EP1118571A2

EP1118571A2 - A reel for electrical wire with container

Info

Publication number: EP1118571A2
Application number: EP00830798A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefano Messi
Original assignee: Messi E Paoloni- Srl
Current assignee: Messi E Paoloni- Srl
Priority date: 2000-01-21
Filing date: 2000-12-01
Publication date: 2001-07-25
Also published as: SM200000008B; EP1118571A3; SM200000008A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a reel for skeins of electrical wires or similar items with container, made up of two identical half shells placed one on top of the other and hinged, whose longitudinal matching edges feature semicircular support cradles for the rotation pins of the reel housed inside the container.

Description

The present patent application for utility model relates to a reel for skeins of electrical wires and similar items with container.
Hard containers designed to house a skein of electrical wire wound around a reel are currently known on the market. In this type of containers, the reel remains inside also when the wire is used and until the wire is completely used up.
These containers are internally provided with support housings for the reel and with a slot for the wire. The operator can easily pull from the outside a section of wire with the desired length without opening the container, simply grabbing and pulling the end of the wire that comes out of the slot. The skein inside the container is gradually unwound in a regular, ordered way, since the support housings of the reel permit and guide the rotation of the reel around its axis.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide for a new model of reels for skeins of electrical wires and similar items with container, characterised by higher functionality and easiness of use with respect to the known models.
The reel according to the present invention is made up of an opposite pair of identical half reels tightened by means of a central through screw, each of them provided with an external pin and an internal half hub. The container is made up of a superimposed pair of identical half shells, whose longitudinal matching edges feature semicircular notches designed to act as housing cradles for the pins of the reel contained in the container.
The structural configuration of the model according to the present invention and its advantages in terms of easiness of use and functionality shall become more evident from the description below, with reference to the enclosed drawings, which are intended for purposes of illustration and not in a limiting sense, whereby:

Figs. 1 and 2 are a front and rear view, respectively, of the container housing the reel according to the present invention;
Figs. 3 and 4 are a front and rear view, respectively, of the half shell used to create the container housing the reel according to the present invention.;
Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a constructive detail of the half shell;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-section of a constructive detail of the half shell;
Fig. 7 shows the reel according to the present invention;
Fig. 8 is an exploded drawing showing all the components of the reel according to the present invention.

With reference to the above figures, the reel (1) is made up of an opposite pair of identical half reels (1a) obtained in one piece with plastic moulded material, each of them comprising a hollow half hub (2) protruding from the internal side of an annular flange (3), from which a hollow pin (4) slightly protrudes, which in turn protrudes from the bottom wall (5) of the hollow half hub (2).
The external end of the hollow pin (4) is closed by a wall (6), which centrally features an hexagonal lowered seat (7) obtained during moulding, in which a tubular element (8) axially extending inside the hollow pin (4) ends.
An alternate series of pins (9) and holes (10) capable of being reciprocally matched is obtained during moulding on the bottom wall (5) of the hollow half hub (2), in order to facilitate the centred coupling between the two half reels (1a).
The centring is necessary because each half hub (2) externally features a regularly spaced series of ribs (11) that must be exactly aligned with the corresponding ribs of the other half hub.
The firm coupling of the two half reels (1a) engaged one against the other is obtained by means of a special screw (12) inserted into the tubular elements (8), which is made up of a partially threaded metal stem (12a), whose unthreaded end is inserted into a plastic knob (12b), which internally features a central collar (12c) with hexagonal profile, capable of being exactly housed inside the corresponding seat (7) of the hollow pins (4).
The nut (13) of the special fixing screw (12) is inserted into a plastic knob (13b), which internally features a central collar (13c) with circular profile, designed to house and freely turn inside the seat (7) of the hollow pins (4) when tightening the half reels.
It must be noted that the prismatic coupling between the hexagonal collar (12c) and the corresponding seat (7) of the hollow pins (4) allows to drag the reel (1) into rotation by grabbing the knob (12b), in order to wind or unwind the skein of electrical wires as needed. However, the skein can be simply unwound by pulling the end of the skein from the outside of the container that holds the reel (1).
On the other hand, the screw (12) can be easily screwed into the nut (13) to tighten the two half reels (1a) by holding the knob (12b) still and turning the knob (13b).
Moreover, the hollow pins (4) can be used as solid grip of the two half reels (1a) when the wire skeins are loaded inside them. In this case, the skein is first inserted in the half hub (2) of a half reel (1a) and then the half hub (2) of the other half reel (1a) is inserted therein, finally tightening the second half reel against the first half reel by means of the screw (12).
The reel (1) according to the present invention is housed in a container (14) made up of a superimposed pair of identical parallelepiped half shells (14a) made of moulded plastic material, whose longitudinal matching edges (15) centrally feature semicircular notches (16) designed to act as housing cradles for the pins (4) of the reel (1).
On one (17) of its transversal matching edges, each half shell (14a) features hinging means consisting in a parallel pair of forks (18a) and a parallel aligned pair of pins (18b), capable of being coupled with little pressure.
More precisely, the pair of pins (18b) of a half shell (14a) is forced into the bottom of the pair of forks (18a) of the other half shell (14a) and vice versa.
On the other transversal matching edge (19), each half shell (14a) features closing means consisting in an external element (20) that perfectly aligns with the identical element (20) of the other half shell (14a) when the container (14) is closed.
With particular reference to Figs. 5 and 6, each element (20) consists in a rail with "T-shaped" transversal cross-section, capable of acting as connection and guide for a cursor (21), consisting in a rectangular plate with double length compared to the element (20) and featuring a longitudinal groove (21a) on its internal side with "T-shaped" cross-section capable of coupling with both elements (20).
The groove (21a) is closed at one end in order to stop the cursor (21) when the cursor (21) is pushed forward until completely incorporating both elements (20), whose automatic alignment is obtained automatically by closing the container (14).
The open end of the groove (21a) is provided with a tooth (21b) that precludes the complete unthreading of the cursor (21) from one of the elements (20), while at the same time stopping the cursor (21) when dragged backwards until it is completely unthreaded from one of the elements (20) in order to open the container (14).
The elements (20) feature an ending notch (20a) in which the tooth (21b) engages at the end of its backward movement, as shown in Fig. 6. The elements (20) also feature a shaped profile with double inclined plane (20b) that interferes with the tooth (21b) in order to act as clutch for the movements of the cursor (21). As a matter of fact, the cursor (21) only moves with pressure, in order to guarantee a firm stop of the cursor (21) in the two ending positions.
On the other hand, to prevent the transversal mutual sliding of the two half shells (14a) when the container (14) is closed, the transversal edge (19) of each half shell (14a) features a fork (22) and a rib (23) capable of being matched.
In particular, the rib (23) of a half shell (14a) is exactly inserted in the fork (22) of the other half shell (14a) and vice versa when the container (14) is closed.
The transversal walls of the half shells (14a) feature large openings (24) for the end of the wire skein contained inside the half shells (14a). On the bottom walls of the half shells (14a) a holding handle (25), two close slots (26) used to hold a strap and four small collars (27) used to house four rubber caps that act as anti-slip support feet for the container (14) are obtained in one piece during moulding.
Finally, it must be noted that, once the screw (12) has been tightened, the dimensions of the hollow pins (4) and the screw (12) allow the knobs (12b and 13b) to touch the external surface of the half shells (14a), with higher or lower degree of friction according to the tightening of the screw (12). The friction prevents the free rotation of the reel (1) inside the container (14). At the same time, being engaged against the walls of the half shells (1a), the knobs (12b and 13b) preclude the divarication of the walls under the weight of the reel (1), which would cause the exit of the pins (4) from the housing cradles (16) and the loss of support during the rotation of the reel (1).
In conclusion, the economical convenience of the reel with container according to the present invention must be stressed. Although the reel is made up of four pieces, the construction process will only require two moulds: the first mould to obtain a half reel (1a) and the second mould to obtain the half shell (14a).

Claims

A reel for skeins of electrical wires and similar items with container, in which the reel (1) is made up of an opposite pair of identical half reels (1a) obtained in one piece with plastic moulded material, each of them comprising a hollow half hub (2) protruding from the internal side of an annular flange (3), characterised in that each half reel (1a) has an hollow pin (4) slightly protruding from the flange (3), which is housed in corresponding support seats obtained in the container (14) of the reel (1), which is made up of a superimposed pair of identical parallelepiped half shells (14a) made of moulded plastic material, whose longitudinal matching edges (15) centrally feature semicircular notches (16) designed to act as housing cradles for the pins (4) of the reel (1); it being provided that the transversal walls of the half shells (14a) feature large openings (24).
A reel according to the previous claim, characterised in that each hollow pin (4) protrudes from the bottom wall (5) of the hollow half hub (2) and ends at one end with a wall (6), which centrally features an hexagonal lowered seat (7) obtained during moulding, in which a tubular element (8) axially extending inside the hollow pin (4) ends; it being provided that an alternate series of pins (9) and holes (10) capable of being reciprocally matched is obtained during moulding on the bottom wall (5) of the hollow half hub (2).
A reel according to the previous claim, characterised in that the two half reels (1a) are firmly coupled one against the other by means of a special screw (12) inserted into the tubular elements (8) and made up of a partially threaded metal stem (12a), whose unthreaded end is inserted into a plastic knob (12b), which internally features a central collar (12c) with hexagonal profile, capable of being exactly housed inside the corresponding seat (7) of the hollow pins (4), it being provided that the nut (13) of the special fixing screw (12) is inserted into a plastic knob (13b), which internally features a central collar (13c) with circular profile, designed to house and freely turn inside the seat (7) of the hollow pins (4).
A reel for skeins of electrical wires and similar items with container, according to claim 1, characterised in that on one (17) of its transversal matching edges each half shell (14a) features hinging means consisting in a parallel pair of forks (18a) and a parallel aligned pair of pins (18b), capable of being coupled with little pressure.
A reel for skeins of electrical wires with container, according to claim 1, characterised in that on the other transversal matching edge (19) each half shell (14a) features closing means consisting in an external element (20) that perfectly aligns with the identical element (20) of the other half shell when the container (14) is closed, it being provided that each element (20) consists in a rail with "T-shaped" transversal cross-section, capable of acting as connection and guide for a cursor (21), consisting in a rectangular plate with double length compared to the element (20) and featuring a longitudinal groove (21a) on its internal side with "T-shaped" cross-section capable of coupling with both elements (20); it being also provided that the groove (21a) has a closed end and an open end, the latter featuring a tooth (21b) that precludes the complete unthreading of the cursor (21) from one of the elements (20) and engages at the end of its movement with a notch (20a) obtained at one end of the elements (20); it being also provided that the elements (20) feature a shaped profile with double inclined plane (20b) that interferes with the tooth (21b) in order to act as clutch for the movements of the cursor (21).
A reel for skeins of electrical wires with container, according to claim 1, characterised in that the transversal edge (19) of each half shell (14a) features a fork (22) and a rib (23) capable of being matched.
A reel for skeins of electrical wires with container, according to claim 1, characterised in that the bottom walls of the half shells (14a) feature a holding handle (25) obtained in one piece with the half shells (14a) during moulding.
A reel for skeins of electrical wires with container, according to claim 1, characterised in that the bottom walls of the half shells (14a) feature two close slots (26) used to hold a strap and four small collars (27) used to house four rubber caps obtained in one piece during moulding.