adapted for receiving thereon reels to be rolled into and out of said apparatus, said rails sloping in a direction, and first and second reel stopping means disposed in said rails, said stopping means being retractable down below the surfaces of said rails, said first stopping means being located remotely from said frame members and said second means be located adjacent to and generally beneath said frame members.