Arrangement of elongated element on empty spool

Abstract

An arrangement of an elongated element wound on a spool is presented. The elongated element has a leading end having a bent part and an unbent part. The bent part further having a beginning part and a trailing end. The leading end is positioned on the core of the spool and the bent part deviates at least for a part from a winding direction. The elongated element further forms subsequent windings in the winding direction on the core. At least one of the subsequent windings is wound over the beginning part of the bent part while an adhesive is provided to fix the trailing end of the bent part on the core simultaneously thereby securing elongated element on the spool.

Claims

1. An arrangement of an elongated element wound on a spool generally in a winding direction, said elongated element having a leading end, said spool having a core, said leading end being positioned on said core, said leading end further comprising a bent part and an unbent part, at least said bent part deviating at least for a part from said winding direction, said bent part further comprising a beginning part and a trailing end, said beginning part being distinct from said trailing end, said elongated element further forming subsequent windings in said winding direction on said core, at least one of said subsequent windings being wound only over said beginning part, wherein said arrangement further comprises an adhesive, said adhesive fixing only said trailing end on said spool.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a distance between said adhesive and said at least one of said subsequent windings is at least ten times the diameter of said elongated element.

3. The arrangement according to claim 2, wherein said subsequent windings comprise a second winding, said second winding being also wound only over said beginning part.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive is a tape that is wound with one winding or revolution.

5. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive is a tape that is wound with two windings or revolutions.

6. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said bent part comprises a plastically deformed part.

7. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said bent part forms an angle with the winding direction windings, said angle ranging from 10 to 170.

8. The arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said bent part forms an angle with the winding direction windings, said angle ranging from 30 to 120.

9. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said elongated element is a metal elongated element.

10. The arrangement according to claim 9, wherein said metal elongated element is selected from the group consisting of a steel wire, a steel cord, a steel strand, and a steel rope.

11. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the elongated element has a diameter between 0.1 mm and 4.0 mm.

12. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the beginning part deviates from the winding direction in one direction towards one end of the spool and is bent in an opposite direction towards the other end of the spool towards the trailing end.

13. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of said subsequent windings is wound only over said beginning part on one part of the core, and said adhesive fixing only said trailing end on said spool is on a different part of the core.

14. A method of securing an elongated element to a spool where said elongated element is wound generally in a winding direction, said spool having a core, said method comprising the steps of: a. providing an elongated element with a leading end; b. forming a bent part and an unbent part in said leading end; c. positioning said leading end onto said core, said bent part deviating at least for a part from said winding direction; d. forming a first winding wound only on a beginning part of said bent part on said spool in said winding direction; and e. providing an adhesive only over a trailing end of said bent part.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein subsequent windings comprise a second winding and wherein said second winding is wound only over said beginning part.

16. The method according to claim 14, said method comprises a step of plastically deforming said bent part.

17. The method of according to claim 14, wherein said step of providing an adhesive is done without interrupting the formation of subsequent windings.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows an arrangement of a spool with a leading end of an elongated element;

(2) FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of a spool with an elongated element;

(3) FIG. 3a and FIG. 3b illustrate the working of a device used to create a bent part in an elongated element;

(4) FIG. 4 illustrates the transfer of an elongated to a spool;

(5) FIG. 5 shows a device to carry out the first and subsequent windings on a spool.

(6) FIG. 6 shows a first alternative arrangement of a spool with an elongated element.

(7) FIG. 7 shows a second alternative arrangement of a spool with an elongated element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) FIG. 1 illustrates a leading end of a steel wire 10 on a core 11 of a spool 12. The leading end has a bent part 14 and an unbent part 16. The bent part 14 further comprises a beginning part 14a and a trailing end 14b. The direction of winding the steel wire 10 on the spool is indicated by line 18 with long dashes. Line 18 is more or less parallel to the flanges of the spool. Line 18 deviates from a line or plane parallel to the flanges by a pitch of one or more steel wires so that subsequent windings may lie adjacent to one another at the same level or height. The bent part 14 is that part which deviates from the line formed by the unbent part 16. The unbent part 16 may or may not deviate somewhat from the winding direction 18. The most important feature, however, is that the bent part 14 deviates from the winding direction 18 by an angle . This angle may vary from a lower limit equal to about 10 to an upper limit equal to about 170. The extreme positions possibly taken by the bent part 14 are shown by short dashes.

(9) There may be various winding directions on one single arrangement. The heart of the invention, however, on one hand is that the bent part of the elongated element deviates from the winding direction of one or more of the subsequent windings, so that one or more of the subsequent windings go over the bent part and secure the elongated element to the spool; on the other hand, the bent part comprises a beginning part and a trailing end, the beginning part is separate from the trailing end, so that one or more of the subsequent windings are going over exactly on the beginning part of the bent part while an adhesive is provided to fix the trailing end of the same bent part separately. With both of the simultaneous securing arrangements, it is easy and effective to secure the elongated element to the spool.

(10) The reason for the bent part 14 making an angle with the winding direction 18 is explained in FIG. 2. The steel wire 10 is wound on spool 12 and is making a second winding 22, a third winding 23, a fourth winding 24, a fifth winding 25 and so on . . . . Preferably the second winding 22 is already going over the beginning part 14a of the bent part 14 to secure quickly the steel wire 10 on the spool 12. At the same time, an adhesive 26 is provided to make sure the trailing end 14b of the bent part 14 fixed quickly on the spool.

(11) The best range for the angle is from 60 to 120. The closer the angle to 90, the more likely one of the first subsequent windings goes over the beginning part 14a and secures the steel wire 10 to the spool 12.

(12) The bent part 14 may be made manually in the leading end of the steel wire 10. However, a preferable way is to automate the bending and the securing of the steel wire 10 to the spool.

(13) A possible and preferable tool to allow automation of the bending is illustrated in FIG. 3a and FIG. 3b.

(14) FIG. 3a illustrates the head 30 of gripper. Steel wire 10 is caught between two hard metal cheeks 32. A hard metal bending part 34 is positioned above the right cheek 32 and, when prompted thereto, is able to move to the left direction in a groove 36. The groove 36 is situated above the two cheeks 32 leaving a gap between the path of the metal bending part 34 and the cheeks 32 that is not much greater than the diameter of the steel wire 10.

(15) FIG. 3b illustrates the situation after bending. The metal bending part 34 has moved to the left and has bent the steel wire 10 over the left cheek 10. After releasing the steel wire 10, the bent part 14 may jump back to a certain degree depending upon the elasticity of the steel wire 10.

(16) The invention is in principle independent of the form of the cross-section of the elongated element and of the diameter of the elongated element. For steel wires, practical embodiments are round cross-sections and diameters ranging from 0.10 mm to 4.0 mm, e.g. from 0.50 mm to 3.0 mm.

(17) FIG. 4 illustrates schematically the situation just before securing the leading end of a steel wire 10 with a bent part 14 to a spool 12. This can be the case after another adjacent spool has been filled and after the steel wire has been cut. This transfer of a steel wire from one spool to another is disclosed in more detail in co-pending application PCT/EP2013/058013 filed on 17 Apr. 2013 and invoking the priority of EP121744962.6 filed on 4 Jul. 2012.

(18) Steel wire 10 is coming from an upstream installation, e.g. a wire lacquering installation or a metal plating installation. The steel wire 10 is guided over a pulley 40 and driven by a capstan 42 towards the spool 12. A gripper head 30 holds the leading end of the steel wire 10. The bent part 14 is the part of the steel wire 10 sticking out of the gripper head 30.

(19) FIG. 5 illustrates a way and a device to carry out the first and subsequent windings on a spool 12 and to secure the steel wire 10 to the spool 12. The gripper head 30 is connected to a support 50 via an axle 52 and an arm 54. The axle 52 is positioned in line with the rotation axis of the spool 12. The arm 54 is intended to bring the steel leading end of the steel wire 10 over the flange of the spool 12. Axle 52 is rotatable in the direction of arrow 56 in order to form a first and subsequent windings of the steel wire 10 on the core 18 of the spool 12. After the first subsequent windings have secured the steel wire 10 to the spool 12, the gripper releases the steel wire and moves away from the spool to allow the further winding of the steel wire 10.

(20) FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative arrangement of the fixing of the leading end of a steel wire to a spool 12. In this alternative embodiment the leading end has an unbent part 16 and a bent part 14 with a beginning part 14a and a trailing end 14b. The direction of the bent part 14 deviates from the winding direction and the second winding 22, third winding 23 go over the beginning part 14a and fix the steel wire to the core 11 of the spool 12. Simultaneously an adhesive tape 27 is wound automatically with one winding on the trailing end 14b to the core 11 of the spool 12 without interrupting the formation of the subsequent windings.

(21) FIG. 7 shows another alternative arrangement of the fixing of the leading end to the core 11 of spool 12. The leading end has an unbent part 16 and a bent part 14 with a beginning part 14a and a trailing end 14b, the beginning part 14a deviating to a large degree from the winding direction and the trailing end 14b also deviating to a large degree from the winding direction. The second winding 22, third winding 23, fourth winding 24 go over the beginning part 14a and fix the steel wire to the core 11 of the spool 12 while an adhesive tape 28 is wound automatically with two or three windings on the trailing end 14b to the core 11 of the spool 12 without interrupting the formation of the subsequent windings afterwards.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

(22) 10 steel wire 11 core of spool 12 spool 14 bent part 14a beginning part of bent part 14b trailing end of bent part 16 unbent part 18 winding direction 22 second winding 23 third winding 24 fourth winding 25 fifth winding 26 an adhesive 27 an adhesive tape with one winding 28 an adhesive tape with two windings 30 gripper head 32 cheeks 34 hard metal bending part 36 groove 40 guiding pulley 42 capstan 50 support for gripper 52 axle 54 arm 56 rotation direction of arm