US2662702A - Reel arbor lock - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 159 1953 c. o. BRUr-:STLE

REEL. ARBOR LOCK Filed Dec;

3 Sheetsheet l PM@ @Mer Dec. 15, 17953 c. o. BRUESTLE REEL. ARBOR LOCK Filed Dec. 8, 1951 Dec- 15, 1953 c. o. BRUESTLE REEL. ARBOR LOCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 8, 1951 Ma 9PM@ areggenerally tragic.

Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STAT ES PAT E NT O FFI'CE4 REELARBOR LOCK Carl 0. Bruestle, Metuclien, N. J., assgnor to Syncro Machine Company, Perth Amboy, N I J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 8, 1951, SerialNo. 260,731.

1 Claim.

'Ihis invention relates to a mechanism for locking a reel of material in a strand handling machine.

In various kinds of operations involving Wire handling, either the winding or twisting thereof; reels of wire must be assembled in a cradle and held in position whilerit. is fed 01T at therate demanded by the particular operation being performed. In general, a strand or wire handling machinel will include a cradle or cradlesy means forfeedingthe wire'from reels heldin the cradles, guides, driving mechanism and a delivery capstan for taking thecompletedproduct. If the machine ,is a high-speed one, the problem of mounting. the wire reelrbecomes a difcult one, for

.thesafety of the r operator must be kept` paramount.

Where high-speed, stranding machines employ reels of Wire whichr aremounted in cradles, lockingmechanismsfhave.been provided which correspond approximately to a lsliding bolt which `is slipped acrossinto. an opening for the reel arbor. Where reliance must be placed upon a human operatortoperform arelatively complicated lockingoperation, failure is bound to occurrand, with i the high-speed machines, results It isaccordingly a fundamental object of the instant invention to provide alockinglstructurefor a `reel .which can be com- `pletely operated from one side of the machine and which has the furthervirtue of .being simple in its operation.

ItA is a second object ofthe inventionto pro- .v-idea reel yarbore-loci: combination for use with the cradle; of a stranding machine which will revduce .the .locking operationto alsingle simple movement on the part ofthe operator.

VOther objects andadvantages of the invention willin, part be-.obviousand intvpart will appear hereinafter.

The inventionlis accordingly embodied in an arborlo'ck structure Whereinithe ends. of a stationary center arbor, which, used in carrying the reel structure are llattened at faces which are perpendicularto opposite ends of 1a diameter, the. flatfaces on each of 'thetwo vends of the .center arbor shaftbeing.V substantially aligned. 'Thastructureffurther calls'for having a key slot formed in the center support for the reel, so that a reel carried by the centerl arborshaft may have its. flattened endsalignedwith 'the opening of the Thus the invention eomprisesa cradle carrying a reel supporting structure in combination with a center arbor shaft, the cradle` having formed therein the necessary'key-slot to receive the center arbor shaft, the structure havingthe features of construction; combinations of elements and arrangements of parts hereinafter to be described in further detail.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevatQnofa Ycradle showing a center support lcarrying alocking mechanism, a brake drum andLawire'reel;

Figure 2 is a sectional view ofV the cradle on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 .showing the wire reel in position and the details'ofthe locking mechanism by taking a horizontal section at they diameter of the Wire reel;

Figure 3 is a detailed view ofthe Tesection end of the center arbor shaft, Athe section being taken at the face of the center supportof the cradle;

Figure 4 is a detailed side elevation of the opposite end of the centerarbor shaft;

Figure 5 illustratesa variation'of the arbor and key-slot;

Figure 6 is a plan view yofja modied type of cradle and accompanying arbor Vemploying the Jiueel lock in accordance withthelinstant invenlon;

Figure 7 is a sideviewl of fthe reel arbor lock of Fig. 6 showing the slottedikeyl opening and brakes for the reel;

Figure 8 is a plan vview zolthe arbor itself and, accompanying Figures 9 and 1,0.are fendyievvs, respectively,. of the arbor shown in Figure 8.

Referring now toFigure .1, lrepresents the center support of the-cradleand Il `and I2 areIV side extensions thereof which are integrallyY joined to the center support to provide means for mounting the brake drum which comprises .a spring mounted belt l3'p1'l11f16dl'to.theextensions` at I4 and i5. The details .ofthe braking mechanism are essentially conventional, and constitute no part ofthe instant invention.

In Figure 2, the remaining Adetails. of thestructure may be seen andthere. the oppositegend ofv the reel may be seen carried inthe center support l0.

In Figure 2, 20 representsuareel,which ina common case will be a coilofiwire, mountedon the arbor carrying an antifriction rotating sleeve 2|. 'I'he whole structure is carriedby the stationarycenter arborfshaft 22through the *needle bearings 23 Yand 24. Inl assembly'. thel reel is slipped in place withltheY,adjacent brake drum I8 and its collar 25 fastened to the rotating sleeve. The reel itself drives the brake drum through pin 21. At the other end of the shaft collar 28 is mounted for adjusting the width of the reel to the length of the arbor. Washer 29 operates as a flange and is press fitted on the arbor to prevent lateral displacement of the arbor during operation of the machine.

The safety lock mechanism by which the rotating reel is held in place consists of the center support I having a key opening 30 formed therein, the opening being characterized by essentially a circular form in its innermost section, the approach in to the circular section being straightsided and of a width less than a diameter of the circular opening. In effect, the outline of the opening for the reception of the center arbor shaft then becomes approximately like that of a keyhole.

The center arbor shaft, to take advantage of the keyhole, has pinned on the end thereof a T-piece 3i which has a cross-section at the plane of center support Ill like that shown in Figure 3 and is definable as essentially circular with a pair of diametrically opposed flat sections thereon. The T-piece is formed to t the key opening in the center support, the distance between the flat portions on the T-piece being such that it will t between the flats of the key opening on the center support. Correspondingly, the circular section of the T-piece is of a diameter matching the diameter of the circular portion of the key opening. At one side of the T-piece there is formed an opening 32 for the entry of locking pin 33 which is Spring mounted by means of tension member 34 at 35 on the center support.

As shown in Figure 4, at the opposite end of the center arbor shaft, it carries a collar 31 pinned thereto which is flattened at points corresponding to the flats on the T-piece. Similarly, the key opening for receiving the center arbor shaft at this end of the cradle is that of a lock having a narrowed entrance which enlarges to a circle matching the diameter of the end collar on the center arbor shaft.

It will be evident from a consideration of Figures 3 and 4 that the same effect may be achieved by flattening the arbor shaft at one side, or by using a curved approach to the opening as shown in Figure 5, wherein 40 represents a shaft with only a single flat area to enter the narrowed opening 4l.

The assembly of the apparatus and locking of a reel in place is relatively simple, for the two correspondingly oriented key openings forming the lock in the two ends of the center support are oriented in the same Way. The center arbor shaft having correspondingly oriented flats on each end and carrying the antifriction mounted rotating sleeve, is slipped through a reel and the whole is lowered into place. The center arbor shaft is oriented so that the fiat faces at either end thereof slide through the narrow approaches of the lock openings at each center support and, when the center arbor shaft touches the bottom of the lock opening at each end, it is turned 90 whereupon it becomes locked in position, for the full diameter of the shaft then faces the narrow approach into the lock opening. The T-piece is locked in place by permitting the spring mounted pin 33 to slide into the hole 32 in the cross-piece of the T.

When assembled, it will be seen, with the reel .effectively locked in place, that high speed operation can follow and the relatively light locking mechanism is adequate to hold the reel safely in place, for to cause the reel to be displaced from its support, it would be necessary for the diameter of the center arbor shaft to shear out a section of metal corresponding to that intercepted by the full section of the circular part of the T- piece. The reel arbor is locked against lateral displacement between washer 29 and T-piece 3l fitted thereto.

A simpler modified embodiment of the cradle may be seen by referring back to Figure 6, Where 60 indicates the cradle body itself and the supports therefor, and El the reel arbor which is mounted in the cradle. The structure of the key openings and the ends of the arbor corresponds to that shown in connection with Figure 1, the principal difference in the instant case being that the arbor does not carry a sleeve with bearing in it, and the reel is mounted directly on the arbor. Accordingly, in the figure the arbor 6| has flats 62 and 63 (Fig. 9) on one end thereof to fit into the key opening, and at the opposite end thereof it is formed with a shoulder 6e onto which a washer 55 is press fitted to abut against the larger diameter of the arbor. Flats 66 and 61 are formed into the T-piece 68, pinned to the arbor, at this end so that it may t the key opening 69 as indicated in Figure 7.

T-piece 68 is pinned onto the arbor at this end. The horizontal portion of the T-piece carries openings 'itl into which the spring-mounted pin 'H may t when it is locked into position. The pin is carried by tension member 12 mounted at '13. The remainder of the structure of the cradle shows an alternative to the brake drum shown in Figures 1 and 2. Thus the cradle has mounted at one end thereof a pair of blocks 8| and 82 which carry spring pivoted shoes 33 and 84 thereon to bear against the circumference of the reel in order to keep it down to the speed demanded by the wire being fed out and thereby avoid throwing a loop.

In Figure '7 the side elevation of the cradle shows clearly the key opening which comprises essentially a circular opening for the arbor having a. narrow approach thereto into which the arbor carrying the T-piece is tted. In Figs. 8 to 10 the construction of the arbor is shown more clearly and there the arbor 6| is shown with the flats 62 and 63 formed on one end and the T- piece 68 fitted on the other holding the Washer 65 against abutting shoulder 64 on the arbor. The flats formed into the vertical section of the T-piece permit the arbor to enter the key opening so that when a reel is loaded in the machine the arbor as shown in Figure 8 is slipped into place and the T-piece ts directly over the support and into the key opening and is locked into place at that point. The construction of the T and the adjoining washer is such that the arbor is locked against movement out of the key opening either vertically or in the horizontal direction.

The relationship of the cradle to the tubular body 9i) of the stranding machine is indicated by the dotted line in Figure 2 and in Figure 6.

Having described the invention in only a limited number of embodiments it is understood that variations in details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

In a stranding machine, structure for locking a reel in place comprising, in combination, supports for a reel, horizontally aligned key openings in said supports, each opening being characterized by having a circular load bearing section and a narrowed entry section, a center arbor shaft spanning said supports, said shaft having at the ends thereof flattened sections to permit it to be fitted into said key openings, said shaft carrying at one end thereof a T-forrn ange joined thereto, the cross arm of said T being oriented parallel with said flattened sections on the end of said shaft, said Iiange having means thereon for receiving locking means for holding said shaft in a fixed position and an additional fiange on said shaft adjacent to said flattened sections and perpendicular to the axis of said shaft thereby with said T defining two faces in xed spaced relation.

CARL O. BRUESTLE.

References Cited in the ie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,403,123 Leedy Jan. 10, 1922 1,615,149 Trebes Jan. 18, 1927 1,855,877 Blood et a1 Apr. 26, 1932

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