US2675187A - Dispenser for binder strap - Google Patents

Description

April 13, 1954 w. c. CHILDRESS DISPENSER FOR BINDER STRAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 9 1951 ,2 agm S April 13, 1954 wt. CHILDRESS 2,675,187

- DISPENSER FDRBINDER STRAP Filed Feb. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 13, 1954 2,675,187 DISPENSER FOR BINDER STRAP William C. Childress,

111., a corporation of Oak Park, Ill., assignor to Signode Steel Strapping Company,

Delaware Chicago,

Application February 9, 1951, Serial No. 210,181

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to dispensers for binder strap, wire and similar material, and particularly those of the reel type which have Steel strapping material, wire or the like, is normally supplied in a coil which is placed upon a reel and then pulled from the reel as needed. There is, of course, considerable rotational inertia in the reel and coil system such that if the end of the strapping is pulled sharply outwardly the reel will continue to turn and may cause some tangling on the reel. Also, for some applications it is desirable to have the reel turned directly by a power means such as an electric or compressed air motor, for instance, so as to speed up the operation and reduce the work to be performed by the operator, but this of course will cause tangling unless special means are used to prevent it.

In view of the above, it is one of the objects of the present inventionto provide a novel dispensing reel assembly which will dispense continuous material such as strap when needed undr sufficient control to prevent there being any possibility of the material tangling upon the reel. Yet another object is to accomplish the above in an extremely simple and reliable fashion.

Still another object is to accomplish the above by mechanism which does not add appreciably not wear rapidly.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide an improved dispensing reel assembly which is well adapted for either manual or power operation without extensive changes.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of my invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, in which similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a front view of a strap dispensing and cut-oif assembly constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front end view thereof with a portion of the reel and associated mechanism broken away so as better to disclose the structure;

view of a subassembly which is a portion of the mechanism used for keeping the strapping tightly coiled upon the reel; and

. Fig. 4 is a side view of the subassembly shown in Fig. 3. i

By referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that a reel, indicated generally by the numeral I 0 is mounted upon a horizontal axle which is supported upon a pedestal i2 fixed to a base I 4. The base can be a. frame of any suitable type or simply a flat steel plate as shown. The pedestal I 2 consists of a steel tube welded to the base M and of appropriate height. Near its upper end the pedestal is drilled transversely and a round rod I6 is inserted at one end and welded in place so as to form a horizontal axle for the reel I 0 with this axle: extending transversely of the base I 4.

A steel sleeve l8 internally fitted with a bearing bushing 20 rotates upon the axle it and carries a V-belt pulley 22 driven by a belt 2-; which leads to a prime mover 26 mounted upon the base M. The prime mover shown is a compressed air motor but an electric motor may be substituted if desired.

An inner disc shaped reel flange 28 is secured at its center to a steel sleeve 30 fitted over a bushing 32 of bearing metal which is jo'urnaled to rotate upon the axle HS in a position outward of the pulley bushing 20. This sleeve 30 is retained against endwise outward movement by a snap ring 33 fitted to a circumferential groove in the outer end of the axle I6. The sleeve 30 has several circumferential grooves 34 cut therein, three being shown, which, as will be explained presently, adapt the reel to take coils of strapping of different width.

A plurality of horizontal pins 35 direction over these pins. The pins are welded to the surface of the rear reel plate 28 and extend therethrough and are secured at their opposite ends by nuts 38 to the pulley 22 so that as the pulley is rotated, the reel plate 28 and pins 36 rotate therewith.

The front reel plate indicated by the numeral 40 is formed as a steel disc having the same diameter as the rear plate 2-8 with a circular opening at the center large enough to slide over the sleeve 30 in an endwise direction. This front plate also has a plurality of holes 42 spaced about or bolt lit located just opening through the front plate Hi. At the opyvardly and swinging the pivoted at approximately its midpoint to a pin to one side of the central posite side of this opening a headed pin 48 is also secured to the front reel disc l and this end of the latching lever 44 is formed to have an arcuate contour as indicated at 50, the radius of this arc being approximately the distance between the" pivot pin it and the portion of the headed pin 48 beneath its shoulder. The latching lever 44, therefore, can be swung from side to side about the pin 46 and will beheld' in face to-face contact with the front plate all by the heads on the pivot pin 46 and'the pin 53'.

At the end remote from the reel, the lever 44 is provided with a handle 52 which is used to swing the lever. iromisidetoi side. This handle is attached to a pin Erlwhich passes through a sleeve 56 welded to the end of the lever 44 and at its extreme inner end has a detent extension 58 whichprojects into either of two holes 60 formed in the face of the front plate 40; The pin 54 also" is provided with a portion 62 of larger diameter fitted to the sleeve 56 which bears against one end of a coil spring 64', the opposite end of which bears against a shoulder at'the outward'end o-f the tblbular'sleeve 56. The portion of the latching lever A l in alignment with'the sleeve-3a is cut away to provide-an arcuate slot fifi one end of which is slightly larger than the outsidediameter of'the sleeve while the opposite end has a'width about equal-to the diameter 01 the sleeveat" the bottoms-of the circumferential grooves 34. length and-is-so orientedthat when thehandle 52 is pulled outwardly against the-pressure of the spring 64" so as to release thed'etent '3 and is then swung 'so that the detent snaps into the hole 60 in one'direction, the large end ofthe slot 55 will be in alignment with the central opening through the front plate 40"; thereby permitting thefront plate to be moved on or 01? the sleeve 36. The front'plate 40 can bepushed'over thesleeve 3i) and'latched in place by pulling the'kn'ob' 52 out-- lever Mi so thatthe detent 58' snaps into the otherhol'e 5'8 with the lever caught in any one'of'thethree grooves 3 1'; If'desired of course more or less grooves H can be": provided: so as to. fit the thicknesses of the coils :of strapping material normally intended to 1 be'use'd with the. device. In order'to insurethecover plate 40 beinglatched'in the proper position; and'to give additional stiffness-towns assembly; it is worthwhile to: provide a group oi These sleeves V have aninternal. diameter: such that they slide" easily'over thesleeve 3.8; and have a? length suchspacing sleeves indicated at 68.

that one; two' on all three" are. usedi depending upon which of the circumferential gro'ovesttt' is to:

be used inlatching the. cover plate as r in place:

As'shown in'Fig. lthelcoilzof strappingmaterialindicated'at H3 is normallyplaced';uponthe reel with the free end=passing outwardly'tothe right. from. the bottomof: the coil. It passes: between apairof. vertical: bracket side plates '12: M and spaced apart.

secured to the base plate a distance sufficientto" accommodate the frame shown in Fig. 3;

In Fig. 3 I haveshown a rectangular frame which is constructedof. side; top and bottom members notched: and

indicatedby-the numeral'l t :weldedtogether at; their ends. toiprovide a. rigid structure. An. axle. member it passes through: theframe at approximately. itsmidpoint and hasan extension. at. each. side which also passes the axis of rotation .of

T position abovethe rollers through openings in the bracket plate 12, the axle I6 being retained in place in the brackets by means of cotter pins passed through holes 18 at the ends of the axle. The frame 14 is, therefore, fixed in place in the bracket 12 but can rock about the axle 16. Within the frame the axle carries one or more, three being shown, rollers; preferably formedlofi rubber or the like; which are fitted at their centers to bearing sleeves 82 which turn upon the axle 16. The group of three rollers is, in the example shown, spacedifrommhe inner faces of the side members of the frame 14 by washers 84. A similar set of rollers fit is nrounte'd upon a short axle 88 in a 80, with the axle 8B extending'through openings 89 at the sides of the.-frame.14-.. These openings are of consider ably larger diameter than the axle 88 so that the-rolls-BB are free to rotate and also to mov e upwardly and downwardly to a limited extent relative-to the frame". L4:v mthirdesetaof rollers 9%: are. similarly; mounted. uporrv am axle 91 passing: through; large diameter: holes; are in; the frame: 14 .1112 position: below the centrally dis:- posed: rollersc:.-. i-

The two.- outward sets of; rollers: are Kept? in contact. with-the :centrakgroup means of a pair ofcoil springs 94'; the-upper ends: of which: are hooked into i grooves- Q's-formed .aroundatheeupper shaft 88=whilethein lower ends arecormect'edto adj ustment screws 9.8: which pass: through trans.- verse' openings" near the ends oi. the lowter. axle 92-. The lower endsofe thesezscrewsare. fitted with nuts I 00' which canrbe'turned: toimovez the screws 98rupwardlyor downwardly so as tocvaryt the tensioninithe springs'zfl and, therefore; the pressure with. which; themuter setof: rollsare brought against-thecentral set. Itiwillb.e:seen further that this arrangement; automatically compensates for wear upon the rOllsin-thatthey are. gradually moved;- t0W&lld{'8&Chlothen as, the surface iserodedaway.

Whenthe frame. M -r is in: an approximately vertical 1 position: the. upper rolls 8.6. bean against the rims of the steel. discs zthandr Ail-which. com:- prise the reel facesa Asrthe reel. rotates;.there.-- f ore; the :rollers 86 will also be rotated-since X they are. swung into contact. with. the reel edges; by acoil spring lflz hooked. throu h. any of several holes [04. at thelower edge on a downwardly, ex-.-- tending. tab lzfliweldedltothalcwer member ot the frame M. The opposite end of, this spring is .attachedto .a .fitting. I06. positionedto the right oftheirameflllh Inasmuchlasthe setsof 11311585, 8 ll. and .90 1 are. inucontact with. eachother in =1 that order, rotation. of. the. rolls 85. will. drive .the rolls 8!) whichin-turn rotate therollssfl. P

Thelend of thestrapping. Hi-is passedfromlthe coilupon the. reelto the right.and-betweentthe intermediate. roll. 8.0.. andthellowerroll .90 and is held firmly between these pincnrolls ibecause-of the tension. inthe springs 941. Now. if. it-islase sumed that the end of the strapping isgrasped by. anoperator andpulled. outwardly, it will=;be seen that. the..reel. l0 willbecaused:torotate, It. is also apparent that since the .Outer. diameter. of, the. reel side; plates. 28. andjliiisilarger thanithe outer. diameter. of. the. coil. of. strapping. material, 10, theperipheral; velocity. of the. reeli-rimiwill-be. greater. than the. velocity. of movement. of the strapl'fl. being. payed from-.thereela Also, since. the. peripheral; velocity, assumin no slip of. the? three rolls 86, 80 and is the same asethattofi the .outer rim oil. the reel; I m-ittbeoomeaappanent -1 that the pinch rolls 80 and 90 whichgrigithe strapping tend to pull the strapping outwardly faster than it leaves the reel Ill. The result is that th portion of the strapping between the pinch rolls 8i? and Bil and the reel will be under some tension. As this tension assumes a value greater than the force in the opposite direction produced by the spring E32, the lower end of the frame will move slightly to the left thereby reducing the friction between the roll ill; and the rims of the reel Ill. ihe reel, therefore, slips relative to the roll 86 but does so under conditions which do not produce any considerable degree of wear either upon the rims of the reel Ill or the rolls 86. Conversely, any tendency for the tension in the portion of the strap between the pinch rolls 8H and Si? and the reel Ill to become less, results in the driving roll at being urged more tightly against the reel rim If: thereby increasing the velocity of movement of the strapping between the rolls 80 and 9G with the result that the slack is quickly taken up.

If it is assumed that the dispenser is powerdriven as by the motor 26, the same action takes place because any movement of the reel i!) tendingto pay out strap will be accompanied by rotation of the rolls 86 with the result that the velocity of movement of the strapping between the rolls 8d and 85 tends to be greater than that at which the reel can feed it until the tension in the portion of the and all and the reel assumes a Value suiiicient to tilt the frame M and reduce the frictional drivin contact between the rolls Bil and the rims of the reel I 0.

Although it forms no part of the present invention and, therefore, needs no specific discussion, it is a convenience if the strapping passes from the pinch rolls Bil and 98, between a pair of angularly disposed guide plates I08, and then between cutter blades Ilil. One of these cutting blades is fixed in a position above the plane of the strapping while the lower blade H9 is movable from beneath the strapping into a position overlapping the upper cutter blade I Iii so as to sever the strap. The lower blade III] is moved upwardly in tracks by a transversely disposed rocking member I I 2, the outer end of which is secured to an upwardly extending lever II :2. It is pivoted at a midpoint to a bolt I I which passes through cross plates Mil attached to the side bracket plates 12, and at its inner end bears against the upper edge of a second rockin arm I20. This arm is pivoted at I22 with its opposite end bearing against a roller I24 which operates a valve mechanism I25 connected to deliver air to the compressed air motor 25. The linkage is such that when the upper end of the lever lid is moved inwardly slightly by the operator, the air valve will open to deliver compressed air to the motor 2E5 thereby driving the reel I ii and dispensing the strapping. When the lever is in a neutral position the machine is at rest, whereas when the lever is pulled outwardly the strapping will be cut off. thereby preparing the device to deliver an additional length of strapping.

From the above description of a preferred embodiment of my invention it will be seen that strapping can be dispensed under power from a reel while under complete control and without appreciable wear upon the mechanism by an arrangement which can be provided at extremely low cost. It is further apparent that the iden tical arrangement can also be used if the device is of the type in which strappin is pulled out by hand, or in which the reel is rotated by hand to strapping between the rolls 8d 6 push out the strapping, since the machine shown is adapted for this mode of operation if the belt in is simply removed from the pulley 22. Of course, as a matter of fact, if the machine is intended for manual operation solely, certain of the parts shown obviously may be omitted from the structure.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that numerous variations and modifications thereof may be made without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. I, therefore, desire, by the following claims, to include within the scope of the invention all such variations and modifications by which substantially the results of my invention may be obtained through the use of substantially the same or equivalent means.

I claim:

1. In a device for feeding continuous material from a coil, a rotatable reel to hold said coil, a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for gripping said material between them and paying out said material as said rolls rotate, a rotatable drive member connected for driving said rolls, means mounting said drive member, pivot means mounting said mounting means for swinging said drive member into frictional engagement with said reel and away therefrom, resilient means connected to urge said drive member into engagement with said reel, said drive member when in engagement with said reel tending to drive said pinch rolls at a higher peripheral velocity than said coil so as to develop tension in the portion of said material between said pinch rolls and said coil, and said pivot means being so located that said tension opposes said resilient means and tends to move said drive member away from said reel to cause slip between said drive member and said reel to reduce the drive to said pinch rolls.

2. In a device for feeding continuous material from a coil, a rotatable reel to hold said coil, a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for gripping said material between them and paying out said material as said rolls rotate, a rotatable drive member connected for driving said rolls, means mounting said drive member, means including a pivot mounting said last named means for swinging said drive member into frictional engagement with said reel and away therefrom, resilient means connected to urge said drive member into engagement with said reel, said drive member when in engagement with said reel tending to drive said pinch rolls at a higher peripheral velocity than said coil so as to develop tension in the portion of said material between said pinch rolls and said coil, said pivot being so located that said tension opposes said resilient means and tends to move said drive member away from said reel to cause slip between said drive member and said reel to reduce the drive to said pinch rolls, and power means for rotating said reel.

3. In a device for feeding continuous material from a coil, a rotatable reel to hold said coil, a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for gripping said ma terial between them and paying out said material as said rolls rotate, a rotatable drive member connected for driving said rolls, a frame for journaling said rolls and said drive member, means mounting said frame for pivoting movement to swing said drive member into frictional engagement with said reel and away therefrom, resilient means connected to urge said frame in one direction to bring said drive member into engagement with said reel, said drive member when in engagement: with; said reel tending, todrive; said; pinch-rolls atia higher. peripheral velocity than said coil so as to develop, tension in the portion.

ofsaid: material. between said. pinch rolls and said'coil, and said pivot means being located on: said-framebetween the point of contact onsaid rive member with said reel and the-point of: tangency of said pinch rolls with. saidmaterial s= that said tension: on said pinch rolls tends to swing saidframe in the other direction-away fromsaid reel to. cause'slip between-said drive: memberandsaid reel-toreducethe drive-to said pinch rolls. 7

4; In a device-for feeding'continuous material from a coil, a rotatable reel tohold said: coil, a; pair of" rotatable-pinch: rolls for gripping saidmateriaLbetween themand paying: out saidma-' terial as said rolls rotate, a rotatable drive-member connected for driving said rolls, means mountingsaid drive member andsaid pinch rolls, means including a .pivotmounting said last named means for.- swinging; said drive-member toward and into frictional engagement-' w-ith said reel and away therefrom, saidmounting means moving saidpinch rolls away. from said reel when said drivemember is moved towardsaid reel, resilientmeans connected to urge said drive member into engagement with. said reel and said pinchrolls away from said reel, said drive member when in en gagement with said reel tending to drive said pinch rollsata higher peripheral velocity than. said, coil: so i as to develop tens-ion in. the portion of saidmaterial-between said-pinch rolls and said coil,.and said pivotibeingso located that saiditenesion; opposes said. resilient. means and tends to move said pinch rolls toward-said reel and said drive member away from said reel to cause slip between saiddrive-member and said reel to reduce the drive to-said pinch rollsd 5: Ina device for feeding; continuous materialfrom. a coil;,a rotatable reel to holdsaid coil; a pairof rotatable-pinch: rolls for gripping said material between them andipaying out said material assaidirolls rotate, a friction drive memberconnected when in-a certain position to drive said rolls from said reel, means mounting said/ drive member; means including ,a1pivot'mounting;

- drive member into said-certain position, said drive member when in saidcertain position tending to drive said-pinchrolls'at ahigher peripheral veloc--- ity than said coil-so' as to develop tension.- in the": portion of said material betweenzsaid pinchirolls: and saidcoil, and said pivot being so located that. said tension opposes said resilient means and: tends-to movesaiddrive member away from=said certain position i to cause slip between said: drive. member and said reelto reduce the drive'to said pinch irolls.

In a device for feeding.continuousmaterialr from. a coil, a rotatable-reeltoholdsaid=coil,,a pair of rotatable pinch rolls for'gripping said; material: between. them and paying out. said.- ma. terial'. assaid rollsrotate, adrive member l'Oe tatably mounted'onan axis other than-theaxes: of saidpinch-rolls, a frame mounting said pinch rolls and said drive member, means pivotally mounting said frame on an axis of rotation. of one of, said pinch. rollsfor swinging said drive member intofrictional engagement. with: saids reel. and away therefrom, resilientmeans con-- nected to saidframe'to swing said drive member into engagement with said reel, said drive mem-- ber when in engagement with said reel tending. to drive said. pinch rollsat a higher peripheral velocity thansaid coil so as to develop a. tension inthe portion of. said material between'saidpinch rolls and said coil, and said tension opposing. said:

- resilient meansand-tending to-swing saiddrive member away from. said ree1 to. causeslip-be tween said drive member and .saidreel to reduce the drive to said pinchrolls.

References Cited in the file of this. patent UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 1',563;3'82' Legg Dec. 1, 1925 1,867,596 Roseman July 19?, I932 2,506,354 Green May z, 1950

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