Description Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to dispensing racks for spools of wire. More particularly, the invention pertains to an improved securing rack for dispensing spools of heavy weight.

Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, various types of racks are known for dispensing spools or reels of wire or other extendible line type material such as wire, cable, rope, and the like.

[0003] US 4488649 disclosed a readily portable disassembled rack with

longitudinal members on either side and transverse members between the longitudinal members. The transverse members are spaced apart so that cylindrical objects, e.g. spools for wire and cable, rest on two adjacent transverse members. The longitudinal members are preferably formed of vertically spaced apart tubing. This permits the rack and contents to be handled by a forklift. It also permits the rack to be supported by the spools on another rack.

[0004] US 5944280 disclosed a hand carried wire spool rack for dispensing wire; the rack includes a frame having a pair of horizontally extending parallel members for rotatably supporting at least one removable wire spool. The members are spaced apart by a distance that is less than the diameter of the spool. An upper member is secured to the frame and extends parallel with one of the parallel members. The upper member is positioned upwardly and outwardly from one of the parallel members. [0005] However, such prior racks have limited load for spools, especially for storage of spools of heavy weight, these devices suffer from a number of disadvantages.

[0006] First, in a dispensing rack which supports a series of wire spools on

longitudinal extending parallel members, however it is much likely that deformation would happen to the members when spools of heavy weight get over the devices, which would finally result in the damage of the rack. Thus the security of the rack is at risk. Second, removal or rolling of any one spool requires a lot of time and it is almost impossible to deal with by hand. If a user prefers to roll one of the storage spools out of the rack, it leads to lost time to the user. Further, the other spools left in the rack without any protection would also risk at rolling back and forth even falling out of the rack during the process.

[0007] Besides, EP 0681966 disclosed a stackable storing and dispensing

apparatus for reels of wire which includes a pallet structure having reinforced corners posts with selected corner posts including

complimentary engageable members mounted to the upper and lower ends of the corner posts and extending between selected corner posts. The complimentary engageable members mounted to the ends of the corner posts are structurally arranged to provide nesting and stacking of the dispensing apparatus when one pallet structure is positioned on top of another pallet structure. The dispensing apparatus includes a restraining member which locks the vertically orientated reels of wire within the pallet structure and which is movable to an open position which permits removal of the reels of wire from the apparatus.

[0008] Such complicated complimentary engageable members only allow the reels of wire from the apparatus from the front, which means that removal or unloading of the reels of wire can only be unidirectional but not bidirectional. Another disadvantage of this apparatus is that restraining member which locks the vertically orientated reels of wire within the pallet structure is fixed, which means that the apparatus can only accommodate a plurality of reels of wire with the same size.

Disclosure of Invention

[0009] Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a wire dispensing rack for securely storing, transporting, and dispensing wire or cable from wire spools of heavy weight.

[0010] Another object of this invention is to provide a wire dispensing rack which may be lifted by means of a forklift and one rack and its contents stacked on top of the other, either in a warehouse or on the bed of a truck.

[0011] Another object of this invention is to provide a wire dispensing rack which presents wire spools from falling out should the rack be accidentally tipped over.

[0012] Yet another object of this invention is to provide a wire dispensing rack that accepts wire spools of varied sizes.

[0013] To achieve the foregoing and other objectives, and in accordance with the purposes of the first aspect of the present invention a securing rack is provided for dispensing wire contained on spools.

The rack comprises a pedestal including a horizontal structure extending in an x-y plane and further including at least two upward extending members both lying in a y-z plane to function as spaced partitions for the spools.

The rack further comprises a pair of vertical struts fixed at the two opposite sides of each upward extending member.

The rack further comprising at least one pair of securing bars capable of preventing the spools from falling out of the rack. The securing bars are movable. [0014] In a first preferable embodiment, there is only one pair of securing bars in said rack and each of said securing bars interconnects all the upward extending members.

[0015] In a second preferable embodiment, there is only one pair of securing bars in said rack and each of said securing bars interconnecting all the vertical struts at each side.

[0016] More preferably, each of the securing bars is positioned in the middle of the vertical struts at each side. If each of securing bars is positioned quite near the bottom of the vertical struts or the top of the struts, the security efficiency of the securing bars would be definitely reduced. Besides, such assembly of the rack leads to difficult working height for securing bars removal or mount.

[0017] The pair of securing bars in the rack could protect all the spools stored in the rack at the same time. If a user preferred to roll one of the spools in the rack, he would have to move one of the securing bars to open the door for the spool rolling. After that, the securing bar should be put back to the original place to keep the other spools left in the rack safe and sound.

[0018] In a third preferable embodiment, there is a plurality of securing bars in said rack and each pair of securing bars interconnecting the two adjacent upward extending members.

[0019] In a fourth preferable embodiment, there is a plurality of securing bars in said rack and each pair of securing bars interconnecting the two adjacent vertical struts at each side.

[0020] Each pair of the securing bars in the rack may protect each spool stored in the rack. That means if the user preferred to roll only one of the spools stored in the rack, he would only move one of the securing bars which is in front of the spool to open the door for the spool rolling. It is unnecessary for him to move other securing bars protecting other spools left in the rack. It facilitates easy removal of the securing bar and avoids the danger that the other spools in the rack might fall out should the rack be accidentally tipped over during the rolling process.

[0021] Preferably, each of one pair of securing bars or a plurality of securing bars in the rack interconnecting the vertical struts at each side may be fixed in the position by means of storage pins.

[0022] Preferably, the rack further comprises a pair of notches formed in and

arranged at uniform intervals aligned to permit entry of forklift forks at each upward extending member. Besides, there is a pair of parallel upper struts interconnecting the tops of all said vertical struts at each side to enhance the security as well as the safety of the rack.

[0023] The rack further comprises four corner pieces fixed on the top of the

vertical struts in each corner of the rack for stacking racks on the top of each other.

[0024] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a

combination of a rack and one or more spools, the spaced partitions being so spaced from each other that upward extending members fitted therein are spaced from each other at an interval slightly greater than the width of said spools. The spacing between the adjacent spaced partitions may be varied, depending upon the size of spools that particular user desires to store. But at least it would be slightly greater than the width of the spools in order to make sure the spools are cradled between the two adjacent spaced partitions.

[0025] Preferably there is provided a combination of a rack and one or more

spools. The vertical struts are of a length at least as great as the diameter of the flange of said spools. The length of vertical struts also depends on the size of spools that particular user desires to store. At least it would be as great as the diameter of the flange of said spools, and at most slightly greater than the diameter of the flange of the spools, the reason why to pick up such a scope is the fact that considerable saving in space for warehousing and transporting in trucks is achieved as well as the storage requirement. Several racks and their contents may be stacked on top of each other within practical limits. If the length of the vertical struts was lower than the diameter of the flange of the spool, it would be impossible to stack the racks on top of each other.

Brief Description of Figures in the Drawings

[0026] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present

invention having three spools storage thereon;

[0027] Figure 2 is a side view of the first embodiment;

[0028] Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing two racks in accordance with the present invention stacked on top of each other;

[0029] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention having three spools storage thereon;

[0030] Figure 5 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the present invention.

Mode(s) for Carrying Out the Invention

[0031] Referring now to the drawings, a securing rack 10 for dispensing spools is illustrated in Fig.1. As will be described below, the rack 10 is adapted for supporting three heavy spools 12 in side by side adjacent relationship to one another. The pedestal 14 includes a horizontal structure extending in an x-y plane, which is made of a plurality of parallel spaced transverse metal strips 16 and a plurality of longitudinal metal strips 18

interconnecting said transverse metal strips 16 at transversely spaced location. [0032] Four upward extending members 20, lying in a y-z plane to function as spaced partitions for the three spools 12. Two of these four upward extending members 20 are separately distributing at the vertical left and right side of the pedestal 14 and the other two members, acted as spaced partitions between the three spools. The distance between each adjacent upward extending member is slightly greater than the width of the spools 12, which on one hand, is to make sure that the spools 12 could be cradled between the two adjacent upward extending members; on the other hand, is to hold the spools 12 immobile.

[0033] Then, a pair of vertical struts 22 is fixed at the two opposite sides of each upward extending member 20. As shown in Fig.1 , four pairs of vertical struts 22 are welded to four upward extending members 20 respectively. The number of the pairs of vertical struts 22 is equal to the number of the upward extending members 20. The length of the vertical struts 22 is slightly greater than the diameter of the flange of the spools 12 in order to keep the spools wholly in the rack then it is possible to stack on the top of each rack.

[0034] Further, at each upward extending member 20, there is a pair of notches 24 formed in and arranged at uniform intervals aligned to permit entry of forklift forks. The uniform interval between the pair of the notches depends on the distance between the two forklift forks.

[0035] Further, a pair of parallel upper struts 26 is interconnecting the tops of all the vertical struts at each side. One upper strut is interconnecting four vertical struts at one side, and the other is interconnecting the left four vertical struts at the opposite side.

[0036] The rack 10 is totally open above the parallel upper struts 26 to permit spools to be loaded on the rack from above. [0037] And there are four corner pieces 28 fixed on the top of the vertical struts in each corner of the rack for stacking racks on the top of each other.

[0038] Further, the rack includes only one pair of securing bars 30 capable of preventing the spools from falling out of the rack. The pair of securing bars 30 is transversely mounted along all the vertical struts at each side. They may be held in place by storage pins 32 or may be threaded into position. When the user would like to roll out one of the spools, he would remove one of the securing bars 30 above the upper struts 26, then put it at the other side over which the another securing bar is positioned. So the storage pins should be at least produced to accommodate a pair of securing bars.

[0039] The structure of Fig.3 shows two racks 10 are stacking on top of each other, which may be shipped disassembled and installed by the end user.

[0040] A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig.4. The rack 34 was made to accommodate four heavy spools. The width of the four spools is different from each other. The spool 36 has the biggest size.

[0041] The distance between each adjacent upward extending member is slightly greater than the width of the spool 36 and the length of the vertical struts also depends on the diameter of the flange of the spool 36. The length of the vertical struts is equal to the diameter of the flange of the spool 36, which has the biggest size.

[0042] Further, there is a plurality of securing bars 38 in this rack. Each pair of securing bars protects each spool stored in the rack. That's to say for each spool, the user removes only one securing bar of a plurality of securing bars in order to be able to roll out the spool. The user could easily remove this small and portable bar, which can be stored over another securing bar at the other side of the spool. And when another spool is replaced the empty position, the securing bar could be mounted again at the original place to prevent the spool from falling out of the spool.

[0043] The number of the individual pair of securing bars is in accordance with the spools that the rack would accommodate.

[0044] A third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig.5. The rack 40 was also made to accommodate three heavy spools. Compared with the first embodiment, each of securing bars (only one pair of securing bars) 42 is located interconnecting all the upward extending members.

It will be further understood that the rack could be adapted for storing a plurality of heavy spools within the scope of the load of the rack, e.g. five or six spools and so on.