TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a cable dispenser for dispensing long lengths of cable e.g. low voltage cable. BACKGROUND ART

Cables for use in long lengths e.g. on construction sites or similar are normally transported on large reels from which the cable can also be dispensed e.g. by arranging the reel in an unreeling device e.g. as described in US 7,997,523, EP 1586524 or in EP196614. Such unreeling devices comprise a rotatable support onto which the reel can be applied with the reel axis vertically arranged. The unreeling device has a base e.g. for standing on the ground and wheels or a ball bearing arrangement is arranged between the base and the support to provide that the support can rotate with respect to the base for unrolling the cable. Reels for such long lengths of cable are relatively expensive and usually such reels are reused a plurality of times. This means that the reels after use of the cable must be transported back to the cable factory for on-rolling of new cable. Most cable reels are very heavy and take up large space which makes them very expensive to transport. For handling such cable reels they are often transported on pallets such as standard EU pallets. Certain attempts for using collapsible reels have been provided e.g. as described in US Re 54376 and US 6,655,627, however, they have not been used with any success basically because they are difficult to handle, require too much working time to assemble and disassemble, are too unstable and are often damaged during use. An attempt to transport coils of cable without a reel has also been provided. This, however, requires that the receiver e.g. at the construction site has a suitable dispenser which is often not the case. Therefore such dispenser needs to be delivered together with the coils of cable. Prior art dispensers for dispensing coils of cables are generally expensive and that means that such prior art dispensers need to be returned to the cable supplier for reuse.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a low cost cable dispenser which is easy to transport and easy to use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cable dispenser which allows simple and easy assembly and disassembly while simultaneously being simple to handle for dispensing cable. These and other objects have been solved by the invention or embodiments thereof as defined in the claims and as described herein below.

It has been found that the invention or embodiments thereof have a number of additional advantages which will be clear to the skilled person from the following description. The cable dispenser assembly of the invention comprises a base member, a rotatable member and a plurality of roller elements. These parts of the cable dispenser assembly are shaped such that in a simple way they can be mounted to form the cable dispenser assembly without the use of any tools. Furthermore these parts can easily be disassembled for storing and optionally reuse.

The base member comprises an annular horizontal flange with an inner periphery and a horizontal front surface. Along the inner periphery of the annular horizontal flange the base member comprises at least one projecting hub element e.g. in the form of one or more flanges and or in the form of a protrusion. The rotatable member comprises an annular horizontal flange with a

horizontal bottom surface. The rotatable member has a bottom face with a cavity having a cavity periphery equal to or larger than the inner periphery of the base member. The bottom face of the rotatable member comprises the horizontal bottom surface of the annular horizontal flange of the rotatable member as well as an inner face of the cavity. The rotatable member has a top surface with an elevation oppositely to the cavity i.e. protruding upwards relative to the horizontal bottom surface face of the annular horizontal flange of the rotatable member. The at least one projecting hub element engages with the cavity to rotatably interconnect the rotatable member with the base member. The roller elements are loosely arranged between the horizontal front surface of the base member and the horizontal bottom surface of the annular horizontal flange of the rotatable member.

In this way a very simple cable dispenser assembly has been provided which is easy to transport and easy to use. The cable dispenser assembly of the invention can be assembled and disassembled without the use of any tools in a very simple and fast way. Further the cable dispenser assembly can be produced at very low cost and can for example be used as a disposable cable dispenser assembly which does not need to be returned to the cable factory. Alternatively it can be transported to the cable factory in a disassembled condition.

By the term "horizontal" is meant that the horizontal element e.g. the horizontal surface is arranged in a substantially horizontal configuration in use.

The phrase "the roller elements are loosely arranged" means that they are not fixed to either of the base member and the rotatable member but is merely loosely placed onto the horizontal front surface of the base member after which the horizontal bottom surface of the annular horizontal flange of the rotatable member is arranged onto the roller elements to face the horizontal front surface of the base member.

The base member advantageously comprises an annular frame projecting upwards from its horizontal front surface and defining an outer periphery of the horizontal front surface. The frame preferably forms a barrier for the roller elements such that they do not roll off the horizontal front surface of the base member. Advantageously the outer periphery is coaxial to the inner periphery, such that the horizontal front surface of the base member is substantially rotational symmetrical. In an embodiment the horizontal front surface of the base member has an annular width determined radially from the inner periphery. Preferably the annular width is defined by the radial distance from the inner periphery to the outer periphery.

The annular width is selected in dependence on the size of the cable coil which the cable dispenser is supposed to be used with for dispensing cable. Typically the annular width will be at least about 5 cm. Advantageously the annular width of the front surface of the base member is up to about 2 m, such as from about 10 cm to about 1.5 m.

In a preferred embodiment the cable dispenser assembly is adapted to be placed onto a pallet, such as a standard EU pallet embodiment. The size of the base member and thereby the annular width of the front surface of the base member is therefore also advantageously selected such that the base member can be placed onto a pallet, such as a wood standard EU pallet of 1200 x 800 x 144 mm or alternatively 1200 x 1000 x 162 mm.

Advantageously the horizontal front surface of the base member is

substantially plane which provides a good surface for the roller elements. The base member can have one or more projecting hub elements. In an embodiment the base member has one projecting hub element which is in the form of an upwards projecting rim. The projecting rim advantageously has an angle to the horizontal front surface of the base member of from about 90 to about 120 degrees, such as from about 92 to about 110 degrees. Thereby the projecting rim can hold the rotatable member in a rotatable configuration without being displaced horizontally relatively to the base member

The term "displaced" means herein linearly displaced such that the base member and the rotatable member are no longer rotatably interconnected. In an embodiment the base member has several projecting hub elements which together form an upwards projecting rim e.g. a projecting rim structure as described above.

In an embodiment the upwards projecting rim extends from the horizontal front surface of the base member with the mentioned angles where after the rim is rounding inwards with an increasingly larger angle to the horizontal front surface of the base member.

Advantageously and for providing a good rotatable interconnection between the base member and the rotatable member, the inner periphery of the base member is round. More preferably the inner periphery is substantially circular. The maximal diameter of the inner periphery is selected in dependence on the shape of the size of the cable coil which the cable dispenser is intented to be used with for dispensing cable. Usually the cable coil will have a hollow axial core with a preselected diameter and the maximal diameter of the inner periphery is preferably less than the diameter of the hollow axial core of the cable coil. Advantageously the maximal diameter of the inner periphery is from about 75 % to about 99 % of the diameter of the hollow axial core of the cable coil. Typically useful sizes of the diameter of the inner periphery are from about 4 cm to about 1 m.

In an embodiment the base member comprises at least one flange projecting downwards from its horizontal front surface. Preferably the at least one downwards projecting flange is adapted to prevent undesired horizontal displacement when the base member is placed onto an underlying support element such as a pallet. The downwards projecting flange(s) is

advantageously adapted to engage with a pallet to ensure a good stability of the cable dispenser assembly even when unrolling forces are applied during dispensing of the cable. The downwards projecting flange can e.g. be in the form of an annular or semi-annular flange(s).

To provide a strong and stable rotatable interconnection between the base member and the rotatable member, the cavity of the rotatable member has advantageously a size sufficiently large to at least partly enfold the at least one projecting hub element. Preferably the cavity of the rotatable member has a size sufficient large to fully enfold the at least one projecting hub element.

In an embodiment the cavity of the rotatable member is arranged to enfold the at least one projecting hub element to be rotatable with respect to the base member which results in a very high stability of the cable dispenser assembly.

The top surface of the rotatable member with an elevation opposite to the cavity preferably forms a hub. The hub advantageously is adapted to fit into a hollow axial core of a cable coil to be dispensed from the cable dispenser. Thereby when the cable coil is placed onto the rotatable member with the hub of the rotatable member fitting into the hollow axial core of the cable coil and the weight of the cable coil resting onto the rotatable member, the cable can be dispensed in a very simple and easy way.

Preferably the horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member is arranged parallel with and facing the horizontal front surface of the base member. In an embodiment the horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member has an outer periphery optionally with a frame, an annular downwards projecting flange or a plurality of flanges projecting downwards for holding the rotatable member against undesired horizontal displacement relative to the base member. The frame of the rotatable member thereby provides the cable dispenser assembly with even further stability during unrolling of the cable.

The horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member has an annular width which is defined by the radial distance from the cavity periphery and outwards. To provide a smooth and continuous dispensing of the cable it has been found very advantageous that the annular width of horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member is from about 90 % to about 110 % of the annular width of the horizontal front surface of the base member. Thereby any risk of wobbling during cable displacement is kept very low.

The roller elements are preferably beads e.g. granulated beads and/or pellets or balls. Preferably the beads have an at least partially rounded outer shape. In an embodiment the beads are substantially rounded. In an embodiment the roller elements are ball shaped or even fully spherical.

The roller elements can in principle have any size but in order to have high stability the roller elements should advantageously not be too large. For providing an easy rotation of the rotatable member the roller elements should not be too small. Advantageously the roller elements have a size of from about 2 mm to about 2 cm determined by sieving, preferably the major amount by volume has a size of from about 3 mm to about 1 cm determined by sieving.

The roller elements can be of any material that can bear the weight of the rotatable member and the cable coil.

Advantageously the roller elements are of glass, polymer, wood, metal or a combination thereof. In a preferred embodiment the roller elements are polymer bead pellets. The polymer bead pellets preferably have a Rockwell R hardness of at least about 100, such as at least about 110 determined according to ASTM D785.

Examples of suitable polymers are nylon, polycarbonate, polystyrene and combinations.

The number of roller elements is selected in dependence of the size of the roller elements and in particular the size of the horizontal front surface of the base member.

In an embodiment the cable dispenser assembly comprises at least 10 roller elements, preferably at least 50 roller elements.

In an embodiment the cable dispenser assembly comprises at least 1 roller element per 10 cm ² of the horizontal front surface of the base member. In an embodiment the cable dispenser assembly comprises at least 2 roller elements per 10 cm ² of the horizontal front surface of the base member. In an embodiment the cable dispenser assembly comprises at least 1 roller element per 1 cm ² of the horizontal front surface of the base member.

The base member and/or the rotatable member can advantageously be of polymer material e.g. polypropylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate or any other form stable polymer. Advantageously the base member and/or the rotatable member is produced by heat-forming a plate material and/or by injection moulding. Thereby the cable dispenser assembly can be produced at very low cost.

The invention also relates to a cable dispenser assembly as described above in combination with a pallet wherein the base member is arranged onto the pallet with its horizontal front surface facing away from the pallet, the base member comprises at least one flange projecting downwards from its horizontal front surface to be vertically engaged with the pallet to reduce or even prevent horizontal displacement between the base member and the pallet. The pallet can be a standard pallet e.g. as described above.

The invention also relates to a cable dispenser assembly as described above in combination with a cable coil wherein the cable coil has a hollow axial core and the elevation of the top surface of the rotatable member forms a hub, the hub is adapted to fit into the hollow axial core of the cable coil. The cable coil can be as described above.

The invention further relates to a cable dispenser assembly set for a cable dispenser assembly as described. The set comprises a base member, a rotatable member and a plurality of roller elements, the base member comprises an annular horizontal flange with an inner periphery and a horizontal front surface. Along its inner periphery the base member comprises at least one projecting hub element, the rotatable member comprises an annular horizontal flange with a horizontal bottom surface, the rotatable member has a bottom face with a cavity having a cavity periphery equal to or larger than the inner periphery of the base member and a top surface with an elevation opposite to the cavity, the at least one projecting hub element is adapted to engage with the cavity to rotatably interconnect the rotatable member with the base member and the roller elements are adapted to be loosely arranged between the horizontal front surface of the base member and the horizontal bottom surface of the annular horizontal flange of the rotatable member.

The base member, the rotatable member and the plurality of roller elements of the set can advantageously be as described above. In use the base member is arranged on the ground or any other support, preferably a pallet. The base member is arranged with its horizontal front surface facing upwards. The roller elements e.g. in the form of a 'handful' of polymer granulates are distributed onto the horizontal front surface of the base member and the rotatable member is placed onto the base member with the horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member facing the horizontal front surface of the base member and with the at least one projecting hub element of the base member in engagement with the cavity of the rotatable member to rotatably interconnect the rotatable member with the base member. It should be emphasized that the term "comprises/comprising" when used herein is to be interpreted as an open term, i.e. it should be taken to specify the presence of specifically stated feature(s), such as element(s), unit(s), integer(s), step(s) component(s) and combination(s) thereof, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other stated features. The term "substantially" should herein be taken to mean that ordinary product variances and tolerances are comprised.

All features of the inventions including ranges and preferred ranges can be combined in various ways within the scope of the invention, unless there are specific reasons for not to combine such features. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be explained more fully below in connection with preferred embodiments and with reference to the drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematically cross-sectional view of a cable dispenser assembly of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematically cross-sectional view of a cable dispenser assembly of the invention with a cable coil.

The figures are schematic and may be simplified for clarity. Throughout, the same reference numerals are used for identical or corresponding parts.

The cable dispenser assembly shown in Fig. 1 comprises a base member 1, a rotatable member 10 and a plurality of roller elements 15. The base member 1 comprises an annular horizontal flange with an inner periphery 2a and a substantially plane, horizontal front surface 3. Along the inner periphery 2a of annular horizontal flange the base member 1 comprises at least one projecting hub element 4 which in the shown base member 1 is in the form of a rim 4a which is rounding inwards with an increasingly larger angle to the horizontal front surface of the base member to form a top-shaped protrusion.

The base member 1 comprises an annular frame 5a projecting upwards from its horizontal front surface and defining an outer periphery 2b of said horizontal front surface 3. The inner periphery 2a and the outer periphery 2b are both substantially round, preferably circular and are arranged

substantially coaxially to each other.

The base member 1 comprises at least one flange 5b projecting downwards from its horizontal front surface 3. The downwards projecting flange(s) 5b can e.g. be in the form of two or more flanges 5b preferably arranged oppositely to each other. In an embodiment the downwards projecting flange(s) is an annular downwards projecting flange 5b or alternatively a semi annular downwards projecting flange 5b.

The base member 1 is placed onto a pallet 16 such that the downwards projecting flange(s) 5b engages with edge(s) 16a of the pallets 16 to increase stability of the cable dispenser assembly and prevent undesired horizontal displacement when the base memberl is placed onto the pallet 16.

The rotatable member 10 comprises an annular horizontal flange with a horizontal bottom surface 13a. The rotatable member 10 has a bottom face 13a, 13b comprising the horizontal bottom surface 13a with a cavity 13b. The cavity 13b has a cavity periphery 14a equal to or larger than the inner periphery 2a of the base member and a top surface 13c with an elevation opposite to the cavity.

The horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member has an outer periphery 14b. The inner periphery 14a and the outer periphery 14b of the horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member are both substantially round, preferably circular and are arranged substantially coaxially to each other.

The top surface of the rotatable member with an elevation opposite to said cavity forms a hub 13, which hub 13 is adapted to fit into a hollow axial core of a not shown cable coil.

The base member 1 is placed onto the pallet 16 with the downwards projecting flange(s) 5b engage with the edge(s) 16a of the pallets 16. The base member 1 is positioned with its horizontal front surface 3 and projecting hub element 4 facing upwards. The roller elements 15 are loosely distributed onto the horizontal front surface 3 of the base member 1. The rotatable member 10 is placed onto the base member 1 with its horizontal bottom surface 13a facing towards the base member 1. The rotatable member 10 is arranged such that cavity 13b of the rotatable member is arranged to enfold the projecting hub element 4 to thereby rotatably interconnect the rotatable member 10 with the base member 1. The roller elements 15 will thereby be loosely arranged between the horizontal front surface 3 of the base member and said horizontal bottom surface 13a of the horizontal flange of the rotatable member 10. When a cable coil is arranged to rest onto the rotatable member 10 with the hub 13 fitted into a hollow axial core of a not shown cable coil, cable of the cable coil can in a simple manner be dispensed from the cable dispenser assembly.

The cable dispenser assembly shown in Fig. 2 comprises a base member 21, a rotatable member 30 and a plurality of roller elements 35. The base member 21 comprises an annular horizontal flange with an inner periphery 22a and a substantially plane, horizontal front surface 23. Along the inner periphery 22a of the annular horizontal flange, the base member 21 comprises at least one projecting hub element which in the shown base member 21 is in the form of projecting flanges 24a projecting with an angle to the horizontal front surface 23 of the base member 21 of about 100 degrees.

The base member 21 comprises an annular frame 25a projecting slightly upwards from its horizontal front surface and defining an outer periphery 22b of said horizontal front surface 23. The inner periphery 22a and the outer periphery 22b are both substantially round, preferably circular and are arranged substantially coaxially to each other.

The base member 21 comprises at least one flange 25b projecting downwards from its horizontal front surface 23. The downwards projecting flange(s) 25b can e.g. be in the form of two or more flanges 25b preferably arranged oppositely to each other.

The base member 21 is placed onto a pallet 36 such that the downwards projecting flange(s) 25b engage with edge(s) 36a of the pallets 36 to increase stability of the cable dispenser assembly and prevent undesired horizontal displacement when the base member 21 is placed onto the pallet 36.

The base member 30 has an annular width W defined by the radial distance from its inner periphery 22a to its outer periphery 22b.

The rotatable member 30 comprises an annular horizontal flange with a horizontal bottom surface 33a.

The rotatable member 30 has a bottom face 33a, 33b comprising the horizontal bottom surface 33a with a cavity 33b. The cavity 33b has a cavity periphery 34a equal to or larger than the inner periphery 22a of the base member 21 and a top surface 33c with an elevation opposite to the cavity. The horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member has an outer periphery 34b with downwards projecting flanges 34c. The inner periphery 34a and the outer periphery 34b of the horizontal bottom surface of the rotatable member are both substantially round, preferably circular and are arranged substantially coaxially to each other. The top surface of the rotatable member with an elevation opposite to said cavity forms a hub 33, which hub 33 is adapted to fit into a hollow axial core 40 of a cable coil 41 resting onto the rotatable member 30.

The base member 21 is placed onto the pallet 36 with the downwards projecting flange(s) 25b engage with the edge(s) 36a of the pallets 36. The base member 21 is positioned with its horizontal front surface 23 and projecting flanges 24a facing upwards. The roller elements 35 are loosely distributed onto the horizontal front surface 23 of the base member 21. The rotatable member 30 is placed onto the base member 21 with its horizontal bottom surface 33a facing towards the base member 21. The rotatable member 30 is arranged such that cavity 33b of the rotatable member is arranged to enfold the projecting flanges 24a to thereby rotatably interconnect the rotatable member 30 with the base member 21. The roller elements 35 will thereby be loosely arranged between horizontal front surface 23 of the base member and said horizontal bottom surface 33a of horizontal flange of the rotatable member 30. The cable coil 41 to be dispensed is arranged to rest onto the rotatable member 30 with the projecting flanges 24a fitted into the hollow axial core 40 of the cable coil 41. During dispensing of the cable from the cable coil 41, the rotatable member 30 will rotate relative to the base member 21 alleviated by rolling of the roller elements 35 such that the cable in a simple manner can be dispensed from the cable dispenser assembly.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Some preferred embodiments have been shown in the foregoing, but it should be stressed that the invention is not limited to these, but may be embodied in other ways within the subject-matter defined in the following claims.