US2648507A - Thread reel - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 11, 1953 H. KITZROW 2,648,507

THREAD REEL Filed Nov. 1, 1949 INVENTOR. HERBERT KITZPOW HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 11, 195 3 THREAD REEL Herbert Kitzrow, Kettwig-Ruhr, Germany, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to J. & P. Coats Limited, Glasgow, Scotland, a corporation of Great Britain Application November 1, 1949, Serial N 0. 124,753 In Germany July 29, 1949 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a thread reel of the class comprising assembled mating components.

Thread reels must comply with several requirements: they must be of accurate dimensions, ensure smooth running, resist climatic temperature differences, and have suflicient strength to withstand the high tensile and bending stresses set up by the pressure of the thread when the thread is wound onto the reel; to save transport costs, thread reels should also have the lowest possible weight, also it must be possible to incise or notch the reel in such a way that the incision for the end of the thread can be made without difficulty, while at the same time a certain resilient action is required to hold the end of the thread in the incision.

l-leretofore, thread reels have usually been made of wood, for example, of birch wood, with the result that reeling machines are equipped for wooden reels.

Nevertheless, certain disadvantages attach to the use of wooden reels. When the reels are made by turning, or by milling, that is to say, by the use of cutting tools, there is great wastage of material, the mass of which is greater than that of the finished reel, thus involving a squandering of material. If clean surfaces are to be obtained, the cutting tools must be continuously kept sharp, which necessitates frequent exchange and replacement of tools.

The use of synthetic thermoplastic material for the manufacture of thread reels avoids the disadvantages peculiar to wood. Reels made of synthetic materials are insensitive to damp and to climatic temperature diiferences and do not undergo deformations that could impair accuracy of running; their surfaces are smoother than those of even carefully machined wooden reels.

Production in a press mould or injection mould ensures not only accuracy of shape, but also such uniformity of the products that the rejection of reels during winding, which has hitherto been unavoidable when using wooden reels, is practically eliminated. A further point is that the considerable wastage of material which is characteristic of the manufacture of wooden reels is eliminated. In addition, synthetic materials may be dyed any desired colour before moulding, so that an additional dyeing operation, which is unavoidable when making coloured wooden reels, may be dispensed with.

The above-mentioned advantages derived from the use of plastically mouldable synthetic materials for the production of reels would be counterbalanced by disadvantages when synthetic materials were merely to be used instead of Wood and made in the same solid shapes as conventional wooden reels. Reels of knoWn synthetic material so made are heavier than wooden reels.

The present invention avoids the aforesaid disadvantages and results in economy in the costs of raw material and labour, as well as the avoidance of rejects.

A thread reel according to the invention comprises assembled components mated in a plane containing the longitudinal axis of the reel and each formed as an open hollow shell moulded from thermoplastic material and having thin walls, the components being moulded with interengageable means and being of such flexibility as to be receptive of a self-closing incision for securing the loose end of the thread, and, when mated, remain mated due to the natural resiliency of the material, thereby forming a strong reel body.

Suitable thermoplastic synthetic materials are polystyrene and polythene.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows one component of a two-part reel; and

Fig. 2 shows a section along the line II-II of Fig. l, viewed from the right.

As illustrated, the thread reel consists of identical halves, of which only one is illustrated in Fig. I, viewed from the middle plane. The assembled reel is a thin-walled hollow body of rotation having a middle cylindrical part or barrel l interposed between two flanges 2 and 3 of arch form in cross-section which at their outer edges merge into end walls 4 and 5, in which are located hub bores 6 and 1.

As can be seen from Fig. 2, each half of the reel extends over 180. In the region of the flanges are stiffening ribs 8, which are substantially at right angles to the plane of junction of the components, and which may also, as is indicated in broken lines at 8', extend over the entire internal length of the reel.

Near the points where the cylindrical part or barrel l merges into the flanges 2 and 3, there are provided stiffenings 9 which carry holes H1 or pins H. The diameters of the holes Ill and of the pins II are such that, when two complementary reel halves such as the half shown in Fig. 1 are joined together, the pins fit tightly into the holes and remain therein due to the natural resiliency of the material, thereby ensuring that the halves will hold together to form a strong reel body.

Preferably two pins I I on the one hand and the 3 two holes on the other hand are, as shown in Fig. 1, diagonally opposite one another. Thus, for the production of a thread reel completely identical reel halves may be used, so that the twopart reel may be manufactured in a single mould.

If particularly strict requirements are imposed in respect ofI'the-natureof the surface, the reels may subsequently be polished in a polishing machine.

The moulded material is easily incised and a thread-holding incision is provided in the outer edge of the flange 2, as indicated at 29. The incision 29 may be made in anydesiredmanner and due to the resiliency of the material i's self closing.

As the result of investigation, it has been found that it is possible, While ensuring great strength, to make a reel moulded from p'bl'ys tyreneor poll's thene with such thin Walls that it is about- 50% lighter than the conventional wooden reel ,ofthe same external shape and: dimensions. This factor is of decisive importance, particularly where freight charges are concerned. It is to be under-'- stood, however, that thisfinvention is not limited to. the production of reelswhich would secure a saving of weight of the order above indicated. and the expression thin walls is to be understood as includingjwalls ofsuch thinness that by the use of the thermoplastic materials above mentioned a substantial reduction in the weight of the reel is securedas contrasted with a conventional wooden reelof the same external .shape and dimensions.

The moulding ,Of the half reel .body is effected in manner known per se for pressing ,or injection moulding. The production of..synthetic material reels inmouldsalso makesit possible to impress in the body of the reel, particularly in its end faces,1 without anadditional operation, the name of the manufacturer, a factory or a trade mark, or an indication of quality, thickness of thread, orthelike, in intaglio or in relief. The sticking on of printed circular labels may thus .bedispensed with.

Having now particularly described and ascertained. the. nature of my said, invention and in 4 what manner the same is to be performed, 'I declare that what I claim is:

l. A thread reel consisting of two identical halves moulded of a resilient thermoplastic material and having mating faces joined in a diametral plane of the reel, each of said halves being formed as an open'hollow shell having a semicylindrical body portion with outwardly sloping flanges at the ends thereof with semi-annular end walls extending radially inward from the peripheries of said flanges and interengaging means on the mating faces of each of said halves for holding the 'two halves in assembled relation, I ere'n'gaginig'means comprising sockets and pins wanting pinson the respective halves being arranged t'o'project into the sockets on the other half and: tomake a force fit therewith whereby the two halves are locked together by the resiliency pf the thermoplastic material.

'2. A' thread reel as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said halves includes, an internal stiffenin rib moulded integrallyltherewith and extending lengthwise thereof in a plane'substantially at right angles to the mating plane of the two halves.

HERBERT KITZROW.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 445,598 McCahey Feb. 13, 1891 1,159,204 Forney Nov. 2, 1915 1,213,630 Halliday Jan. 23, 1917 1,906,495 Stine May 2, 1933 1,977,714 Beran Oct; 23, 1934 2,264,116 Howsam 'Nov. 25, 1941 2,299,532 Cronk et a1 -1 Oct. 20, 1942 2,344,665 Adams Mar. 21, 1944 2,370,699 Warren Mar. 6, 1945 2,472,248 Cox June 7, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 434,062 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1935

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