Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Coil holder or support – Mounted coil holder or spindle
Reexamination Certificate
1996-08-08
2001-02-06
Nguyen, John Q. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Coil holder or support
Mounted coil holder or spindle
C242S594600, C242S597800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182920
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of dollies or hand trucks for carrying equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dolly specially adapted for carrying and dispensing cable. Still more particularly, the present invention comprises a collapsible dolly adapted to support and dispense electrical or communications cable from four or more spools simultaneously.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
At the present time, cables of various sorts are used to connect the many pieces of digital and/or communications equipment that may be used in offices, control rooms and the like. When the equipment is installed, or if it is reconfigured later, it is necessary to run hundreds, even thousands, of feet of such cable. The cable is typically provided on spools and is unwound, or dispensed, from these spools as needed. Because of the weight and bulk of the cable, most conventional cable-pulling operations use 1000-foot spools, which weigh approximately 30 pounds each. Because normal cable usage typically results in a scrap of cable at the end of the spool that is too short to use cost-effectively, these scraps are considered waste. Research has revealed the length of the average scrap to be approximately 100 feet, or ten percent of a 1000 foot spool. The scrap length is independent of the volume of cable originally on the spool, so the use of larger capacity spools would result in a correspondingly lower percentage of scrapped cable. It is therefore desired to provide a means for dispensing cable that allows use of larger capacity spools.
In addition, currently available devices for supporting the cable spool(s) during usage do not typically provide for the simultaneous dispensing of cable from multiple spools. At present, make-shift cable dispensing devices may even include one or more lengths of pipe inserted through the rungs of a step ladder to form a crude axle for each spool. More commonly, the spools supplying the cable are positioned at the installation site on their ends so that they do not roll as the cable is unwound. The cable installer has to make sure that the cables do not become tangled or kinked as they unwind.
Other devices exist that are capable of supporting multiple spools, but these are not collapsible and tend to be expensive. Devices that are not collapsible are disadvantageous because they require use of freight or service entrances and elevators. In a large office building the installation crew may spend a significant amount of time waiting for the freight elevator to become available before the equipment can be brought to the installation site. Such downtime adds to the expense of the installation. Hence, it is desired to provide a collapsible cable dispensing dolly that is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture. It is further desired that the dolly be capable of transporting and dispensing cable from as many as eight spools simultaneously.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present cable dolly is a portable, folding, communications or electrical cable dispensing device designed to carry eight 3,000′ capacity, 14″ diameter spools with the ability to dispense the cable either straight through a wire manager or up through a ceiling boom. The boom is an attachment to the collapsible base dolly which facilitates cable management into high ceilings or cable trays. All pieces of the boom are releasably attached via pins. The cable dolly can be unloaded and folded down from a standing height of 47 inches to a low profile height of 10.5 inches. In the folded position the diagonal support folds down to become the handle for transportation, allowing one man to transport the cable dolly with one hand.
REFERENCES:
patent: 479571 (1892-07-01), Pratt
patent: 1509717 (1924-09-01), Davis
patent: 2155769 (1939-04-01), Porter
patent: 2463192 (1949-03-01), Mackey et al.
patent: 2775357 (1956-12-01), De Arment
patent: 3764031 (1973-10-01), Parsen
patent: 3920194 (1975-11-01), Parsen
patent: 4172608 (1979-10-01), Brown, Jr.
patent: 4457527 (1984-07-01), Lowery
patent: 4611645 (1986-09-01), Whisnant
patent: 4746078 (1988-05-01), Setzke
patent: 5499727 (1996-03-01), Koch
Cabling Business Products sheet; (p. 72); Apr. 1996.
“Piggy Back” Wire Dispensers: (2 pages) (undated).
Hawk Industry Products; H.I.P.; New Items (undated) (1 two-sided card).
Hawk Industry Products; H.I.P.; brochure; Electrical Wire Caddies (undated).
Hawk Industry Products; H.I.P.; (1 sheet of caddies) (undated).
Conley Rose & Tayon
Nguyen John Q.
LandOfFree
Collapsible cable dispensing dolly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Collapsible cable dispensing dolly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Collapsible cable dispensing dolly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2613492