Wire Dispenser

Abstract

A mobile wire dispenser having a housing supported by wheels. The housing has a central hollow core with a plurality of side openings communicating with the hollow interior. The housing also has a plurality of recesses around the core adapted to hold boxes of wire with the wire passing out of the boxes through the openings and up through the hollow core. An inverted funnel is provided on the top of the core to guide the wire out of the core.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to mobile wire dispensers of the type which will hold self-contained boxes of coiled wire.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It has been customary in the past for electricians to carry individual boxes of wire to various locations in a building which is being wired in order to have a ready supply of wire at hand for the wiring operation. In addition various wires may frequently be required to be installed simultaneously. In either situation the several boxes of wire lay around in an untidy mess. As a result of these practices, the electrician loses valuable time both in carrying the boxes around the building and in handling the wire to try to keep it in an orderly arrangement.

A few attempts have been made to reduce these time wasting problems by providing wire dispensing reels which will carry multiple coils of wire. Typical of these dispensers are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,275,263 and 3,172,617. While such devices were an improvement in wire handling techniques, neither was completely satisfactory due to the fact that the wire was dispensed from multiple locations on the dispenser, which as a practical matter, precluded the electrician from pulling multiple wires simultaneously in a compact bundle. Secondly, the dispensers shown in these patents were limited as to the number of coils of wire that could be easily handled, were awkward to handle generally, did not efficiently house the wire coils and thus were too large and bulky.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a mobile wire dispensing means that guides multiple wires in a closely held bundle.

It is an object of this invention to provide a mobile wire dispenser that efficiently carries multiple boxes of coiled wire in such a manner as to minimize the overall dimensions of the dispenser.

Basically the invention includes a housing mounted on a mobile frame and having a central hollow core. The hollow core has side openings which communicate with recesses formed in the housing. The recesses hold boxed coils of wire with the wires being fed through the side openings and up through the hollow core. The top of the core has an opening and guide means for bringing the wires together into a compact bundle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric of the wire dispenser embodying the principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary detail illustrating a modified form of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

The wire dispenser includes a housing 10 having upper recesses 12 spaced around the periphery thereof. Four such upper recesses are spaced around the housing in the preferred embodiment. As is best shown in FIG. 3, the ends of each recess abut a side of the housing forming the next adjacent recess, thus minimizing the cross-sectional dimensions required to make the four recesses. A second set of identical lower recesses 14 are spaced below the upper recesses and are spaced around the housing in an identical manner.

The housing 10 is provided with a central hollow core 16 having a plurality of side openings 18. A side opening 18 communicates with each recess 14, 16 and with the hollow interior of the core. The top of the core is provided with an opening 20. An inverter funnel 22 having a smooth opening 24 is hinged over the opening 20 and retained in a closed position by a releasable latch 25. Wire passing through the hollow core 16 passes up through the opening 24 in the funnel.

Each of the recesses is provided with a spring 27 for retaining a box of coiled wire B in the recess. As is well understood, the boxes are of the type having a central opening through which may be pulled the wire W. In order to guide the wire through each opening 18 in the core, a small deflector 30 is secured to the interior of the core overlying each side opening. In the modified form shown in FIG. 4, these deflectors are in the form of a guide bar 30a freely rotatably journaled in the housing 16. In both instances, that is, with the guide members 30 and the guide bars 30a, the guides extend downwardly across the upper edge of the side opening so that wire contacts the smooth guide to facilitate its passage through the side opening.

The housing is provided with a pair of wheels 34 for moving it to various locations and with feet 36 to hold the dispenser in a relatively upright position while wire is being removed therefrom. The handle 38 facilitates movement of the dispenser. If desired, a step 40 may be added and the top of the housing roughened as at 42 to provide a friction surface. The step thus provides easy access to the top of the housing for allowing the electrician to stand on the housing when working at higher elevations in the buildings and giving him ready accessibility to the wires passing upward from the funnel 22.

In operation one or more boxes B of wire W are slipped into the various recesses 16. The funnel 22 is then opened allowing the wire to be fed through the side openings 18 up through the opening 20 and threaded through the opening 24. Then the funnel is closed and latched in place with the multiple wires extending out of the funnel readily available for use.

While the preferred form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it should be understood that various modifications will be apparent to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments described, but only by a literal interpretation of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile wire dispenser comprising a housing, means for carrying the housing along a supporting surface, said housing including a central hollow core having a plurality of side openings communicating with the hollow interior thereof, means on said housing for supporting a plurality of wire package means peripherally spaced around said core, said wire package means being of the type which when seated around said core are adapted to deliver wire to said side openings in the core, and means on said core for guiding one or more wires from said wire package means out of said core.

2. The dispenser of claim 1, said means for supporting the package means comprising recesses equidistantly spaced around the periphery of the core and offset from the central plane of the housing so that the external dimensions of the housing are reduced without reducing the size of said recesses.

3. The dispenser of claim 1, said wire guiding means including an inverted funnel hinged to the upper end of the core.

4. The dispenser of claim 1, said wire guiding means including a plurality of guide members overlying each side opening in the core for guiding the wire from the package means up into the core.

5. The dispenser of claim 3, said wire guiding means including a plurality of guide members overlying each side opening in the core for guiding the wire from the package means up into the core.

6. The dispenser of claim 5, said guide members including rotatable bars.

7. The dispenser of claim 5, said guide members including curved funnel segments.

8. The dispenser of claim 2, said package means supporting means including means fastened across said recesses for releasably holding the package means therein.

9. The dispenser of claim 1, said means for supporting said package means around said core including means for supporting a second set of package means around the core at a lower elevation than said first set.

10. The dispenser of claim 1, said housing including a roughened top surface for supporting a workman.

11. The dispenser of claim 10, said housing including a step for providing access to said roughened top surface.