Folding Wire Caddy With Vertical Spindles to Reduce Tangling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wire and cable spool storage and dispensing systems for electricians face challenges with loading spools onto horizontal spindles, leading to excessive unrolling and tangling due to insufficient friction, and require a solution for easy loading, minimal space storage, and transport.
Innovation Solution
A folding wire caddy with vertically oriented spindles and a collapsible design, featuring resilient foot members and end caps, allows for easy loading and storage, reducing unrolling and tangling, and includes a support tray for large coils, enhancing usability and mobility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If horizontal spindles are used to support wire spools, then the wire caddy can be compact and mobile, but the spools experience excessive unrolling and tangling due to insufficient friction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional horizontal spindle orientation by using vertical spindles instead. This inversion changes the friction dynamics between the spool arbor and spindle, providing sufficient friction to prevent unrolling while maintaining ease of loading and compact mobility.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple wire spools are loaded onto horizontal spindles, then the wire caddy can hold more wire, but considerable strength is required to load additional reels due to compounded loading
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting the spindle orientation from horizontal to vertical, the patent changes the loading mechanics. The vertical orientation allows spools to be slipped onto spindles more easily, reducing the force required to load multiple reels while maintaining high wire capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the orientation parameter of the spindles from horizontal to vertical, which fundamentally alters the loading characteristics. This parameter change reduces the force required to load spools while maintaining the ability to hold multiple spools for high wire capacity.
3Volume of moving object
If the wire caddy is designed to be foldable for compact storage, then transport space is minimized, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the wire caddy into foldable components including the base, legs, and spindles. Each component can be independently folded or collapsed, allowing the structure to be disassembled into compact segments for minimal storage volume while managing structural complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a nested doll principle where the spindles can be collapsed or nested within the base structure, and the legs can be folded beneath the base. This nesting approach allows the entire wire caddy to be compacted into a minimal storage volume while the modular nested structure helps manage the complexity of the folding mechanism.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides stable support with reduced unrolling and tangling, facilitating efficient wire management and transport, while allowing for compact storage and easy deployment of wire and conduit spools.
Implementation Method 1
There may also be resilient foot members joined to ends of the leg members, providing resilient contact to a supporting surface
Implementation Method 2
One such problem is loading wire or cable spools onto the horizontal spindles or rods, particularly those of hand-cart-style wire caddies. Considerable strength is often required, due to compounded loading, as additional reels are added to a bar or spindle rack system. Furthermore, there is little friction between the arbor of the spool and the rod or spindle. That being the case, when pulling wire aggressively from a spool excessive unrolling of wire, from free-wheeling, is often experienced.
Data Source
AI summary
A folding wire caddy has a horizontal base member, a leg support member pivotally attached with a vertical axis at a point along the horizontal base member near a first end, such that the leg member may be folded to be parallel and adjacent to the base member, or to be at a right angle to the base member, a second leg support member pivotally attached with a vertical axis at a point along the horizontal base member near an end of the base member opposite the first end of the base member, such that the second leg member may be folded to be parallel and adjacent to the base member, or to be at a right angle to the base member, and one or more spindle members pivotally attached near one end of each spindle member with horizontal axes at points along the first length of the base member, such that each spindle member my fold to be parallel and adjacent to the base member, or at a right angle to the base member, extending vertically.