Method for packing welding wire inside containers

Abstract

The invention has as its object a method for packing a welding wire (25) inside a container (40) which includes at least the following steps: a feeding phase of said welding wire (25) inside a tube (13) placed in rotation to produce a prefixed torsion at each wire loop (25); a winding phase of the wire (25) coming out of said tube in rotation (13) on a core (20) configured to wind said wire (25) on it, said core (20) being provided with an alternative movement in a substantially vertical direction; a wire cutting phase (25) at the end of said wire winding phase on the core to (20) and; a core pick-up phase with the wire (25) wound on it and a core introduction phase (20) with the wire (25) wound on it inside a container (40).

Claims

1. A method for packing a welding wire inside a container, said method comprising the following steps: feeding said welding wire inside a tube that rotates to produce a plurality of wire loops, each with a prefixed torsion; winding said welding wire exiting said tube about a core disposed on a rotatable platform such that the platform is capable of rotation about a rotation axis to therefore rotate said core and produce a winding of said plurality of wire loops wound about said core, wherein said core is further moveable upwards and downwards in a substantially vertical direction along the rotation axis, so as to allow winding of several layers of wire formed by loops of increasing diameter, until reaching a desired band width of a coil formed by the wire loops; cutting said welding wire after said winding on the core; picking up said core with the winding wound on it; and positioning the core with the winding wound on it inside a container, wherein said feeding said welding wire inside a tube that rotates to produce said plurality of wire loops comprises a roller system pushing said wire into said tube, further comprising placing a flange on a top face of the core after said winding and prior to said picking up and attaching an end of said wire to a fixing hole in said flange.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the winding wound around said core has a cylindrical or truncated cone shape.

3. The method as in claim 1, further comprising freely rotating said platform thereby rotating said core about said rotation axis, said core rotating in the same direction of rotation of said rotating tube.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein the rotation axis of said core is aligned with an axis of rotation of the tube.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein the wire to be wound on said core is preliminarily hooked to a hooking hole present on the core itself.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein the picking up said core with the winding wound on it is performed by using expansion pliers.

7. The method as in claim 1, further comprising said roller system straightening said wire.

8. The method as in claim 7, wherein said roller system comprises a plurality of rollers and a wheel or capstan that directs said wire into said tube.

9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the winding has a toroid shape.

10. A method for packing a welding wire inside a container, said method comprising: feeding said welding wire inside a tube that rotates to produce a plurality of wire loops, each with a prefixed torsion; winding said welding wire exiting said tube about a core disposed on a rotatable platform such that the platform and core are capable of rotation about a rotation axis, to produce a winding of said plurality of wire loops wrapped about said core, wherein said core is further moveable upwards and downwards in a substantially vertical direction along the rotation axis, so as to allow winding of several layers of wire formed by loops of increasing diameter, until reaching a desired band width of a coil formed by said welding wire; cutting said welding wire at the end of said winding on the core; picking up said core with the winding wound on it; and positioning the core with the winding wound on it inside a container, wherein said feeding said welding wire inside a tube that rotates to produce said plurality of wire loops comprises pushing said wire into said tube, the winding has a cylindrical or truncated cone shape, and further comprising freely rotating said platform thereby rotating said core about said rotation axis, said core rotating in the same direction of rotation as said rotating tube, wherein the rotation axis of said core is aligned with an axis of rotation of the tube, and further comprising placing a flange on a top face of the core after said winding and prior to said picking up and attaching a cut end of said wire to a fixing hole in said flange.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) Further features and advantages of the invention will be evident from reading the following description provided by way of example and not limitation, with the help of the figures illustrated in the attached tables:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a method of packing a welding wire according to the prior art;

(3) FIG. 2 represents a method of packing a welding wire according to one aspect of the invention;

(4) FIG. 3 represents a container containing welding wire wrapped on a core according to one aspect of the invention;

(5) FIGS. 4 and 5 represent sectional views of a wire wound respectively on a cylindrical core and on a truncated cone core according to alternative aspects of the present invention; and

(6) FIGS. 6a-6g represent successive steps of an implementation of the method of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(7) This invention will now be described with particular reference to the attached figures.

(8) In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates a method of packing a welding wire according to the prior art already described in the introductory part of this description to which reference is hereby made.

(9) FIG. 2 represents a method of packing a welding wire according to one aspect of the invention, globally indicated with the numerical reference 10.

(10) Contrary to the by now common Twist-free drum, in which the loop of the wire is left to fall freely into the drum, forming a coil of wire with relatively low density and a shape that is not perfectly neat and repeatable, the mode that is object of the invention provides that while twisting is applied to the wire 25 it is wound around a core 20, preferably with a circular section, avoiding the step of falling out of control, and always maintaining control of the position and of the winding of the wire 25.

(11) The wire 25 is wound on the core 20, normally made of plastic or cardboard, in a continuous way distributing the wire 25 from one end 20 of the core to the other, repeatedly, in order to create a sort of toroid of wire, or coil 30 having relatively high density. It is also possible that this winding, always while a 360 degree twist is applied to each loop, is shaped as a truncated cone (FIG. 5) instead of a cylinder (FIG. 4).

(12) In these two types of winding the diameter of the loops is initially almost equal to the diameter of the core 20, but as the diameter of the coil 30 of wire increases, the diameter of the coils becomes progressively larger; obviously the torsion of 360 degrees is always applied to each single coil and therefore there is also a decrease in the amount of torsion per unit of wire length 25.

(13) The coil 30 of welding wire made in this way is then placed inside a drum or container 40 with an internal diameter slightly larger than the external diameter of the coil 30 of wire, in order to be palletized and stored or transported to the end user (FIG. 3).

(14) An implementation of the packaging method of the present invention is illustrated first of all in FIG. 2

(15) The welding wire 25 is straightened by a roller system 11 and pushed forward in the direction indicated by the arrow F2 towards the so-called flyer by a wheel or capstan 12 which rotates in the direction of the arrow F1. The wire 25 in the flyer passes through a tube 13, slightly larger than the diameter of the wire 25.

(16) The tube 13 is placed in rotation, around a vertical axis X, as indicated by the arrow F3 and applies a 360 degree twist to each loop of welding wire 25.

(17) At the outlet of tube 13, in the method of the invention, wire 25 does not fall out of control, but instead is wound directly onto a core 20 of circular section, made of plastic or cardboard.

(18) The core 20 moves alternately up and down, as indicated by the arrow F5, so as to wrap several layers of wire formed by coils of increasing diameter, until the desired band width of a coil 30 or toroid formed by the welding wire is reached.

(19) Note that the winding of the wire can be either cylindrical or truncated cone shaped, as better illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively.

(20) The core 20 is not in itself rotating, but is positioned above a table 80 equipped with a mechanism that allows it to rotate in the same direction as the flyer, i.e. in the direction of the arrow F4, if the thread tension of the wire 25 is too high, above a settable preset value. Note that the rotation axis of the core 20 is in this case aligned with the centre of the flyer carrying the rotating tube: i.e. the rotation axis X of the core 20 is aligned with the rotation axis of the tube 13. The core 20 indicated with circular section in the figure, can be of different diameters and heights, with diameters preferably at least 100 times the diameter of the wire to be packed.

(21) Once the winding phase of welding wire 25 around the core 20 is completed, when the desired external diameter of the toroid or coil 30 of welding wire 25 is reached, the wire is cut and the coil 30 is ejected from the winding machine. On the outside of this machine, by means of an expansion pliers 50, equipped with jaws 55, which acts on the internal surface of the core 20, both the core 20 and the wire 25 are lifted onto it and inserted into a previously assembled drum or container 40 with an internal diameter slightly larger than the external diameter of the coil 30 of wire. The container 40 can also be polygonal in shape (8, 16, 24 sides etc.) and of different diameters and heights.

(22) The internal height of the container 40 is preferably equal to the height of the coil 30 of wire. In this way, once the lid of container 40 has been positioned, it is in contact with the upper face of the coil 30, and in this way you will have a safe support and adequate resistance to be able to place the full containers on top of each other during transport or storage.

(23) FIGS. 6a-6g represent successive steps of an implementation of the invention method, in which an example of a packaging operation is represented.

(24) FIG. 6a shows the positioning of a cylindrical core 20, preferably made of plastic or cardboard, on a wire winding machine with a 360-degree twist for each loop, wherein said machine includes a rotating platform 80 supporting said core 20.

(25) In a second phase (FIG. 6 b) the wire 25 is hooked to a hook hole 27 present on the core 20. FIG. 6 b also shows cutting device 26.

(26) Then (FIG. 6c) the welding wire 25 is wound over the whole height of the core 20 at progressively increasing diameters until the desired outer diameter is reached.

(27) After this phase, a temporary flange 60 is placed on the upper face of the coil 30 of wire and the end of the wire 25 is cut by cutting device 26 shown in FIG. 6 b and attached at the location as indicated by attached wire 99, to said temporary flange 60 which has a fixing hole (FIG. 6 d).

(28) After this it is continued (FIG. 6d) to the extraction of the coil 30 of wire from the winding machine and its lifting by means of expansion grippers 50, or a functionally similar system, equipped with jaws 55 acting on the internal surface of the cylindrical core 20.

(29) Then it is continued (FIG. 6f) to position the coil 30 of a large drum or container 40, with internal dimensions slightly larger than the external diameter of the coil 30 and with internal height preferably equal to the height of the coil 30 plus the height of the covering flange 60. The drum or container 40 can be cylindrical or even polygonal, e.g. square, octagonal or other.

(30) Finally, it is continued (FIG. 6g) to the replacement of the temporary attaching flange 60 with a final flange 70 covering the upper face of the coil 30. It is also possible that the flange defined as temporary is actually the final flange and therefore this phase is not necessary. The final flange 70, or the temporary one if definitive, has the shape essentially of a disc with a central hole and is made of plastic or cardboard or even polymeric material.

(31) It is also possible, although not strictly necessary, for the end of the wire to be unhooked from the final flange and hooked to the inside wall of the drum where there is a hook eyelet.

(32) Finally, the drum or container 40 of large capacity is closed by a protection lid 80.

(33) Please note that when using the coil of welding wire, the lid 80 is removed and generally replaced with a known unwinding cone.

(34) Obviously, the invention as described can be modified or improved for contingent or particular reasons, without departing from the scope of the invention.