Wire spool stay

Abstract

An article of manufacture for restricting the pay out of line wound on a rotatable spool. The article comprises an elongated thin narrow strip of pliant material having first and second ends and having an aperture centrally located intermediate the first and second ends. Proximate the first and second ends of the band is at least one circular hole, each being sized and adapted to receive a spindle that rotatably supports the spool. The centrally-located aperture is sized and adapted to receive the line which is trained through the aperture.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an item of manufacture that may be attached to the spindle of a wire spool for controlling the pay out of wire as it is drawn from the spool.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Bulk wire to be incorporated into a structure's electrical systems is traditionally wound on spools having a cylindrical base with opposing end flanges and an axial hole therethrough for receiving a pin or spindle. When the wire that is wound on the spool is to be installed, the spool is customarily placed on a supported spindle that is usually a simple piece of pipe or a metal rod that permits the spool to rotate on the spindle. The wire is then pulled or drawn from the spool, causing it to rotate on the spindle. The rate at which the wire is pulled from the spindle and the sometimes long lengths of wire that are drawn, cause the spool to rotate at a rate that requires significant time for deceleration. During the slow down and stopping of the spool's rotation, the wire that is paying off of the spool spills or becomes tangled and unorganized in much the same way as backlash sometimes occurs in an angler's casting reel.

[0003] The present invention is not the first attempt to solve the problem. However, it is a cheap and simple solution that lends itself to easy installation and use at a construction job site, as well as in other installations where some kind of line, such as wire, cable, rope, string or thread is drawn from a rotatable spool. Some of the other efforts to solve the problem are worthy of mention, especially to establish the contrast between the complexities of the prior art solutions and simplicity of the article of the present invention.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,605 to Nash for a Self Locking Cable Retainer discloses a cable retaining member containing an aperture through which the wire or cable is trained. The stated purpose of the device is to prevent the accidental unwinding of the wire or cable that is wound on a spool and to keep the wire in a taut condition on the spool. Triangular spurs tend to keep the wire in a fixed position. Apparently, the retainer is removed during the unwinding of the wire or cable. The Nash retainer is sprung between the flanges of the spool and held in place by its serrated ends. It cannot be in place as the wire or cable is pulled from the spool.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,625 to Shimomura discloses a cover strip for facilitating pay off of line from a spool, but the construction of the device is not similar to that of the present invention.

[0006] Marcoff-Modghadam, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,659, illustrates a thread feeding and clamping device that provides a thread guide that is secured to a spindle about which a spool revolves to pay off the thread wound thereon. Aside from the similarity of purpose and the fact that the thread guide is anchored to the spindle, the structure is not similar to that of the present invention.

[0007] The most relevant prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,059 to Gudgeon. This patent discloses a wire guide to prevent entanglement of the electrical wire that is being pulled from a rotatable spool. The wire guide comprises parallel guide bars between which the wire is trained. A pair of plates that contain apertures to receive the spindle on which the spool is mounted supports the guide bars. Telescoping rods make the Gudgeon spool guide adjustable to accommodate spools of different widths.

[0008] With the foregoing mechanically complex and relatively expensive prior art devices in mind, the primary object of the present invention is apparent. The purpose of the invention is to provide a wire spool stay that will restrict spool rotation and control the pay out of wire from a rotatable spool, while at the same time being simple in construction, inexpensive and easy to install and use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a single wire-carrying spool having an axial hole into which is inserted a rod that carries the flexible stay of the present invention. The stay is shown in its operative position around the wire spool.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wire spool stay of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] The wire spool stay 2 of the present invention is preferably constructed of a flexible, pliant and bendable material that can easily be transformed from a straight, flat disposition into a substantially “U” shaped condition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Any number of different plastics will provide the necessary properties of strength and elasticity. The stay 2 comprises a relatively flat, thin, narrow and elongated strip or band of material 4 that is provided with an aperture 6 disposed equidistantly from each of the longitudinal ends 8 and 10 of the band 4. Proximate each of the ends 8 and 10 of the band 4, a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart circular apertures are provided. The apertures are spaced from the respective ends 8 and 10 of the band 4 so as to provide matching pairs of apertures. The apertures 9 and 11 form one pair, while apertures 13 and 15 form a second pair. Additional hole pairs can also be provided, however only two pair are illustrated for the sake of simplicity in the disclosure.

[0012] The drawing of FIG. 1 illustrates how the stay 2 is employed. A wire-carrying spool 19 with side flanges 16 and 18 and an axial hole 20 is supported for rotation by a rod 22 disposed in the axial hole. At the time the rod 22 is inserted into the spool's axial hole 20, the stay 2 is positioned to semi-circularly surround the wire spool 19. The rod 22 is inserted through a first one 9 of a selected pair of holes 9 and 11, then inserted through the axial hole 20 in the spool, and finally through the second hole 11 of the selected pair. The rod, or spindle, 22 is supported at each of its ends to permit free rotation of the spool 19. Force arrows 27 and 29 in FIG. 2 diagrammatically represent supports for the rod ends. The exterior loose end of the wire 26 is trained through the central aperture 6 of the band 4. When the wire 26 is pulled from the spool 19, the wire travels through the aperture 6, the side of which exerts frictional forces on the wire. While wire is discussed in term of the preferred form of the present invention, the application of the invention is not restricted to wire wound on spools. Any variety of line, in addition to wire, such as rope, cable, thread, string, twine or the like that is wound on a spool can benefit from the advantages of the present invention.

[0013] The size of the spool 19 dictates which pair of apertures is used to mount the stay 2 onto the rod 22. The object is to keep the band 4 close to the wire. Accordingly, if the stay is used on a smaller spool, then the rod 22 is inserted through a pair of holes in the ends of the band 4 that are further away from the ends of the band. Such selective positioning enables the central portion of the band to be positioned closer to the wire 26 that is wound on the spool.

[0014] In operation, as the wire 26 is pulled from the spool, the friction between the wire and the sides of the central aperture 6 offers sufficient resistance to the wire paying off of the spool 19 that the speed of spool rotation does not exceed that necessitated by the rate of withdrawal of the wire from the spool. At the termination of pulling force on the wire, the spool quickly decelerates because the friction force between the wire 26 and the sides of the central aperture 6 act as a brake for the rotating spool.

[0015] With this mechanically simple, but effective, device, wire may be pulled from the spool without the problems of spilling excess wire off of the spool or tangling the wire.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture for restricting the pay out of line wound on a rotatable spool, comprising;

an elongated thin narrow strip of pliant material having first and second ends,

an aperture centrally located intermediate the first and second ends,

at least one hole proximate each of the first and second ends of the band, sized to receive a spindle that rotatably supports the spool.

2. The article of claim 1 where the at least one hole proximate each of the first and second ends includes an equal plurality of circular holes on each of the first and second ends.

3. The article of claim 2 where the distance of each hole from its respective end of the strip is the same for the holes proximate the first end as for the holes proximate the second end.

4. A stay for a rotatable spool on which is wound a length of line, comprising;

a spool having an axially aligned hole therethrough.

a length of line wound on the spool,

a spindle disposed within the axially aligned hole and having ends extending bilaterally from the spool,

a stay carried by the spindle and comprising,

an elongated, thin, narrow strip of flexible material having first and second ends and having at least one pair of holes disposed in the respective first and second ends of the strip, the holes being sized and adapted to receive the extended ends of the spindle,

an aperture in the strip centrally located intermediate the first and second ends, the aperture being sized and adapted to receive the line trained therethrough.

5. A method for restricting the rotation of a spool that is rotatably supported by an axial spindle and having a length of line wound thereon, including;

inserting the end of a spindle through a hole in a first end of an elongated pliant strip of material,

inserting the end of the spindle through an axial bore in the spool,

inserting the end of the spindle through a hole in a second end of the elongated pliant strip,

supporting the spindle to permit rotation of the spool thereon,

training the wire wound on the spindle through an aperture intermediate the first and second ends of the elongated pliant strip.