Wire Stringing Rig

Abstract

A roller assembly for rolling over the ground either by hand or by being pushed or pulled by a powered vehicle. The roller assembly may be used singly or in plural form and includes opposite end large diameter wheel portions and a diametrically reduced center portion rotatable with the wheel portions and upon which a spool of wire, of a diameter less than the diameter of the wheel portions, is disposed for rotation with and unwinding from the reduced center portion of the roller assembly.

Description

The wire stringing apparatus of the instant invention has been designed primarily to provide a means whereby spools of wire may be rolled along the ground for unwinding the wire therefrom and in a manner maintaining the unwound wire tensioned at all times. The wire stringing assembly accomplishes the feat of unwinding wire therefrom while maintaining the unwound wire under tension without the use of brake means or the like to retard rotation of the spool of wire from which the wire is being unwound. Other than the central core portion of the roller assembly defined by the wire stringing apparatus the latter includes no moving parts and relies only upon its rolling movement over the ground by advancement of a frame or the like from which the wire stringing assembly or roller assembly is journalled.

Further, the wire stringing assembly is constructed in a manner whereby commercially available spools or rolls of wire may be readily mounted thereon for rotation therewith without loosening the wire of which the roll is formed and the wire stringing assembly further includes structural features, which when the assembly is disassembled for the application of a roll of wire thereto, facilitates the application of the spool of wire to the wire stringing assembly.

The main object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which may be manually pushed or pulled over the ground as well as pushed or pulled by a powered vehicle and including wheel portions for engagement with the ground as well as portions thereof upon which a spool of wire to be unwound may be mounted.

Another object of this invention, in accordance with the preceding object, is to provide a wire stringing assembly which will automatically maintain the wire which has been unwound from the associated spool of wire under tension while the wire stringing assembly is in operation.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a wire stringing assembly which will be capable of compensating for rolls of wire used in conjunction therewith which are of different axial lengths.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a wire stringing assembly whose structural features enable it to be used either singly or in plural form, as desired.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a wire stringing apparatus in accordance with the preceding objects which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and automatic in operation so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble-free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a singular form of the wire stringing apparatus of the instant invention adapted to be pushed or pulled by hand over the ground along which wire is to be unwound;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing through the center of the roller assembly or spool portion of the wire stringing assembly and with a roll of wire operatively mounted thereon;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a plural form of the wire stringing apparatus operatively associated with a powered land vehicle such as a tractor provided with a hitch assembly from which the plural form of the wire stringing apparatus is supported;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which one end of the roller assembly may be inserted into a roll of wire;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which the roll of wire having one end of the roller assembly inserted thereinto may be prepared for reception of the other end of the roller assembly thereinto; and

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the wire stringing rig with portions of the support frame therefor being broken away.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the wire stringing assembly of the instant invention. The assembly 10 includes a roller assembly referred to in general by the reference numeral 12 including axially spaced large diameter opposite end portions 14 and 16 defined by wheels 18 and 20, respectively, having solid rubber tires 22 and 24 mounted thereon.

The centers of the wheels 18 and 20 have sleeves 26 and 28 secured therethrough and a headed bolt 30 has its shank portion 32 secured through the wheel 20 by means of a nut 34 threadedly engaged on the shank portion 32 a spaced distance from the free end thereof. A pair of reinforcing and thrust washers 36 and 38 are disposed on the shank portion 32 between the head 40 of the bolt 30 and the inner side of the wheel 20 and between the nut 34 and the outer side of the wheel 20. Further, the free terminal end portion of the bolt 30 is smooth and has the flattened end portion 42 of a tubular support arm 44 rotatably journalled thereon and prevented from axial displacement off the terminal end of the shank portion 32 by means of a cotter pin 46 secured through the terminal end portion outwardly of the end portion 42.

The wheel 12 has one end portion of a threaded shank 48 secured therethrough by means of nuts 50 and 52 threadedly engaged on the shank 48. A pair of washers 54 and 56 corresponding to washers 36 and 38 are disposed on the shank 48 between the nut 52 and the inner side of the wheel 18 and between the nut 50 and the outer side of the wheel 18. Also, the flattened end portion 58 of a tubular arm 60 is secured on the outer smooth end of the threaded shank 48 by means of a cotter pin 62.

A small diameter sleeve 64 is secured to the inner side of the wheel 20 about the washer 36 by welding 66 and projects toward the wheel 18. A second large diameter sleeve 68 is secured to the inner side of the wheel 18 about the washer 54 by means of welding 70 and projects toward the wheel 16 with its free end telescoped over the adjacent end of the sleeve 64. In addition, the end of the sleeve 64 remote from the wheel 20 has a shouldered threaded nut 72 secured thereon by welding 74 and the end of the threaded shank 48 disposed within the sleeve 68 is threaded through the nut 72.

The support arms 44 and 60 comprise spaced apart corresponding end portions of a handle assembly referred to in general by the reference numeral 78 and the handle assembly 78 includes handgrip portions 80 on the end thereof remote from the roller assembly 12 whereby the latter may be pushed forwardly so as to roll over the ground. Alternately, the handgrips 80 may be utilized to pull the handle assembly and thus the roller assembly 12 behind the user.

A conventional roll of wire may be seen to be illustrated in both FIGS. 5 and 6 and generally designated by the reference numeral 82. The roll 82 is purchased with a pair of end frames 84 and 86 secured thereon and joined together by means of four integral wire sections 88 extending through the hollow center core of the roll 82.

In order to secure the roll 82 on the roller assembly 12, the roller assembly 12 is first removed from the support arms 44 and 60 by removing the cotter pins 46 and 62. Thereafter, the wheels 18 and 20 may be relatively rotated so as to unthread the shank 48 from the shouldered nut 72. Then, the end frame 84 is cut from the sections 88 and removed and the free end of the sleeve 68 is telescoped down into the end of the roll 82 from which the end frame 84 has been removed. Thereafter, the roll 82 and the sleeve 68 as well as the wheel 18 is inverted and the end frame 86 and the sections 88 are withdrawn from the upper end of the roll 82 and the free end of the sleeve 64 is inserted downwardly into the upper end of the inverted roll 82 and rotated relative to the latter and the sleeve 68 and wheel 18 so as to thread the nut 72 onto the shank 48 and axially compress the roll 82 between the confronting surfaces of the wheels 18 and 20.

It will be noted that the roll 82 is of a smaller diameter than the tires 22 and 24 and it is to be appreciated that the frictional engagement of the confronting faces of the wheels 18 and 20 with the opposite ends of the roll 82 will key the roll 82 to the wheels 18 and 20 for rotation therewith. Then, the handle assembly 78 may be reattached to the remote ends of the shank 48 and the shank portion 32. Thereafter, the wire stringing assembly 10 may be grasped and pushed forwardly so as to cause the latter to roll over the ground along which the wire of which the roll 82 is formed is to be unwound. Inasmuch as the tires 22 and 24 are of larger diameter than the roll 82, pushing the wire stringing apparatus 10 over the ground will cause the wire to be unwound from the roll 82 at the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the roll 82. However, inasmuch as the peripheries of the tires 22 and 24 are greater than the periphery of the roll 82, the tires 22 and 24 will spin relative to the ground in a forward direction and will thus serve to tension the wire as it is being unwound from the roll 82. Of course, upon initial unwinding of wire from the roll 82, the weight of the substantially full roll 82 is sufficient to enable the slightly greater peripheral speed of the tires 22 and 24 and the contact of the tires 22 and 24 with the ground to properly tension the wire being unrolled from the roll 82. However, as the wire is unwound from the roll 82 its weight diminishes and the reduction in weight of the roller assembly and the roll 82 being supported from the tires 22 and 24 is compensated for by the increasing difference between the peripheral distances or circumferences of the roll 82 and the tires 22 and 24. Thus, as the size of the roll 82 is depleted and its weight is diminished, the tires 22 and 24 spin more in relation to the ground from which the assembly 10 is supported during unrolling of the wire from the roll 82 so as to constantly maintain the unrolled wire properly tensioned.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIG. 4 of the drawings, there will be seen a modified form of the invention including a plurality of roll assemblies 12' which are substantially identical to the roll assemblies 12 and which are supported from support arms 44' and 60' corresponding to the support arms 44 and 60 but which are pivotally supported from a support bar 92 at their ends remote from the roll assemblies 12'. The support bar 92 is in turn supported from a lift hitch assembly 94 of a conventional form of farm tractor generally designated by the reference numeral 96. Accordingly, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings may be utilized to unroll a plurality of strands of wire.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A roller assembly including axially spaced large diameter wheels and a central portion of less diameter than said wheels and carried by the latter for rotation therewith, a roll of wire to be stretched of smaller diameter than said wheels disposed on said central portion between said wheels for rotation with said central portion and wheels, said central portion comprising a pair of tubular members with adjacent telescopingly engaged adjacent ends and whose remote ends are secured, concentrically, to the confronting sides of said wheels for rotation therewith, the smaller tubular member end remote from its supporting wheel including means defining an end wall thereon having a threaded bore formed therethrough, the other of said wheels having one end portion of a shaft secured therethrough with the other end portion of said shaft extending longitudinally of the corresponding tubular member and provided with a threaded terminal end threadedly engaged in said threaded bore.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said roll of wire is axially compressively engaged between opposing surface portions of said wheels for frictionally keying said roll to said wheels against rotation relative thereto.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the remote sides of said wheels include concentric axle portions projecting outwardly therefrom, and support frame means including portions thereof from which said axle portions are journalled.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said support frame means is elongated and said portions thereof are disposed at one end of said frame means, the other end of said frame means including handle means for manually pushing said frame over the ground and thus causing said large diameter end portions to roll over the ground.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein the remote sides of said wheels include concentric axle portions projecting outwardly therefrom, and support frame means including portions thereof from which said axle portions are journalled, said frame means including means adapted for support from a powered vehicle with said roller assembly resting, by gravity, on the ground.