Orbital Coiler

Abstract

A coiler for coiling metal rod and similar strand material to form a coil and which includes a turntable rotatable about its center and a flyer tube rotatable above the turntable about an axis of rotation displaced from the axis of rotation of the turntable. The receiving end of the flyer tube is positioned in its axis of rotation and the flyer tube curves to terminate at a discharge end which moves in a circular path about its axis of rotation and which is oriented so that metal rod being discharged from the discharge end of the flyer tube is in a continuous series of loops having their centers substantially coinciding with the axis of rotation of the flyer tube. Metal rod to be coiled is fed into the receiving end of the flyer tube and as the metal rod is discharged from the discharge end of the flyer tube as a continuous series of loops, the loops drop to the surface of the turntable. The rotation of the turntable places the loops in succession on the turntable with their centers in a circular path having the axis of rotation of the turntable as its center, and the relationship between the diameter of the loops and the distance by which the axis of rotation of the flyer tube is displaced from the axis of rotation of the turntable is such that each loop includes within its circumference the axis of rotation of the turntable which becomes the centerline of the coil formed by the loops.

Parent Case Text

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 809,875, filed Mar. 24, 1969, now abandoned.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Coilers for coiling wire, metal rod and other strand material have been developed which include a rotating drum or deadblock on which the strand material is rolled and from which loops of the strand material are progressively pushed by the addition of new strand material to the rotating deadblock. The loops of strand material are "stem packed" or placed on a platform or turntable with the centers of the loops coinciding, or the loops are distributed about the surface of a platform or turntable by moving the platform with respect to the strand material in order to space or off set the loops from one another.

A number of difficulties are encountered in coiling metal rod with prior art coilers having some or all of the general characteristics described above. For example, with those prior art coilers in which the strand material is rolled onto a rotating drum or deadblock, it is difficult if not impossible to coil metal rod which is initially and continuously discharged from a rolling mill since it is difficult to place the initial loop of a rapidly moving metal rod in position on a rotating drum or deadblock.

With those prior art coilers in which the loops of strand material are stem packed upon a platform or turntable with the centers of the loops coinciding, the loops in a coil or package of metal rod frequently become entangled. This makes the metal rod difficult to feed from the coil or package to a wire drawing machine or similar apparatus for further processing.

With those prior art coilers which attempt to avoid entanglement of the rod by distributing the loops of rod over the surface of a platform or turntable by moving the platform or turntable so as to provide a coil or package of metal rod in which the loops do not become easily entangled, the mechanism necessary to impart the movement to the platform or turntable makes the coiler expensive and difficult to maintain. This expense is particularly significant when a coiler is used to form a coil of metal rod having great weight because of the power required to impart motion to a platform or turntable on which a coil of great weight is positioned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention comprises a coiler capable of receiving metal rod as it is initially and continuously discharged from a rolling mill or the like and coiling the rod into a coil in which the loops are positioned so that the rod can be conveniently and easily fed from the coil or package to a wire drawing machine or the like for further processing. The coiler does not require the step of attaching an initial loop of metal rod to a rotating drum or deadblock or imparting an oscillatory motion to a platform or turntable on which a relatively heavy coil is positioned.

These features are provided by the use of a turntable which rotates about a fixed axis of rotation and a flyer tube which rotates above the turntable about a substantially fixed axis of rotation that is displaced from the axis of rotation of the turntable. The flyer tube extends from a receiving end positioned in the axis of rotation of the flyer tube, and curves to a discharge end which moves in a circle about the axis of rotation of the flyer tube and which is oriented so that metal rod passing into the receiving end and from the discharge end of the flyer tube is formed into loops that drop to the surface of the rotating turntable.

The relationship between the diameter of the loops formed by the rotating flyer tube and the displacement of the axis of rotation of the flyer tube relative to the axis of rotation of the turntable is such that each loop formed by the coiler includes within its circumference the axis of rotation of the turntable which becomes the centerline of the coil formed by the loops. The displacement of successive loops relative to each other in a circular path around the turntable is a function of the rotational speed of the turntable relative to the linear speed of the metal rod as it passes through the flyer tube, and the diameter of each loop may be varied by varying the angular speed of the discharge end of the flyer tube relative to the linear speed of the metal rod as it passes through the flyer tube.

The metal rod to be coiled by the coiler disclosed herein is easily fed into the receiving end of the flyer tube and the difficulty encountered with most prior art coilers in forming the initial loop is avoided. Thus, the coiler is ideally suited for coiling a metal rod as it passes initially and continuously from a rolling mill. Since the coiler requires only the rotation of the flyer tube and of the turntable the coiler avoids the mechanism necessary with prior art coilers which impart an oscillatory motion to a platform or turntable. Thus, the coiler is relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain.

The metal rod is conveniently and easily fed from the coil formed by the coiler because the loops of the metal rod are distributed about the centerline of the coil in a pattern in which adjacent loops are overlapping rather than concentric with each other and which substantially prevents the loops from becoming entangled with each other. Moreover, the coiler includes an accumulating means for selectively accumulating loops so that the removing of a completed coil and the starting of a new coil is conveniently and easily accomplished even though the coiler continues to operate.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention disclosed herein:

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the driving means for the flyer tube in that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the driving means for the turntable in that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the turntable in that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 showing the positioning of a plurality of loops upon the surface of the turntable;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a coil of metal rod formed by that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the accumulating means in that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 7 is an enlarged elevational view of the retaining means in the accumulating means shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the flyer tube;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the flyer tube.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following detailed description and the accompanying drawing disclose an embodiment of the invention. However, it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in other equivalent forms without departing from the inventive concept.

As is shown in FIG. 1, the invention disclosed herein is a coiler for coiling metal rod 15 as it passes continuously from a rolling mill R up an incline through tube T and pinch rolls P. The coiler includes a turntable 10 rotatable in a substantially horizontal plane of motion about a substantially vertical axis of rotation 11 and a flyer tube 12 rotatable above the turntable 10 about a substantially vertical axis of rotation 14 which is displaced from the axis of rotation 11 of the turntable 10. Frame 16 supports the various elements and upper driving means 17 rotates the flyer tube 12 about its axis of rotation 14, and lower driving means 18 rotates the turntable 10 about its axis of rotation 11.

As is shown in FIG. 2, upper driving means 17 includes a generally cylindrical stationary member 19 which is welded or otherwise attached a flange member 20. The flange member 20 is welded or otherwise attached to a pair of spaced frame members 21 and 22 (FIG. 1) so that the stationary member 19 is mounted on the frame 16 with its centerline substantially vertically oriented. Inner cylinder assembly 25 is rotatably positioned within the stationary member 19 by upper thrust bearings 23 and lower thrust bearings 24. The centerline of the inner cylinder assembly 25 coincides with the centerline of the stationary member 19 and the inner cylinder assembly 25 extends upwardly above the stationary member 19 through a cover 26 to provide a hub 27. The cover 26 is attached to the stationary member 19 by a plurality of bolts 28 and serves to retain the inner cylinder assembly 25 within the stationary member 29.

Mounted on the hub 27 is a sprocket wheel 29 and when the sprocket wheel 29 is driven by a chain 30 (FIG. 1) from a sprocket wheel 31 driven through a reducing gear 32 by a motor 33, the inner cylinder assembly 25 rotates within the stationary member 19. Fixedly positioned within the inner cylinder assembly 25 is the receiving end 34 of the flyer tube 12. Thus, the centerline of the inner cylinder assembly 25 is the axis of rotation 14 of the flyer tube 12.

The flyer tube 12 extends downwardly through a cylindrical cavity 35 and a conical cavity 36 and into a driving cylinder 37 attached by bolts 38 to a flange 39 formed at the lower end of the inner cylinder assembly 25. Below the inner cylinder assembly 25, the flyer tube 12 extends through an aperture 40 in the driving cylinder 37 and curves gently as shown in FIG. 1 to terminate in a discharge end 41.

The flyer tube is formed in a curvature which corresponds to the surface of an inverse parabollic spiral so the rod passing through the flyer tube will undergo a gradual and uniform change in direction from vertical movement to substantially horizontal movement, with a minimum of surface friction. The configuration of flyer tube 12 was calculated from the following equations:

r = P sin.sup.2 (.theta./2), and

z = h sin.sup.2 (.theta./2),

where, r = radius of flyer tube curvature, P = desired radius of a coil, .theta. = the angle about the vertical centerline of the flyer tube through which the flyer tube extends, z = the vertical centerline of the flyer tube, and h = desired height of a flyer tube.

As shown in FIG. 1, the end portion 42 of the flyer tube 12 adjacent its discharge end 41 is oriented so that it extends substantially in a horizontal plane and so that the center of its radius of curvature generally coincides with the axis of rotation 14 of the flyer tube 12. It will now be understood that the first driving means 17 serves to rotate the flyer tube 12 about the axis of rotation 14 of the flyer tube 12 with the receiving end 34 of the flyer tube 12 in the axis of rotation 14 and the discharge end 14 moving in a circle about the axis of rotation 14.

Turntable 10 is mounted on the frame 16 for rotation about its axis of rotation 11 and as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, lower driving means 18 for rotating the turntable about its axis of rotation 11 is positioned below turntable 10. From FIG. 3, it will be seen that lower driving means includes motor 44 which drives sprocket wheel 45 through reducing gear 46. Mounted on sprocket wheel 45 is chain 47 which extends from sprocket wheel 45 to sprocket wheel or tire 48 mounted upon shaft 49 for rotation about a substantially vertical axis of rotation. Mounted at the upper end of shaft 49 is a friction wheel 50. Friction wheel 50 is positioned by the shaft 49 in the plane of turntable 10 so that the circumferential surface of wheel 50 engages a circumferential face 51 of the turntable 10. Lower driving means 18 also includes an idler sprocket wheel 52 for maintaining tension in the chain 47.

OPERATION

Turntable 10 is rotatable by a lower driving means 18 about an axis of rotation 11 and a flyer tube 12 is rotatable by an upper driving means 17 about an axis of rotation 14. A metal rod 15 to be coiled by the coiler passes from the pinch rollers P through a feed tube 54 and into a conical recess 55 formed in the upper end of the inner cylinder assembly 25. As the metal rod 15 passes from the feed tube 54 into the conical recess 55, it passes downwardly into the receiving end 34 of the flyer tube 12.

As the metal rod 15 passes through the flyer tube 12, its direction of movement is gradually changed from a substantially vertical path along the axis of rotation of the flyer tube 12 into a substantially horizontal arcuate path corresponding with the circle of motion of the discharge end 41 of the flyer tube 12 about the axis of rotation 14 of the flyer tube 12. Thus, as the flyer tube 12 rotates about its axis of rotation 14, the metal rod 15 is formed into a continuous series of loops 56.

As the loops 56 are formed by the rotation of the flyer tube 12, the loops fall to the surface of turntable 10. Since turntable 10 is being rotated by lower driving means 18, the center of each successive loop 56 is displaced from the center of the preceding loop 56 along a circular path 58 having the axis of rotation 11 of turntable 10 as its center. This is best shown in FIG. 4, and from FIG. 4 it will also be seen that loops 56 overlap and that each loop 56 has a diameter which is such that each loop 56 encloses within its circumference the axis of rotation 11 of turntable 10. The radius of the circular path of the discharge end of the flyer tube is greater than the displacement of the axis of rotation of the turn table from the axis of rotation of the flyer tube. Thus, in a coil 59 (FIG. 5) formed by the coiler there is a hollow cylindrical center zone 60. Moreover, the overlapping pattern of the loops 56 in a coil 59 is such that the loops do not become readily entangled so that the rod can be conveniently and easily withdrawn from the coil.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the diameter of each loop 56 corresponds generally to the diameter of the circle of motion in which the discharge end 41 of flyer tube 12 moves. However, the diameter of a loop 56 may be varied by varying the angular speed of the flyer tube 12 relative to the linear speed of the metal rod 15 through the flyer tube 12. Thus, by increasing the linear speed of the metal rod 15 through flyer tube 12 relative to the angular speed of flyer tube 12, the diameter of each loop 56 may be increased. Conversely, by reducing the linear speed of the metal rod 15 relative to the angular speed of flyer tube 12, the diameter of each loop 56 may be decreased.

It will also be understood that the distance by which each successive loop 56 is displaced from the preceding loop 56 is dependent upon the rotational speed of turntable 10 relative to the linear speed of the metal rod 15 through flyer tube 12. Thus, by increasing or decreasing the angular speed of turntable 10 relative to linear speed of the metal rod 15 through flyer tube 12, each successive loop 56 is displaced a greater or lesser distance relative to the immediately preceding loop 56.

In addition, it will be understood that a coil 59 is generally formed within a basket 61 or on a center stem pack positioned on the turntable 10 to facilitate the removal of the coil 59 from the coiler and that after removal of a coil 59 from the coiler, straps 62 are generally placed about the coil 59 to hold the loops 56 in place until the metal rod 15 in the coil 59 is to be used. To further facilitate the removal of a completed coil 59 from the coiler, the coiler disclosed herein includes an accumulating means 63 for accumulating loops 56 while a completed coil 59 is removed and a basket 61 is placed on the turntable 10 to start a new coil 59.

The accumulating means 63 is shown in general in FIG. 1 and in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7. From FIG. 1 it will be seen that the accumulating means 63 includes a ring member 64 positioned below the flyer tube 12 but above the turntable 10 by frame members 65. Mounted on the outermost surface of ring member 64 within a plurality of bearings 66 is a flexible cable 67. Flexible cable 67 is rotatable about its circumferential centerline by lever 69 attached to a piston rod 70 movable by fluid cylinder 71. Bearings 66 are positioned in pairs around the ring member 64 and retaining means 72 is attached to the flexible cable 67 between each pair of bearings 66. As shown in FIG. 7, each retaining means 72 includes a hook 74 and a clamp 75 by which hook 74 is attached to the flexible cable 67.

It will be understood that with motion of piston rod 70, the rotation of flexible cable 67 moves hooks 74 between a retaining position shown in solid line in FIG. 7 and a releasing position shown in dashed line in FIG. 7. It will also be understood that when hooks 74 are in the retaining position shown in FIG. 7, the accumulating means 63 catches and accumulates loops 56 of the metal rod 15 and that when hooks 74 are in the releasing position shown in FIG. 7, loops 56 drop through the accumulating means to turntable 10. Thus, the accumulating means is positioned relative to the flyer tube 12 so that hooks 74 retain or release loops 56 as required for starting or removing a coil 59.

In connection with a coil 59, it will now be understood that the invention provides a coil the rod of which is conveniently and easily unwound and fed to a wire drawing machine or other apparatus for subsequent processing. Moreover, because the coiler is placed in operation for coiling a metal rod 15 by simply feeding the end of the metal rod into the receiving end 34 of flyer tube 12, the coiler is well adapted to coiling a metal rod which is initially and continuously discharged from the rolling mill R or the like.

In addition, since turntable 10 is simply rotated rather than oscillated or otherwise moved in a complicated pattern of motion, the coiler avoids the difficulty encountered with prior art coilers in providing an oscillatory motion and in moving heavy coils of metal rod. Furthermore, because of the simple motions of both the turntable 10 and of the flyer tube 12, the coiler is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain.

While this invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinbefore and as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. A coiler for coiling rod or the like comprising a flyer tube including an approximately upright receiving end and a discharge end displaced laterally from said receiving end, wherein said flyer tube extends in a curved downward and lateral direction from its receiving end to its discharge end, said coiler having an upper driving means for rotating said flyer tube about an axis of rotation approximately coextensive with the longitudinal axis of said receiving end and a turntable positioned below said flyer tube, said turntable having a lower driving means for rotation about an axis of rotation displaced from the axis of rotation of said flyer tube and within the radius of lateral displacement of the discharge end from the receiving end of said flyer tube, said turntable being rotatable in a substantially horizontal plane of motion about a substantially vertical axis of rotation, said upper driving means including a generally stationary member having its centerline substantially vertically oriented and having an inner cylinder rotatably positioned therein, with the receiving end of said flyer tube fixedly positioned within said rotatable inner cylinder with the centerline of said rotatable inner cylinder coinciding with the centerline of said stationary member and the axis of rotation of said flyer tube, said coiler including a driving cylinder having its longitudinal axis approximately coextensive with the axis of rotation of said flyer tube, with said flyer tube extending through an aperture in the side portion of said driving cylinder.

2. The coiler of Claim 1 wherein said flyer tube has angular intersecting axes within its driving cylinder and extends through the side portion of said driving cylinder at an oblique angle.

3. The coiler of claim 2 wherein said flyer tube is formed in a curvature which corresponds to the surface of an inverse parabollic spiral.

4. The coiler of claim 2 wherein the end portion of said flyer tube adjacent said discharge end is curved with the center of its radius of curvature generally coinciding with the axis of rotation of said flyer tube.

5. The coiler of claim 2 wherein the end portion of said flyer tube adjacent said discharge end extends approximately in a horizontal plane.

6. The coiler of claim 2 including accumulating means positioned between said flyer tube and said turntable, the axis of said accumulating means being generally in alignment with the axis of rotation of said flyer tube and offset from the axis of rotation of said turntable.

7. The coiler of claim 2 including a feed tube comprising a laterally extending portion for receiving rod or the like and a downwardly extending portion aligned with the receiving end of said flyer tube for guiding rod or the like toward said flyer tube.

8. The coiler of claim 2 wherein said turntable has a rotating means including a wheel engaging said turntable and driven by a motor.