Cable holder

Abstract

 Perfected cable holder made of cardboard, or corrugated cardboard, comprising two flanges (11), and a support element (12) conformed as a drum and disposed between the two flanges (11), the support element (12) being obtained by bending at least a sheet of cardboard to define an internal surface (23) and an external surface (13) on which a cable (14) is suitable to be wound. The support element (12) is provided, in proximity to its ends, with protruding extensions (15) suitable to reciprocally connect the flanges (11) with the support element (12). Each of the flanges (11) comprises a first element (25) suitable to act as a containing wall of the cable (14) which is wound on the external surface (13) of the support element (12), and at least a second element (26) with a shape and size mating with those of the cross section of the internal surface (23) of the support element (12). The second element (26), in use, is disposed adjacent to the first element (25) and internally to the support element (12).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention concerns a perfected cable holder, or more precisely a cable holder of the type which can be assembled and which allows to reduce the storage and transport bulk.

[0002] In particular, the cable holder according to the present invention is made of cardboard, advantageously corrugated cardboard, and serves to wind cables, tubes, wires, ropes, depending on requirements.

[0003] Here and hereafter in the description and the claims, the word cable is intended to comprise tubes, wires, ropes or similar elements which can be wound on any support element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is known that when winding a cable onto a support element, as the number of coils which are wound increases, a necking down effect is achieved which acts on the support element itself, exerting a compression action on its winding surface.

[0005] Cable holders made of cardboard are known, provided with a support element with a substantially cylindrical, or more often polygonal shape, to the ends of which two flanges are associated containing the cable which will be wound.

[0006] In particular, the support element is provided, at its ends, with lateral protruding extensions, which in the assembly step of the cable holder are introduced through through seatings made in the flanges in order to achieve the solid connection with the support element.

[0007] In this way, during use, that is, when the cable is wound onto the support element, the lateral extensions tauten and keep the support element taut in order to overcome the necking down effect. Despite the use of this type of coupling, for some time now the Applicant has noticed that on many occasions the necking down effect is such as to overcome the resistance of the support element, making it collapse, completely or partly, toward its central axis.

[0008] To overcome this defect, different strategies have been tried, such as providing elements inside the support element, reinforcing the anchorage of the extensions to the flanges, but all without success, in fact creating problems of storage, assembly, dismantling and maintenance, since they increased the bulk thereof.

[0009] One purpose of the present invention is to achieve a perfected cable holder which has greater resistance to stresses due to the necking down effects, and allows to increase the winding capacity thereof.

[0010] Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve a cable holder of the type which can be assembled with bulk sizes of the various parts contained even in its non-assembled condition, in order to increase the storage and transport capacity thereof.

[0011] In order to overcome the above disadvantages, and to maintain the peculiarities typical of cardboard cable holders, advantageously made of corrugated cardboard, at the same time limiting the number of components and keeping the connection system the same, the Applicant has devised and tested the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.

[0013] In accordance with the above purpose, a perfected cable holder made of cardboard, or corrugated cardboard, comprises two lateral flanges and a support element conformed as a drum and disposed between said two flanges. The support element is obtained by bending at least a sheet of cardboard to define an internal surface and an external surface on which a cable is suitable to be wound in coils. The support element is provided, in proximity to its ends, with protruding extensions which allow the reciprocal connection between the flanges and the support element.

[0014] According to one feature of the present invention, each of the flanges comprises a first element suitable to act as a containing wall of the cable which is wound on the external surface of the support element, and at least a second element with a shape and size mating with those of the internal surface of the support element and, in use, disposed adjacent to the first element and inside the support element, so as to support the stresses exerted by the cable wound on the winding surface of the support element.

[0015] In this way, each second element is disposed inside the support element and in proximity to its end, exerting, with its perimeter edge, an action to support and discharge the stresses acting in this zone. The Applicant has verified that in this zone, that is, the connection zone between the flange and the support element, there is a concentration of stresses which, in cable holders of the known type, brought about the collapse of the whole support element, and which, instead, with the present invention, is adequately supported.

[0016] According to one form of embodiment, the second element has external perimeter sizes substantially equal to or slightly bigger than the sizes of the internal surface of the support element, in order to dispose the internal surface of the support element substantially in contact with the perimeter edges of the second element of the flanges.

[0017] By slightly bigger sizes we mean that the second element of the flange is inserted into the internal surface of the support element with interference; however, the interference is not such as to generate irregularities on the external surface.

[0018] In one form of embodiment, the first element and the second element are solidly associated with each other, for example by means of gluing, in this way making the assembly operations of the cable holder both quick and easy.

[0019] According to another form of embodiment, the first element is provided with first through seatings through which the protruding extensions of the support element are suitable to be inserted, in order to achieve the coupling of the latter with the flanges.

[0020] According to another form of embodiment, the first element is provided with second through seatings, disposed inside the first through seatings.

[0021] Moreover, in some variants, the second element is provided with third through seatings made in mating positions with respect to the positions according to which the second through seatings are made.

[0022] The protruding extensions are suitable to be inserted through the first through seatings and subsequently, bending on themselves, through respectively the second and third through seatings.

[0023] This particular conformation allows to further increase the resistance of the coupling with the flanges.

[0024] In one form of embodiment, the protruding extensions are provided with holding elements suitable to achieve a solid connection between the flanges and the drum and prevent them from uncoupling.

[0025] According to another form of embodiment, at least one of either the first element or the second element comprises two or more sheets of cardboard, possibly glued to each other, with the function of both increasing the thickness of the first and the second element, and also of increasing their mechanical resistance. In particular, increasing the thickness of the second element of the flanges increases the contact surface with the ends of the support element and, as a consequence, also the mechanical resistance of the cable holder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

• fig. 1 is a perspective view of a perfected cable holder, according to the present invention;
• fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detail of fig. 1;
• fig. 3 is a partial view in section of the cable holder in fig. 1;
• fig. 4 is a plan view of a first detail of fig. 2;
• fig. 5 is a plan view of a second detail of fig. 2;
• fig. 6 is a partial view of the development of a component of the cable holder in fig. 1.

[0027] To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF EMBODIMENT

[0028] With reference to fig. 1, a cable holder according to the present invention is indicated in its entirety by the reference number 10; it is of the type which can be assembled/dismantled, and comprises two lateral flanges 11 and a support element, or drum 12, disposed between the two flanges 11 and on which a cable 14 is wound during use (fig. 3).

[0029] The drum 12 (fig. 1) has a polygonal section, even if, in other forms of embodiment, it can also have a circular shape, and is obtained from a single sheet of cardboard, advantageously corrugated cardboard, which is suitably cut and pre-creased to define its development.

[0030] In particular the cutting operations allow to define a winding surface 13 on which to wind the cable 14, and protruding extensions or edges 15 suitable to allow the connection between the flanges 11 and the drum 12, as will be indicated hereafter.

[0031] The pre-creasing operations allow to make bending lines 16 (fig. 6) both in the winding surface 13 and in the protruding extensions 15 in order to define the bending of the cardboard sheet and allow the subsequent assembly of the cable holder 10.

[0032] Each of the protruding extensions 15 comprises respectively a first portion 17, directly connected to the ends of the drum 12, a second portion 18 and a third end portion 19. The third portion 19 is provided in turn with holding elements, in this case holding teeth 20, the functions of which will be described hereafter.

[0033] The protruding extensions 15 are made in proximity to the ends of the drum 12, in an offset manner on the sides of the winding surface 13, and their number is commensurate to the diameter of the cable holder 10, and therefore to the stresses which it has to support.

[0034] Once the cutting and pre-creasing operations have been carried out, the sheet of cardboard is suitably bent and closed near an opening side of the perimeter development, for example with the assistance of suitable closing lips, made in a known manner. In this way the above-mentioned drum 12 is defined, hollow inside, and having an internal surface 23 (fig. 3) which has substantially the same shape as the winding surface 13.

[0035] Each of the flanges 11 (figs. 2-5) comprises a first element 25, made from a sheet of cardboard, which functions as a containing wall and, in cooperation with the drum 12, defines a winding seating for the cable 14. The first element 25 in this case has a discoid shape and a diameter bigger than the diameter of the drum 12. Moreover, each of the flanges 11 comprises a second element 26, also made from a sheet of cardboard, in this case polygonal in shape and with shape and sizes mating with those of the cross section of the internal surface 23 of the drum 12.

[0036] The second element 26, on its thickness, has two perimeter edges 30 which, when the cable holder 10 is assembled, are substantially in contact with the internal surface 23 of the drum 12.

[0037] The first element 25 is provided with first through seatings 27 and second through seatings 28, the latter made inside the first through seatings 27. In particular, both the first 27 and the second through seatings 28 are made on sides of a polygon analogous to the one according to which the drum 12 is conformed. The position of the first through seatings 27 is coordinated with the one according to which the protruding extensions 15 of the drum 12 are made and, when the second element 26 is put adjacent to the first element 25, they are disposed in proximity to the perimeter edges 30 of the second element 26.

[0038] The second element 26 is provided with third through seatings 29 having the same disposition and shape as the second through seatings 28 so that, when the first element 25 and the second element 26 are disposed adjacent to each other, the second through seatings 28 and the third through seatings 29 are disposed in substantial continuity with respect to each other.

[0039] Both the first 25 and the second element 26 may consist of a single sheet of corrugated cardboard, or two or more sheets of cardboard glued together.

[0040] In the case of corrugated cardboard, and elements 25 and 26 having several sheets glued together, the latter are disposed so that the respective corrugations are positioned at an angle with respect to each other. This allows to increase the resistance of the flanges 11 to the stresses that are exerted by the cable 14 when wound.

[0041] The flanges 11 are provided, in a known manner, with an axial through hole 31 disposed in correspondence to the axis of the drum 12 to allow a mandrel to be inserted for the winding/unwinding operations.

[0042] One or both the flanges 11 can be provided with means auxiliary to the axial hole 31 which allow, for example a winding machine, to perform the winding operations. In this case, the auxiliary means comprise a peripheral through hole 32.

[0043] The cable holder 10 according to the present invention is assembled as described hereafter, with reference to the attached drawings.

[0044] Once the drum 12 is assembled, as indicated above, each of the protruding extensions 15 is inserted through the first through seatings 27 of the first element 25 and disposing the second element 26 inside the drum 12. In this way the internal surface 23 of the drum 12 is disposed substantially in contact with the perimeter edges 30 of the second element 26 of the flange 11.

[0045] The protruding extensions 15 are bent along the bending lines 16 to insert their third portions 19 through the second 28 and third through seatings 29 respectively of the first 25 and second element 26. The second portions 18 of the protruding extensions 15 are disposed outside the flanges 11 between the first 27 and second through seatings 28.

[0046] The holding teeth or other holding elements 20, inserted through the second 28 and third through holes 29, abut against the flat surface of the second element 26 and thus define the reciprocal connection of the flanges 11 and the drum 12.

[0047] The second element 26 therefore has the function of supporting the necking down effect that is exerted with greater intensity near the ends of the drum 12 and therefore to support said ends, especially in the zones where there are no protruding extensions 15.

[0048] This allows to stabilize the cable holder, especially in this zone which is more subject to stress.

[0049] It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the cable holder 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

[0050] For example, it is possible to provide that the first 25 and second element 26, instead of being coupled to each other by gluing, are only put adjacent, assigning to the holding teeth 20 the function of joining the two parts.

[0051] It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of cable holder, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1. Perfected cable holder made of cardboard, or corrugated cardboard, comprising two flanges (11), and a support element (12) conformed as a drum and disposed between said two flanges (11), the support element (12) is obtained by bending at least a sheet of cardboard to define an internal surface (23) and an external surface (13) on which a cable (14) is suitable to be wound, said support element (12) being provided, in proximity to its ends, with protruding extensions (15) suitable to reciprocally connect said flanges (11) with said support element (12), characterized in that each of said flanges (11) comprises a first element (25) suitable to act as a containing wall of the cable (14) which is wound on said external surface (13) of said support element (12), and at least a second element (26) with a shape and size mating with those of the cross section of said internal surface (23) of said support element (12), said second element (26), in use, being disposed adjacent to said first element (25) and internally to said support element (12).

2. Cable holder as in claim 1, characterized in that said second element (26) has external perimeter sizes substantially equal to or slightly bigger than the sizes of said internal surface (23) of said support element (12) in order to dispose said internal surface (23) of said support element (12) substantially in contact with the perimeter edges (30) of said second element (26) of said flanges (11).

3. Cable holder as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said first element (25) and said second element (26) are solidly associated with each other.

4. Cable holder as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said first element (25) is provided with first through seatings (27) through which said protruding extensions (15) are suitable to be inserted.

5. Cable holder as in claim 4, characterized in that said first element (25) is provided with second through seatings (28) disposed internally with respect to said first through seatings (27), said second element (26) is provided with third through seatings (29) made in mating positions with respect to the position according to which said second through seatings (28) are made, and said protruding extensions (15) are suitable to be inserted through said first through seatings (27) and through said second (28) and said third seatings (29).

6. Cable holder as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said protruding extensions (15) are provided with holding means (20) suitable to make a solid connection between said flanges (11) and said drum (12).

7. Cable holder as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that at least one of either said first element (25) or said second element (26) comprises two or more sheets of cardboard, glued and overlapping with respect to each other.

Drawing