The present invention relates to winding of a wire such as electric wire or optical fiber and in particularly to an apparatus and method for winding a wire, which treat a cut terminal portion of the wire when it has been wound at high speed.
Conventionally, when a wire such as electric wire or optical fiber which is continuously fed is wound on a take-up bobbin at high speed, switching of winding of the wire from the take-up bobbin which has finished the winding of a given length of a wire to an empty take-up bobbin which newly begins the wire winding is conducted without interrupting the running of the wire.
When the take-up bobbin 3 on the right side has wound a given length of the wire in a counterclockwise direction in
The catcher 6 on the catcher wheel 4 is engaged with the wire 1 to retain it so that the wire 1 is cut by means of a cutter 7 due to continuous rotation of the take-up bobbin 3′. Thereafter the traverse roller 2 and the linearly movable arm 5 return to their original positions and winding of the wire 1 on new take-up bobbin 3′ is started. On the other hand, the rotation of the bobbin 3 on the fully-wound side is stopped. However, the take-up bobbin 3 can not immediately stop its rotation due to its inertia, and the bobbin 3 continues to rotate even though its rotation speed decelerates to some extent.
At this time, with the rotation of the take-up bobbin 3, the cut terminal wire 1a is swung around the periphery in a free state. Thus, the cut terminal wire 1a will impinge upon the peripheral obstacle or the projection and bound against the wound wire 1b and so-called wire whipping on the surface of the wound wire 1b may occur. This whipping on the wound wire is also caused due to the release of the tension of the wire. This wire whipping will give remarkable damages to the wound wire when winding is conducted at high speed. In particular if the wire is an optical fiber, the wound optical fiber may be broken into segments. Hence the wound optical fiber should be discarded, resulting in a waste of cost.
As a countermeasure for preventing the wire whipping, a winding apparatus comprising a take-up bobbin with a terminal wire entry ring at one of its collars for accommodating the cut terminal wire on completion of the wire winding is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication NO. H09-108734)
The drive shaft 8 is provided with the catcher wheel 4 so that the catcher wheel 4 is rotated together with the drive shaft 8. The catcher wheel 4 is fitted to one of the collars 3a of the take-up bobbin 3. The take-up bobbin 3 is mounted to be rotatable on the drive shaft 8 by pressing the pressing cone 9 from the other side. The entry ring 10 is irrotationally mounted on the side in which the take-up bobbin 3 is mounted on the drive shaft 8 so that the entry ring 10 encloses the catcher wheel 4 and the collar 3a. The entry ring 10 comprises an outer peripheral wall 10a having a uniform diameter; an opening having an annular wall 10b which slightly extends in an inner radial direction on the bobbin side; and an outer side wall 10c which is substantially closed.
A semispherical bobbin cover 11 is disposed so that it covers a lower half of the take-up bobbin 3. The cover side edge 11a on near side (entry side of the wire 1) of the bobbin cover 11 is formed with the guide groove 12 adjacent to the entry ring 10. The bobbin cover 11 is provided along the inner periphery thereof with the terminal wire guide plate 13 having a predetermined height, which gradually approaches toward the entry ring 10 in a direction from the cover side edge 11a to the opposite side edge.
By forming the structure mentioned above, the cut terminal wire 1a is regarded as going into the guide groove 12 due to the rotation of the take-up bobbin 3 and being prevented from moving at the cover side edge 11a, followed by entering the entry ring 10. If the cut terminal wire 1a is disengaged with the guide groove 12, the terminal wire guide plate 13 will enable the cut terminal wire 1a to be responsibly introduced into and accommodated in the entry ring 10.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication NO. H09-108734
However, even if the winding apparatus is formed as shown in
The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for winding a wire, which is simple in structure and in which spring of the wire out of an annular guide is prevented by accommodating a cut terminal portion of the wire in the annular guide which is movable toward one end of a take-up bobbin.
In the apparatus for winding a wire according to the present invention, the annular guide is disposed so that it covers one of the collars of the take-up bobbin for the wire. The annular guide has a notch for guiding the wire and an inner peripheral surface having an inner diameter gradually increasing in a direction remote away from the bobbin. The annular guide can be formed in the shape having an engagement portion for preventing the spring of the wire out of the bobbin. The annular guide is disposed above the collar so that it is movable in an axial direction of the bobbin, or the annular guide may comprise a plurality of portions, which are moved to form the annular guide above the collar. Furthermore, the apparatus may comprise a wire positioning device which guides the cut terminal portion of the wire. The wire positioning device comprises a guide rod for moving the wire and a guide plate for preventing the spring of the wire.
The method of winding a wire according to the present invention may comprise winding a wire on a take-up bobbin and guiding a cut terminal portion of the wire to a notch of an annular guide which covers one of the collars of the take-up bobbin when winding of the wire is completed. Then, the cut terminal portion of the wire is guided to the outside of the take-up bobbin along the inner peripheral surface of the annular guide having a diameter which gradually increases in a direction remote away from the bobbin, or alternatively it is engaged with an engagement portion provided on the annular guide by the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the take-up bobbin. To reach the status, the annular guide is moved to cover one of the collars of the bobbin when the winding of the wire is completed.
According to the present invention, the annular guide which is disposed so that it is capable of covering one of the collars of the take-up bobbin enables to introduce the cut terminal portion of the wire to the outside of the fully-wound wire in a simple structure or to accommodate it in a given engagement portion. As a consequence, the generation of the wire whipping by the cut terminal portion can be prevented and damages of the fully-wound wire surface can be avoided. If the wire is an optical fiber, deteriorating of the characteristics of the wound optical fiber can be avoided.
The summary of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
As described in
An annular guide 20a is disposed, for example, on the take-up bobbin 3 on the side when the take-up bobbin 3 is mounted on the drive shaft 8, so that the annular guide 20a is movable in an axial direction. The annular guide 20 is formed in the ring shape. The outer peripheral wall 23 is tapered in shape so that the diameter of the inner peripheral surface 25 gradually increases in a direction toward the side opposite to the bobbin 3. The annular guide 20a is formed on the side close to the take-up bobbin 3 with an opening 21 having such a diameter through which the catcher wheel 4 can pass and is formed with the notch 24 for guiding the wire. For example, when the wire is wound, the annular guide 20a is located outside of the catcher wheel 4 and the collar 3a as represented by a dot and dash line. However, when the wire is cut as described later, the annular guide is moved in an axial direction so as to cover the catcher wheel 4 and the collar 3a just before the cut. It should be noted that the annular guide 20a is movable in an axial direction, but is irrotational.
When a predetermined length of wire is wound on the take-up bobbin 3 in the thus formed winding apparatus, the wire 1 is cut so that the cut terminal portion (hereinafter referred to as “cut terminal wire 1a”) which has been just cut becomes a free state. Due to the rotation of the take-up drum 3, the cut terminal wire 1a (about 0.5 m in length) in the free state is guided into the notch 24 formed on the annular guide 20a on the side of bobbin and is drawn into the annular guide 20a.
The cut terminal wire 1a (broken line) which is retracted into the annular guide 20a is moved by the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the take-up bobbin 3 along the inner peripheral surface 25 which is tapered so that its diameter increases in a direction away from the bobbin and the cut terminal wire 1a is subsequently discharged from the take-up bobbin 3. As a result, even though the cut terminal wire 1a (solid line) which is discharged from the take-up bobbin 3 is swung in a space around the drive shaft 8. However, the cut terminal wire will not impinge upon the surface of the wound wire 1b, and the wire whipping can be avoided. When the wire is wound, the annular guide 20a is in a retracted position. Only when the terminal wire is treated, it is moved. Accordingly, the annular guide 20a will not interrupt the winding operation and insertion and removal of the take-up bobbin 3 can be easily conducted.
The outer periphery of the annular guide 20b is, for example, formed with an outer peripheral wall 23 which has an inverted V shape. The inner peripheral surface 25 of the outer peripheral wall 23 has a diameter which gradually increases from the opening 21 side to the side wall 22 side of the annular guide 20b, that is, in a direction away from the take-up bobbin. The apex of the inner peripheral surface where the diameter is maximized constitutes an engagement portion 26 which holds and engages with the wire. Similarly to the example in
The annular guide 20c shown in
The annular guide 20d shown in
The annular guide 20e shown in
Two semi-annular members 30a, 30b are mounted so that they are slidable to each other along an arc. During winding of the wire, both member overlap each other as shown in
By bringing the arrangement of the semi-annular members of
The annular guide 20f shown in
The two semi-annular members 31a, 31b are separated and independent to each other and are disposed so that they cover one of the collars 3a of the take-up bobbin 3. During the winding of the wire, they are away from the take-up bobbin 3 so that they will not hinder the winding of the wire. When the winding of the wire is completed and the wire is to be cut, both the semi-annual members 31a, 31b are moved to form a ring so that they cover one of the collars 3a.
The annular guide 20g shown in
Similarly to the case of
The structure of
In the winding apparatus which is formed as shown in
The cut terminal wire 1a which has been drawn into the annular guide 20b is moved into the engagement portion 26 located on the apex of the V-shape of the outer peripheral wall 23 along the inner peripheral surface 25 which is formed so that its inner diameter increased in a direction away from the bobbin by the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the take-up bobbin 3. Since the cut terminal wire 1a which has been moved to the engagement portion 26 has an increased arc diameter, it is not moved and retained within the annular guide 20b while the take-up bobbin 3 is rotated.
As a result, whipping of the wire 1b on its surface with the cut terminal wire 1a due to the fact that the cut terminal wire 1a is sprung out from the annular guide 20b can be positively prevented. During the winding of the wire, the annular guide 20b is in a retracted position, and moved only when the terminal wire is treated. Thus, the annular guide 20b will not hinder the winding of the wire, so that insertion and removal of the take-up bobbin 3 can be easily conducted. It should be noted, although the annular guides having a V-shaped section have been explained with reference to
If a predetermined length of wire has been wound counterclockwise on the right side take-up bobbin 3 and the winding of the wire is switched to a left side empty take-up bobbin 3′ as shown in
Subsequently, the left side wire moving arm 5′ is moved to bring the wire 1 into a contact with the catcher wheel 4′ of the left side empty take-up bobbin 3′ (
After the wire 1 has been cut, the wire moving arm 5′ returns to its original position and winding of the wire on new take-up bobbin 3′ is started. On the other hand, the right side take-up bobbin 3 which completes winding is caused to stop its rotation. However, the rotation of the take-up bobbin 3 can not be immediately stopped due to its inertia, and is continued for a short period of time while it is decelerated. Although the cut terminal wire 1a is swung around the take-up bobbin 3 in a free state by the rotation thereof, the cut terminal wire 1a is moved out of the wound wire as shown in
After the wire 1 is engaged by the catcher 6 of the catcher wheel 4 on the take-up bobbin 3 side and is cut by the cutter 7, the wire moving arm 5 is returned to its original position and winding of the wire on new take-up bobbin 3 is started. On the other hand, at the left side take-up bobbin 3′ which has completed winding, the cut terminal wire 1a is guided into and retained in the annular guide 20′ similarly to the case in
In the present invention, a wire positioning device which guides the cut terminal portion of the wire 1 into the notches 24, 24′ is disposed in the vicinity of the annular guides 20, 20′ as mentioned above. The wire positioning device may comprise, for example, circular cylindrical guide rods 27, 27′ which are movable in a downward direction so as to face guide plates 28, 28′ which is movably disposed in the vicinity of the notches 24, 24′ of the annular guides 20, 20′. The guide rods 27, 27′ are movably disposed in a direction parallel with the axis of the take-up bobbin so that they can be retracted when they intersect with the path line D of the wire 1. The guide plates 28, 28′ may be fixedly disposed if they will not hinder the winding of the wire.
The guide rods 27, 27′ are preferably provided with wear resistance, sliding ability and mold release characteristics, for example, by subjecting the surface of aluminum or aluminum alloy to a Tufram treatment (treatment for impregnating hard anodized aluminum with Teflon (trademark)). If the wire 1 is an optical fiber, the guide rods having at a contact an arc which is larger than a minimum allowable bent radius of the optical fiber to be wound are used. It should be noted that the guide rods 27, 27′ may be rotatable structure, or non-rotatable fixed structure.
Provision of thus formed wire positioning devices enables the wire 1 to be positively guided to the vicinity of the notches 24, 24′ of the annular guide 20. Spring of the cut terminal wire 1a outside is suppressed by introducing the terminal wire 1a which has been just cut into a small space between the guide rod 27 and the guide plate 28 for preventing the cut terminal wire 1a from impinging upon the peripheral obstacle or projections. Since the cut terminal wire 1a is effectively guided from the notches 24, 24′ to the annular guides 20, 20′ by means of the guide rods 27, 27′ and the guide plates 28, 28′, the size of the notch 24 can be made smaller. Therefore, the second spring of the cut terminal wire 1a which has been accommodated in the annular guides 20, 20′ once from the notches 24, 24′ can be positively prevented.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2003-404405 | Dec 2003 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP04/05579 | 4/19/2004 | WO | 8/2/2005 |