GB1586102A - Creation of Inventions and Patents with Artificial Intelligence

GB1586102A – Wire-rope storage apparatus
– Google Patents

GB1586102A – Wire-rope storage apparatus
– Google Patents
Wire-rope storage apparatus

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Publication number
GB1586102A

GB1586102A
GB27253/77A
GB2725377A
GB1586102A
GB 1586102 A
GB1586102 A
GB 1586102A
GB 27253/77 A
GB27253/77 A
GB 27253/77A
GB 2725377 A
GB2725377 A
GB 2725377A
GB 1586102 A
GB1586102 A
GB 1586102A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
wire
rope
container means
tube
storage apparatus
Prior art date
1977-06-29
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)

Expired

Application number
GB27253/77A
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)

CONCRETE UTILITIES

Original Assignee
CONCRETE UTILITIES
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
1977-06-29
Filing date
1977-06-29
Publication date
1981-03-18

1977-06-29
Application filed by CONCRETE UTILITIES
filed
Critical
CONCRETE UTILITIES

1977-06-29
Priority to GB27253/77A
priority
Critical
patent/GB1586102A/en

1978-04-10
Priority to ZA00782046A
priority
patent/ZA782046B/en

1978-06-08
Priority to FR7817183A
priority
patent/FR2395935A1/en

1981-03-18
Publication of GB1586102A
publication
Critical
patent/GB1586102A/en

Status
Expired
legal-status
Critical
Current

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Classifications

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL

B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES

B65H75/00—Storing webs, tapes, or filamentary material, e.g. on reels

B65H75/02—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks

B65H75/34—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables

B65H75/36—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables without essentially involving the use of a core or former internal to a stored package of material, e.g. with stored material housed within casing or container, or intermittently engaging a plurality of supports as in sinuous or serpentine fashion

B65H75/362—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables without essentially involving the use of a core or former internal to a stored package of material, e.g. with stored material housed within casing or container, or intermittently engaging a plurality of supports as in sinuous or serpentine fashion with stored material housed within a casing or container

B65H75/364—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables without essentially involving the use of a core or former internal to a stored package of material, e.g. with stored material housed within casing or container, or intermittently engaging a plurality of supports as in sinuous or serpentine fashion with stored material housed within a casing or container the stored material being coiled

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING

B66D—CAPSTANS; WINCHES; TACKLES, e.g. PULLEY BLOCKS; HOISTS

B66D3/00—Portable or mobile lifting or hauling appliances

B66D3/02—Manually-operated, e.g. lever-actuated, devices operating on ropes, cables, or chains for hauling in a mainly horizontal direction

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING

B66D—CAPSTANS; WINCHES; TACKLES, e.g. PULLEY BLOCKS; HOISTS

B66D3/00—Portable or mobile lifting or hauling appliances

B66D3/18—Power-operated hoists

B66D3/26—Other details, e.g. housings

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN WIRE-ROPE STORAGE APPARATUS
(71) We, CONCRETE UTILITIES
LIMITED, of Great Amwell, Ware, Hertfordshire, a British Company, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement :
The present invention relates to wire-rope storage apparatus for storing steel rope in coils. More particularly, although not exclusively, the wire-rope storing apparatus is designed to be used in conjunction with winching apparatus with a high mast lighting column in order to raise and lower the lantern carriage for the purpose of maintenance.
One type of high mast lighting column is disclosed in British Patent No. 1,301,511 in which a plurality of lamp units are provided on a circular rail which is suspended by a pair of cables which pass over pulleys mounted at the top of the mast. The cables which support the lantern unit pass down through the inside of the mast to the base where they are anchored near the bottom, access being provided in the base of the mast, so that a wire-rope winching unit may be attached and operated for the purpose of lowering the lantern unit for maintenance purposes.
Instead of providing a separate winching apparatus for each high mast, it has been found more economical to provide a portable wire-rope winching apparatus which can be transported from one mast to the next when maintenance is to be carried out.
One of the problems of known systems is that the wire-rope winching apparatus causes differing amounts of twist to be imparted to the wire-rope according as to whether it is drawing in or paying out the wire-rope. As a result, not only are the pair of suspension cables passing up inside of the mast liable to become entwined, but also the wire-rope of the winching apparatus is liable to have torsional stresses imparted on it when being stored. After a number of operations, these torsional stresses become accumulative with the result that the mast suspension cables become excessively entwined during the raising and lowering operations.
This difficulty has been partly solved by the introduction of a swivel between the portable wire-rope winching apparatus and the mast suspension cables and also by replacing the two right hand lay mast suspension cables with one left hand and one right hand lay cable.
However, this above modification did not completely solve the problem and it was found that there was some tendency for the strands of wire-rope remaining in the coiler to untwist. This was found to be due to progressive accumulation of torsional stress in the coiler.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate partially or wholly the above disadvantage by providing a wirerope storage apparatus for use with wire-rope winching apparatus, in which torsional stresses in the wire-rope are reduced to a minimum thus reducing any tendency for the wire-rope drawn in or paid out to have torsional stress stored therein.
According to the present invention there is provided wire-rope storage apparatus for use with wire-rope winching apparatus of the type capable of passing the unloaded part of the rope to and from the storage apparatus, the wire-rope storage apparatus including: rotatable container means for storing the wire-rope pushed into it, in coils, the container means rotating in response to wire-rope pushed into or withdrawn from it; means for conducting said wire-rope from the winching apparatus so that it approaches the entrance to the rotatable container means in line with the axis of rotation of said container means; and independently rotatable means for directing said wire-rope into and out of the container means from being in line with the axis of rotation of said container means to being arranged in coils within said container means and vice versa; the release of any torsional stress present in the wire-rope being achieved by means of the combined rotation of the rotatable directing means and the rotatable container means.
Preferably said independently rotatable means for directing said wire-rope into and out of said container means is in the form of a rotatable spiral tube which alters the course of the wire-rope from an axial approach to an appropriate angle for stowing in coils within the container means, the spiral tube being free to rotate independently about the same axis as the wire-rope entering into it from the winching apparatus.
The present invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a general perspective view of one preferred form of wire-rope storage apparatus and winching apparatus for use with a high mast lighting column;
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the wire-rope cage of the wire-rope storage apparatus with the wire-rope stored therein and
Figure 3 is a side view of the wire-rope storage apparatus showing the wire-rope cage in greater detail with the wirerope removed for clarity of construction.
Referring to the drawings, the wire-rope winching and storage apparatus includes a wire-rope winching machine 10 and a rotatable container in the form of a cage 12 for stowing the rope pulled in by the wire-rope pulling machine 10. The wirerope winching machine is mounted on a general framework 14 having a single leg 16 and the rotatable cage 12 is mounted within an outer framework 18 which surrounds and protects it and also acts as a two legged support for the framework 14. The framework 18 is connected to the framework 14 by means of a bracket 60. A ring 19 which concentrically surrounds the wirerope cage 12 but is not connected thereto is connected to the framework 14 at its uppermost point by means of a pair of brackets 62 whilst at its lowermost end it has a part circular flange 64 welded thereto which in turn is welded to part of the framework 18. A pulley (not shown) is housed within a housing 20 formed integrally with the framework 14. The pulley rotates on a shaft 22 located within the pulley housing 20.
The end of the wire-rope to be paid out from the apparatus is connected to a swivel 24, the swivel itself being connectable to the interconnected ends of the two mast cables from which the lantern is suspended.
The wire-rope to be stowed passes over the pulley housed within the housing 20 through the wire-rope pulling machine 10 and then through a wire-rope tube 26 which directs it towards the cage 12. Between the wirerope tube 26 and the rotatable cage 12 there is provided a rotatable spiral tube 28.
The spiral tube 28 emerges from an aperture 30 cut in the side of a tube 32 which is shown in the drawings as an extension of the end of the wire-rope tube 26, the end of the spiral tube 28 being – secured to the inside surface of the tube 32 above the level of the aperture 30. The lower end of the spiral tube 28 is anchored to the tube 32 by means of a support 35. The aperture 30 is in the form of a rectangular segment with its longer axis parallel to the axis of the tube 32.
The tube 32 is coaxially arranged with a second tube 33 on which the rotatable cage 12 is mounted. An inner shaft 34 (Figure 3) extends from part of the outer framework 18 up the inside of the second tube 33 and a short way into the tube 32 thus acting as a bearing for this tube.
The lower end of the inner shaft 34 is secured to the framework by means of nuts 37, the second tube 33 being free to rotate about the inner shaft 34.
The rotatable cage 12 comprises eight equi-spaced metal hoops 50, the lower ends of which are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to an annular plate 52 itself secured to the tube 33, whilst the upper ends of the hoops 50 are welded to a circular bar 54 which is concentrically arranged with respect to the coaxial arrangement of the tubes 32 and 33.
The spiral tube 28 effectively changes the direction of feed of the wire-rope from an axial direction with respect to the rotatable cage to an appropriate direction whereby the wire-rope is coiled within the cage 12.
The wire-rope pulling machine 10 is provided with two stub levers 36 and 38 to which a telescopic lever 40 can be manually attached in order to actuate the wire-rope pulling machine 10 to pull in or let out the wire-rope respectively.
Since the above described rope winching and storage apparatus is designed to be used with high mast lighting columns, the apparatus also includes a doorway hook 42 designed to hook into the bottom of the access door of a high mast, and also a gusset connector and associated pin 44 which is a clevis type connector which connects to a special hole in the gusset plate of the high mast lighting column. A swivel holder 46 is connected to the pulley housing 20 to enable the swivel 24 to be tidily and conveniently stowed when the apparatus is not in use. A carrying handle 48 is also secured to the pulley housing 20 to enable the apparatus to be carried by two people, the second person lifting preferably the other end of the apparatus by the wire-rope tube 26.
It will be appreciated from the above description that the rope coiling apparatus which consists basically of the rotatable cage 12 and spiral tube 28, has two degrees 6f rotatable freedom about the axis of the end of the tube 26 which passes through the centre of the rotatable cage. Thus both the cage 12 and the spiral tube 28 can rotate about the same axis independently of each other whereby any torsional stress imparted to the wire-rope by the pulling machine 10 when drawing the wire-rope in will automatically be released by the independent rotational movements of the cage 12 and spiral tube 28. Likewise, when the wire-rope is paid out any torsional stress imparted to the wire-rope by the pulling machine 10 which would otherwise build up in the stowed section of wire-rope is automatically released by the independent rotation of the cage 10 and spiral tube 28 as the wire-rope is pulled out of the cage.
In addition the swivel 24 ensures that the mast cables do not become entwined when the lantern carriage is either lowered or raised.
The step by step operation of the wirerope winching and storage apparatus will now be described in greater detail with reference to its operation in connection with the lowering and raising of the lantern unit of a high mast lighting column.
(a) The access door to the high mast lighting column is removed.
(b) The power supply within the mast is switched off.
(c) The power cable plug is disconnected from supply socket.
(d) The apparatus is connected to the mast by means of the doorway hook 42 and the gusset connector 44.
(e) The anchor pin handle, which retains the mast cables, is lifted.
(f) The swivel 24 is disconnected from the swivel holder 46.
(g) The swivel 24 is connected to the transfer plate at the end of the mast cables ensuring that swivel pin is screwed in completely tightly.
(h) The telescopic lever 40 is connected to stub lever 36 of the wire-rope pulling machine 10.
(i) The lever 40 is operated in short strokes until the pulling rope and swivel 24 begin to tension. At the moment when the suspension load transfers, the anchor pin handle will drop.
(j) Secure connection of the swivel to the transfer plate is rechecked.
(k) Whilst the telescopic lever 40 is still held the anchor pin handle is lifted with the other hand and the anchor pin is disengaged by moving it to the right.
(I) The anchor arm is disengaged and moved to rest at the side of the mast interior.
(sun) The telescopic lever 40 is transferred to the stub lever 38 and the lantern carriage is lowered by working the lever 40 back and forth.
(n) The lantern carriage is lowered to accessible height for service.
(o) When the service operations have been completed, the lantern carriage is raised once the telescopic handle 40 is transferred to stub lever 36 and worked back and forth. When the swivel 24 comes into view at the top of the doorway the raise operation is slowed as lantern carriage is almost docked, and is stopped when the transfer plate is just below the top of the doorway.
(p) The anchor arm is moved to the centre of the mast and held there.
(q) The stub lever 36 is operated very slowly until the anchor arm engages with the transfer plate and the anchor arm holes are aligned with an available hole in the transfer plate.
(r) The anchor pin is engaged through the holes in the anchor arm and the transfer plate, and the handle is then lowered to locked position.
(s) The telescopic lever 40 is transferred to stub lever 38 and is operated briefly until the pulling wire-rope slackens.
(t) Security of anchorage is then checked.
(u) The pin connecting the swivel 24 to the transfer plate is unscrewed, the swivel and the attached rope is removed from the transfer plate and the swivel 24 is secured to the swivel holder 46.
(v) The telescopic lever 40 is removed from stub lever 38.
(w) The stub lever 36 is operated back and forth by hand to take up slack in the pulling wire-rope.
(x) The apparatus is disconnected from the mast.
(y) The power supply is reconnected.
(z) The access door is replaced.
Whilst the above rope winching and storage apparatus has been designed for use with a high mast lighting column, with minor modifications, such novel wire-rope storage apparatus may well be used in conjunction with winches in other fields, for example the storing of hawser cables or other towing or supporting cables used in both terrestrial and nautical applications.
Furthermore, whilst the wire-rope storage apparatus as described above has been described with an associated manually operated winching apparatus, it will be appreciated that the winching apparatus can be powered by an electric motor or other prime mover.

Claims (8)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. Wire-rope storage apparatus for use with wire-rope winching apparatus of the type capable of passing the unloaded part of the rope to and from the storage apparatus, the wire-rope storage apparatus including: rotatable container means for storing the wire-rope pushed into it, in coils, the container means rotating in response to wire-rope pushed into or withdrawn from it; means for conducting said wire-rope from the winching apparatus so that it approaches the entrance to the rotatable container means in line with the axis of rotation of said container means; and independently rotatable means for directing said wire-rope into and out of the container means from being in line with the axis of rotation of said container means to being arranged in coils within said container means and vice versa; the release of any torsional stress present in the wire-rope being achieved by means of the combined rotation of the rotatable directing means and the rotatable container means.

2. Wire-rope storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said independently rotatable means for directing said wire-rope into and out of said container means is in the form of a rotatable spiral tube which alters the course of the wire-rope from an axial approach to an appropriate angle for stowing in coils within the container means, the spiral tube being free to rotate independently about the same axis as the wire-rope entering into it from the winching apparatus.

3. Wire-rope storage apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said container means is mounted for rotation within a framework located underneath the wire-rope winching apparatus and acting as one support therefor, said means for directing said wire-rope into and out of the container means further including a rotatable tube having an aperture cut in the side thereof to permit one end of the spiral tube to be connected to the inside thereof.

4. Wire-rope storage apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the other end of the spiral tube is anchored to said apertured tube by means of a support.

5. Wire-rope storage apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said container means comprises an equi-spaced arrangement of hoops, one end of each hoop being secured to a hub mounted on a further tube coaxially arranged with said apertured tube, whilst the other end of each hoop is secured to a circular bar concentrically arranged with respect to the axis of rotation of said container means.

6. Wire-rope storage apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the coaxial alignment of the tube supporting the container means and the apertured tube is achieved by a shaft fixed to the framework supporting the container means and extending the length of the tube supporting the container means and into the apertured tube to just short of the aperture, to permit the two tubes to rotate independently of each other.

7. Wire-rope storage apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 6, wherein said aperture is in the form of a rectangular segment with its longer axis parallel to the axis of the tube.

8. Wire-rope storage apparatus for use with wire-rope winching apparatus constructed and arranged to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

GB27253/77A
1977-06-29
1977-06-29
Wire-rope storage apparatus

Expired

GB1586102A
(en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number
Priority Date
Filing Date
Title

GB27253/77A

GB1586102A
(en)

1977-06-29
1977-06-29
Wire-rope storage apparatus

ZA00782046A

ZA782046B
(en)

1977-06-29
1978-04-10
Improvements in rope storage apparatus

FR7817183A

FR2395935A1
(en)

1977-06-29
1978-06-08

IMPROVEMENT WITH A CABLE ACCUMULATION DEVICE

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number
Priority Date
Filing Date
Title

GB27253/77A

GB1586102A
(en)

1977-06-29
1977-06-29
Wire-rope storage apparatus

Publications (1)

Publication Number
Publication Date

GB1586102A
true

GB1586102A
(en)

1981-03-18

Family
ID=10256586
Family Applications (1)

Application Number
Title
Priority Date
Filing Date

GB27253/77A
Expired

GB1586102A
(en)

1977-06-29
1977-06-29
Wire-rope storage apparatus

Country Status (3)

Country
Link

FR
(1)

FR2395935A1
(en)

GB
(1)

GB1586102A
(en)

ZA
(1)

ZA782046B
(en)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party

Publication number
Priority date
Publication date
Assignee
Title

FR2543525A1
(en)

1983-04-01
1984-10-05
Geimdor Sa
Device for the winding of cables at the outlet of lifting and/or traction machines

1977

1977-06-29
GB
GB27253/77A
patent/GB1586102A/en
not_active
Expired

1978

1978-04-10
ZA
ZA00782046A
patent/ZA782046B/en
unknown

1978-06-08
FR
FR7817183A
patent/FR2395935A1/en
active
Granted

Also Published As

Publication number
Publication date

FR2395935B3
(en)

1981-02-27

ZA782046B
(en)

1979-03-28

FR2395935A1
(en)

1979-01-26

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