CA1093524A

CA1093524A - Packaged strand

Info

Publication number: CA1093524A
Application number: CA340,757A
Authority: CA
Inventors: David R. Long; William A. Green; William M. Goodrich
Original assignee: Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp
Current assignee: Owens Corning
Priority date: 1979-02-21
Filing date: 1979-11-01
Publication date: 1981-01-13
Also published as: WO1980001792A1; IT1124973B; DE2953552C1; NL7920208A; US4220295A; BE880636A; FR2449615B1; GB2058018B; FR2449615A1; DE2953552A1; GB2058018A; JPS625868B2; IT7927255A0; JPS56500173A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A package and a method to produce the package are provided. The package comprises a wound body of strand having an outer cylindrical portion and an elastic membrane wound about the cylindrical portion of said body. The membrane is wound to a sufficient thickness and is stretched sufficiently to partially collapse when the strand is withdrawn from the body such that the membrane captures the strand of the outer cylindrical portion to retain such strand along the membrane until the strand is withdrawn from the package at a predeter-mined time.

Description

33~

Tilis invention relates to the field of wrapping wound bodies of filamentary ma-terial with a membrane to provide a unitary package.
A number of systems have been developed for winding strand into a cylindrical package and subsequently encasing the wound package in a membrane to protect the strand and to facili-tate withdrawal of the strand from the package.
A number of such systems included thermally shrinking a plastic or polymeric membrane over the outer surface of the wound body of the strand. Although such systems did improve the run-out capabilities of the package, a tendency for the outermost layer of the strand to collapse in a ball or "bird's nest" still existed. That ls, as a strand was withdrawn from the package working from the inside diameter of the package to the outer diameter of the packa~e, the ou-termost layers exhibited a -tendency to collapse and tangle and, thus, preclude continuous operation and complete utilization of the strand.
Other systems incorporated an adhesive between the membrane and the outer layer of strand to retain the strand against the membrane wall. In a number of instances, the ad~
hesive contaminated the strand, among other problems.
It is an object of this invention to seek to provide i an improved package system for encapsulating wound filamentary material.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for applying a membrane to a predetermined thickness in a predetermined stretched condition. `~
A package of the invention comprises a wound body of strand having an outer cylindrical portion; and an elastic mem-brane convolutely wouncA about rhe cylindrical portion of said ~x~, tne 35i~

membrane being wound to a sufficient thickness and stretchedsufficiently to partially collapse as said strand is withdrawn from the body such that the membrane captures portions of the strand along the outer cylindrical portion of the body to retain the strand along said membrane until said strand is withdrawn from the package.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided the method of producing a package of a wound bodyof strand having an external cylindrical section comprising~
winding an elastic membrane about the cylindrical section, the membrane being wound to a sufficient thickness and being sufficiently stretched around the circumference of the body to partially collapse as the strand is withdrawn from the body such that the membrane mechanically captures the ~-strand at the external cylindrical portion of the body between the folds in the membrane to retain the strand along the mem-brane until the strand is withdrawn from the package at a predetermined time.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described 20 with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: -~
Fig. 1 is a semi-schematic front view of a system for wrapping an elastic membrane around a package of strand.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the system shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the system shown in Fig. 1 at a different point during package wrap.
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a package according to the principles of this invention.
Fig. 5 is a front view of the package just prior to the complete run-out of the strand from the package.

:lLCl~333~Z4L

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a cylindrically shaped, wound package of strand 8 having an external cylindrical portion 11 is positioned on wrapping means 30.
Elastic membrane 12 is supplied to package 8 from roll of membrane material 13. Elastic membrane 12 can be of any suitable material of a suitable thickness capable of being stretched to the proper extent. Polymeric membranes of such materials as polyvinylidene chloride and polyvinyl chloride are preferred in thickness from about .001 inch to about .003 inch.
Basically, the elastic membrane 12 is wound about the cylindrical portion 11 of wound body of strand 8, the membrane being applied to a sufficient thickness and being stretched or tensioned sufficiently to partially collapse when the strand is withdrawn from the interior of the body 8 such that the membrane 12 captures portions of the strand of the outer cylindrical portion 11 to retain such strand along the membrane until the strand is withdxawn from the -package at a predetermined time.
Wrapping means 30 is comprised of a frame 32 and a rotatable member 34 associated therewith. The first collet 36 is rotatably journaled in member 34 and is adapted to receive body 8 thereon. Second collet 38 is rotatably journaled in member 34 and is adapted to receive roll 13 thereon.
Member 34 is adapted to be rotated by motor 46 via shaft 47.
Positioning means or gear train 50, which can be attached ~o the housing of motor 46, is joined with shaft 48 of collet 36 such that as member 34 is rotatPd, body 8 and collet 36 maintain the same general unrotated orientation with respect to frame 32.
As can be seen by Figs. 1 and 3, arrow A, which poin~s vertically ~35~4 upward on package 8 in Fig. 1, remains pointing vertically upward completely throughout the rotation of member 3~.
The second collet 38, which is rotatably journaled in member 34, is a-ttached to adjustable braking means 40 to apply a predetermined amount of drag to second collet 38 such that membrane 12 is wrapped about body 8 under a predetermined amount of tension to stretch membrane 1~. Brake means 40 can be of any suitable type such as a pneumatic or electro-dynamic brake as is known in the art. Brake means 40 is adjus-tably controlled by control means 41 via connection 42 asis known in the art.
Alternatively, wound body 8 can be mounted on a driven rotatable collet. Membrane 12 can be pulled from a roll mounted on another collet as the body 8 is rotated. Also, -the roll and the collet associated therewith could have a brake means to apply sufficient amount of tension to membrane 12 as it is being wound around the cylindrical portion 11 of body 8.
As shown in Fig. 4, one end 16 of package 6 is substantially open with the opposite end 17 being substantially closed. It is believed that membrane 12 shoùld project no further than approximately 1/2 inch radially inward from the cylindrical shell 15 at the open end of the package to facili--tate complete, continuous run-out of the strand. Preferably, first strand end 9 positioned in the hollow core of body 8 is adapted to be pulled out through the open end 16 of the package 6. Second strand end lOcan be located along the external cylindrical portion 11 of body 8. For continuous operation, ;~
end 10 can be tied to another end of a second package to permit continuous operation.
Fig. 4 is drawn in a slightl~ exploded view; -the ~0 35~

cylindrical shell 15 is formed by membrane 12 according to the principles of this invention is in intimate compressive contact with the external cylindrical portion 11 of body 8.
Closed end 17 can be formed by supplying a sheet of membrane 12 substantially longer than the length of body 8, as shown in Fig. 2, and folding the excess membrane over the end to form closed end 17./ Open end 16 is formed by positioning one end of body ~ and one end of roll 13 in a common vertical plane and maintaining this relatiQnship during wrapping, as can be seen in Fig. 2.
As shown in Fig. 5, c~lindrical shell 15 develops a plurality of undulations or crinkled sections or ridges due to the relaxation of the tension on membrane 12 as well as the weight of the shell 15 and unsupported outer layers of strand as the strand is almost completely withdrawn from package 6. The crinkles or corrugations 20 have been found to mechan ically grasp or crimp portions of the strand at the outer cylin-drical portion of body 8 to retain such portions of the strand along the shell 15 of membrane 12 until the Strand is withdrawn from the package in a predetermined manner.
It has been found that shell 15 collapses along its axial length in an amount within the range from about 10~ to about 50~ of the original package height or length. A partial collapse within a range from about 20% to 40% is preferred. The amount of radial contrac-tion of shell 15 is substantially less.
It has been found that when a tensile force within the range from about 2 to about 4 pounds is applied to the membrane 12 as it is being wound around body 8 for a plurality of ~;
convolutions within the range from about 2 to about ~ convolu-tions, the membrane has a width within the range from about 17 ~5-,~

529~

to 24 inches and has a thickness within the range from about .001 inch to about .003 inch, and the membrane is applied to a package of wound glass strand approximately 11 inches long and 12 inches in diameter, a package having improve~ strand run-out characteristics is provided. u As such, the tension applied to membrane 12 during winding should be within a range from about .08 pounds per inch of width of membrane to about .24 pounds per inch of width of membrane for acceptable results, wherein from 2 to 4 lO convolutions of membrane are wound about body 8. The number of wraps of membrane is dependent upon the characteristics of the particular membrane and body of strand.
If shell 15 were wound too thick, the tendency for the shell to collapse along its length would be substantially reduced. Therefore, it is necessary that the number of con-volutions of membrane not be excessive.
Package 6 produced according to the instant invention provides improved strand run-out characteristics, in the absence of "heat-shrinking" the membrane 12 as is known in the art.
20 It has been found that "heat-shrinking" a polymeric membrane generally provides a shell or membrane not having the proper collapse characteristics to sufficiently capture the strand between the folds to retain the strand along the membrane.
Also, the membrane 12 should be of the type having a static electrical charge adapted to attract the strand to help retain the strand along membrane 12.
It is apparent that within the scope of the invention, modifications and different arrangements can be made other than as herein disclosed. The present disclosure is merely illus-30 trative of the invention.

.~

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A package comprising:
a wound body of strand having an outer cylindrical portion; and an elastic membrane convolutely wound about the cylin-drical portion of said body, the membrane being of a sufficient thickness and being stretched sufficiently to partially collapse as the strand is withdrawn from the interior of the body such that the membrane mechanically captures the strand of the outer cylindrical portion to retain such strand along said membrane until said strand is withdrawn from the package at a predeter-mined time.

2. A package comprising wound body of strand having an outer cylindrical portion; and an elastic membrane having a length at least sub-stantially equal to the height of said outer cylindrical portion wound about the cylindrical portion of said body positioned such that a single layer of said membrane substantially covers all of said cylindrical portion, the membrane being of a suffi-cient thickness and being stretched sufficiently around said cylindrical portion to partially collapse while retaining a generally cylindrical shape as the strand is withdrawn from the interior of the body, wherein the membrane mechanically crimps the strand of the outer cylindrical portion between the folds of the membrane as the membrane collapses to retain such strand along said membrane until said strand is withdrawn from the package at a predetermined time to facilitate complete withdrawal of said strand from said package.

3. The package of claims 1 or 2 wherein said membrane collapses along the length of the cylindrical portion within a range from about 10% to about 50% of the package length prior to initiation of strand withdrawal.

4. The package of claim 1 wherein the membrane is convolutely wrapped about said body from about 2 to about 4 times.

5. The package of claim 4 wherein said membrane is statically charged such that the strand is attracted to said membrane.

6. The package of claims 1, 2 or 5, wherein heat-shrinking of said membrane on said body is not used to produce said package and the membrane is wrapped from about 2 to about 4 times around the body of strand.

7. The method of producing a package of a wound body of strand having an external cylindrical section comprising:
winding an elastic membrane about said cylindrical section, the membrane being wound to a sufficient thickness and being sufficiently stretched around the circumference of the body to partially collapse as the strand is withdrawn from the body such that the membrane mechanically captures the strand at the external cylindrical portion of said body between the folds in the membrane to retain the strand along said membrane until the strand is withdrawn from the package at a predeter-mined time.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the membrane is stretched by applying a tension within a range from about .08 pounds per inch of width of membrane to about .24 pounds per inch of width of membrane, the membrane having a thickness wish-in the range from about .001 inch to about .003 inch.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the membrane is wrapped from about 2 to about 4 times around the body of strand.

10. The method of claims 7, 8 or 9, wherein said package is produced in the absence of heat-shrinking said mem-brane on said body.

11. The package of claim 4, wherein said membrane collapses along the length of the cylindrical portion within a range from about 10% to about 50% of the package length prior to initiation of strand withdrawal.

12. The package of claim 2, wherein the membrane is convolutely wrapped about said body from about 2 to about 4 times.