Patent Application
20180201468
The present invention relates to a method of assembling flanges to a barrel to form reels guided by spring-loaded magnetic guides or jigs, and to the spring-loaded magnetic guides for assembling reels.
Up to now, assembling a reel with two similar flanges and a barrel therebetween with bolts or screws that traverse the length of the barrel to fasten the two flanges together requires manual alignments to line-up the bolt-receiving holes on one flange to the corresponding bolt-receiving holes on the opposite flange. Such reels are commonly used to hold wounded wires or cable on the barrel and supported by the flanges. Due to the small diameter of these holes relative to the diameter of the flanges, misalignment by half of the diameter or less of the bolts or screws could cause the bolts or screws not to connect corresponding bolt-receiving holes.
Hence, the present invention is directed to a method of assembling reels from a pair of matching flanges using a plurality of bolts or screws. The inventive method includes the step(s) of using spring-loaded magnetic guides held in an assembling base. A first flange is positioned on the assembling base, such that the spring-loaded magnetic guides also protrude through the first flange. A barrel or tube is attached to the first flange, preferably by inserting the barrel into a route groove defined on the inside or wire-side surface of the flange. A second flange is similarly attached to the opposite end of the barrel. The bolts or screws are inserted through the second flange. The distal tips of the bolts and screws, which are made from a ferrous metal, would be attracted magnetically to the spring-loaded magnetic guides, thereby self-aligning the bolts or screws to the guides.
As the bolts or screws are advanced by rotations toward the first flange, the bolts or screws press against the spring within the spring-loaded magnetic guides compressing the guides, such that the threads on the distal ends of the bolts or screws are threadedly attached to the first flange to complete the assembling of the reel.
In one embodiment, some of the bolts or screws are inserted from the second flange to the first flange and the remaining bolts or screws are inserted from the first flange to the second flange.
In another embodiment, self-tapping lagging bolts are used so that the distal ends of the bolts tap into the bolt-receiving holes and create a threaded channel in these holes. The lagging bolts pull the first and second flanges toward each other.
In another embodiment, screws are used. Corresponding threaded nuts are inserted into the bolt receiving holes in the first flange and the tips of the spring-loaded magnetic guides protrude through the nuts. As the screws advance by rotation, they displace the guides and thread into the nuts to complete the connection. Alternatively, the nuts are made from ferrous material and can be magnetized by the spring-loaded magnetic guides and attract the distal ends of the screws. Due to the magnetization of the nuts, it is not necessary for the magnetic guides to be spring-loaded. In another embodiment, the nuts can be magnetized by other means and the magnetic guides can be omitted. For example, the nuts can be made from a permanent magnet or include permanent magnetic material therewithin.
In yet another embodiment, a magnetic disk is attached near the distal end of the spring-loaded magnetic guides to increase the magnetic force attracting the distal end of the bolts or screws.
The invention is also directed to spring-loaded magnetic guides or jigs, described and claimed herein.
These and other objects of the present invention are realized by a method for assembling a reel comprising a first flange, a second flange and a barrel comprising the steps of
(i) securing at least one spring-loaded magnetic guide to a base;
(ii) positioning the first flange over the at least one spring-loaded magnetic guide and the base, so that a distal end of the at least one spring-loaded magnetic guide is inserted through a first hole in the first flange,
(iii) connecting the barrel to the first flange,
(iv) connecting the second flange to the barrel so that the barrel is located between the first and second flanges,
(v) inserting at least one threaded fastener through a second hole in the second flange such that a distal end of the at least one threaded fastener is magnetically attached to the distal end of the at least one spring-loaded magnetic guide, and
(vi) connecting the at least one threaded fastener to the first flange to form the reel.
In step (ii) the distal end of the at least one spring-loaded magnetic guide protrudes above a surface of the first flange. The at least one threaded fastener comprises a bolt, or alternatively a screw and step (ii) includes a step of inserting a corresponding nut into the first hole. The distal end of the at least one spring-loaded magnetic guide can be a distal end of a slidable magnetic body of said guide. Optionally, an alignment guide is secured to the base, and the alignment guide is also received by the first flange. The alignment guide can be an arbor pin or a lug pin.
The inventive method may further comprise step (vii) of inserting an additional threaded fastener into another second hole in the second flange and connecting the additional threaded fastener to the first flange. Alternatively, the method may include step (vii) of inserting an additional threaded fastener into another first hole in the first flange and connecting the additional threaded fastener to the first flange to the second flange.
The above inventive method can also be used with magnetic guides that are not spring-loaded, as described hereinafter.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to the spring-loaded magnetic guide. The spring-loaded magnetic guide comprises a slidable subassembly adapted to be received through an open end of a tubular housing, which contains a spring. The slidable subassembly comprises a shoulder, sized and dimensioned to have a diameter larger than that of the open end, and a slidable magnetic body adapted to move relative to the shoulder. The slidable magnetic body comprises an enlarged head that is disposed within the tubular body and is adapted to compress the spring when the slidable magnetic body is moved away from the shoulder. The distal end of the slidable magnetic body opposite to the enlarged head is adapted to magnetically attract a distal end of at least one threaded fastener used to assemble the reel and as the at least one threaded fastener advances by rotation the distal end of the at least one threaded fastener pushes the distal end of the slidable magnetic body to compress the spring. Optionally, the spring-loaded magnetic guide further comprises a magnetic disc disposed adjacent to the shoulder of the slidable subassembly.
In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:
The present invention includes, but is not limited to, a method of assembling reels using magnetic guides, and the spring-loaded magnetic guides. As best shown in
As best shown in
As best shown in
In another embodiment, an optional magnetic disk 40 is provided, preferably located above shoulder 34, as shown in
In the next step, a barrel 44 is inserted into route groove 46, which is a circular groove located concentrically outside of arbor hole 18, as illustrated in
When bolts 50 are inserted, their distal ends are attracted and pulled by the magnetic field/force emanating from slidable magnetic body 36 and/or magnetic disc 40. This magnetic force also aligns bolts 50 to slidable magnetic body 36. As bolts 50 and magnetic bodies 36 make contact, they typically produce a metallic clicking sound informing the operator of the connection. As bolts 50 are advanced by rotation into first flange 20, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In another embodiment, bolts 50 are replaced by screws 50 of the same length and diameter and nuts that can be threaded onto the distal ends of the screws. The nuts can be inserted into the bolt-receiving holes on the first flange, and slidable magnetic body 36 of guides 10 can protrude through the nuts and are freely movable relative to the nuts. As the screws 50 advance by rotation, the screws displace the slidable magnetic body 36 and are threaded to the nuts to complete the assembly of the reels.
The present invention eases and speeds up the assembly process by facilitating the alignment between the distal ends of the bolts/screws with the bolt-receiving holes/nuts. The present invention also negates the need for the technicians or assemblers to search for the holes or feel for the holes with the distal end of the bolts/screws.
Preferably, flanges 20, 48 are made from plastics, such as thermoplastics and more preferably from molded plastics. Barrel 44 can be made from paper, plastics (thermoplastics or thermosets) or metal (non-ferrous or ferrous). Flanges 20, 48 can also be made from thicker plywood. The magnetic guides could be sized and dimensioned to be used with plywood and/or the magnetic field can be increased to attract the bolts/screws.
While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the invention disclosed herein fulfill the objectives stated above, it is appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which would come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
