A reel that winds and unwinds the links

Abstract

The present invention relates to a winder reel comprising a mandrel (10) extending around the axis of rotation (X) of the reel; and pairs of lateral arms (20a, 20b) extending on either side of the mandrel (10) and acting together as flanks defining between them the winding volume of the link; the reel is characterized in that it comprises a closed flange (40) attached to the arm (20a) constituting one of the aforementioned flanks, the closed flange having a thickness of between 10 mm and 40 mm.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a reel making it possible to wind and unwind links, in particular for the transmission of energy and / or data, such as cables, pipes, optical fibres or others, and to a method for manufacturing such a reel. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known in particular from documents WO 2014 / 167105 and WO 2015 / 071341 in the name of the applicant that the reel is intended for winding and unwinding links, for example links of the type allowing the transmission of energy and / or the transmission of data.

[0003] Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the reel: A mandrel 10 extending along the axis of rotation of the reel; The link winding volume is defined by a configuration that laterally accommodates the windings of the link, and includes two sets of lateral arms 20a, 20b attached to opposite sides of the mandrel 10. Each set of arms defines a flank.

[0004] The reel structure is made rigid by the ferrules as follows: It has an inner ferrule 30 positioned a first distance from the mandrel. It has a pair of outer ferrules 31a, 31b, each ferrule attached to a respective flank arm at a second distance from the mandrel that is greater than the first distance.

[0005] The reel comprises a support surface configured to receive the windings of the link, the inner winding being in contact with said support surface, which may in particular be part of the mandrel or part of the inner ferrule.

[0006] The space between the flanks, i.e. the distance between two flanks, is defined according to the width of the link wound on the reel. To allow accurate winding / unwinding of the links, especially in the case of single winding reels, the space between the flanks is adjusted so that it is adapted to the links wound at the proximal and distal ends of the arm.

[0007] The current trend is to reduce the width and / or thickness of the links, which allows longer links and more turns of wire to be wound on the support surface for the same reel diameter. In order to maintain regular winding / unwinding of the links guided by the flanks, reducing the size of the links is accompanied by a reduction in the space between the flanks.

[0008] The limiting factor in reducing the space between the flanks is the thickness of the mandrel, i.e., the dimension parallel to the axis of rotation of the reel.

[0009] In fact, a reduction in the thickness of the mandrel leads to a reduction in the stiffness of the reel, which in turn leads to an increase in the displacement amplitude of the distal end of the arm relative to the mandrel, especially under the effect of axial stress, whether it is static or dynamic, such as wind.

[0010] Furthermore, the considerable thickness of the mandrel makes its manufacture expensive. Indeed, for thicknesses typically exceeding 25 mm, the method of cutting the sheet with a laser is not applicable and must be replaced by methods with technical limitations and / or even more expensive methods, such as oxygen cutting or drilling in a drill press. Summary of the Invention

[0011] It is an object of the present invention to construct a reel having improved stiffness and reduced mass while being manufactured at a lower cost.

[0012] In particular, such reels can be constructed to accommodate links of small widths (eg, about 20 mm to 40 mm) without a loss in stiffness relative to known reels.

[0013] To this effect, the invention proposes a reel for winding and unwinding links, the reel comprising: a mandrel extending about an axis of rotation of the reel;

[0023] a plurality of pairs of lateral arms extending on opposite sides of the mandrel and acting together as flanks defining a winding volume of the link therebetween; The reel is characterized in that it comprises a closed flange, which is attached to an arm constituting one of the flanks, the flange having a thickness between 10 mm and 40 mm.

[0014] The term "closed" means that the flange has a continuous shape that closes on itself. This flange extends around the reel, but is considered in cross section in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the reel; therefore, the flange is bounded by a closed inner contour and a closed outer contour, the distance between the two contours being defined as the width of the flange. The flange may have an annular shape, i.e., concentric circular inner and outer contours, but is not limited to this particular shape of contour. More generally, the inner and outer contours of the flange may include curved and / or straight portions.

[0015] Particularly advantageously, the flange has a thickness adapted to be cut by a laser, for example a thickness between 10 mm and 25 mm.

[0016] Preferably, the flange has a thickness the same as the thickness of the mandrel.

[0017] According to an embodiment, the mandrel has a thickness between 20 mm and 40 mm.

[0018] According to a preferred embodiment, the outer shape of the mandrel matches the inner shape of the flange.

[0019] The flange may have a width between 30mm and 100mm.

[0020] According to a preferred embodiment, the flange is attached to each arm constituting one of the flanks by means of a threaded rod or screw; each threaded rod or screw passes through an elongated hole in the flange and an elongated hole in each arm, the elongated holes being oriented along substantially perpendicular directions.

[0021] Another object of the invention relates to a method for manufacturing such a reel.

[0022] The method comprises the following steps: (a) providing a mandrel and a flange; (b) attaching arms to opposite sides of the mandrel to form two flanks; (c) attaching a flange to the arm that constitutes one of the flanks.

[0023] According to a preferred embodiment, step (a) includes cutting the mandrel and the flange from the same metal sheet, the flange extending around the mandrel.

[0024] Particularly advantageously, the cutting in step (a) is performed by a laser. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0025] Other features and advantages of the invention will be described in the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0026] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a known reel; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a front view of the reel of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the reel of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the reel of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the reel of FIG. [Figure 7A] 1 shows the arm displacement (mm) for a known type of reel with a mandrel thickness of 20 mm, calculated by digital simulation. [Figure 7B] 4 shows the arm displacement (mm) for a reel according to the invention with a mandrel thickness of 20 mm, calculated by digital simulation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] With reference to Figure 5 onwards, the reel comprises a mandrel 10 which extends around the axis of rotation X of the reel.

[0028] According to a preferred embodiment, the mandrel 10 has a cylindrical solid of revolution shape, the axis of which coincides with the axis X. Alternatively, the outer shape of the mandrel may be composed of a number of facets, each extending in a plane parallel to the axis X, and preferably the different facets are all positioned equidistant from the axis X.

[0029] The mandrel 10 has two opposing faces perpendicular to the axis X.

[0030] The mandrel is typically cut from a metal sheet.

[0031] The thickness of the mandrel, i.e. the distance between its two opposing faces, is typically between 20 mm and 40 mm.

[0032] In a manner known per se, the reel further comprises two flanks extending on either side of the mandrel, which define between them the winding volume of the link and are intended to laterally accommodate the windings of said link. The space between the flanks is defined according to the width of the link to be wound on the reel. More precisely, in the case of single-winding reels, the space between the flanks is slightly larger than the width of the link, in order to take into account the dimensional tolerances related to the manufacture of the link. In the case of multi-winding reels, the space between the flanks is slightly larger than the sum of the widths of the adjacent links, intended to accommodate several adjacent windings. The flanks therefore guide the winding and unwinding of the link.

[0033] Each flank is constituted by a pair of lateral arms 20a or 20b extending radially from the mandrel. The proximal part of each arm is rigidly integrated with the respective face of the mandrel, for example by a threaded rod. In practice, the arms forming one of the flanks may be attached directly to the face of the mandrel, while the arms of the other flank may be attached at a given distance from the opposite face of the mandrel in order to obtain the desired inter-flank spacing. This distance may be adjusted in particular by a device for adjusting the inter-flank spacing as described in document WO 2014 / 167105.

[0034] Each flank is flat, i.e. the faces of the arms facing the mandrel are coplanar with one another and extend in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation X of the mandrel.

[0035] In this document, the terms "proximal" and "distal" refer to elements that are relatively closer or further from the mandrel.

[0036] The arms may for example be formed by folding a metal sheet or may be formed from a metal profile.

[0037] The link may have a round cross-section (in which case the width and thickness of the link are equal to its diameter), or, particularly in the case of multi-winding reels, a substantially rectangular cross-section (in which case the width of the link is the dimension extending along axis X and the thickness is the dimension perpendicular to the width), or any other cross-section depending on the target application.

[0038] The reel structure is made rigid by the ferrules as follows: It has an inner ferrule 30 positioned a first distance from the mandrel. It has a pair of outer ferrules 31a, 31b, each ferrule attached to an arm of a respective flank at a second distance from the mandrel that is greater than the first distance, for example the outer ferrules may be attached to the distal ends of the arms.

[0039] Each ferrule may be constructed from a single piece or from multiple sections each extending along an angular interval about the axis X.

[0040] According to an advantageous embodiment, each ferrule may include a removable portion, as described in document WO 2015 / 071341.

[0041] The reel comprises a support surface adapted to receive the windings of the link, with the inner winding being in contact with said support surface. The support surface generally has a cylindrical or helical shape. It may in particular be a part of the mandrel (the cylindrical surface of the mandrel or an additional surface firmly integrated with the mandrel) or a part of the inner ferrule (each part of the ferrule has a surface in the form of a cylindrical or helical part, the assembly of the different parts forming a continuous cylindrical or helical surface which is the support surface).

[0042] According to the invention, a closed flange 40 is further attached to the arm 20a. The flange may be formed, for example, by cutting a metal sheet. The flange is therefore flat. The flange preferably has a constant thickness.

[0043] The flange typically has a thickness between 10mm and 40mm, preferably between 10mm and 25mm.

[0044] Particularly advantageously, the flanges are cut from the same sheet as the mandrel (DECOUPEE DANS), so that it is sufficient to make a cut (for example by laser) according to the external shape of the mandrel, which matches the internal shape of the flange, and a cut (for example by laser) according to the external shape of the flange, to form both the mandrel and the flange, without losing material other than possible scrap corresponding to the sheet located outside the flange.

[0045] The mandrel and flanges may be formed from stainless steel sheet. Alternatively, the mandrel and flanges may be formed from steel sheet and then subjected to a protective treatment, for example by galvanizing or paint.

[0046] The flange is provided with an orifice 400 for the passage of the threaded rod or screw 41 necessary for attaching the flange to the arm. Similarly, each arm is provided with an orifice 200 for the passage of the threaded rod or screw mentioned above, at a given position relative to the flange. Preferably, the orifices 200 and 400 are elongated in order to take into account any dimensional variations. More preferably, as shown in FIG. 6, each elongated orifice 200 is oriented substantially perpendicular to the corresponding elongated orifice 400, thus making it possible to accommodate dimensional variations in two directions. Typically, the elongated orifices 200 extend tangent to the center circle of the flange and the elongated orifices 400 extend in the direction of the length of the arm 20a.

[0047] The width of the flange is selected to be large enough to allow the passage of a threaded rod and to have sufficient mechanical strength. Typically, the width of the flange is between 30 mm and 100 mm for an outside diameter of 1000 mm to 3000 mm. It is preferable that the width of the flange is constant.

[0048] Such flanges have the function of connecting the arms of the same flank with each other, thereby extracting the forces acting on the arms, which has the effect of increasing the stiffness of the reel and of increasing its stability when lifted from a horizontal position (the position in which the reel is typically assembled) to a vertical position (the position in which the reel is normally used).The flanges thus act as stiffeners.

[0049] The presence of the flanges therefore allows the thickness of the mandrel to be reduced without compromising the stiffness of the reel, which would significantly increase the mass and cost of the reel. This stiffening can be obtained with relatively small sheet thicknesses, particularly sheets less than 25 mm, making it possible to use laser cutting methods.

[0050] Working Example The effect of the above-mentioned closed flanges on the stiffness of the reel was verified using digital simulations.

[0051] The reels covered in these simulations have a mandrel thickness of 20 mm. For known reels with mandrels having a thickness of 40 mm, this reel has a low mass, is low cost and is capable of winding narrow cables, i.e., about 20 mm wide.

[0052] The simulation aims to verify the resistance of the reel in response to wind forces.

[0053] Wind force exerted by the wind on the mandrel F v is defined as follows:

number

number

[0054] F v =160756N is obtained.

[0055] This force acts on all arms. Calculate the maximum displacement at the outer ferrule. We obtain:

[0056] For a reel with a mandrel of 40 mm, the maximum displacement is 60 mm. For a reel with a 20 mm mandrel (without flanges), the maximum displacement is 508 mm (see Figure 7A).

[0057] This shows that a reduction in the thickness of the mandrel has the effect of substantially increasing the displacement of the distal ends of the arms, which is detrimental to the mechanical strength of the reel and its use, especially under the influence of strong winds.

[0058] A simulation is then carried out with a reel according to the invention. The reel is made up of a mandrel with a thickness of 20 mm. The flanges and the mandrel are cut from the same sheet of 2 m x 2 m (DECOUPES DANS). In this simulation, the mandrel has a circular shape and the flanges have an annular shape whose inner shape matches that of the mandrel. The outer diameter of the mandrel is 1850 mm, which corresponds to the inner diameter of the flange, and the outer diameter of the flange is 1975 mm.

[0059] With this reinforcing flange, the maximum displacement at the distal end of the arm in a wind of 70 m / s is 27 mm (see FIG. 7B), ie reduced by a factor of 18 with respect to a reel without the flange. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0060] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2014 / 167105 [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2015 / 071341

Claims

1. A reel for winding and unwinding links, a mandrel extending about an axis of rotation of the reel; [0023] a plurality of pairs of lateral arms extending on opposite sides of the mandrel and acting together as flanks defining a winding volume of the link therebetween; A reel comprising a closed flange attached to the arm constituting one of the flanks, the flange having a thickness between 10 mm and 40 mm, and the mandrel having a thickness between 20 mm and 40 mm.

2. 2. The reel of claim 1, wherein the flange has a thickness adapted to be cut by a laser, for example a thickness between 10 mm and 25 mm.

3. 3. The reel of claim 1, wherein the flange has a thickness the same as a thickness of the mandrel.

4. 4. The reel of claim 1, wherein an outer shape of the mandrel matches an inner shape of the flange.

5. 5. A reel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the flange has a width between 30mm and 100mm.

6. the flange is attached to each arm constituting one of the flanks by a threaded rod or screw; 6. A reel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each threaded rod or screw passes through an elongated hole in the flange and an elongated hole in each arm, the elongated holes being oriented along substantially perpendicular directions.

7. 7. The reel of claim 1, wherein the flange has an annular shape.

8. A method for manufacturing a reel according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising the steps of: (a) providing the mandrel and the flange; (b) attaching the arms to opposite sides of the mandrel to form two flanks; (c) attaching the flange to the arm that constitutes one of the flanks.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein for manufacturing the reel of claim 3, step (a) includes cutting the mandrel and the flange from the same sheet of metal, the flange extending around the periphery of the mandrel.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the cutting in step (a) is performed by a laser.

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